Teppanyaki Ginza Ukaitei

Chawanmushi with black truffles.

Seasonal fish with liver sauce.

Abalone or Crab main course

Abolone steamed in sea kelp under bed of salt.

Maestro at work. Meat was well marbled and melts in the mouth.

Best things in life are simple. Aromatic garlic fried rice using just minced garlic by the maestro.

Heavenly soft angel cake.

JiJi Press Building, Ginza.

Level of service and attentiveness is amazing even by Japanese standards. Amount of crockery used to present the food.

Every sleight of hand in serving and presenting the food especially in the classier joints – markedly different.

I’ve come to respect these cuisine craftsmanship in Japan. They take every step towards perfection. Knowing their ingredients, suppliers, their craft.

The pride in that garlic fried rice where the only ingredients were garlic and rice. Truly I felt that the rice was more delicious than the 3 star Ryugin.

I am inspired to be as professional in my work. Customer service is not just smiling and saying good morning, how are you sir?  It begins with mindfulness that I want my customer to have good quality food, a relief from their daily routine. It ends with the customer being appreciative of the work that the service provider has put in. Thank you.

Day 5 Sukiyaki

The  red leaves are real. Green jade grape-like fruits are gingkos pierced with split toothpick to resemble cherries.  How does one get translucent sheen. There’s a firmness to the texture and yet its soft. I’m partial to the smell of steamed gingkos. I’ve tried Gingko yakitori style at Gai Gai. 

After the marbled meat is sautéed in sweet Sukiyaki sauce, it’s dipped in individual bowls filled with raw egg.

Sukiyaki at the Ningyocho Imahan Ginza, 503 Kojun Building, 5F, above Barneys New York.

Imahan has about 12 branches in Japan.  Delightful meal. Meat was well marbled. Presentation was like Ikebana decorated with seasonal flowers and leaves.  Most impressed with the dessert – yuzu sherbet and caramelised pumpkin.

Day 3 Gourmet breakfast in Hyotei, Kyoto

We had breakfast in Hyotei, a 300 year old restaurant this morning.  Located in the outskirts of Kyoto, at Keage station on the foothills of Nanzenji,  in a picturesque but discreet street.   It took some efforts before we could find it。The restaurant looks like an ordinary house on the outside, and only a small emblem with the drawing of a gourd and some iJapanese words indicated its existence.Past the walls, however, was a beautiful zen garden with a flowing stream. There was a balance of colors with maple tree (pruned into bonsai). We arrived early and sat beside the window overlooking the garden.  Breakfast was served by a gentle elderly woman in Kimono.  It was porridge with eggs – my first great Japanese breakfast.

In the afternoon, we took a train to Osaka.  It is only 30 mins away from Kyoto. First stop is food again, this time Yakitori in a beautiful underground restaurant.  We then visited the famous Osaka Palace which is located on a hill in a huge park.  Osaka is famous for its shopping streets and underground malls.  We went to Shinsainbashi, which is literally an endless street of shops.  L stumbled into a dealer of old books and bought a framed set of three 150 year old prints of samurais by Yoshitaki.

The price was reasonable, but he had to lug it through half of Osaka thereafter, and probably through Tokyo before bringing it home.

We visited Namba Walk, an underground shopping mall, where we saw the most beautiful bakery.  In the evening we visited Dotombori, a street famed for its street food.  Japanese don’t eat walking in the street, so they provide proper seating places like fast food restaurant. 

Many cities do not allow advertising on their building facades.  Here at Dotombori, the Japanese not  only allow it, but do it with style,  it is like walking  through a Japanese anime.