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I'm Canadian so this non-smoking issue is a big thing. More spexcifically, I'm from Ontario where it has been illegal to smoke in public places (restaurants, cafews, and even pubs) for more than 10 years now. I guess I've been spoiled. Here in Japan, if you're lucky enough to be at a place where they actually have a separate non-smoking section, then most times it's a "joke" of a separation. At this particular internet establishment, the smoking section is the entire floor below. I think that was bad planning on the management's part because smoke wafts up and through the floor boards and vents. I will actually go home smelling as if I've sucked back a few cigs in the outdoors. But comparatively speaking, this arrangement is actually better than most public places that I've frequented. At some establishments, the non-smoking section is right beside the smoking section and the only thing separating the two sections is a wall of air. Other places have a very thin dividing wall made with rice paper --- or if you're lucky, it will be made of thin bamboo. I've been at one restaurant where there was a piece of glass separating the non-smokwers from the smokers. And these guys were sitting at the same table in the misddle of the room!!! I guess that way, you could still dine with your smoke-inhaling junkie friends and be able to shout at them over the glass pane. When sitting the glass was taller than most people's heads. Needless to say, most of these places are only putting on airs in terms of trying to satisfy the non-smokwer clientele. Let's face it, when there's nothing but air between you and above you, because smoke rises and then comes back down again once it hits the ceiling, you will go home smelling like smoke. And most probably that smell will stick to your clothes like mildew on the bathtiles during the hot, humid Japan summers.But it's not all horrid stories and establishments like those described above. Some places actually do have adquate separation for smoking and non-smoking patrons. I've visited quite a few of the downtown cafes where an entirely separate and glass-enxcased room full of smokers was visible. Actually, you could see the room, but usually the air within is so incredibly smoky that you couldn't actually see the patrons on the inside. In those situations, you might only be able to glimpse hints of patrons ... a dark suit, a pair of black shoes. So while, the complete separation was a big success, I actually think that maybe they overdid it on the lack of ventilation to the outside world. Basically, at those kinds of closed-off smoking room places, the only time the smoky air gets circulated is when the door opens and closes. Or if people have to get up to use the bathroom. Other than that, I feel really sorry for the smokers in those places. It's like inhaling 2 entire packets of smokes in the 45 minutes that you're having your break. I suppose one way to fix that problem is just to give up smoking altogether. I'm sure big tabacco is hating my blog right now and placing it on a DNP list.As they say here in Japan, "shoganai ne?" or "it can't be helped". Until someone keels over and dies from actual smoke inhalation or lung cancer from smoke inhalation, it may not become the problem that it was in North America. Right now, I try to only frequent places that have adequate separation, but it's not always possible or fungible given time constraints.For all you non-smokers out there, here's my personal list of where to go for the best protection from smokers (meaning that you also won't smell of smoke when you get home):* Tulley's Cafe at Shibuya in front of the Bunkamura building* Tulley's at Ebisu's East Exit, and down the steps in front of the Starbucks* Tulley's north and west of the Shinjuku Central West exit on the main street* Gran's Internet Cafe, Shibuya* Dean and Deluca, Shinagawa station
One of my friends was leaving Japan (again) and we organized several good-bye dinners for him for various reasons. This first one we had at an Izakaya near Shinagawa station. I've forgotten the name and I can only remember that it was in the basement of one of the tall buildings on the east side exit of Shinagawa station. It was right beside a set of circular stairs and just outside there was a small garden and fountain that was shared with the building opposite. I know that the facing building had a Starbucks. And I seem to recall that we went to a Hokkaido chain restaurant on the 5th floor in the winter.
Aside from these horrible directions, the restaurant itself was memorable. There was a fireworks display on the ceiling (in lights and lasers with accompanying sound effects) and it had these backlit latterns up on one wall. The whole pit area was open concept so it seemed so spacious when you had one of the outside booths. They also had those small private, Japanese style, tattami rooms, but we had requested an outside booth to be able to enjoy the fake fireworks.
The place was busy for a weeknight. I remember watching one group of four being turned away at 7:30 pm and thinking how glad I was for my Japanese friends who had called in advance and booked our seats for the group. The place continued to be busy for the next hour or so when people actually started leaving.
We closed the place after trying a diversity of Japanese and Korean style plates and downing a good variety of Japanese alcohol. If I can find the email describing the place, the name and how to get there, I will include it when I fix up this post. But for now, you can enjoy the view of the purplish backlit latterns.
We go to this restaurant all the time. It got Tex-Mex food ... but with a Japanese twist. I notice that the restaurants here like to do that --- put their own twist on old favourites. Although, this restaurant does indeed change the original recipes to suit the local tastes, this particular restaurant is a gem amongst Japanesified western restaurants. It's spacious for one thing. And it's solidly built; the inside support beams will attest to the solid foundation of this building. The food is true remind-you-of-home comfort food. The outside doesn't look like much but it's going for the Old West abondoned look. The restaurant is called Zest and apparently, it has about half a dozen locations around Tokyo. The newest addition can be found in Hiroo, but that location only has burgers and none of the other Tex-Mex food items on the Ebisu menu. I haven't been to the other locations to test out their food or question their waitstaff, but I do frequent this one regularly.
I know that during the weeks, for lunch, they have English speaking waitstaff and the manager speaks English very well, but by his accent, I would guess him to be of Hispanic language origin. Most of the other staff are Japanese, but are super friendly. They are always willing to accommodate your special needs. If you order the beef steak jambalaya, they actually will cut up the egg (they like to put fried, sunny-side eggs on everything here) and mix it up in your rice jambalaya dish for you. Once we sat beside a rather large party for brunch on the weekend and we saw their spicy chicken wings being mixed up right there in front of them at their table. Since they ordered what seemed to be a rather large amount of wings, this table required 2 waitstaff to mix up the wings for them. They sang a song while they were mixing.
On most weekends that we've been by, the first floor has been rented for private parties, but the 3rd floor is open. On those days, the hostess will greet you at the front entrance, but direct you to the elevator within the garage so that you can get to the 3rd floor.
All floors are spacious. I never feel like I'm cramped between tables. And for all the tall people out there, the ceilings are also high. The lifts are small-ish as is the standard here in Japan.
I don't work for the place and the restaurant didn't pay me to write about them. I just love going because, except for the Japanese staff, and the location, it's mostly a western feel and reasonable lunch fare prices.
I guess it's been a while since I last blogged here. It's been a busy month. Those intensive Nihongo classes really take up a lot of time in the most unexpected ways.
Speaking of Nihongo classes, I just took my classmates to one of my favourite yakiniku type places in Tokyo, Negishi. I've only ever been the Shibuya branch, but there's apparently one in Shinjuku and one other large neighbourhood as well. We went to the one in Shibuya as it's just a stone's throw from the school.
Upon first glance at the relatively simple menu, they thought the prices were rather high for what you were getting. But after one bite, they were converts. They, like me, think the food there is fantastic. The meat there is done well and the sauces are spiced up nicely. We each ordered a set different menu course and sampled from each other's plates. Although, the tororo soup, the pork soup stock, rice mixed with oats, and the pickled veggies seemed to be staples for almost every dish, so there was really no need to share those ones.
Here's a close up of our various dishes:
Access to the one in Shibuya:
1. get to Shibuya eki on any line and get to the Hachiko exit
2. walk up the street that's got the 109 on the right and the Tsutaya with the Starbuck on the left; make sure you are on the same side as the Tsutaya record store.
3. When you get to the cross street with the 2 Marui Department stores (logo is 0101 in large red and white) cross in a straight line towards the one that has a MacDonald's at the bottom. The other Marui should be visible to your right.
4. Once you pass that intersection, turn left and the Marui with the MacDonald's should now be on your right.
5. Walk about 2 small blocks and look to your right and down into a stairway going to a basement restaurant. That's Negishi. It is just passed an Excelsior Cafe shop. Across the street diagonally, you will see the Parco Department store. If you hit a Denny's on your right, you've gone too far.
Good luck. It's well worth the effort. My set menu with 2 kinds of bar-b-q meat and sauces and other side dishes was about 1400 yen. My friend had the stew and 2 side dishes and that was 1200 yen. You can get a set meal for 800 with a single type of meat (pork or beef) and one flavour.
Tokyo is definitely not hurting for its share of coffee shops. There's a Starbucks or two or three (or five or six) strategically placed around the busiest train stations. Even if you can't find one, there are the look-alikes. I like to call them that because the logo is similar to Starbucks in that there is a circle and the name of the shop and the sign is always perpendicular to the building so that as you are walking by on the street, your eyes can't fail to see the coffee shop sign. I'll have to do a special blog on coffee shop signage because it's just so weird to see. I'll have to go back to a strip of street that has 3 or 4 coffee shops in a row where you can see them all together in one photo.
Other shops that I patronize because I know that they have soy milk that I can drink include: Tulley's, Dean & Deluca. I have tried a few other coffee shops but with no soy milk, I have been relegated to having only a plain cup of coffee. I try to avoid those as much as possible.
In this post's accompanying video, I had a plain cup of coffee. I wasn't at one of the cornerstore coffee houses described above, but actually it was New Year's time here in Japan and only the larger restaurants, or the ones located strategically in tourist like places, are open. This happened to be a Teppanyaki place (more in another post) and after the main course, they move you to a dining area away from the chef and the grill. For the dessert course, they seat you at a regular table, with no chef to watch. At this venue, the waitress actually prepared our coffees in front of us. We watched it fresh brew into single serving cup sizes literally right under our noses. This seems to be a popular style of serving coffee here as the patrons can see how fresh the coffee actually is.
After this experience, I noticed in the grocery stores that they sell packages of coffee grinds in single serving, disposable funnels and strainer. The brands I like are Key Coffee and Mon Cafe. These days, I prefer this style since usually, I am only making coffee for one at home. I used to have a cafeterre stove top coffee making contraption from Montreal until I left it on the stove a little too long on an emergency run to the grocery store and came back to the super strong, bitter scent of roasted coffee grinds. Now, I can't get rid of the smell and the coffee it produces doesn't taste as good. I haven't been able to get back to Montreal to replace it. Now, I may just leave it as a relic from my university days and keep buying these single serving coffee grinds with funnel and strainer. It's so convenient and there's nothing to clean up afterwards. I recycle both the grinds and the funnel paper.
