Last month, I had the chance to spend about 40 hours in Tokyo on my way to a meeting in Palau. I didn't have much time to explore the city, but luckily I was able to maximize my short trip thanks to some helpful pointers from our good friend John who used to live there. After arriving at Narita airport at about 5 pm, I took an hour-long train ride into Tokyo. That night, I ventured out into the Shinjuku district(see photo below) where I had a late dinner at Tsunahachi, a restaurant known for its tempura.
I woke up early the next morning (thank you so much, jet-lag) and made my way to the Tsukiji Fish Market, the world's largest wholesale fish and seafood market. I wasn't quiet enough of an early bird to take in the tuna auctions, but I was able to still get a feel for the frenetic pace of this place. Like many other tourists, I indulged in a sushi breakfast featuring some extremely fresh sushi at Sushikan.
Around 10 am, I caught a ferry up to the Asakusa district to check out the Senso-ji Temple. Next, I walked over to Ueno in search of a restaurant that is famous for it's tonkatsu. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the restaurant so I ended up walking down to Akihabara, Tokyo's discount electronics district. By then I still hadn't had lunch, and my stomach was rumbling! So, I took my friend John up on his recommendation of Sugino-ko, on the Omotesando.
Afterwards, I walked over to Harajuku station in an unfruitful search for harajuku girls (apparently Sundays are when most of them come out). A quick subway ride brought me to Shibuya station where I got completely lost while looking for the next item on my "must-see" list... the statue of Hachiko (see photo below). It's a good thing I wasn't on the Amazing Race because I would definitely have been the last team to reach the checkpoint.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the story of Hachiko...it's a heart-wrencher (especially if you are a dog-lover). There was this Japanese professor who walked to the train station every morning accompanied by his dog. The man would get on the train, and his dog would return home. Every evening, the man would come back from work to be greeted by his dog at the train station. One day, the professor passed away while at work. For nine more years, his dog walked to the train station every evening, faithfully waiting for his master to return. The locals were so touched by his devotion that they cast a statue of him, and to this day, the statue of Hachiko is a famous meeting spot.
After finally finding Hachiko, I spent the evening wandering about Shibuya and Ebisu, and I even took in an amazing (and free) view of the city from the Ebisu Tower. And so ended my short layover in Tokyo which definitely left me with the desire to hopefully return one day to more fully experience all that Tokyo has to offer.
Below is additional information about the restaurants I dined at.
Tsunahachi
3-31-8 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku
Phone: 03-3352-1012
This is their flagship location. I lucked out and got a seat right in front of the deep-fry station. For me, this was a great spot, because 1) I got to watch the chefs in action 2) I was served my meal straight from the deep fryer and 3) I love eau de deep-fry. You might ask for a table upstairs if the previous things do not appeal to you. My server handed me a menu in Japanese, and he astutely observed me whipping out my English-Japanese dictionary. Luckily for me, he immediately handed me an English version. For 1995 yen (about $22), I ordered the tempura meal (about 6 pieces of tempura: including shrimp, eel, whitefish, and vegetables) which also came with a bowl of miso soup, rice, and Japanese pickles.
Umai Sushikan
5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku
Phone: 03-3541-2458
This restaurant is located in the "outer markets" at the Tsukiji Fish Market.If you're back is to the Tsukiji "inner markets" where all the wholesalers are, this restaurant is in the 2nd-from-the-right row of "outer market" shops. This place has more seating than some of the other sushi restaurants in Tsukiji so you may not have to wait as long to get seated. A couple of things I've learned about sushi etiquette over th years include: 1) if you are handed a wet towel, use it to wash your hands and NOT your face and be sure to fold it as neatly as possible when you are done, 2) it can be considered an insult to add wasabi to your nigiri as the sushi chef as already placed the amount that he considers appropriate underneath the fish, 3) that said, if you want to use additional wasabi then sneak some of it on your nigiri as opposed to putting the wasabi in your soy sauce, and 4) position your nigiri so that you dip the fish and not the rice into the soy sauce. Trying to mind all of my sushi manners, I had a very fresh sushi set (about 1500 yen) which included 9 pieces of nigiri and a few pieces of sushi. Check out the menu of sets here (I had the set on the bottom of the page).
Sugino-Ko
5-1-3 Jingumae, Shibuya
Phone: 03-3486-0160
I am so glad my friend John told me about this place. Walking down the stairs into the basement level restaurant, I was famished. The waiter placed a Japanese menu on my table, and I whipped out my Japanese-English dictionary. Luckily for me, he spoke English and helped me to navigate the menu. A lunch set only set me back 1000 yen (about $11.17), and look at all the delicious food I feasted on. Starting in the bottom right hand corner, that's miso soup with a few extras...bits of onion, carrots, and pork. Moving clockwise, in the small pink bowl are a few picked vegetable whose tartness perfectly complemente the pork. Next, a small cold dish of tofu topped with grated ginger and green onions. I'm not sure if this was the intent, but the tofu and ginger together served as a delicious palate cleanser. In the bottom left corner, a bowl of rice topped with furukake (dried seaweed flakes). Continuing clockwise, in the small square bowl is an egg...just slightly poached so the yolk was barely set and then chilled. In the large square plate, the main entree of char-grilled pork (or for the same set price you can choose fish or udon noodles). The pork was melt-in-the-mouth tender and lightly covered with a teriyaki-esque sauce. Also on the plate is a small salad of matchstick cut vegetables, including celery, daikon, and carrot. And finally in the upper right corner is a essert of almond jello and a citrus jello (not sure if this was lemon or yuzu).
Hopefully, if you ever visit Tokyo, then you will have much more time to expore than I did. I hope to return someday, and perhaps then, I might be able to explore all the placed recommended in this article by Food and Wine magazine.
