Restaurant #24: Shabu Shabu Onyasai, Shin-Yokohama

This dinner became a last meal with my friends in Japan. ShabuShabu place, Onyasai, is located near by on Shin-Yokohama station. This restaurant becomes a big chain and several restaurants are already located in Sapporo. I heard about them, but this was my first time to try.

I had a chance to meet with my Hokkaido friend. She moved to Tokyo area a few years ago. She went to the same college in the USA. I was glad to meet her in such a short notice. I introduced my other friend to her, and three of us went to Onyasai together having a dinner.

The décor was pretty. It was a bit dark and Jazz music was played as the background music. Workers were fine, but I felt they were not friendly enough. It was late, so they might be tired... Unfortunately, my camera was out of battery, so the pictures were taken by one of my friend’s mobile phone. (I think it looks amazing! Thank you, my friend!)

Shabu Shabu Set

The menu is complicated; we have several choices for soup, meat, veggies and other side dishes. It is fun to choose each of them, or you may feel much easier to order set menus. Since we were not that hungry, we ordered Shabu Shabu Set (1580 yen), which came with your choice of soup, meat, veggie, and Shime Mono (〆物) for two people.

They used Chinese hot pot, so we could enjoy two different kinds of soup. One came with the basic Konbu soup, and the other was our choice, soymilk soup. It was healthy, and it also provided Yuba (湯葉: tofu skin).

Japanese Kuroge Beef set and Veggie set

Meat set that we chose was "Hayashi Farm’s Mochi-Buta and Japanese Kuroge Beef Set" (林牧場のもち豚と国産黒毛牛セット), which was served with three types of meat; Mochi-Buta Prime Rosu (prime pork loin), Mochi-Buta Prime Kalbi (prime rib), and Japanese Kuroge Beef Prime Rose. All were tasty and tender, but I especially liked prime pork loin. It matched with both kinds of soup.

Our vegetable choice (食物繊維たっぷり野菜の盛り合わせ) looked gorgeous; yam, spinach, Daikon (大根: Japanese radish), Gobo (ごぼう: burdock root), carrot, lettuce, Eringi (エリンギ: emperor mushroom), brown Enoki mushroom, and Nameko mushroom (なめこ). I preferred eating vegetables with Konbu soup, but amazingly, Gobo really matched with soymilk soup. Earthy flavor of Gobo easily becomes strong among the others, but with soymilk soup, it turned to the creamy, gentle flavor. Gobo is a very healthy vegetable, it really help us to digest foods well.


Aww the veggies were really good, so we ordered another Basic Veggie Set (880 yen); lettuce, cabbage, Hakusai (白菜: napa cabbage), Mizuna (水菜), Nira (韮: Oriental garlic chives), carrot, Daikon, Shungiku (春菊: chrysanthemum greens), bok choy, sprout, and spinach. I was not a huge veggie lover before, but once I passed the certain age, I was able to taste the freshness of the vegetables and feel more appreciation to farmers. Oh well, am I just getting old? Shungiku and Nira might have strong flavor than others, but I ate both easily with soymilk soup.

Finally, Shimemono (〆物) came. “Shime-mono” means a closing item of the dinner. After the main dishes and drinking, Japanese commonly eat not only delicious but also like taste rice / noodle item, such as Onigiri (おにぎり: rice ball) or Ochazuke (お茶漬け). Since we chose the soymilk soup, shimemono was “Soymilk Cheese Risotto”. They adjusted the quantity of the soup first (add more or take it out a bit), and add some rice. Over the rice, they shredded the fresh cheese and grinded pepper. It only took a few minutes to complete creamy risotto. It tasted different than I expected, in a good way, since the soup was soymilk. It was a great item to finish up the gathering.

Overall, I and my friends enjoyed this evening with healthy vegetables and tasty meat. Shabu Shabu is becoming popular even in the U.S.. Doing Nabe (hot pot) is a cultural thing for Japanese people; family and friends gather and eat hot pot together in cold season. America’s shabu shabu use a small pot for one person, but we use a huge pot, and put all veggies and meats, and eat them together. This is Japanese/Chinese style, and I always enjoy it!

Total: about 6000 yen (set menu for 2 people, some drinks for each)

Shabu Shabu Onyasai
しゃぶしゃぶ 温野菜
http://www.onyasai.com/index.shtml

Restaurant #23: Maharaja, Yokohama

Cubic Plaza became a symbolic mall at Shin-Yokohama area. They provide foods, clothes, bookstore and some nice restaurants. I didn’t have enough time to take a look each floor, but I went to the 10th floor to eat lunch with my friend.

I used to have an Indian friend in California, and she cooked me some Indian food before. I really liked it, especially a curry. This Indian restaurant, Maharaja, offers lunch menus with a large quantity of curry. The décor was simple, but neat and clean. I liked it. There were two Indian waiters serving. It seems that their menu is a mixture of North India and South India’s local menus.

My friend and I ordered Today’s Lunch, 900 yen, and Malai Kabab (2 pieces), 600 yen. Lunch set came with a salad, today’s special curry, and choice of nan or rice. Wow that was huge quantity for me… It made me full easily.

Today's Lunch

Today’s special curry was a chicken curry. I tried to memorize the name, but they said it was not on the menu… I forgot the full name… But it was extremely spicy and tasty! I tried with rice, and my friend tried with nan. This curry was matched well with rice, but the rice was too much. I wish I could’ve brought some to the hotel. Japanese restaurant doesn’t offer the boxes, so we need to eat everything.

Malai Kabab was also a great item as a second dish. However, we were full with the curry, and had a tough time to finish up everything. I am not sure how they cook Malai Kabab, but I could taste Indian spices and some creamy taste; it could be some whip cream or yogurt. It had a strong flavor because of the spices, but it was my taste than tandoori chicken.

I tried Indian food several times, and now I am getting into it. Next time I go back to Japan, I definitely want to try out some restaurants. Oh well, I will find some here in Taipei… If you have some Indian friends, you should ask them some popular recipe.

Total: 2400 yen (for 2 people, without drinks)

Maharaja, Yokohama
9F, Cubic Plaza Shin-Yokohama
2-100-45, Sinyokohama, Kouhoku-ku
Yokohama
045-350-6324
11:00-23:00 (L.O. 22:00)
http://www.maharaja-group.com/

Restaurant #22: Teppachiya, Yokohama

I used to live in Kanagawa province for about a year, due to my job. So I have some friends in this area. Luckily, I could meet up with one of my friends in short notice. She took me to Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant, called Teppachiya (てっぱち屋). Some of you may imagine something like Benihana, but actually, our teppanyaki style is quite different than Benihana. Either customers cook by themselves or the stake chef cook quietly and elegantly in front of you. Not that much entertainment as Benihana. Although I like Benihana style, this restaurant was the place that you enjoy “teppanyaki” with your friends.

Teppachi Tamagoyaki

“Teppachi Tamagoyaki with Ground Chicken and Cheese” (てっぱち玉子焼き　鶏そぼろ＆チーズ) (730 yen) was a fantastic item to start with. My friend and I could cook, but we asked the waiter to do teppanyaki for us. He quickly beat some eggs, and put onto the heated Teppan.


Cooked ground chicken, shredded cheese, sprout and green onion were added immediately.


Right after he put all ingredients, he started wrapping it with Tamagoyaki.


Then cutting in four…


There you go. It’s done! Delicious Teppachi Tamagoyaki! Taste was fine. I liked the taste of cheese, though I thought that the ground chicken was a bit too sweet. They probably used the sweet soy sauce. Tamagoyaki (玉子焼き) is a type of Japanese omelet, usually made by rolling together several layers of cooked egg.

Fresh Cabbage

Fresh Cabbage (ばりばり塩キャベツ) was 330 yen. Don’t forget to eat enough veggies!

Tomato Pork Maki

Six pieces of “Tomato Pork Maki” (トマト豚巻き) (530 yen) looked cute and was fun to eat. Petite tomatoes were wrapped with slices of pork and Shiso.


Put the stainless cover on it and wait for about 10 minutes…


Beautiful Pork Maki is ready! Because tomatoes were small, Shiso taste was pretty strong. If you like shiso, then you should try this item! Tomatoes became hot, and pork slices were juicy with rich flavor of Shiso. Three different tastes were magically mixed.

Kujo Negi with Pork

“Kujo Negi with Pork” (九条ねぎまるごと豚巻き) (690 yen) was a dynamic item! We enjoyed cooking this. Loooong Kujo Negi was wrapped with slices of pork. The waiter grinded the fresh salt and pepper in front of you.


It was a simple item, but fun to cook and taste great. Just need to cook the pork, so negi was still fresh and even close to raw. The pork was juicy. I loved the contrast of the firmness. I also thought that the color of the head of green negi whetted my appetite.

Avocado with Red Wine and Shoyu

Last item we chose was Avocado with Red Wine and Shoyu (アボガドのワイン醤油焼き), 530 yen. The waiter brought us some slices of avocado, butter and red wine. He told me to put the butter on the Teppan first, cook avocado for five minutes or so, and then pour the red wine right before we eat it.


Red wine gave the accent at the last. Slices of avocado were so tender and melted in my mouth. Especially with the butter, I felt the avocado had much richer flavor.

I really enjoyed their Teppanyaki style. I hope that there are some restaurants with similar style of Teppanyaki in Sapporo. Workers were friendly enough, but could be possible to work faster a bit. Hmmm maybe it was just because we sat at the side of the room. I would like to go back there and try some other items if I have a chance.

Total: About 4800 yen (for 2 people)

Teppachiya, Yokohama
2F, Masuni Daiichi Bldg
2-4-6, Shin-Yokohama Kohoku-ku
Yokohama
045-470-6488
http://www.teppachi-ya.com/index.html

Restaurant #21: Ramen Tessho, Yokohama

As I mentioned, I moved to Taipei, Taiwan. Before I came here, I needed to get Visitor Visa, so I went to Tokyo to do some paperwork. I stayed at Shin-Yokohama for several days and met with my friends.

After the paperwork, I came to Shin-Yokohama to find a hotel. I found a reasonable hotel called “Super Hotel Shin-Yokohama”, located at close to Shin-Yokohama train station. I stayed two nights and it only costs about only 7800 yen, including a simple breakfast. The room is kind of small, but it is enough space for one or two. I was so hungry after checking in, so I went back to the station and found a ramen place for lunch, called Ramen Tessho (らーめん 鐵匠).

I used to work in Tokyo area, and I already tried Tokyo ramen several times. The taste was quite different than Hokkaido ramen and did not like it. Sorry! It is funny that I always expect Tokyo ramen to get better taste, even though I already know the taste is still the same… Ramen Tessho has a variety of menus in reasonable price. It seems that they have Chinese style menu. So I ordered Chicken Paiku-Men (鶏パイクー麺: 900 yen).

Chicken Paiku Men

Chicken was thin and crispy—easy to bite. The chef just deep-fried it. I could smell and taste the special Chinese spices (sorry I don’t know what it is called.) Crinkle, curly noodles were thick, and easy to mix with the soup. I personally thought noodle was a bit too thick. Soup is always difficult to be judged, it is because it really depends on personal preferences. I prefer rich flavored soup. Tessho uses duck and chicken for the main broth, so it was “assari” (light) taste. Plus, Paiku is a Chinese-style chicken, so this ramen tasted very different than regular Japanese ramen, although it had an original flavor. The ingredients were simple—Paiku and bok choy.

I was impressed that the chef was nice and friendly. There were only two workers, and sometimes the waitress was busy to take care of some customers. Then, the chef himself brought the dish and welcomed the customers. Those services are sometimes important to attract more customers. People have various reasons to go out to eat. The main reason would be that they want to eat delicious food. Yet, some could be to chat with the chef or workers. It really happens, and the simple conversation makes a customer happy.

Again, ramen is a personal preference, so it is the best that you go and taste it and decide if you like it or not. As I always say, I would like to try all kinds or ramen, but my favorite is always Hokkaido ramen!

Total: 900 yen

Ramen Tessho
Bekkan 1F, Cubic Plaza Shin-Yokohama
2937, Shinohara-cho, Kohoku-ku
Yokohama
045-471-1100