u m a m i

be movement

Last Saturday I was at United Square. At the fountain deck basement, I bought some clothes from a temporary stall run by two sisters; the two ladies were very warm and friendly and we soon got chatting comfortably. One of them, Mdm Cindy Ng, told me that her daughter is launching a new bookazine in November, and kindly gave me a copy.

be movement is a bookazine, I am not sure what that means but holding it, it feels as solid as a book and the content is made up of articles written in a magazine style, by people as diverse as entrepreneurs, musicians and reporters, and published at regular intervals like, well, magazines. 

The stories are not your typical magazine fluff, but are thoughtful and well written, many from a first-person narrative or in interview format. They inspire, affirm, or challenge one's self, yet without being preachy or earnest. Cindy was very excited to inform me that Noam Chomsky contributed an article, but that was actually not something positive for me, because Noam Chomsky writes serious books that my husband reads and then regurgitates to me in order to "internalise" them. Fortunately,  I am happy to report that the article, with the ponderous title of "Academic Freedom and the Corporatization of Universities", was quite readable even for someone with my low attention span. I have not finished reading the entire thing, but have been dipping into it in between appointments or daily tasks; it is better this way, the stories are best savoured one at a time.

be movement is magazine that I would not hesitate to reach out for the next time I see it in a bookstore. Its entire worthy content is also printed on lovely, thick paper, with nice fonts and stunning photography.  The social enterprise spirit behind it is, certainly, very admirable too.

Another feature to note- there are no advertisements, which sounds incredibly brave to me. It retails in Singapore for $18.90.  Alternatively, mobile subscriptions are a reasonable  at USD 5.99 per issue, or USD 19.99 for a year's membership (4 issues). It is not usual to see projects like this in Singapore, do support it if you can.

Fayidha Restaurant

 

Balestier may be known for its chicken rice and bak kut teh, but I have not found any place that does any of these well. Better eats can be found in the food centre around Whampoa Market. One of our go-to places Fayidha Restaurant. It sounds fancy, but it isn't, actually it is just a corner coffeeshop along (no. 26) Kim Keat Road. There is no airconditioning, but it is cool and comfortable enough even during the hottest part of the afternoon.

Their roti prata is very good. Theirs is not the so-called "crispy prata" which are, in reality, quite horridly dense, like hockey pucks . Instead, they serve up the older-fashioned large, fluffy discs with multiple stretchy and chewy layers. The bread is very tasty on its own, and soaks up curry gravies like sponges. Their curries are usually quite thick and spicy, I often order both the meat and fish gravies together because sometimes one is better than the other. V eats hers with granulated sugar, which I secretly think is very nice too.

Other than pratas, they serve dishes that go with rice and at lunchtime there is usually a large pot of nasi briyani. It's like an Indian-Muslim version of cze char place, they will do mee goreng, nasi goreng etc upon order, as well as satay. Once I had an impromptu weekend gathering and we ordered their fried beehoon which was pronounced very yummy.

They stay open 24 hours. If you are in the neighbourhood, give the chickens a rest, have some spicy food and teh tarik instead.

A Very Yummy Pork Bun

It is not a secret among our friends that we really like eating at the Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant at the Parkroyal Hotel on Kitchener Road. Si Chuan Dou Hua specialises in Cantonese and Sichuan cuisine, and do both extremely well. Their Sichuan dishes are not toned down to suit local palates, but not too fiery either that one cannot taste the distinct balance of flavours that this regional cuisine is known for. Tea is taken seriously too, only whole-leaf teas are served; there is even a tea room for further appreciation. That it is a 5 minute drive from our home only makes us more inclined to eat there often, by ourselves, with family, and especially for social gatherings, because many of their dishes are ideal for sharing.

The past few months though, it had been difficult to get lunch reservations. The restaurant had a promotion of retro dim sum, made in the style that would be more familiar with the older generation. It was so popular that after the promotion ended, these dim-sum items remain in their menu. Some items may not be popular with the younger generation, for example, their har-kows made of a minced pork, prawn and chive mixture did not go down well with my daughter who prefers the contemporary version with pure prawn filling. Steamed pork with preserved vegetables (mui choy) sounded better than it tasted. Some items were excellent though, like an ultra-crispy roll of fried beancurd skin stuffed with seafood.

The standout dish for me though, was a steamed bun rolled around filling of taro kau yuk. The last time I ate kau yuk was, gosh, maybe 7 or 8 years ago, it is quite an old-fashioned dish that one may find in some Hakka restaurants in Malaysia (in London, the Mayflower restaurant has a very good version, as students we always ordered it). To make taro kau yuk, pork belly is layered with thick slices of taro and first steamed, then braised slowly in a nam yee (red fermented beancurd) based sauce. The taro cooks down into fluffy pieces that absorbs all the rich meaty flavours given more depth from the fermented bean curd, resulting in a  very addictive dish especially when accompanied with steamed rice. In this case, soft white buns made a good stand-in for rice.

Every bite came with an ideal ratio of meat, fat and taro, all smothered in the gorgeous salty-sweet-savoury sauce. The cardiologist might not approve, so wash it down with a good pot of tea. The buns are quite dainty though, so you might want to order a whole plate for yourself.

 

Tokyo -- Part 5

This is the final instalment of our Japan trip. I started blogging again because of some pictures of sushi that I posted on Facebook. Looking at them, my friend Andrew insisted that I blog that meal, so here it is, enjoy!

We- and by we, I mean my husband- did two things before leaving for Japan. First, obtain tickets to Ghibli Museum. Second, secure dinner reservations at restaurant Sushishou. When husband called up the restaurant, the person who answered the call told him (in English), that he didn't speak English. We turned to our hotel concierge for help, and after a few e-mails were exchanged we got a booking for dinner.  

There does not seem to be much information on the Internet about Sushishou. Coincidentally, Chubby Hubby had just blogged about this very same restaurant, but he refers to it as Sushi Sho. I will call it Sushishou, because the restaurant's name card spells it so, maybe the Japanese version is different. 

Husband did not tell me why he chose this restaurant so I did not have any pre-conceived ideas. While dressing for dinner, it occured to me to ask him whether I needed to dress formal, so I was quite relieved when he said, no need. He only said, it is a very small place, not very fancy, I hope you will like it, they serve sushi. Ok dear, sushi is a  good idea, I ate too much at lunch.

The taxi ride was short, and we alighted at a narrow lane. The restaurant is indeed small, and narrow. Counter seating only. We were warmly welcomed by the chef and all the staff when we entered. Our reservation was for 7.45 p.m. The first round of diners were nearly done with their meal.

The food was served. An appetiser. Boiled squid, the chef said. I don't usually see such pretty squid. When I ate it, my mind registered a few surprises. It was barely warm, squishy soft and yet a little chewy and the rice filling was so yummy. It was then that I turned to husband and asked him, dear, why did you choose this restaurant? He said, chef Keiji Nakazawa is very famous, master of many famous sushi chefs in Tokyo, he once competed in Iron Chef, and, some even said that he kicked out a Michelin inspector. So this place does not have a star, I asked. No, he confirmed. Wow, oh wow! I was so excited, I felt like raining kisses on my sweet, thoughful man for arranging such an interesting surprise, but it was a public place, instead, we clinked our glasses and settled down to enjoy our meal. A succession of amazing sushi was served, all incredibly delicious and completely different from all the other sushi I have ever eaten in my life. I did not take many pictures, just enjoyed the wonderful moments as they happened.


Sardine roll. After ooh-ing and aah-ing at the jewel-like appearance we popped it into our mouths and again, it was unlike any sardine sushi we've ever had. The fish was sweet and intense, very lively from addition of shisho leaves and pickled ginger.


We were enjoying a little bowl of chawan mushi containing succulent blobs of abalone, two types of uni and popping ikura when a party of seven gentlemen entered. They spoke Mandarin, only two of them could converse comfortably in Japanese. They came from Taiwan. I was curious. It costs a minimum of 20,000 yen per person, did these people just sign a multi-billion dollar deal? Or...so I asked the guy next to me, are you in the food business? He nodded his head, but asked me not to blow his cover. Throughout the meal, he engaged with the chef and asked many questions, most of them technical. In this way we also learnt a lot about chef Nakazawa's approach to sushi. I am sure that he knew the customer was trying to learn some of his secrets yet he did not seem to mind, in fact he was more than generous in sharing his methods and techniques.

Nothing was as it seemed. Before eating at Sushishou, I thought sushi means using the freshest fish you could find. Most of the fish we ate that night was not exactly delivered off the boat that morning. Like Chubby Hubby pointed out, the chef actually ages and treats his fish to coax more flavours and improve the product. They might be lightly grilled, or a little torched, or marinated in various types of konbu dashi, or cured with something.  Seasonings can be special salt, home-made pickles or even pepper pastes. He doesn't just have one pot of sushi rice. We noticed that some of our sushi had brown-coloured rice (from some ingredient I didn't catch the name of, but it's definitely not soy sauce), some had white rice. When the gentleman on my right asked if oily fish pairs with brown rice and white fish with white rice, chef started a discourse that basically said it's not that simple, it is the end result of his research on how each component comes together to form a unified end-product and every piece of sushi he was presenting to us had gone through that process. A process that might even involve, say, slicing the fish so it resembled one of those modern skyscrapers in Tokyo.

I asked my new friend, so what have you guys been eating? He said, we came to Tokyo yesterday, and have since been eating non-stop, mostly Michelin-starred places. But this is the best one (of the lot).


I apologise for the poor image. Just that this was my favourite sushi that night. Sanma sushi, with a piece of the liver cooked till just starting to turn molten.


Toro. With the brown rice. At the counter and kept in various chilling cabinets we could see the various slabs of fish, some sitting on pieces of kelp, some just glistening like so. The toro though, came from a special metal box under the counter. Chef treated the toro like a family treasure, carefully taking it out and putting it back. The white streaks were not sinews, my sushi melted in my mouth in an explosion of warm, creamy umami, the slightly nutty rice acting as a kind of anchor, chewing it after the fish gone down my gullet, I could still taste the lingering finish of the toro.

There was a sushi of ankimo (monkfish liver) paired with watermelon pickle. Oishii. 

Tuna came up a few times. The neck part was good.

Chef places sushi on our plates. Chef tells us the name of the dish, first in Japanese and maybe followed by its English translation. We ate. Mostly with eyes close because it was so darn amazing. Rinse. Repeat.

I drank beer in the beginning, but husband let me have a sip of his sake and I too, switched to sake. We had 2 types of sake, both recommended by the waiter. Ken Kon Ichi, and Haku Raku Sei, he wrote the English words for us. Husband looked them up later. The sake came from Miyagi, the breweries were competely destroyed in the 2011 earthquake but have since been rebuilt.

We chatted with our neighbours on our left, a young Japanese couple from out of Tokyo. The wife looks like a doll, with impossibly long eyelashes and porcelain face (actually every time we were at a nice Japanese restaurant there would be at least one young lady looking like that) and though she looked tiny and demure, she could eat quite a lot. It was their first time, and like us, they started off a bit nervous, but soon relaxed in the quietly congenial atmosphere.

Husband doesn't like uni, so he gave me all his uni sushi. I ate at least three types of uni that night, some in double portions. The last was this- yaki uni, the uni came from Aomori, and had been lightly grilled. Seriously, the most voluptuous, mind-bending uni sushi I have ever tasted.

The menu only starts from 20,000 yen, gets more expensive the more you eat. From time to time, chef would check if we were still hungry. I got full sooner than husband, and ate, I don't know, about 20 pieces of sushi. Husband had a bigger appetite, he continued eating more amazing sushi, there was also a soup, and some cooked seafood. His  last course was a sushi with tuna that had been aged for 10 days. How was it, dear? Intense, almost funky, and definitely unforgettable. 

In the taxi on the way back to the hotel, I asked husband about the bill. Expensive, he said, but worth every yen, and maybe more, because this was Tokyo, the best of the best. As usual, my husband is right. We were supposed to go to Tsukiji market the next morning. Earlier, I had planned to just arrive in time for breakfast and find myself a humongous bowl of uni chirashi sushi. After our wonderful meal, we decided that we would skip Tsukiji altogether, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

 

Tokyo-- Part 4

One afternoon we found ourselves at yet another shiny shopping mall. It was Omotesando Hills, and we had only ducked in to look for a matcha shaved ice. After our refreshing tea break, we came upon a restaurant that serves fruits and vegetables grown by their own farms. Singapore is not an agricultural country, eating locally and seasonally is not always feasible, so we were keen to try out this place. Using a lot of hand gestures, we made a reservation for dinner.

In the meantime, we shopped. Our favourite retail space was in Omotesando Hills itself.  Tabio sells socks for men and women. Husband was quite excited, because in Singapore it is hard to find socks that are not black, brown, navy or worse, white. At Tabio, the socks come in all hues, prints, weaves, thickness, length and design. There was not a boring sock in sight. Plus they are very comfortable. 

One basketful of socks and a few hours later, the sun came down and evening settled in. We made our way to the restaurant and were ushered the counter seats that overlook the open kitchen. If this was France, there may be a bag hook under the counter for the ladies. Here, they provided fabric-lined baskets which is a more practical solution. 

Still having no idea what is the name of the restaurant, we asked the manager, and he wrote their English name on their business card. Yasaiya Mei, which mean's Mei's vegetable house. As first-time diners eager to eat plenty of home-grown vegetables, we ordered their most extensive set menu (5800 yen per person).

This artful arrangement was set in front of us. Bagna cauda. Raw vegetables to be dunked into a "hot bath" of olive oil and anchovies. Gorgeous.

Our view of the kitchen. The lady on the right was responsible for only one dish, the bagna cauda. She worked non-stop the entire evening. Take a huge vase, fill it with crushed ice. Pluck leaves, trim radish etc. Arrange. Stir bagna cauda, pour. Ding! Every time she finished an arrangement, she would announce  "Bagna please".  My shallow self was thinking, her hands must be all wrinkled from constant contact with water...

 The "cover charge" appetiser. 650 yen each. Mountain yam, spinach and mushrooms. All ingredients had one character in common. Slime. We didn't enjoy it much but it seemed very healthy.

Appetizers. 5 types. Grilled eggplant dressed in sesame sauce was easy to like. Nagano cucumbers with yam and plum sauce was zingy, very good. The orange noodles  were actually raw pumpkin coleslaw with kimchi, quite spicy. The dish in the middle was muzuki seaweed with vinegar, i.e. more slime.

Followed by a rather large bowl of sweet potato potage. Cold, creamy, nutty and sweet. Lovely, especially for the muggy weather.

Nasu dengaku. Grilled eggplant coated in a mellow miso paste. I've always liked this dish, and this  was very good. The lotus root and green pepper were delicious on their own too.

Grilled tuna with a huge salad. Tasty but quite a lot to get through. We asked them to downsize our portions. By now, the restaurant was full and buzzing.

Grilled beef was perfectly cooked, nicely bloody and juicy. The sauce was not balsamic vinegar but reduced soy sauce, it was also amazing. The pumpkin sported some gorgeous char marks and tasted as good as it looked.

Followed by a bowl of radish and miso soup. Light and refined.

Selection of very nice pickles.

Final course. Pot of rice cooked with sanma and more vegetables. Wholesome taste. Not much sanma, the flavours came mainly from the vegetables. There was dessert too, a ginger-lemon sorbet and fruits, but we were way past full.

It was an impulse decision to eat at Yasaiya Mei, fortunately the meal was beautifully presented and cooked. We had a great evening, and would go back if we visit Tokyo again.

 

Murugan Idli Shop

I love thosai. Plain thosai with sambar and chutneys. I used to go to Saravanaa Bhavan because it is open until quite late in the evenings, but recently I walked further along Syed Alwi Road (no. 81, opposite the newest wing of Mustafa's Shopping Centre) and came upon Murugan Idli Shop. The menu is smaller, and their shop signage has a cute logo of a plate of steaming idlis. Their website is just as cute, and they have branches on Race Course Road and Rowell Road.

My thosai was delicious. Crispy and fluffy-soft inside. The sambar of curried lentils was thick and homely. They serve 4 types of chutneys: from left, coconut, tomato, mint and coriander. I enjoyed them all but finished the tomato and coriander ones first which means they are my favourite, the server was attentive and offered more chutneys without prompting. The vadai was not bad either, but I should just have ordered another thosai. They open till 11 pm too, very handy for a light vegetarian supper.

Tokyo -- Part 3

One of the things we did before travelling to Japan was to make sure we procured tickets to the Ghibli Museum. Like JR tickets, you cannot purchase them online. We e-mailed the concierge at our hotel  our preferred date and time, and someone kindly went to a Lawson convenience store to buy our tickets.

It took about an hour by metro and train to get to Mitaka prefecture. Our adventure started upon arrival at the local station, from there we boarded a bright yellow Community bus that shuttled between the station and museum every 10 minutes. It is possible to walk directly to the station, the walk passes through some pretty houses and a large park, but we were eager to reach the museum as soon as possible.

Adult visitors definitely outnumbered children as it was a school day. Everyone squealed with delight when they glimpsed Totoro at the entrance. Inside we found more wonders- special feature films, mini-sets from our favourite Hayao Miyazaki anime films, a large furry Cat Bus (for kids only), interactive spaces showing how the films are made, a special exhibition on illustrations, and of course the giant robot soldier in the sky. It is an amazing, self-contained little place, full of cuteness and whimsy; a very happy morning was whiled away exploring every little nook and corner.

We lined up for about 40 minutes to get into the Straw Hat cafe. While waiting, we shared a yummy hotdog from the takeaway stand. Finally we were seated at the counter overlooking the bar and kitchen areas, perfect for seeing what everyone else is going to eat and drink.

Capuccino art.

Old-fashioned chicken sandwiches. Served on Kiki plates. Accompanied by purple and pink ice cream soda.

Katsu sandwiches on dust bunny plate. Very filling. The cafe is filled with natural light and the staff bustled along contentedly. It may be a theme cafe, but the food was healthy, tasty and made from scratch.

Lunch over, we took the train back to Shinjuku station, Tokyo. Bye bye Totoro!

 

Zwilling Twin Beauty Travel Nail Clippers

Two days into our holiday, I realised that I had forgotten to pack nail clippers and tweezers and so we kept a lookout for these two items. Kamata did not stock any, but the owner was kind enough to suggest taking a look at the Zwilling shop two doors away. Zwilling is a German brand, the parent company is well known also for other brands like Staub cocottes. The shops sells their own knives, some made in Germany, and some made in Japan.

That day, they  were out of tweezers but they had some very nice nail clippers, of which I bought two pairs. A pair for trimming finger nails, not particularly interesting. The other pair though, was so cute I thought I will share on this blog.

The Zwilling Twin Beauty travel nail clipper comes in its own lightweight aluminium box. The packaging details are functional yet eye-pleasing. The clipper comes with its own leather pouch and has a unique, innovative design that allows it to stay flat when not in use.

 

Slim, flat and compact. Satin-finish stainless steel for durability. If there is a beauty contest for nail clippers this one will, ahem, nail it.

Here is where it transforms into a working clipper. There is a spring which releases when the top part is pulled away from the main body. The handle has to be manouvred exactly as shown on the pictorial guide on the inside of the box et voila, it is ready for action. The blades cut cleanly, no matter whether I am using my right or left hand. To fold flat is easy too, just pull back on the blade and snap it over the edge of the housing body. Here is a more detailed description of its mechanism that I found on the internet.

The shops are already preparing for Christmas. This will make a lovely gift for family and close friends. Or if you are looking to replace the dinky clippers that don't do a very good job anyway, this will be perfect.

Tokyo-- Part 2

 

Everybody who goes to Japan seems to come home with a knife. A handcrafted knife of dragon-fire forged steel that costs thousands of dollars.  We duly made our way to the kitchen-supply district of Kappabashi, and spent a bit of time at the Kamata knife shop which can be identified by a huge picture of a knife on its facade. Husband got himself a small knife to peel and cut his fruits, as it was made of ordinary steel it wasn't very expensive. I got myself something too, but it's not a knife. More of that in the next post.

 

When Shigeki read our itinerary and saw that we were going to Asakusa, he recommended that we eat at Namiki Yabu. This is a very well known soba place, and had been featured in the popular "Oishinbo" manga. We reached the place around 11 a.m., well before lunch hour when crowds gather. The address is 2-11-9, Kaminarimon, Tokyo. 

There are two seating options- tatami on one side and regular table with chairs on the other side. Not feeling too agile, we sat at a table and were soon joined by a jovial Japanese male customer who striked up a conversation with us. He seemed like a regular customer, judging from his familiarity with the menu and the staff. With his few words of Mandarin and our even scantier Japanese, we  managed to converse about soba and Singapore.

The kitchen can be seen from the dining area, each cook concentrating on their task, one of them did nothing but ladle soup continuously between pots and bowls. Two middle-aged ladies look after the dining area efficiently, taking orders, serving food and keeping the place ticking over nicely. During our meal, a young teenage boy in the tatami section accidentally knocked over his bowl of dipping sauce. Upon witnessing this, the two ladies sprang into action with mopping cloths, restoring order without any fuss. We were glad we did not sit in the tatami section.

 

I ordered tenzaru soba, which is soba served with tempura. Husband ordered the hot soba with spring onions which was lovely but not as good as my cold soba. The cold noodles are dipped into a special soupy sauce made of soy sauce and dashi. It is recommended to try to appreciate the buckwheat in the soba by not leaving the noodles in the soup too long. Honestly the subtlety was quite lost on me, but the noodles were quite springy and slightly nutty, delicious on their own and even better with the soup. The soup was intensely umami, the spring onions and wasabi added to the enjoyment with their bright flavours. I loved the tempura, the prawns were very sweet and the batter light and crisp. It was a quick and yummy meal, but the noodle portions were on the small side so we ordered more. Overall it was not cheap- 700 yen for a portion of plain noodles with sauce and garnish, 1700 for the tenzaru soba. To our surprise, our new neighbour said the very same things too, that it was delicious but expensive for the portion size. After we finished our noodles he showed us how to dilute the sauce with some clear soup so we could drink it all up. 

 

 

The restaurant serves only soba, no other dishes. Along the way to Kappabashi, we came across a corner stall selling sweet potato snacks. Dessert! Sweet potatoes are in season and one of the best ways of eating it is in the candied form.

 

Sweet potato pie was buttery and still warm from the oven. It was very good too. So ends our morning out in Asakusa. 

 

Tokyo -- Part 1

 

Leaving behind the beauty and history of Kyoto, we took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. Our taxi drove past Ginza, towards Akasaka where many government buildings are located. Traffic was light as it was a public holiday, we cruised through the empty boulevards past hulking buildings and knots of security guards clustered around their armored vans and inspection posts. A couple more turns, and we reached our destination. Distracted with unloading of  luggage, I was unprepared for my first sight of our hotel, which turned out to be as swish as promised when we did our online booking.

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The Capitol Hotel Tokyu website has better pictures, but seriously, this is a beautiful property. The common areas are full of light, and lines and space, also very calm. The staff are alert and helpful, check in was a breeze. We floated up to our deluxe room, 45 sq m of space, as big as a  studio apartment in Singapore. Separate shower, bath and Toto-washlet areas. Vanity corner and bathroom sink with a large amenity box, plus nightshirts, plush slippers and fluffy bathrobes.  Proper sitting area with long couch and 40 inch flat screen TV. Huge bed. Lots of floor space to pad around. Room safe, daily papers, and free wifi, of course. With a panoramic view of the city. Luxurious without being impersonal or self-consciously cool. The rate was about SGD 500+, not inexpensive to be sure, but definitely worth a splurge.

Instead of dumping our bags and rushing out to explore, we took our time to bathe and change. There are two metro stations running below the hotel. We headed for the most modern place I know, our senses were ready for something Kyoto is not. Tokyo Midtown is a sprawling complex connecting  shops, restaurants, hotel, art galleries and museums. The outdoor areas are park-like, very green and spacious, although Roppongi Rd is nearby it could hardly be seen or heard. The helpful customer service staff circled on a map all the public artwork and sculpture in the area, as well as the places we could eat.

Japan has no lack of fine patisseries, some already familiar to us from our stay in Paris e.g. Sadaharu Aoki, so we zoomed in on one we have not come across before: Toshi Yoroizuka. There was a long line waiting to get into the dessert restaurant. The queue hardly budged, and we were very hungry, breakfast seemed like such a long time ago.

We decided to eat something else first, and settled randomly for hayashi rice. I was unfamiliar with this dish, it seemed like beef stew, eaten with rice.   The Tokyo Hayashi Rice Club counter looked cute with its faux-western decor, we ordered the classic black stew with omelet for me, and with a lightly boiled egg for husband.

It took a while for my food to be served, as they made the omelet upon order. Very simple, just rice, egg and a black demi-glace sauce with barely discernible shreds of meat, plus quite a bit of onions. It is very similar to Japanese curry, just less spicy, with hints of tomato and maybe some red wine. Later when we talked to Shigeki, he explained that this dish is so called because its name sounds like "hashed beef", other versions of the origin attribute the name to the first person known to serve it in Japan.

It made a very comforting lunch. The eggs were cooked to perfection, adding to the pleasure. A little dish of crunchy cabbage to periodically cleanse the palate. The staff topped up our ice water automatically. In Japan it was like that, thoughtful service everywhere, no attitude, all very civilized.

Every surface in the place gleamed. Japan is very clean. Singapore might think it is clean, and Paris only cleans the parts that tourists see, but in Japan it seems like everything, everybody and everywhere is always clean, and orderly. 

 

Towards evening, after seeing and touching the public sculptures in the area, we went back to Toshi Yoroizuka. There was only one couple in the line. Yay! Inside, the chef himself was at the back of the counter. He and his assistants greeted us enthusiastically. It is counter seating only. Towels and ice water were offered immediately. The menu lists about six creations and we could observe how the chefs assemble every dish that is served.

Fig millefeuille was figgy and utterly delicious. It stayed pure to its core ingredient, and we could taste this lovely autumn fruit in its various forms - poached, fresh, jam, sauce etc, over the crisp, airy puff pastry and the subtly scented custard.

 

In contrast to the elegant fig tower, pistachio scone and gorgonzola ice cream seemed more playful. It was described as the chef's specialty and he  should be understandably proud of his creation. This was unforgettable, simply amazing. Salty and sweet. Nutty and savoury. Layers of tastes and textures in the candied pistachios, the cheese pretzels and crisps, and the pistachio and gorgonzola ice creams. I couldn't very well lick the plate clean, but I scraped it pretty thoroughly. Not willing to let it end on that note, we ordered a third dessert.

 

Happy Something, at least this is what we thought it translated as. Pineapples and a thick foam made of what the chef's assistant explained is a paste similar to natto. That's what I thought it tasted like, and  I don't like natto, its pungency and unwieldy slime is hard to love. The foam is not as intense as pure natto, maybe just 10%, but that was too much for us. We finished the portion, but we didn't love it. This pushes the limit of sweet and savoury combination, though it didn't thrill as much as gorgonzola, it was very interesting.

Leaving Tokyo Midtown, we crossed to Roppongi Hills. To see Maman, the beautiful mother spider (image at top) sculpture by Louise Bourgeois. The 53rd floor houses an observation deck with a clear cityview best seen at night, and also the Mori Art Museum, where we saw the Arab Express exhibition which was predictably very thought-provoking.

It was near midnight when we left, the city still had some legs as the main street was quite full of people. A light drizzle fell, so we hailed a taxi, our lovely hotel was just around the corner. We slept well, the mattress was as firm as I could wish for. Our first day in futuristic Tokyo had gone well, and we had three more days ahead of us....