Hot in Tokyo

I think toubanjan (for example the Youki brand) is available in most mid-tier grocery stores that have even a moderately-sized Chinese ingredients section, including Precce, The Garden, etc. Perhaps the ones made in Okinawa are special in some way though.

At one time Butamen Kenkyujyo in Kanda sold a fairly hot ra-yu in the store, they called it "kyojin (強人)-rayu", that had homemade ra-yu and Chinese sansho in it. That was fairly hot.

http://www.ramenkenkyujo.com/butamen/kyojinrayu.html

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Here it is, my Tokyo and Kyoto selection - Final advices welcomed

Squirrel you are talking about this one?

http://www.n-nagi.com/news/4651

So this is a new branch of Nagi?, the map sort of indicates it's not the same branch as the existing Shibuya one.

Funnily enough I dined at their sister shop Butao in HK last month, the Causeway Bay one. Very good.

FWIW I recently grabbed the domain names ramenhk.com and ramenhongkong.com.

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Uni trays, Japanese market?

Does anyone know how the Hmart in Levittown compares to the ones in Edison and Cherry Hill? For someone living in the Princeton area, which would you recommend? We lived in Asia (mostly Japan) for many years, we miss a lot of the food products from there, and while I go to MItsuwa sometimes on the way home from NYC, it would be nice to have a place closer than Edgewater and better than the Plainsboro Asian market for the more routine things.

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Zauo/ other "weird" restaurants

And of course when dining with a cat, in addition to self-licking in inappropriate places and the occasional hairball being projectile-vomited across the table. you may run into awkward situations such as this:

http://icanhascheezburger.com/2011/09/29/funny-pictures-carl-makes-a-faux-paw/

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Zauo/ other "weird" restaurants

I don't see the choo-choo train curry restaurant in Yutenji on the list. Or was it Gakugeidaigaku.

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Uni Spaghetti or similar

We never needed a reservation for Dan. Yes it is that type of more informal place.

Out of curiousity can provide some more details on the FLW-inspired church? I am neither particularly religious nor an architecture fan, nor do I wish to get off topic, but this is my former 'hood so I am curious.

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Uni Spaghetti or similar

We used to go here occasionally on our way back home from the station when we wanted something easy - never had the uni spaghetti, although I know that it (and some even stranger cousins) was on the menu. Not in your listed areas though.

http://gourmet.livedoor.com/restaurant/20113/

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Kouryu Ramen?

Assuming we are talking about the same one, since Kouryu is a chain, you might want to see whether there's a branch that's closer to where you are staying, not that Ginza is far by any means:

http://ramen-kouryu.jp/tenpo.html

Funnily enough there is one on Yamate-dori within semi-walking distance of where we lived, it was always on my list but I never went there.

For general abura soba rec's, you might consider Ikaruga in Kudankita:

http://takamorry.com/article/20090206_ikaruga.html
http://www.ramentokyo.com/2008/06/ikarugakudankita.html

or Miharu in Ebisu, this was one of our lunchtime go-to places:

http://www.ramentokyo.com/2008/10/miharuebisu.html

or a Ramen Jiro branch that has tsukemen or shiru nashi, for the same general effect. With this link you'll need to scan through all of the entries on the left:

http://www.geocities.co.jp/Foodpia-Olive/3433/

Junk Garage was sort of seen as the initial place to offer it a few years back, they are in Saitama now:

http://junk-garage.net/shopinfo.html

Like tsukemen, I think abura soba gets more popular in the summer than in the winter, and you see it more frequently offered then. Sometimes you will also see "shiru nashi" on the menu occasionally, some Ramen Jiro's have it, it isn't exactly the same as abura soba in that they don't add extra oil or have the squeeze bottles on the counter, they just add a smaller amount of broth, but in a Ramen Jiro there's no practical difference as the broth is almost all oil anyway.

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Looking for recommendations in Tokyo

http://www.ramentokyo.com/2009/08/ramen-tokyo-maps-recommended-shops.html

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trip report

> I'm saying (and I think Ninisix is trying to make a similar point) that it's

> more likely that the "discrimination" was based on the restaurants

> finding it difficult to communicate with non-Japanese speakers

Hmm - that's now a different argument than sewa (although it supports sewa I guess), and it is again something that I didn't read into Ninisix's or japanesefoodlover's initial position posts above. Their posts were basically saying "exclusive-referral-only". Other than this "mimic" thing that we still can't fully parse, nothing about language.

I think that the Japanese-language-ability argument would be stronger if they first asked (in Japanese of course, say at reservation time or arrival time), whether you spoke Japanese well enough to understand the menu and the staff. An "iie", a "wakarimasen" or simply silence on the line or a blank stare would then be their answer, and they would have an out. In my experience that generally doesn't happen.

And sewa can also be a cover-up for discrimination, but admittedly that's practically impossible to prove or measure. But there are cases where a reasonable person can suspect it, based on our collective experiences (e.g. see other threads on this board about Sukiyabashi Jiro).

And to clarify, I basically share Silverjay and QdeBro's positions below - if I have been giving the impression that I believe all high-end restaurants that don't take foreigners do it because of discrimination, that's not correct. I'm sure many of them are exclusive-referral-only and would turn away many Japanese too. But the evidence and opinions from others on this thread, and in my experience, is that some of them will discriminate. As you know Japan also has a history of discrimination against foreigners for many other things including housing, jobs, hotels etc. (and to a lesser extent and mostly socially, kikokushijo) which is of course outside the scope of this site, but which IMO still makes it that much harder to give only restaurants the benefit of the doubt.

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trip report

E Eto - I don't read the same things into Ninisix's post that you do. Your post was interesting and educational, but I think you are describing something different than what Ninisix was saying. He is claiming that, of all the high-end sushi places that do not accept foreigners or reservations from same, the *only* reason for that, for all of them, is because they are actually exclusive referral-only places ("Nothing to do with foreigners"). That is what I and others on this thread disagree with. I think your post actually is a great explanation of why places choose to be referral-invitation-only, etc. and how they implement that, but I think that is slightly disjoint to our original debate topic.

Ninisix's Japanese vocabulary, especially around sushi and sakana, seems advanced enough where if he meant sewa or omakase he would have used those words himself.

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Best Chinese in Hightstown/East Windsor area?

Lotus Garden in Plainsboro is better than average, and Szechuan House in Hamilton is really good, especially if you are into spicy.

-----
Szechuan House
2022 Nottingham Way, Trenton, NJ 08619

Lotus Garden
10 Schalks Crossing Rd Ste 23, Plainsboro, NJ 08536

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trip report

Thanks ninisix. The first sentence in your reply I agree with, but this is a Japan board, so I am not sure what the point is. The third sentence I of course agree with too. Your second sentence I don't understand at all.

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trip report

We all know there are restaurants and clubs in every major city that are by invitation only, either formally or informally. While the vast majority of restaurants in Tokyo treat foreign customers with respect (within the limits of the language barrier), the fact of the matter is that there are a few places in Tokyo, high-brow and low, that base their decisions on admittance, reservations and treatment of customers, primarily based on their country of origin. To say or imply otherwise to those reading this thread who are perhaps not familiar with Japan but are planning visiting is IMO simply not correct.

If you are a foreigner, have lived in Japan for any serious length of time, and you haven't been discriminated against in one way or another at a restaurant at least a couple of times, you are in the small minority. Remember that if you go to a restaurant that requires at least one of your party to be Japanese, even if the foreigners are reasonably fluent, that is discrimination. If you go to a place that doesn't take reservations but you are told no tables are available, even though you can clearly see free tables, that is discrimination. (Places that require Japanese language ability to make a reservation seem reasonable, because this is Japan).

Remember there is no specific law (or penalty) against this type of discrimination in Japan. Consult the relevant chapters in your Arudou literature. The trick is to realize that that is the way it has always been, that's the way it will probably always be, and decide how PO-ed you want to get about it. Ultimately we decided not to let it affect our enjoyment of Tokyo while we were living there and I think we made out better for it.

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Thanksgiving Dinner

Also try Tessara's in Hamilton. You'll need to confirm the disabled-accessible part and wheatfree. I think they are having a 16.95 turkey dinner.

-----
Tessara
812 Highway 33, Hamilton, NJ 08619

kamiosaki in New Jersey

Tokyo izakaya/yakitori recommendations (for people living in Japan)

Kushiwakamaru is still going strong and was our favorite place. Reservations are a must.

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Tokyo izakaya/yakitori recommendations (for people living in Japan)

> I try to avoid ramen spots that are primarily frequented by foreigners

Can you give an example of a such a place? Also curious to know why you feel this way.

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Tonki - The Review - Tokyo

TokyoRob - I'm a former resident of that same neighborhood (roughly). Try the tonkatsu place down the slope going west, on the north side - the sign on top of the building is とんかつ大宝 and tell us your thoughts relative to Tonki.

http://www.tonkatsu-taihou.jp/aboutus/aboutus.html

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Ganko ramen

I was at Fuwafuwa about 3 weeks ago with some co-workers. (Splitting my time 50/50 between Asia (Japan, HK, China) and NY/NJ since the earthquake.) The master was there and we all had a good chat, we talked a lot about the Japan situation. He speaks quite clearly and slowly to foreigners so it was wasn't that difficult for me to understand him. This was the first time I had actually run into him. We all had the 辛メン shoyu-miso blend, the picture of which is in last month's ラーメン新湖流. Good but the broth was a bit sweet. For a better bowl of that style I might go to Kurenai in Fuchu even though it's a bit of a haul. The place is correctly located on Google Maps (actually in Funamachi) in the red brick building but you have to look down the hall to see the bone sign, you won't see it from the street.

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Breakfast in Tokyo

Prompted by this thread and the recent reviews on JT, Bento etc. I went there for the all-day breakfast at 5:30 PM this evening. Overall satisfying but some thoughts:

1 - asked for scrambled eggs instead of fried, they were half perfectly edgy brown and half runny - ask for them to be tight if runny ain't your thing
2 - the sausage was good and not Japanese-y at all, but the bacon had that Japanese taste
3 - most of the items were covered with cheese - no complaints from me but some may not like

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Tokyo Pizza

You didn't think the toppings were too tsukunai, or the crust too crispy? I thought definitely good too (went two weeks ago), but those were slight minuses for me. The latter of the two is obviously much more personal preference. I would also put it above Pizzakaya.

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Japan Trip - Critique please!

The Shimbashi Ramen Jiro stopped being a Ramen Jiro a while back, now it's just Ramen Shimbashi. Haven't been there since it changed, so can't vouch for anything other than the yellow exterior. The closest options from Ginza for Ramen Jiro on the east side of the loop on a Monday would be Kanda and Mita. Your concierge can use the below links to help you get to them:

http://www.geocities.co.jp/foodpia-Olive/3433/page010.html
http://www.geocities.co.jp/foodpia-Olive/3433/

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Tokyo Trip Recap (1/9-1/10)

Thanks for taking the time to post your recap Ken.

IIRC "Ita soba" = soba served in a box (ita means "board"), and it is a prefix used by several other soba shops in Tokyo and elsewhere - the name of the shop in Ebisu is actually "(Itasoba) Kaori-ya". I go there about once every 1-2 months and I agree with your opinion completely. We've also seen minor TV personalities there from time to time, at least ones that my co-workers recognize.

Also for those seeking soba, note this thread too:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/687203

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Looking for Foodie Wisdom ! - Tokyo 19 Dec - 2 Jan

Agreed. The tsukemen is the best thing that Ippudo has come out with recently.

kamiosaki in Japan

Looking for Foodie Wisdom ! - Tokyo 19 Dec - 2 Jan

No, it ended up coming here too:

http://www.ippudo.com/news/2009/04/post_14.html

I used to get them at the Ebisu branch occasionally.

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Need a late night ramen shop in Ikebukuro

I've never had them, but they don't look like anything special.Best to concentrate on the ramen. For me pork and menma do the job. Nori and other leafy toppings distract from the texture.

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Place with non-pork ramen in Tokyo, Kyoto

I had another person who came here for a visit and couldn't eat his Tenkaippin either. I like it, but I was actually referring to a place like Daiki:

http://www.ramentokyo.com/2008/09/daikiyushima.html

I think Ivan had a couple non-pork shio items on the menu at Ivan Ramen too:

http://www.ivanramen.com/images/menu.pdf

Those are just a couple.

kamiosaki in Japan

Need a late night ramen shop in Ikebukuro

It might be something with my browser, but I just noticed that the first map link in the URL I gave you takes you to a place that is nowhere near Ikebukuro. Paste the below into Google Maps for the correct map:

日本東京都豊島区南池袋2-26-2

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Place with non-pork ramen in Tokyo, Kyoto

This year's issue of Ishiyama-san's ramen roundup magazine has "beef tonkotsu" as it's special theme. I haven't read it yet, it's still sitting on my desk.

One option you might want to consider is chicken/salt-based broth. But you need to be more specific with your question as to what areas of the city you are willing to travel to.

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