tokyo food file

Fire in the wok, ramen in the bowl: black is beautiful.

 

Fire in the wok. Flavor in the bowl…

 

Gogyo kogashi miso ramen. Black is beautiful. Tasty, warming and filling too.

Kogashi means burnt. Literally. Oil and garlic are ignited in the wok, filling the kitchen with fire and billowing smoke. This is done for each order, which means that at the peak of the meal times, you see these explosions happening every couple of minutes. You won't find ramen more dramatic than this.

There are three Gogyo restaurants: two in Tokyo, in Nishi-Azabu and Yoyogi-Uehara; and one in Kyoto (which is where these photos were taken). 

It's located in a converted wooden townhouse, just around a corner from the Nishiki Market street. It has a small counter where you get to sit back (in simple comfortable armchairs) and watch the show in the kitchen. There's also a nice quiet dining room further back, and tatami seating upstairs. Plus a small hidden bar even further back, housed in the old kura warehouse, accessed through a small entrance, if you want to linger in the evening.

BTW: Gogyo also serves a pretty good tonkotsu ramen. But it's just not what you go there for.

Here's the Gogyo website…

Here's a better map link for Gogyo Kyoto…

And here's a map link for the Nishi-Azabu branch.

 

San-Sun: Japanese wine blossoms in an eclectic microclimate

Anyone who thinks that the only wine produced in Japan is Koshu — or that it's only grown in Yamanashi — should think, and drink, again. San-Sun is a great little place to be re-educated.

 

Every day you'll find half a dozen or so bottles opened for sampling by the glass, many of them available by the whole bottle too. All produced inside the country, from Hokkaido, in the north, to as far south as Kyushu — there are wineries in every prefecture except Okinawa and Kagoshima, apparently — all are worth knowing, and some are excellent.

 

Even the Koshu doesn't necesssarily taste the way Koshu is supposed to taste. This one had a lot more in common with Sauvignon Blanc...

But there's no mistaking the grape in this Pinot Noir...

 

San-Sun (it's also written 3sun or 三sun) is a cosy little place with minimal decoration. Just counter seating for eight, plus room to stand at three small tables along the back wall...

 

It's very straightforward, bright, accessible, welcoming — which of course is a reflection of the young owners, Enomoto-san and his wife. They're doing a great job.

 

San-Sun lies in the little micro-neighbourhood — barely more than two rows of shops, restaurants and bars lining a side street — wedged into the corner where Inokashira-dori comes down to hit Yamate-dori.

Although the address is Uehara, think of it as a part of the Yoyogi-Hachiman enclave that got split off when the looming, hulking, newly expanded elevated section of Yamate-dori was built. It's less than 5 minutes from Yoyogi-Koen or Yoyogi-Hachiman stations.

San-Sun doesn't have a web site as such, but you can track them down via their Twitter page here.