Aka Oni, Tokyo
Next up on my “must visit” list of Tokyo restaurants…
…my favorite izakaya, AKA ONI!
Be warned, Aka Oni, or “Red Demon” in Japanese, is technically an izakaya, but do not expect what you find at any other izakaya. There’s no beer or shochu or wine. The only thing you drink at Aka Oni is sake. Over 100 varieties of it!
At Aka Oni, it is sake first, food later. Their whole menu is created around the sakes they have in stock. The bites here are all meant to pair perfectly with what’s in yoru glass at the moment. To that extent, you will not find karaage or yakitori or several other popular dishes so common at other izakaya.
My recommendation here is that you go and you listen. Listen to what sakes the master recommends and order what foods he says will pair with them. Usually it’s about two dishes for each glass of sake you order.
Oh, and did I mention that this place is so reknowed that many of Japan’s top sake brewers create blends you can ONLY drink here? No one is more serious about their sake!
So here’s a look at my last visit.
Aka Oni is down a small alley in Sangenjaya, so look up for this sign…
Then halfway down that alley on the right, look for these eyes…
It’s a small but comfortable establishment…
Edamame tofu and braised pumpkin as your “amuse bouche”…
I highly recommend you start with their Jyuyondai Daiginjyo Aka Oni PB, or Private Blend, made just for them…
More info for those who read Japanese…
We left our food choices for the evening in the master’s capable hands, so with his PB he brought us out a fresh sashimi platter to start…
Along with an incredible corn tempura…
Next we were told to try the Kameizumi, or “Turtle Spring” sake…
Paired with madai sashimi…
And a simple umbeoshi and wasabi mixture…
Then we switched to Super Kudoki Jyozu…
With which the master served us dried squid with mayo…
And a simple whole grilled fish…
I was encouraged to suck the bone dry…
Kozaemon sake was encouraged next…
With a kamoboko fish cake the likes of which I had never had before..
And eggplant with miso, a variation of “dengaku” style…
Last up, a special Aka Oni Kameizumi blend to close out the night..
With what was possibly my favorite bite of the night, whole fresh myoga with a dollop of white miso…
The man himself…
And looking at my face, I think the bar’s name, “red demon”, aptly describes the way the customers look when they leave the joint…
AKA ONI
2-15-3 Sangenjaya
Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
+81-3-3410-9918
I WANT TO GO TO THERE.
no seriously, i want to go there and drink everything and eat everything…especially the pumpkin and the edamame tofu. mmm. i want.
This was a fun week.
OH MY GOD there was a whole WEEK of game of thrones themed pizza. omg. once again, i ask…why do i not live in new york???
so this is kinda awesome!!! lol i dont know where this is but i want to go there.
i mean…the scallion who mounts the whirled.
Shards of Turquoise Ice Jut Out of the World’s Largest Lake
Lake Baikal, located in the southern part of eastern Siberia in Russia, is an incredible natural wonder of the world that one can only hope to visit at least once in their lifetime. It’s not just the oldest freshwater lake on Earth, at 20 to 25 million years old, it’s also one of the largest and deepest, holding an astounding one-fifth of the world’s freshwater.
More at mymodernmet.com
it looks like some kind of dessert world
More people recommended Donald Link’s COCHON to us than any other restaurant in New Orleans! Everyone who heard we were going to the Big Easy said we could not miss this place. We did not. And it was glorious! One of the three best meals we had all week. With one of the best dishes I’ve had all…
i want to go to theeeeeeere
so yeah, i need to eat at all of these places. like…starting now. man i want RAMEN.
its gonna be slightly difficult going to shinsengumi though and not getting sukiyaki or shabushabu and all those little yakitori things on a stick b/c its soooo good…also i think i may have eaten at daikokuya, but then again maybe not…last spring i ate ramen somewhere in little tokyo but i couldn’t tell you the name of the place. i just remember it was across the shopping center from kinokuniya (and maybe up a floor) but it wasn’t crowded at all so it probably wasn’t the same place…and also i wasn’t super impressed by it so i dunno.
the point is fuck my life i want a bowl of ramen so bad its almost physically painful
The fried chicken and waffle sandwich with lingonberry & jalapeño jam at The Skylight Shoppe in NYC…
omfg drooooool
I’m usually not one to post pics of casual lunches eaten at my desk, but I found the layering and symmetry of this sandwich to be quite artistic and had to snap and share…
Update: As so many of you have inquired, that’s ham, turkey and provolone on rye with lettuce, onions, mayo, S&P from Cafe Duke on 51st off 7th.
wow, that is the prettiest sandwich ever. like for reals it looks like art.
Asian fusion burgers at Bachi Burger
Kalbi style burger with sweet potato fries and freshly made soda
I want this right now…
OMG. I WANT TO GO TO THERE. seriously i want to be there, right now, eating a burger with miso on it, and other japanese things, and those delicious oxtail chili fries. is the bachi in LA open yet? can i go there now??
Jizzz.
drooling again. oh god i want it all. miguel stop reblogging dim sum pics its driving me crazy. haha
Yakiniku Yuji, Tokyo
I apologize for the fact that the last week here on Eataku has been a series of quick pics from Tokyo, but as I was on business, I had very little time to write up longer posts. But now that I’m on vacation down in Kobe, I’ll catch you all up with more extensive explanations of my eating adventures, stating now…
Four tables. One couple that runs the joint. Excessive amounts of meat.
And fire.
And smoke.
Welcome to Yakiniku Yuji!
My flight landed a little late last Wednesday, so I unfortunately missed the first few courses of the meal. My fellow Tabengers did save me a few pieces of raw beef liver, but the plate was not quite photo worthy.
My first course was raw harami, or beef diaphragm, with konbu…
Followed by cabbage & kimchi…
An offal platter with beef tongue, stomach and intestines…
And away we go!
Grilled over coal at the table as it’s supposed to be…
More standard cuts of beef…
Melt-in-your-mouth perfection…
A bowl of marinated mystery meats, or “odds & ends” as @offalchris might call them…
Thin slices of marbled sirloin to finish the meal…
Fat was needed to rub the grill to make sure the slices didn’t stick and tear even though you’re grilling them for only a few seconds…
Served with daikon oroshi mixed with a raw egg to dip the meat in…
What a way to start this trip!!
YAKINIKU YUJI
11-1 Udagawa-cho
Matsunuma Bldg., 1st Floor
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
+81-3-3464-6448
The place is abut 50m from Tokyu Hands in Shibuya, down the first side street to your left if you’re facing at the front entrance.
OMG. seriously. all of it. i want it. in my mouth. now.
i dont know when i’m going to make it back to japan, but i will eventually…and so i am reblogging this so that hopefully i will remember it and come look for it when i do go back, and can find myself in tokyo. ahhh i want to go to there.
New From MOS Burger This Month…
The Atsugiri Bacon Burger, or Thick Cut Bacon Burger!
A limited edition burger, part of Mos Burger’s “Tobikiri” line, which are patties made with a 100% Japan-raised beef & pork blend, their new Atsugiri Bacon Burger is topped with a thick cut piece of Hokkaido bacon, mustard and sauteed onions.
Available until October 21st for 420 yen, or about $5.30.
OMG THE BACON LOOKS SO GOOD. with the onions and mustard and whatever that sauce is on top…ughhhhh japan
Empellon Cocina, New York City
There has been so much already said about Alex Stupak’s Empellon Cocina. Where do I begin? I’m not sure there is much more I can add, really.
I liked Empellon Taqueria. A lot.
I LOVED Empellon Cocina!
Yes, it may be Mexican, but this is food that defies classification. Of any sorts.
So go and enjoy everything that’s put in front of you. Not a single dish will disappoint!
A selection of seven salsas. DO NOT MISS their smoked cashew salsa…
An outstanding guacamole with pistachios…
Steak tartare and quail egg sopes…
Watermelon, beet and smoked ricotta cheese salad…
Fluke ceviche with avocado and verbena…
Roasted scallops with Surryano ham and chilaquiles…
Lobster and melted Tetilla cheese with tortillas…
Spaetzle with green chorizo gravy and a poached duck egg…
Sweetbreads with sweet corn and beans…
Lamb barbacoa sausage with chickpeas and grilled cucumber…
Pork belly pibil with pickled onion and an achiote mustard…
Empellon Cocina
105 First Ave. (bet. 6th & 7th Sts.)
New York, NY 10003
OMG I WANT TO EAT IT ALL. seriously i can’t decide which thing i want to eat more. god i want to be in NEW YORK
omg this is amaaaaazing!!! so colorful and pretty!!!
lol its kinda what i imagine when i hear ‘lucy in the sky with diamonds.” like seriously, that is what i picture. all it needs is the girl with kaleidoscope eyes.
Ryutenmon, Ebisu, Tokyo
On day seven of my “Ask A Stranger” Tokyo Ramen Tour, I ended up staying closer to “home” than I originally expected. My meetings were all later in the afternoon and evening, so I was free for lunch and figured I’d go explore. To be honest, there were a bunch of ramen joints I wanted to hit in Ikebukuro that I had read about in magazine or heard about from friends, but that was not in keeping with the nature of this “tour”. So I went and asked another complete stranger for his ramen recommendation. This time it was the kindly, white-haired concierge who was waiting at his desk in the lobby of The Westin hwre I was staying.
“Have you ever eaten here in the hotel?”, he asked, which confused me as I didn’t know there was a restaurant that served ramen there. He explained that while not technically “ramen”, the Westin’s Chinese restaurant, Ryutenmon, had won all sorts of accolades for its tantanmen, a Japanese take on spicy dan dan noodles. Sold.
I took the elevator up to the second floor, got a nice corner table for one at Ryutenmon, and told waiter I didn’t even need a menu; I simply ordered the tantanmen…
It’s quite a beautiful dish with its bold blend of colors…
What you see here are noodles in a sesame soup, which I ordered cold instead of hot given it was another summer scorcher out that day, topped with chili oil, chopped scallion, minced pork and what I believe may have been shredded bok choy on top…
This tantanmen was not at all what I had in mind for lunch on that open afternoon, but it hit the spot. The nuttiness of the chilled sesame soup, the bite of the chili oil (which was hotter than expected and required an early afternoon beer for quenching), and the chewiness of the cold noodles, it all blended into a meal that I found to be the perfect way to start my day!
RyutenmonThe Westin Tokyo2nd Floor1-4-1 MitaMeguro-ku153-0062Japan
ummm….yeah. god i want a fucking bowl of noodles. following this blog is torture.
