tokyo food file

Tonki's classic tonkatsu — a few more photos

A few more photos of the wonderful Tonki, as featured in my Japan Times column this week. Open 73 years and counting, it really is a one-of-a-kind.

This is the kushi-katsu teishoku set meal (meaning it comes with rice, tonjiru soup and pickles). Many people order the kushi-katsu separately — as a side dish to go with their tonkatsu.

The bright, gleaming kitchen takes up more than half of the downstairs floor area...

The chefs are dressed head-to-toe in white.

Each katsu takes 20 minutes to prepare, from the time you place your order. 

The menu is short and to the point — and available in English.

   

A Tokyo all-time classic.

you know times have changed…

…when you see images like this…

…on trucks making deliveries…

…outside fast food stores in the heart of Centergai.

Fuglen lands in the backstreets of Tomigaya

From the moment the scaffolding went up, I was wondering who would be taking over the old freestanding house formerly occupied by the stylish Koz Cafe. The only clue was the photo posted on the wall in the early days. Now the transformation is complete: Fuglen has flown in from Norway — and alighted in the backstreets of Tomigaya.

Just as at the original Fuglen in Oslo, it's more than a single idea. The sign over the door makes it clear: it's an espresso bar by day; cocktail bar by night; and a hip little outpost of stylish design all the time.

The formal opening was on Thursday. I dropped by the next day and found the crew chilling outside, having finally got the furniture in and ready for action. It looks great inside, all retro 50s-60s furnishings — the look you used to see in Playboy Magazine half a century ago. But it doesn't feel self-conscious, or a glorified furniture showroom. It's comfortable, a cool place to relax in.

So I dropped back later in the evening for a few beers (a selection of Japanese bottled craft beers) and some of the aforementioned. The man in charge behind the bar is Halvor Skiftun Digernes — and he mixes a mean cocktail.

Here he is preparing a few specials (click on the pics for full-size images)...

 

...including a cracking custom version of whisky mac with added heat to help shift the cold I'd been nursing all week...

Thanks Halvor. Congratulations to all the Fuglen crew. And cheers!

 

And for all the architects and design buffs, here is a freezeframe timeline from before to after...

   

And this is the photo that piqued my interest back in the early spring when the work first started. Definitely worth the wait.

There's a map link here...

More details here at the Fuglen Facebook page...

And there's a Tabelog page too now, giving the opening times (though watch out for the phone number given — it's the number for the Oslo main Fuglen)

And more about what's happening in Oslo at the Fuglen home page... 

hiramasa: a rare yellowtail

We see plenty of yellowtail (seriola) species at our local fish market. There is usually buri or hamachi (amberjack); ready supplies of kampachi (almaco jack), and almost always some cultured shima-aji (striped jack).

But far more unusual is hiramasa (yellowtail amberjack), especially caught from the open seas. We snapped up a quarter-fillet. It's a firm-fleshed fish that makes excellent sashimi.

And here it is on the plate. A rare treat.

Nirvanam in Toranomon — another excellent buffet

As briefly mentioned, Nirvanam recently opened a second branch right by Toranomon subway station, which offers exacly the same excellent menu. The food is plentiful; it's all prepared in-house (not trucked in from the main branch in Kamiyacho); and what's great is that the selection changes daily. Here's a guided tour of what was on a couple of weeks back...

Chicken "kebab fry" (marinated in freshly ground spices and deep-fried, so actually more like kara-age); and an excellent mutton masala with a good level of heat.

Vada (deep-fried lentil doughnuts) and sambar, a soup/dip made in the Karnataka style with lentils, okra and other vegetables, tamarind, jaggery, coconut and spices.

 

Chicken curry in coconut gravy; and porota (pan bread), both Kerala specials.

 

A mild vegetable/spinach curry (vegetarian); with khara pongal, a kind of stodgy rice porridge including lentils and spices, that would have been better prepared with long-grain rice.

 

And here's what it all looked like on the plate.

Or, I should say, plates — as I went back for more...

...a couple of times...

[The last time I noticed the sign asking customers to use/reuse only two bowls].

There's extra hot sauce to pep it all up if need be; there's rice of course, although it's of the Japanese short-grain variety (which means they get docked a point or two in my final reckoning). And there's also dessert:

All in all, a great spread, one you can really fill up on. And good value for ¥1,200. The basement premises are OK for lunch — though as a dining room, I much prefer the original Kamiyacho branch.

Note: it's quite hard to find this branch. The entrance is on the small street parallel with Sotobori-dori. There's a map on the web site here (scroll down), which also gives the daily specials on the lunch menu.

And yes, the sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed that the photo at the top mistakenly ran in the paper along with the side story (on Taj Akasaka).