Updated with 1 photo.
Thursday was very rainy so Susi and I stayed around the hotel much of the day. There is an underground shopping center connected to the Hilton that has several stores, a coffeehouse and access to the Nishi-Shinjuku subway station. When she got bored, we just walked around there. (Bonus: Two very good naps.)
So most of this post is going to be devoted to food. I’ll update it with some photos later.
Thursday night, David’s coworkers took us out to Sumibi Dining Lin, a Hibachi-style restaurant. The concept is somewhat similar to a galbi/bulgogi-type place in Korea. We grilled different courses of meat over charcoal grills in the center of the table. But, where most galbi places I’ve been to have the grills built into the center of the table in some way, the wait staff at this restaurant brought square cement grills to our table.
We started with a first-course of fresh clams. They were placed directly on the grill and as the clam opens (this seems rather cruel, since you are cooking them alive, but they were good) they poured soy sauce into the shell to flavor it. After that, a succession of marinated meats was brought out, alternating courses with fresh vegetables placed on the grill. In general, this food was not as heavily seasoned as similar food in Korea. You eat the meat with a light addition of sauces provided at the table.
The final course was a congee made with rice and seasoned soy sauce with individual servings of roe and wasabi that you could mix in—very delicious.
I love bento
Based on my experience so far, I really love Japanese food and not just the restaurant fare.
If you go in any convenience store, you can find this huge selection of prepared bento lunches and makizushi rolls for take-out. After our slight misadventure at the izikaya (related below) David and I stopped by one on our way back to the hotel. We got a noodle bowl and a couple of rolls to finish off our meal, but ended up leaving them for the next day.
When you open up the take-out sushi rolls, you can see that they wrap the roasted seaweed (laver, known as gim, in Korea) separately from the rice roll. I assume this keeps the laver fresh and not gummy from the moisture of the seasoned rice. As it turns out, even I could roll this up with no mishap and have a fresh, healthy snack on the go.
They sell similar gimbab rolls in Korea (though I have only seen the triangular version, which, in my opinion, is harder to eat), but the seasonings are different. Gimbab rice is seasoned with sesame oil and wrapped around many different cooked fillings. Sushi rice is seasoned with vinegar. Also, in my limited experience, they are more often wrapped with fish or fresh vegetables with a little sauce. Which you prefer, probably just depends on your palate.
Corrupting our daughter
Ah yes, I almost forgot. The izikaya incident. Our first full night in Tokyo, we decided to wander around the Shinjuku Station area to find a restaurant. Since Susi goes to bed rather early, we opted for convenience and decided to go for a quick bite in the bottom of the XX tower.
We found a place that looked nice (not too dark and smoky, bar-like, with attractive food options displayed) and went on in. The hostess was very helpful and directed us to a corner table in the back in the section of the restaurant that had floor seating. (Also, this was the Japanese restaurant style of floor seating with the space underneath the table to put your legs. Essentially you and the table are on the “floor” but your legs and feet dip down to the true floor about two feet below you underneath the table.) This is so much easier on my western, accustomed-to-chairs body.)
So, we settle in, order a couple beers and peruse the menu. We are excited to find two meal options (one lightly grilled sushi, the other lightly grilled beef and avocado) for not much money (700-800 yen, about $7-8 US). “Fantastic!,” we think, since we’ve heard how expensive it is to eat in Tokyo.
Except when the meals are served, they consist of a small plate with three pieces each. Hmmm. Even though we are not in the ’super-size-me’ U.S., I’m thinking this isn’t really the equivalent of Japanese dinner.
And, it’s not. As we look around, we see more and more Japanese people coming in after work, ordering some drinks, and, lighting up some cigarettes. We are in a drinking house. Ooops.
We quickly finish our tasty, but small, dinner, collect Susana from her cushion where she’s nibbling crackers and playing, and depart, wondering what people thought of us for bringing our 9-month-old out for a beer.
