tokyo food file

antique glass and traffic lights, kingyo and beer...

A trailer for tomorrow's Tokyo Food File in The Japan Times!

 

Kingyo and beer from tokyo food file on Vimeo.

Las Meninas: adios, we'll miss you

It was party time tonight in the back streets of Koenji, but the tears were flowing with the vino. After a decade as the funnest friendliest Spanish bar in town, on Saturday the legendary Las Meninas closed its doors for the very last time.

Owner-chef Johnny Miller and his wife Taeko are packing it in, taking down the shingle and heading off down to Osaka (NB they'd announced the move a long time ago, and it was nothing to do with recent seismic events). 

To call it the end of an era might be overstating the case. But for the locals who congregated there — and there were plenty — it's going to leave a gaping gap in their well-soused social lives. 

Despite working out of a ridiculously cramped kitchen, Johnny always turned out a great range of hearty and reliably good Spanish staples. It was virtually impossible to spend too much there  — even the Roda I was not a whole lot more than you'd find at retail prices. Not that I ever drank it there: Johnny always had a few bottles of good oloroso in the fridge and the house vino was basic tempranillo but quaffable anyway.

Want to know what you missed? I gave it a wee write-up a few years back in the JT here (scroll down the page). And here are a few more photos, some taken last Friday night others in previous years...

 

the three essentials: a soak, a sip and a slurp

Back on terra not-so-very firma in Japan and there are always three pressing priorities (besides sleep of course): a good soak in a deep hot bath; a flagon or two of sake; and a slurp of fine soba. In that order. The first I achieve at home, naturally. The other two are just a very short stagger away, courtesy of our neighborhood noodle artisan.

Score three out of three. And I get bonus points — and serious street cred — for the umami- (and ammonia-) rich fermented shellfish innards that came with the sake. 

For the dashimaki tamago omelette, I just get to pat myself on the back.

Kamo-nanban tsuke-soba...

Now I really feel like I'm back — and in good shape for my first day of work!

Warung Bintang — from the back streets of Bali to backstreet Shibuya

Even though I put up a major post about Warung Bintang back in November, soon after it first opened, at that point I wasn't totally convinced by it. I wanted to like this friendly little canteen and the people running it, but something about it didn't quite add up.

The idea was fantastic — the Bali street stall decor to go with the basic street stall food — but it was still early days. The staff were still finding their feet, and somehow the look felt a bit contrived. Now, 4 or 5 months later, it's really starting to come together, accruing its own patina and personality.

In my recent Japan Times column, the photos focused on the food. Here are a few more showing the interior, and how Warung Bintang has evolved over the last half year.

 

The decor and layout have been rearranged. It's just as quirky, maybe more so, but it has been lightened up and the seating arrangements have been rethought.

 

Just about everything in the entire premises has been shipped in from Indonesia: the plastic stools, tabletops and colourful tablecloths; the posters decorating the wall...

 

...the packages of snack foods, noodles, instant coffee and cigarettes that fill the window separating the dining room from the kitchen… 

 

…even the air freshener in the restroom…

 

 

Did I mention the posters on the wall? This one's my favourite...

 

Quirkiest of all are the hand-made wooden scale models of the gerobak street carts (also brought in from Bali). Cute, yes, but also a measure of how much the folks at Warung Bintang are putting their own personality into the place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was playing around with the idea of a "street cart named desire" headline for the JT column (I'm glad now we didn't go down that avenue). However, I've got to say, these little models are definitely desirable...

 

UPDATE: Waung Bintang is now closed.

fasting and praying

If you have followed the news from Japan you will understand why I have not been posting on this blog over the last several days. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tohoku, especially those coastal communities who help to supply us — the hungry consumers of Tokyo and surrounding regions — with premium seafood. 

The footage shows total devastation not just to homes and shops but also fishing ports and infrastructure. Among those wiped out was Kesennuma, one of the major centres for sanma (Pacific saury) fishing, as well as for tuna and katsuo (skipjack). It is going to take a long time to replace the fleets. As for the communities themselves, who knows?

image lifted from: www.newsobserver.com

Post script: Now, over a week later and the world's attention is shifting to other crises. But the rescue work is continuing; the emergency shelters are full; and still too many people are not getting the supplies they need. What can we do to help?

One group that is getting food and emergency equipment to where it's needed is Second Harvest. Check out what's needed NOW here...