Kamalaya

Hello world, it's been a long time. My day job had me keeping some insane hours in the past few months, including a lot of transpacific travel. After a particularly bad month, I took a much-needed week off and treated myself to a detox retreat at Kamalaya in Koh Samui. While it's a tad pricey (ok, maybe a little more than a tad), especially for Thailand, it was exactly the rest, relaxation and restoration my body needed. It's one of those things that I can only imagine really justifying in Asia - if I lived a balanced, normal life like I generally did in the US (one filled with daily exercise, wholesome organic foods and nights and weekends to relax), then I wouldn't need to spend a week shelling out a lot of dough to eat only raw vegetables and do yoga. So while a detox retreat is a privilege, working in Asia, I kind of see it as a necessity once in a while as well.

I did a five-day detox retreat which involved daily yoga, detox treatments (such as lymphatic massage, colonics, infrared sauna) and a meat-free, soy-free, dairy-free, rice/wheat/grain-free detox diet that mostly consisted of raw vegetables and certain raw fruits. Surprisingly, I never felt deprived and everything was really delicious.


Pineapple "mojito" - detox style, made with mint, lime and pineapple. You are permitted as many fruit and vegetable juices as you want on the detox

Green vegetable soup

Raw maki made with water chestnuts (instead of rice) and served with a spirulina-wasabi dipping sauce. One of my favorites

Raw pad thai made with coconut tendrils

Raw banana blossom salad

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 3

The essentials:

Location: Koh Samui, Thailand

VeggieSF

At Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco, the dishes are named with self-affirming labels such as "I am dazzling" and "I am sensational." 7000 miles away in Hong Kong, while perusing the menu at VeggieSF (named for San Francisco), I smiled at the inside joke - the most popular item on the menu is a dish called "I am Fabulous." VeggieSF is a cozy restaurant on the 10th floor of a building in the heart of Central serving creative vegetarian cuisine amidst a kitschy 1950's Americana backdrop. The menu is eclectic - although the most popular item is the "I am fabulous," a burger made with pureed beets instead of meat, topped with sprouts, tomato, lettuce and melted cheese, there are also Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Thai and Italian dishes.

Lunch sets include a bowl of soup (winter melon on the day we went) and a drink of your choice.

Winter melon soup (slightly bland)

Sawadika - red rice cooked in banana leaf and vegetable skewers with satay sauce

I am Fabulous - pureed beetroot cheeseburger

Food rating: ***
Bang for buck rating: 3

The essentials:
Location: 10/F, 11 Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong
Average price of lunch for two: $30

Vegematto

Although I'm a staunch omnivore, there are many times my body craves vegetables, and only vegetables. In New York, I used to like to cleanse my system every now and then with a raw food meal from LifeThyme in the West Village (I loved their raw "lasagna" and spirulina pie), and in SF there was always a plethora of vegetable/vegetarian options, from the ready-made items at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, to vegetarian restaurants such as Cafe Gratitude and Greens. As it turns out, it's not that easy to find delicious, filling vegetarian meals in Tokyo.

So I was thrilled (THRILLED, I tell you) to discover Vegematto, a tiny 14-person bar/restaurant at the end of a long side street in Roppongi. Vegematto is really a bar that happens to serve some of the best vegetarian food in Tokyo. The food isn't gimmicky or creative, it's just fresh and simply well-cooked.

A la carte is available, but we went with one of the two chef's courses - at 3500 yen per person, I thought it was a deal (although you might not think so if your definition of a meal requires the inclusion of meat).

Ingredients for dinner!

The chefs prepare the entire dinner at this tiny bar

Marinated veggies (third course, after soup and salad) - fried gobo sticks, marinated onion and yellow bell peppers, broccoli rabe, soy-marinated gobo, tomato cream sauce broccoli

Grilled vegetables - perfectly and simply seasoned with salt, grilled to perfection. Sweet potatoes, turnips, white asparagus, broccoli, broccoli rabe and lotus root

Bread and bagna cruda dipping sauce (made of ground anchovy paste, garlic and olive oil) - if you don't eat fish, cheese fondue is also available (but no vegan option)

Steamed vegetables for bagna cruda

Miso soup

Gohan course - steamed rice served with raw egg, which you mix into the hot rice with soy sauce, served with assorted Japanese pickles and miso soup

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 4

The essentials:
http://www.dal-matto.com/
Location: at the end of a side street near Roppongi Crossing
Roppongi 3-9-3, Dai-2 Roppongi Village Bldg 1F
Average price of dinner for two: 7500 yen (~$85)

Cafe Intermezzo (renamed Cafe Mattina)

Cafe Intermezzo is the best evidence I have to offer you that hippie vegan food can in fact be amazingly, outstandingly delicious. On my trip home to the SF bay area for the holidays, my list of must-eats mostly consisted of tons of vegetables, salads, and of course, burritos. A Tokyo salad usually consists of exactly 3 bites of greens, usually drenched in sesame-soy-mayonnaise dressing. For the most part, a typical Japanese diet consists of rice, mayonnaise-covered boiled potatoes, rice, deep fried nuggets of some sort, rice, over-boiled vegetables or meat stewed or braised in the same sweet soy sauce reduction, rice, raw fish, rice, rice and more rice. My body was screaming for vegetables.

There are salads, and then there's Intermezzo's salad. A gigantic bowl heaped to overflowing with chopped romaine lettuce, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, cucumbers, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, croutons and avocado. There are a variety of dressings but their homemade poppyseed is their signature and hands down the best. The salads are served with a thick wedge of their homemade honey wheat bread, a dense, chewy, hearty bread, the likes of which you will not be able to find anywhere else.

Their sandwiches range from veggie versions including Tofu Madness (highly recommended) to PB, banana and honey to various versions that include meat. I usually switch between the Tofu Madness or Hummus, but this time a friend and I got both and decided that the Tofu Madness is definitely the winner. The portions are big enough that sharing one sandwich and one salad will be more then enough for two.

Rabbit food never tasted so delicious.

As a very minor sidenote, Cafe Intermezzo has changed their name to Cafe Mattina but the menu, interior, concept and food is exactly as I remembered.


Tofu madness sandwich - thick marinated tofu patties with tomatoes, lettuce and alfalfa sprouts on Intermezzo's homemade honey wheat bread


Intermezzo salad tossed in signature poppyseed dressing - a humongous bowl of delicious green goodness

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 5 (you're not gonna get better than this - even Telegraph Ave's homeless people can afford it!)

The essentials:
No website
Location: Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, California
Average price of meal for two: $20

Tofuya Ukai

When I moved to Tokyo this summer, I resolved to eat through at least 20 Michelin stars within one year. I printed out a list of all of the Michelin-starred restaurants and started researching some of the ones that sounded good. How does a restaurant "sound good" just by the name? I don't know, it's a lot like choosing a book based on its cover. For example, an Italian restaurant by the name of Monnalisa was immediately noted with a "pass" because the name just sounds so cheesy for an Italian restaurant, whereas the name Tofuya Ukai immediately caught my eye because I suspected it might be a restaurant specializing in tofu, which it is. I put a star next to it, indicating it was one of the restaurants I wanted to garner a star from (along with Tapas Molecular Bar and Ryugin and a few others).

Maybe it was the Michelin star or maybe it's the picturesque location with Tokyo Tower in the backdrop of a beautiful, serene traditional-style building with a lush Japanese garden, but securing a reservation at Tofuya Ukai was the most difficult one I've encountered to date while living in Tokyo. Weekends get booked months in advance, as do dinners, so I had to settle for a lunch slot. The full menu is available at lunch, as are a few lunch-only options. We opted for one of the abbreviated lunch options since we had reservations at Tapas Molecular Bar that night.

The first impression is quite...well, impressive. After you walk through the garden, which makes you feel like you are in a small town or village rather than steps away from the chaos of central Tokyo, you are greeted by extremely polite female servers in traditional garb who escort you through the silent hallways to your private dining room, each of which has a gorgeous view of the garden.

However, like a book with a captivating cover but badly written story, Tofuya Ukai's cuisine was sadly disappointing. It wasn't bad, per se. Just...underwhelming. I love the tofu kaiseki at Ume no Hana, which was not on the 2009 Michelin list, so I (falsely) assumed that Tofuya Ukai would be even better. But I think Ume no Hana does a much better job of presenting a vast array of tofu-derived food items that dazzle and delight, while Tofuya Ukai leaves you slightly hungry and wanting (for more variety, more flavor, more...tofu - strangely, there weren't all that many tofu dishes in our tofu kaiseki). Afterward, I couldn't help thinking: "THAT was a Michelin-starred restaurant? The Michelin guide is SO losing its credibility."

I recently purchased the 2010 Michelin guide and discovered that Tofuya Ukai lost its star. So maybe the Michelin guide isn't completely un-credible.


Lotus root cake and simmered mushrooms in starch-thickened broth.


Deep fried tofu skin and tamago (sweet omelet roll)


A tiny (but beautifully presented) portion of sashimi


Quail meatball and yam in simmered broth. The quail meatball had some strange crunchy bits, which I couldn't help but wonder were bones or beak of quail. Shudder. Needless to say, I didn't finish the meatball.


Hassun - assortment of small dishes. Our hassun included rice cracker-batter fried shrimp, pickled turnip and salmon roe and tofu with peanut dressing


Fresh tofu in soymilk broth - this was my favorite of all the courses. The broth is savory and very satisfying.


Rice with salmon, pickles and miso soup. The salmon was severely overcooked and I refused to eat it - after one bite, I declared: a Michelin-rated restaurant should NOT overcook salmon (which even the most basic decent chef will not screw up)


Steamed sweet potato dessert with red bean paste - slightly bland and not very good


Private dining room with view of garden

Food rating: ** and a half
Bang for buck rating: *** (the scenery is gorgeous, at least!)

The essentials:
http://www.ukai.co.jp/shiba/
Location: at the foot of Tokyo Tower
Average price of meal for two (lunch): 13,000 yen (~$145)

Ume no Hana

When a fellow food-lover friend told me he'd be visiting Tokyo for exactly 48 hours, I asked what his priorities were: sightseeing? Karaoke? Clubbing? Sushi? Kaiseki? I was thrilled when he informed me that it was all about food for him, noting that if he wanted to learn about the culture, he could read about it on Wikipedia. Which left me with a blank slate to plan (my second favorite thing to do after eating). I asked if he liked tofu, and he responded: "I'm a good Chinese boy, of course I like tofu."

After calling Tofuya Ukai (a Michelin-starred tofu kaiseki restaurant) again and again and finally reaching a reservationist, I was told that they were completely booked for every single meal during the weekend for the next 4 weekends. But determined to try tofu kaiseki, I made a reservation at Ume no Hana in Aoyama/Gaien Mae.

The lunch kaiseki courses start at around 5000 yen (~$55) and consist of about 10 different tofu, yuba or wheat gluten based dishes. It's the perfect meal to take a vegetarian visitor, but I think tofu kaiseki is a terrific experience for omnivores as well - the meal is beautiful, served in a private tatami dining room and every course was delicious. We had just spent about $300 each at Ryugin, the much hyped two Michelin-starred modern Kaiseki restaurant, the night before, but I honestly thought that our tofu kaiseki meal at Ume no Hana was much better bang for buck.


Fresh tofu wrapped in yuba skin, cooked tableside and served with sesame-soy dipping sauce that you prepare to your taste


Milk/cream tofu with green sauce (looks so simple but was so delicious), yuba skin in broth, spinach gomae salad


Tiny sashimi, chawanmushi (egg custard with gingko nut, shitake and other little surprises - Ume no Hana's is one of the best chawanmushis I've ever had)


Fried gluten mochi and deep fried tofu tempura


Tofu gratin


At most kaiseki meals (and other meals in Japan), rice and soup is the penultimate course, right before dessert.


Soybean milk ice cream and azuki jelly

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 4

The essentials:
http://www.umenohana.co.jp/
Location: several, but I went to the one in Aoyama/Gaienmae located in Aoyama M's Tower
Average price for meal for two (lunch): 10,000 yen (~$110)

Hachinoki

Shojin ryori is a type of Japanese Buddhist cuisine, that according to Hachinoki's own website, was brought to Japan from China and Korea. Niiice, I like it when Japanese people finally admit that something good was originally brought over from Korea.

"Shojin" means a devotion to pursue a perfect state of mind banishing worldly thoughts and making efforts to keep striving for limitless perfection at each stage. Again, this is according to Hachinoki's own website, and like a lot of the English I encounter in Japan, seems to make sense and yet leaves me kind of scratching my head asking...wait, do I really understand what it says?

I don't know about pursuing a perfect state of mind by banishing worldly thoughts, but I personally find banishing worldly thoughts overrated anyway. My perfect state of mind is found when I am eating a perfect meal with good friends over good conversation.

Kamakura was my first jaunt out of Tokyo after moving here - it's a peaceful town just an hour outside of Tokyo filled with more temples and shrines than you can possibly visit in one day. It's also a beach town for surfers, but I never managed to get to the ocean during my day trip. A couple temples plus the Daibutsu (Big Buddha), rounded out by a nice shojin ryori meal pretty much takes up the whole day.

My lunch at Hachinoki was delicious, healthy and filling. It's the kind of food I came to Japan for...along with sushi, udon, soba, okonimiyaki and I guess pretty much all Japanese food.

There are three branches of Hachinoki in Kamakura so even without a reservation, getting a table for lunch wasn't difficult. They don't have English menus but the menus thankfully come with beautiful color photos so you can just point and choose your meal.


Rice with tiny dried anchovies to sprinkle on top, clear broth with yam and vegetables, tsukemono (pickles), gomae (spinach in sesame dressing), assorted stewed vegetables (eggplant, bamboo shoot, gingko nut and an orange leaf shaped blob made of tofu), grilled eel, tamago, oden and tofu)



Grilled female fish - there was barely any meat, mostly roe, which was bursting out of the fish

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 3


The essentials:
http://www.hachinoki.co.jp/site2/index.html
Location: Kamakura, Japan
Average price for meal for 2 (lunch): 7000 yen (~$80)