{  Tokyoen — 東京苑  }

Tokyoen -- 東京苑
Tokyoen -- 東京苑
Tokyoen -- 東京苑
Tokyoen -- 東京苑
Tokyoen -- 東京苑

Tokyoen is a yakiniku place that has a few different branches. We went to the one in Yutenji and had an amazing experience.

They have tons of different types of meat but we chose their most famous ones: the “10 second sirloin” and the “3 second sirloin”. As the names suggest, you only have to grill the meat for a few seconds and then dip it into several sauces of your choice and the meat literally melts in your mouth. The meat is oh so soft, we’ve never had anything like this. The “3 second sirloin” is more fatty than the “10 second sirloin” so we liked the “10 second” one more. We also ordered Kalbi and a few popular meats from the specials of the day. Everything was so good but we liked the Kalbi so much we had to get seconds. As for side dishes, we ordered the Kakuteki (radish that is pickled Korean-style), the Tokyoen salad, the vegetable kuppa (a rice soup dish), and Korean-style cold noodles. YUMMM. Finished it off with the Almond Jelly dessert for only 100yen. No wonder this place is so popular, we loved everything about this place- the presentation of the food (especially how the meat came out!), the ambiance, and the service.

The average price that people spend at this Yakiniku place is around 5000~6000yen per person. We ate a good amount but since we didn’t order any alcohol, our bill was much lower than what we expected (just under 4000yen per person). Not bad at all! Highly recommend this place for meat lovers, you won’t regret it. Make sure you make reservations.

Note: Closed on Tuesday. Restaurant opens at 17:00.

Address // 2-38-28, Nakacho, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-3793-3878
Website // http://www.toukyoen.sakura.ne.jp/index.html

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{  Island Vintage Coffee  }

Island Vintage Coffee
Island Vintage Coffee
Island Vintage Coffee
Island Vintage Coffee

Hawaii + pancakes are both booming in Japan right now so you can imagine that Hawaiian pancake places are basically assured success here. Island Vintage Coffee is another one of these which opened at the end of August in Aoyama/Omotesando area and serves Kau Coffee from Hawaii. The Hawaiian coffee and the Acai bowl seem to be the 2 most popular items here. When we went, about 80% of the guests were eating the Acai bowl. We were hungry, so we opted for the chicken pesto sandwich instead for 1200yen and the Iced Hawaiian Honey Latte(L) for 650yen. The coffee was expensive but I’d have to say it was pretty good and the sandwich wasn’t bad either. The side salad was nothing special.

Come here for a light snack and Hawaiian style coffee if you’re in the neighborhood.

Address // 5-52-2, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-6418-2416
Website // http://www.islandvintagecoffee.co.jp/

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{  VOVO — ボボ  }

VOVO -- ボボ
VOVO -- ボボ
VOVO -- ボボ
VOVO -- ボボ

Another yummy curry place in Gakudai. VOVO curry opened in April 2013 and is making a name for itself with its spicy curry (beef curry) as well as its other deliciously flavored curry. I saw this place on TV so I decided to check it out. It’s a small shop but it has some nice retro touches.

The curry is only 1000yen during lunch time and it comes with a small side salad. During lunchtime you can order the combo for 1000yen and try 2 flavors of curry. We both ordered the veggie + butter chicken combo. Both curries were very tasty and I really enjoyed the flavors. I don’t know how they make the rice and two different flavors of curry look so nice on one plate but the presentation was perfection. The portions are rather small so we felt that it wasn’t quite enough food for us. The little condiments on the side were also good and are spice + pickles to go with your rice.

I still love sync curry a bit more but this is a new spot that is not to be missed!

Address // 2-21-8, Takaban, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-3713-6334
Website // n/a

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{  Toshi Yoroizuka  }

Toshi Yoroizuka
Toshi Yoroizuka
Toshi Yoroizuka
Toshi Yoroizuka

Toshi Yoroizuka is known as one of the top 3 pastry chef’s in Japan and he is famous for his exquisite desserts. I had an amazing opportunity to be part of a French film documentary with both Toshi Yoroizuka and Christophe Adam, a Michelin-rated French pastry chef. This was such a surreal experience, I still can’t believe it happened and I’d have to say that my experience and review may be just a little biased :)

Although I’ve tried Toshi Yoroizuka’s desserts before, I’ve never had the chance to dine at his salon in Roppongi Midtown until now. Let me tell you, it’s a completely different experience compared to simply purchasing his desserts to-go. His salon is a cool chic space with 14 seats. Chef Yoroizuka explained that he never plans to make the seating space larger because this personal feeling/atmosphere cannot be achieved if it becomes too big.

Dining at his salon is a MUST if you are into sweets. It is such a special experience as you get to enjoy freshly made pastries that can only be savored to the fullest when they are just made. For example, I had the mouth-watering ‘Watermelon mille-feuille’ (1200 yen) which is a seasonal dessert that includes watermelon from Tottori, puff pastry straight from the oven, and is topped with homemade salted ice cream. This perfectly constructed masterpiece can only be appreciated within minutes of its creation since the delicate balance of the ingredients would quickly collapse. I literally melted after my first bite. It was SO good. In fact, everyone kept taking bites off of my plate! (Please note that the menu changes frequently so you may not be able to eat the same items.)

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