tokyo food file

Chippie off the old block: Malins in Roppongi

Fish and chips: the still-United Kingdom's best-known food is no stranger to Tokyo. But few places get it half-way right. Not like they do it at Malins, the new pint-sized hole-in-the-wall that opened in July just across from Roppongi Midtown.

The full story is in my latest Japan Times column. Here are a few images to set the scene. Starting with the main event: Cod and chips; mushy peas; and a real honest-to-goodness battered sausage. Plus a small bottle of London Pride…

 

Only arch-traditionalists will be unhappy that it's not served wrapped up in day-old newspapers. There's still plenty of tabloid fodder to read – almost all about the Royal Family and their nuptials – on the faux newsprint boxes. To go with the old photos of grouse shooters in the Highlands and the prominent Union Jack flag be the entrance.

 

The man responsible for getting everything tasting absolutely right is Phillip Raeside, the resident chippie. He may look fresh-faced, but he's a 12-year deep-frying veteran from the Scottish Lowlands (Kilmarnock to be precise).

 

What else is worthy? The selection of ales, almost all of them in bottles…

Ditto the soft drinks – the Fentimans is good; and even Organic Elderflower Pressé (would you believe it?)

 

The only thing that's not available (yet) is a good pickle. Those jars on the counter filled with gerkins, pickled onions and pickled eggs are only for show right now. But they say they're working on it…

 

Perhaps the most unusual thing about Malins – other than it tastes so good – is that it's open virtually round the clock. 11 am - 9 am the next morning. Perfect for when you've been out boozing or clubbing and are ready for some solid fuel to get you home… 

 

You'll find Malins right across from Tokyo Midtown. Here's a map link…

A great British night out

It was British night at The Market SE1, and Yasu-san cooked up a classic. Nothing fancy, of course. And the tableware could hardly have been simpler. 

As the starter: crab cake with a curry-spicy Bramley apple sauce…

 

For the main course: generous chunks of Guinness-braised beef, with Yorkshire pudding and three veg.

 

And for dessert: a selection of SE1 gelatos. That's hojicha with milk-choco on the right; and the same choco with fresh fig/black sesame on the left.

 

SE1 is a small place, with only a few seats inside, though there are also a couple of benches on the street outside, where you can gaze at the passing Enoden streetcars. The kitchen space is minuscule, so Yasu-san only prepares limited amounts. Needless to say the beef sold out fast.

Those who got there late had to settle for fish & chips. They're good, though: he goes down to the pier at the end of his street in the morning, and picks up whatever has been freshly landed: it could be kamasu (baracuda), saba (mackerel), or even hamo eel.

A fun way to spend an autumn holiday evening.

Blue Hawaii sake & Pringles: expect the unexpected one more time

Blue? Sake? In a chemistry beaker?

 

Not from Honolulu. This Blue Hawaii is from Akita. And yes it is nihonshu, even though its official classification is as "liqueur". That's because it's been steeped with kuchinashi (gardenia) fruit, a traditional herbal food (and drink) colouring.

 

And what's with the Pringles? 

 

This calls for a beer. Here's looking at you... 

 

Fish'n'chips in Den's inimitable style — home made "pringles" served with double-bite-sized morsels of hamo eel, deep-fried in a coating of potato chip fragments. Sudachi and sea salt on the side.

As always, there's only one thing to say: at Den, expect the unexpected. 

 

So good.

 

PS: Just to be clear, the Blue Hawaii is not some kind of novelty sake. It's made by the excellent Shirataki brewery in Akita (AKA Yamamoto Gomei). There's a very nice write-up of this brewery on Natsukipim's blog here… 

fish 'n' chips and a pint, home and away

I've been spending some time in the Old Country this summer – and I haven't been skimping on the pub grub. And, yes, among plenty of other good things, I've put away my share of fish and chips.

Too often this "icon" of British cooking can be disappointingly limp, or even worse. But not this one, served at a favourite pub in the West Country. The fish, a lovely piece of haddock shipped straight from the port in Cornwall, is cooked in a nice crisp ale batter. The chips are fat and satisfying, just as they should be: golden on the outside, moist and tender inside.

On the side, there are small pots of good mushy peas and tartare sauce, with a wedge of lemon and half a gerkhin to give a nice sharp accent. Here's a close-up:

 

Even after all these years, there's nowhere serving anything quite like this in Tokyo. But who cares? We have our own alternatives – and they're just as tasty…

Fresh-caught young aji (horse mackerel), lightly deep-fried and served with proper chips (rather than the ubiquitous skinny-cut French fries), and downed with a fine local ale. 

This is how they do it at the Mokichi Craft Beer bar down in Fujisawa, just an hour or so south of Tokyo.

The fish, aji, is a speciality of the Shonan coast of Kanagawa, here served with a light sprinkling of salt and aromatic ao-nori seaweed.

 

Better yet, there is a range of excellent craft beers to go with it – none more so than this nice, hoppy pale ale, perhaps my favourite of the brews produced by the Shonan Beer company (aka Kumazawa Shuzo).

 

The Kumazawa folks now have three outlets where you can sample their their fine offerings, of which the Fujisawa pub (above) is the newest and smallest.

Further down the coast, in Chigasaki, is Mokichi Foods [sic] Garden, a much larger restaurant which boasts its own wood-fired pizza oven and serves substantial meals to go with its beers.

Best of the lot is the brewery itself, about 20 kms inland from Chigasaki. Still a working (and now thriving) sake producer, the original warehouses have been beautifully converted into two restaurants. On one side of the grounds is Mokichi Trattoria, also with a wood-fired pizza oven. On the other, is a Japanese restaurant – called Tensei, after the brandname of the sake produced by Kumazawa. 

I gave it a detailed write-up several years ago in my Japan Times column, here.

And I'll be posting a few more of my recent UK eating exploits over on my other blog, here…