Nodaiwa

Nodaiwa is a Michelin-starred restaurant that specializes in exactly one item: unagi. Nodaiwa has been around for over 160 years and is currently run by the fifth generation of the same family that founded the restaurant. Unlike most other unagi restaurants, Nodaiwa uses unagi caught from the wild (instead of farmed unagi). The unagi is tender, fall-apart-in-your-mouth flaky, but comes at a high price: the very cheapest meal offered by Nodaiwa is a lunch set for 2250 yen, plus a 10% service charge. This includes unadon (a bowl of rice topped with seasoned unagi), soup made from unagi liver, tsukemono (Japanese pickles), grated daikon in dashi broth to cleanse your palate, and tea.

While my meal was good, I was left thinking: "hmm, that was kind of expensive for lunch" and "wow, a Michelin star for this? really??" I think there's something slightly faulty with the Michelin rating system when it hands out exactly the same number of stars for a one-dimensional restaurant that basically makes only one dish (because while Nodaiwa's unagi is good, it wasn't mind blowingly better than other unagi I've had) as it does to restaurants such as Tapas Molecular Bar (one of my favorite restaurant on the planet, truly innovative and creative molecular gastronomy).



Food rating: ***
Bang for buck rating: 2.5 (I can think of better ways to fill my belly with 2500 yen)

The essentials:
No website for Japan (but one available for their restaurant in France)
Location: Higashi Azabu,on Sakurada-dori
Average price of lunch for two: 6000 yen (~$65)

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)

Kushinobo

Kushikatsu is what you get when you cross the skewering method of yakitori with the breaded and fried method of katsu (such as tonkatsu). I can just imagine some guy eating tonkatsu one day and yakitori the next and thinking: "you know what would be good? If my tonkatsu was skewered on a stick like yakitori" or perhaps he was thinking the converse "you know what would be good? If my yakitori was all breaded and deep fried like tonkatsu." In any case, when you try kushikatsu for the first time, you think: hmm, it's the same (as other Japanese food), but different. This folks, is exactly where that useful term found all over backpacking areas in Southeast Asia comes handy: same same, but different.

To prepare kushikatsu, chefs just put whatever item they can find on bamboo skewers - shrimp, beef, vegetables - then coat it with panko breading and deep fry it to golden brown perfection. You're usually served one skewer at a time so your food doesn't get cold, and a variety of dipping sauces are available.

Kushinobo was first established in 1950 in Osaka. In Tokyo, they are located on the 5th floor of the West Walk building in the Roppongi Hills complex. I'm not a huge fan of deep fried food because of its artery-clogging attributes, but the kushikatsu at Kushinobo was pretty darn delicious. I swore I would only eat 2 or 3, but ended up eating 10 or 1l skewers. Sorry, arteries, I promise to run 10 km to make up for it!

You may think you can't eat multiple skewers of deep fried food, but trust me, it goes down very easy and very quickly. Just order the omakase (about 4500 yen each), and the servers will bring you the finest morsels, one at a time. By dinner's end, you'll be surprised at how many bamboo skewers you've racked up!

Shiso wrapped ebi and Japanese beef kushikatsu

Dipping sauces for kushikatsu

Food rating: *** and a half
Bang for buck rating: 3

The essentials:
http://kushinobo.jp/
Location: 5th floor of West Walk, Roppongi Hills
Average price of dinner for two: 10,000 yen (~$110)

Pizzakaya

Sometimes, you don't want sushi or fusion Italian or any of the other haute cuisine that Tokyo is so good at. Sometimes, you just want good old American style pizza. The kind that reminds you of all the Domino's and Pizza Hut and Little Caesar's and Papa John's you ate growing up in a household where both parents worked.

Pizzakaya is Tokyo's most "American" pizza joint - the crust is a bit like Domino's, but the concept is a bit like CPK - "innovative" combinations such as Ahi tuna and avocado, bacon cheeseburger and a Pakistani spiced-beef version called Rahat's Pizza. It is by no means outstanding, but it's pretty darn decent pizza in a city where good greasy food is hard to find. When only American-style pizza will do, Pizzakaya hits the spot.

Half Pizzakaya gourmet- half New Love pizza

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

The essentials:
http://www.pizzakaya.com/
Location: on Roppongi dori, walk towards Nishi Azabu crossing from Roppongi crossing
Dai-ichi Koyama Building 2F, 3-1-19 Nishi Azabu
Average price of meal for two: 4800 yen (~$55) for medium pizza, salad, appetizer and drinks

Devi Fusion

Devi Fusion's name is misleading - the food is not fusion, it's solid Indian classics such as chicken, lamb or fish curries, tandoori chicken, etc. Their execution of such classics is just average. However, their huge, fluffy, straight-out-of-the-oven naan, brushed with melted butter is delicious, and worth going for.

You smell the buttery, yeasty, freshly baked smell as the waiter brings you your plate. The naan is perfect, with just enough pull to give each bite that soft yet chewy, yielding bite that makes good naan so satisfying. Lunch sets start at 850 yen, a bargain in this city whose restaurants seem to have colluded to make all lunch sets cost exactly 1000 yen.

Chicken curry lunch set with naan

Food rating: ** and half for the food, *** and a half for the naan
Bang for buck rating: 4

The essentials:
http://devi-group.com/devifusion/index.htm
Location: 3-3-15 Roppongi
Average price of lunch for two: 2000 yen (~$22)

Macchan (aka Mat Jjang)

Sam gyup sal, a popular Korean dish, is uncured pork belly, fried crispy and eaten dipped in fermented soybean paste, wrapped with lettuce, and washed down with a cold shot of Korean soju. It’s a lot like bacon, except unsalted and unsmoked so that the natural savory flavor of the pork can shine through without distraction. I call it “crunchy fat” because when grilled to perfection, the outside layer of the pork belly is crispy and crunchy, giving way to a tender layer of meat in the middle. Carnivores and omnivores who appreciate the velvety, rich texture and taste of kurobota pork will love the juicy, savory perfection that is sam gyup sal.

Japan’s fondness for extra-marbled, extra fatty meat has ensured an abundance of sam gyup sal restaurants throughout Tokyo, but one of the city’s best is Macchan in Shin Okubo. Macchan is the katakana-ized version of the Korean for “Mat jjang” which literally means “best flavor.” The slices of pork belly arrive at your table about 3 centimeters thick, which one of the busy servers will grill for you on a sizzling cast iron grill. After the meat has browned to the desired crunchiness, dip a piece in the salt-sesame oil sauce or dwenjang, Korean fermented soybean paste similar to miso, then wrap in a lettuce leaf and enjoy. Mmmm…crunchy fat – delicious!

After you’ve had your fill of crunchy fried pork fat, ask for a serving of fried rice, which is prepared on the same grill so that none of the pork fat goes to waste. If the main branch of Macchan is packed, as it often is, try Macchan #2 or #3, located on the same street to accommodate the overflow of hungry customers in search of sam gyup sal.

Ssam (wrap) items for samgyupsal - lettuce, perilla leaves, bean paste, garlic

Samgyupsal

Ingredients for fried rice

Prepared fried rice - delicious!

Food rating: *** and a half
Bang for buck rating: 4

The essentials:
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/fl/en/a673500/index.htm
Location: Shin Okubo
Average price of dinner for two (with drinks): 5000 yen (~$55)

See review for the Tokyo Weekender here: http://weekenderjapan.com/?p=17508

Ippudo

The best ramen in Tokyo is at Ippudo in Roppongi. I realize that's a very bold statement to make in a city with more than 4000 ramen shops, but I stand by my claim. Ippudo doesn't make trendy ramen or gourmet ramen (such as ramen shops with gold flakes) or innovative ramen (such as shops with corn or butter or cheese ramen). It just makes the best freaking bowl of tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen you will ever have in your life. The broth is amazingly rich and savory and decadent - like melted down lard, in the best possible way. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the tiny mysterious white flecks floating in the Akamaru ramen broth ARE lard.

My favorite is their Akamaru modern, made with miso paste and black garlic oil, but the Shiromaru classic is a cleaner version, with less oil. A variety of condiments are available to add to your taste - spicy marinated bean sprouts, pickled ginger, pickled greens, sesame, garlic, etc.

Your happiness of eating this ramen makes us happy!

Condiments for ramen

My prepared Akamaru modern ramen - happiness in a bowl!

Food rating: *****
Bang for buck rating: 5

The essentials:
http://www.ippudo.com/index.html
Location: behind the Softbank at Roppongi Crossing
Average price of meal for two: 2000 yen (~$22)