Same guy that recommended Pizza Strata told me Blacows makes the best burger in the world. Apparently, Esquire magazine said the same thing. It's a good burger. Great even. Best in the world - not by Roncierge standards. First of all, the best burger in the world is served on a pretzel bun, which is the only bun strong enough to hold up to the juices of a good medium rare burger without falling apart. It gives you an equal bread to beef ratio in every bite and keeps your hands clean. The beef on the blacows burger was great, but I find wagyu beef unnecessary for burgers since you cook out much of the fat anyway. Fries, wagyu onion soup and green salad were all great, and the burger really was quite tasty (pictured below).
Lunch one day we went for some Tonkatsu in Ginza. This was truly amazing. I got one with garlic infused. Came with a salad, traditional red miso soup, some kimchee and other pickles, and shiso rice which was awesome.
Wednesday dinner was pork shabu shabu. It was fantastic, but doesn't really photograph well. There was a sashimi course, some soba noodles for dessert, and some great appetizers. Good sake and good company as well.
Thursday, I got up at the butt-crack of dawn to go to the tuna auction at Tsukiji Market, followed by some sushi at Daiwa Zushi
That's a lot of tuna - there were tons of them....
The toro is removed and auctioned separately.....
Here's some video of the auction
Delicious Toro......
Best. Uni. Ever......
Abalone - great taste, but a lot of work to chew - I think I prefer it cooked.
Cod milt row - yes, it's fish sperm. Surprisingly tasty - but it would be nice to not know what it is.
Local sardine.
LOOOONG Day on Thursday. After lunch at a place that makes fantastic Singapore Roast Chicken (and a lot more work), I went to see Charlie Hunter and Scott Amendola at a place called Super-Deluxe which is more basement-hangout than jazz club. But they have about 75 seats and serve beer - so it's a great place for a show. Charlie was in a great mood and really fun and friendly, talking to people during breaks and even giving one Japanese guitarist lessons through an interpreter. They played a killer cover of "whatever lola wants" and I think I heard "Lime in the Coconut" . I was in the last row, and you can see how well I could take a pic with my iPhone.
As an aside, I only knew about this show because I follow Charlie on facebook. I'm also meeting up with a friend tonight who's in Tokyo from NY and saw my facebook post when I landed in Haneda last week. Social media is a burden to some, but it can be a really great tool used in moderation.
After the show I was starving, and really craving Yakiniku. I was in Roppongi, so I just hit some side streets until I saw a sign with beef and a grill. The Motobu beef from Osaka featured at AN Grill really hit the spot! I had some veggies too...
Friday dinner was at La Rochelle. Home of Iron Chef French, Hiroyuki Sakai.
Tuna (sushi) over daikon, tuna roll with avocado and osetra caviar.
Seared foie gras in veal consomme with yuzu, mushrooms, and broccoli.
Fromage.... mmmmmmm
Orange soup with italian marsapone, candy , and a blueberry
Three treatments of strawberry - granita with pop rocks, mousse, mochi.
After lunch I took a walk around the Imperial Palace on the circuit track - one of the 10 best jogs in the world. The views are amazing and the juxtaposition of the Tokugawan palace, its moat, and it's classical Japanese architecture with the modern city of Tokyo is breathtaking. These photos don't do it justice. I walked through the east gardens (the only part open to the public) on my way to the National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo.
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