tokyo food file

bissori hanami lunch

The rain had brought down plenty of petals, but there was still a good amount of sakura blossom filling the sky from inside bissori's magical garden when we visited earlier in the week.

My lunch set comprised a small plate of vegetable starters...

...followed by a large bowl of samgyetang, the rich warming broth containing generous amounts of chicken cooked with jujubes and ginseng...

...and a bowl of zakkoku-mai (multi-grain) rice served with a saucer of crisp nori and some small dried fishes. Very hearty, warming and invigorating. 

In Korea, samgyetang is usually eaten in summer, to give energy and combat lethargy. But bissori serves it in winter and spring as well — just the ticket!

 

What with all the petals on the ground and clumped onto the plastic sheets around bissori's dining 'room', we left feeling absolutely in the pink.

The blossom is all gone now, but if you're planning ahead for next year, check out the view from the upstairs 'loft' room — right on the same level as the sakura.

There's really nowhere like it in Tokyo!

sakura roll cake @ keats house; chijimi hanami @ bissori

Among the desserts on offer at Keats House, check out this one from Chaya Macrobi: Sakura roll cake with sweet black beans and tofu "cream" (it's actually much tastier than it sounds)...

And while we're thinking sakura, a quick reminder that the cherry tree within the magical portal of bissori is now at its peak of blossom...

In fact you can see it peeking over the top of the wall from the outside.

For more, here's my post on bissori from last September.

comfort foods — three warming winter lunches

No beating around the bush at this time of year. What's needed is good wholesome nourishing fare, with a hint (or more) of chili spice. Here are three recent winter warmers that have hit the spot...

Oyster and tasai pho, with hints of coriander and lemongrass — at Meets, in the back streets of Shibuya...

 

Ishi-yaki bibimbap — at Hanchanne, also in Shibuya, right across from Hands...

 

...and ramen at Ichikanjin — formerly of Hachioji but now well established in new digs in Kamakura.

 

Only black pepper here, no chili. But you've got to love the bowls!

 

Full post to follow... 

bissori's hidden garden of enchantment — more pics

A few more images of the tranquil garden of eating at bissori (as featured in my Tokyo Food File column in today's Japan Times)...

'Bissori' is an onomatopoeic word in Korean for the sound of falling rain. It's also used poetically to describe the sound that the oil makes when preparing jeon. (Forest in the Boat is the name of the company that runs Bissori.)

In summer, the garden dining area is calm, cool and shady, like the central courtyard of a Moroccan riad...

 

...above us only sky (and a canopy of cherry foliage)...

In the evening, after dusk has fallen, it has a different feel, subtly illluminated to bring out the ochre colour of the walls.

The furnishings are simple and straigthforward, matching the honest, healthy flavour of the cooking. One of the specialities of the house is jeon, Korean pancakes often known as chijimi in Japan.

Above: a small starter of jeon made with garlic and negi scallions, which came with my set lunch; below: the large, plump, moist jeon served at dinner, stuffed with seafood and negi – almost a meal in itself.

It's all beautifully arranged — like this platter of bossum, soft-simmered pork served with fresh salad greens, which you use to wrap the meat.

Service is gracious and friendly — Kuriyama-san was more than happy to give us explanations (in Japanese) about the Korean dishes featured on the menu.

Here's a link to my column in The Japan Times... 

And here is a map link...

"Sweet but Spicy..." is the tag.

Pickles = kimchi in this train ad.