Granted Tokyo boasts more Michelin starred restaurants than Paris and London combined. Put that in your pan and saute it! Tokyo is indisputably an eaters paradise. And since I am a confessed professional eater - it is a great city for me. How do these people stay so thin? Oh yeah, it's the portions and the cost. Tokyo is the, wait for it, second most expensive city in the world. What?! Second?! This year Luanda, Angola (it's in Africa...I didn't know that either) beat out Tokyo to become the most expensive city in the world. Seriously. Thankfully Luanda is not high on my list to visit. Ever.
The thing is... Tokyo is not just good for fresh fish, sushi and teppanyaki. They do French better than the French, (I'm serious) and Italian better than, well, Italians. They even do McDonalds better. Yes, even McDonalds taste better here. Not quite three times as better, like the cost. But then it's hard to perfect the taste of a quarter pounder with cheese when you were weaned on it. Damn, but their french fries are good in any country.
Listed below are some of my favorite restaurants in or near our neighborhood Minami-Azabu.
La Cigogne - Tarte Flambee
We discovered this little gem as we walked by it on the way to the bus stop. A little French bistro on a residential side street that cooks up big flavor on hand made tarts. They're really more like mini oval shaped pizza's. But the toppings are crazy good. Things like bacon, shallots and arugula with mango, an unexpected yet unforgettable combination. They also do an excellent pan roasted chicken. But don't short yourself, share a tart and an entree with someone you like and save room for dessert cause they're good too.
http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130703/13121236/
Restaurant Okada - my absolute favorite in the neighborhood
This is a tiny French style restaurant off the old Hiroo shopping street. It's easy to walk right by as you have to descend a couple of stairs to get to it. Be prepared to descend into heaven. What I like about this place is pretty much everything. It's quaint and homey. You almost feel like you've been invited to the chef's house because there's only three people working. The chef Hiroshi Okada, his assistant and Shinya the director, aka, waiter/bartender/greeter/manager. Everyone's friendly and warm and will even take a minute to get to know you. For the quality of the food I'd expect to pay a lot more money. So it's a great value. The chef is very imaginative and there's always something astonishing on the menu. But before you even get to today's courses they bring you a baby ramekin of the house made pate which is only slightly less sinful than the kill me now block of homemade brioche! Holler! This bread will make you speak in tongues. They have a good selection of French wines by the glass here. It's almost better to go bottle-less and mix and match glasses to your courses, unless there's four of you.
I have had the most amazing dinners here, roasted rabbit, giant oyster appetizer, sauteed calamari salad, sea bass carpaccio with grapefruit. Really, really good. I could eat here every week and be really happy, especially if I can convince Okada-san to allow me to bring a few bottles of my own wine in. Corkage is a term restaurants here don't seem too be familiar with. Next time I go, I promised to bring him a bottle of California red. So that's a start. Did I mention the food is really, really good? But make a reservation because the place is small. When Russell's out of town I like to sit at one of two spots at the counter. This way I can watch Hiroshi cook while sipping wine.
www.restaurantokada.com
Blue Point
A short bike ride away, in the adjacent neighborhood of pretty Shirokane, is a sophisticated bistro called Blue Point. It reminds me of those upscale, urbane eateries in Gramercy Park, New York, except the food it much better. The lunch there is superb and a great value.
I've decided that's one of the secrets about eating in Tokyo. Dinners are ludicrously expensive but lunches are a steal, comparatively. So once you discover that over the top fabulous restaurant, check if it's open for lunch. If it is, it's probably a fraction of the dinner price and just as good.
When Russell and I were first starting out and had no money, during the "Wager Surprise" days, a cheap concoction of rice, hamburger and assorted vegetables guaranteed to make leftovers for at least two nights and best served with box wine, we used to eat dinner at home. But after dinner we would get all dressed up and go to the most exalted restaurants in town for two glasses of champagne and dessert. This was a truly inspired, brilliant, dare I say, genius plan. Did I mention I thought of it? This was back when Russell made me live in Dallas, Texas for four years. Surprisingly Dallas ranks in the top five of cities with the most restaurants per capita in the U.S. That's because all there is to do in Dallas is eat and shop. So places like the Mansion at Turtle Creek, The Rivera (tragically now defunct but once home of the best creme brulee ever!), the French Room at the Adolfus hotel, were all ours. We were in our twenties and couldn't afford new shoes but we could say we had eaten at the best restaurants in town. And it's a lot easier to get a reservation for 9:30 than 8p.
So yeah, back to Blue Point in Shirokane-dai. The pre-fixe special is a great deal and you'll feel classy sitting in or outside watching the "well-heeled" crowd, and I'm talking about dogs, walk by. Besides Blue Point there are other quaint side walk cafes, cute and fashionable boutique shops like the "Barkery" (accessories for purse pups). But I like to call it "Weddinghood" because it seems like every other building is a wedding reception establishment.
Incidentally, did you know that Shirokane was named after a rich guy who lived there during the 13th century. His nickname was "Shirokane Choja" which apparently means "man with a lotta coin" - nice. The street is lined with beautiful trees and flanked by forested areas, yes forested, which are owned by academic and private companies, such as the Institute for Nature Study and the Institute of Medical Science. Together these grounds form one of the largest "green" districts in Tokyo. (Thanks Wikipedia.) The green areas trace back to mansions which existed during the Edo period.
So apparently it's been an upscale neighborhood since the sixteenth century, which is nice.
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