January 9, 2018
Tokyo
FEAST
I stumbled across this place while walking around the Shibuya Station. It had a vending machine where you purchased your order.
Keika Ramen
The pork belly ramen here was really fantastic. The broth was light and savory and slightly salty; it also had a bitter element to it which might've come from the dried seaweed. The egg, of course, makes for a wonderful bite whenever you choose to dig into it. The only thing that was less than perfect was that the pork slices were thin and not the most juicy. So, we'll go with three human tongues.
Chashu ramen:
I'm sure I'll get served the appetizer before the entree one of these meals. Anyway, the pork gyoza dumplings were delicious. The skins were perfectly fried, and the minced pork was more plentiful in these than the others I've had so far.
Gyoza:
After heading back towards my hotel from Shibuya, I decided to take another look around the Shiodome City Center where I had the ramen with the overly salty pork last night. Boy, did I luck out with this donburi joint whose name I don't know! Donburi is a rice bowl, and the way this place served them was after eating about half of the protein and rice, you pour this hot chicken broth into what's remaining for a terrific soup.
Donburi joint in Shiodome City Center
This place didn't really have an English menu, so I pointed at a few pictures in the menu and was extremely happy with my selections. My entree was an eel filet, perfectly marinated and melt-in-your-mouth soft. In addition to the rice, some egg noodles were served in the bowl. The dish came with some sweet seaweed & peanuts, as well as this thick, white cream. It wasn't mayonnaise, but I couldn't place its taste; I didn't use it. When I was two-thirds of the way done, I took the small pot of chicken broth and poured it onto the rice and eel. The broth was perfect, and it was easy finishing the rest. Four Licks all the way!
Eel donburi:
Earning four Licks, as well, was the fried chicken appetizer I ordered...which arrived the same time as the other two dishes. Regardless, these boneless morsels of thigh, and maybe even breast, made for some of the best fried chicken I've ever had. There was some shredded cabbage served to give even more crunch. The chicken had scallion and sesame seeds poured onto it, but I didn't need to any sauce. Golly, for these two dishes alone I'll have to return!
Fried chicken:
My last dish was another appetizer, some sort of root veggie that was sliced, seasoned with pepper and sesame seeds, then fried. It had great flavor and crunch; I haven't come across much black pepper on this trip that I've noticed. But as the dish cooled down, this slick and slightly sticky film on the surface of each slice became more and more pronounced. I wasn't a fan of that, whatever it was. I still give it three human tongues, no problem.
Fried root vegetable:
