The rain didn't help, and it took a long time to walk from the Shinjuku Metro station to Takashimaya. Around half past 12, we were hungry and not yet at Takashimaya. So we found this restaurant that served Japanese Wagyu beef (not Kobe), and decided to ride out the rain first (good excuse to eat).
We can't read Japanese, but this is the name of the restaurant. The interior was very unusual, with an indoor shower, leading to a river that runs through the whole restaurant.
They had a lunch set, which started with cream of corn soup, and it was quite tasty.
I just had to have my favorite Japanese beer again, Asahi Dry, even if it was just lunch time.
After which came this sort of frozen, glazed tomato. The taste was very unusual, with hints of sour, sweet and tangy (didn't know where that came from)
After our palate was thoroughly cleaned by the tomato came the main course, the Japanese Wagyu beef we each ordered. It was fatty, and tasty, and grilled just right. Wagyu supposedly is a more general term compared to Kobe, as Kobe is a subset of Wagyu. But there is also US Wagyu, Australian Wagyu, etc. The best, in my opinion, is Japanese Wagyu. It may not be Kobe (more on that later), but it was juicy, fatty and tasty!
After lunch, we decided to not continue on to Takashimaya and instead went back to Isetan. Isetan's store in Shinjuku is huge, maybe 6 floors and a basement, and they had a separate building for men. It's just that things were too damn expensive in Japan, the same thing in Hong Kong would be around 30% cheaper. Anyway, after a few hours, we decided to head out and look for kid stuff. We were told that Uniqlo had a branch with kid and baby stuff in Shinjuku, so we went around looking for it. After like 45 minutes, we finally found the place, but by then we were VERY HUNGRY and our feet were tired as well. We found this place that served crepes, so we sat down and had some.
After the snack, we proceeded to look for kid and baby stuff at Uniqlo. Uniqlo is the Giordano of Japan. Japanese consumers are very fashionable, and are very quality conscious, so for a brand like Uniqlo to become a huge success in Japan, it had to provide good value, good quality and keep up with fashion. Incidentally, Uniqlo's owner, Tadashi Yanai, is Japan's richest man, most recently valued being worth $9.2 billion.
Today's dinner is the highlight of the whole trip. Three years ago, we thoroughly enjoyed Kobe beef while in Japan. Tonight, we're going back to the same restaurant. According to the hotel's concierge, this restaurant is highly recommended as it serves real Kobe beef. The concierge said that other restaurants pass off Wagyu as Kobe beef.
We always read that Japan's economy is experiencing deflation, and had no idea how that translates into everyone's day to day lives. Well, we found an example on Gyu-An's menu. Three years ago, the Kobe beef had cost more! This is probably the only developed country where food prices are actually coming down!
Since we were so giddy, we decided to pair our Kobe orders with sake. Cold sake never tasted this good, I'm not sure if it was due to the mood at that time, or if it was really that good. But I was swigging it down like water, and loving every glass.
Finally the beef arrived. I ordered 300 grams, while Res had 250 grams. Res initially protested that 250g was too much for her, but I had other plans. If she can't finish it, then I will! I couldn't order anything bigger than 300g, as that was their largest, but I sure could eat Res' leftovers and still be perfectly happy.
Just look at that! Please don't ask me what we did after dinner. I actually don't remember. We were so full and tipsy that the next thing I knew, we were ready for bed. Till tomorrow...
No comments:
Post a Comment