Showing posts with label autumn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autumn. Show all posts

Sunday, September 22, 2019

[Japan-Takayama] An Autumn Day Trip to Takayama 高山 (Mission to View Autumn Leaves and To Enjoy Hida Beef)

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One of the things that I did while in Nagoya, was to take a day trip to Takayama. Main reason? Because I was looking for Hida beef. Wahahahha! Yes, will travel for food. Well, not all the time though. But I was already there at the northern part, so why not travel up further since I had the JR Pass.

train is approaching
onwards to Hida-furukawa

Since it was going to be a 2.5 hours long journey, naturally I'd brought food onboard to eat first. Just a random bento from Nagoya Train station.

itadakimasu~
miso katsu

It was supposedly miso katsu of pork/chicken and shrimps, I think. But the miso was really salty. The onsen egg was interesting. Least enjoyed this bento.

lovely scenery
美濃太田駅 Mino-Ota Station Train Master

autumn view from train
Takayama Train Station
Reached Takayama in the late morning, and I wanted to take a look at the autumn leaves first, so went to purchase the bus ticket to Hida Folk Village (飛騨の里).  The bus station is right next to the train station, so it was rather convenient. The destination was about 20 minutes away so lunch will have to wait.

bus ticket + entrance fee

small bus

let's go explore!
thatched roof!
lovely to walk around and enjoy the view
autumn is here~
close up view of the roof
beautiful colours


After admiring the beauty of autumn, it was time to head back to the town. However, there was a bit of traffic, and hence, lunch was delayed yet again. Was walking round and round in search for Hida beef. Only one chance, so need to decide wisely.

さるぼぼ Sarubobo

In Takayama, one will encounter Sarubobo which can be translated as monkey baby. Oh wait, I was supposed to be looking for food! Found a few, like beef sushi (pretty famous with long queues) but I didn't want to eat tiny piece of beef. Beef udon curry, hmmm but no, I think I want a steak.

the famed spot for tourists

I walked and walked, looked and looked and finally decided on one but the shop was closed! *gasps* Didn't realise that it was already 3pm where most restaurants or food places close for mid-day break. NooOOoo! Does this mean I will go back to Nagoya without ever tasting Hida beef? NooOOOooOO!

Luckily, one shop was still open for business so I hurried in. The place was empty saved for an elderly Japanese couple having their meal. Almost finishing, in fact.

interior

The restaurant was of a nostalgic western styled and the ambiance was cosy. Feeling hungry but slightly out of place and a little awkward. いらっしゃいませ!I heard the greeting from the lady at the counter. I was alone so she asked if I could be seated at the counter. Yes, of course.

Chef 

There wasn't any English word nor picture on the menu and I was too shy to ask for one. But I think I know the words on the menu with the price tag of 3,600 yen (about SGD46). "ステーキ", I said. The lady smiled and as there was no other order, the lady repeated it to the Chef, who looks like he is in his seventies.

green tea and menu

The place also serves sashimi as I could see the chiller at the counter but I didn't come all the way to have fish! The Chef cooks slowly and he melted the butter first, before seasoning it and then in goes the meat. He poured sauce onto the meat before covering it to cook for a little while. Meanwhile, the lady goes and scoop up some rice on a plate. Seems like I'm going to have steak and rice. Which is a first for me.

Finally, it was ready! Hahaha, it was rather amusing having rice with knife and fork. It was East meets West with miso soup and rice paired with beef steak and salad!

Hida Beef Steak Set Meal (rice and miso soup)

Hida Beef

The meat was tender but not fatty. Very gentle to chew. The sauce was similar to HP sauce with a tangy twist to it. The salad was fresh and miso soup was just nice for something to warm the tummy.

yummy
the shop signage

It was a good meal and I was full. But I still had an hour to spare before the train arrives. Decided to get a cup of coffee. Walked into Streamer's Coffee Company and the place was so spacious! There's a chic feel to the cafe.

Streamers Coffee Company
high benches


There are charging points on the table top, so that was really useful for us travelers. The baristas are young and cheerful looking. Polite and friendly. Plus, able to converse a little in English.

order at the counter

They have seasonal coffee but the flavour then was "Bubblegum". Hmmm, a tad too exotic for me to try so I opted for a safer drink called "Takumi", which is essentially, a latte.

Aya-san concentrating on the latte art

Thank you Aya-san for the beautiful cup of coffee. But the coffee was really a large cup and after having drunk half, I was already about to burst.

Takumi

Coffee was smooth and not too acidic. Milk was not too overpowering too. No sugar was needed. After taking that last sip of the coffee, it was time to head to the train station to return to Nagoya.

Was lucky I didn't wait till last minute to head back to the train station because found out that there was a queue at the gate to enter the platform. I was somewhere in the first 20 of the queue and the gate remained steadfastly closed even though the train was to arrive in the next five minutes. Uh, felt a bit gancheong already because usually I'd already be waiting at the platform. Some other commuters were feeling the same and they went to enquire if it was really necessary to queue. The station master just motioned for commuters to wait in the queue.

With just 2 minutes remaining, the gate opened and we went in as quickly as possible. Took the escalator up to the platform and was able to board on time. Did not encounter this anywhere else as one usually just enters the gate with the ticket and then wait at the platform to board the train when it comes.

Was a nice day trip to Takayama and am missing the Hida beef and the cute barista there. Would like to go back there some day and to stay a night or two to explore more.


Sunday, December 25, 2016

Tokyo Chikuyotei 东京竹叶亭 JR Central Towers Nagoya

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Our first meal in Nagoya was at this place at the 12th floor of JR Central Towers at Nagoya Station. One of the things that I wanted to try was the Hitsumabushi or grilled eel bowl. Authentic ones, please.

As usual, we were hungry. Hotel was nearby Nagoya Station and we were too tired to go hunt for food. Was walking around and saw the directory for restaurants at the station. Hmm, Din Tai Fung? No thanks. But it was pretty popular amongst the locals there. Steak? Ooh, maybe. Grilled eel? Yes please!

this was how we decided on lunch
So having locked on our target, we went up to recce the restaurant. Thankfully, the queue wasn't too long and so we put our names down and sat quietly awaiting to be called.

Chikuyotei shopfront
Once seated, we were served hot tea and wet towel.


We were quick to decide on the Hitsumabushi lunch course. One could choose amongst two styles; Nagoya or Tokyo style. Friend chose the Nagoya style so I had the Tokyo one. We enquired on what's the difference and was informed that the difference was only in the sauce. Nagoya-styled has sauce glazed onto the eel.

Tokyo-styled Hitsumabushi @ ¥3,640 (incl. tax)

One could read the instructions from the card on the 3-ways of enjoying the Hitsumabushi dish. Or, do it free-style as you like!

can't wait to dig in

I liked the Tokyo style and so did my friend. The Nagoya styled eel had a more crispy exterior and a tad tougher. Mine was all soft and nice. Yummy!  But I think mine had more rice, judging from the size of the bowl.

Nagoya-styled Hitsumabushi
eaten with soup
There's sansho peppers powder on the table to jazz up the taste if you think it was a tad too boring. It has a slight numbing effect much like the peppercorn in mala-hotpot so exercise caution!

sansho pepper 山椒

It was a satisfying meal. Made a mental note to try this in Kyoto to check out the difference or simply, to enjoy grilled eel again.

Tokyo Chikuyotei 东京竹叶亭 

Location: JR Central Towers 12F, 1-1-4 Meieki, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 450-6012, Japan
Website: http://www.chikuyotei.com/nagoya-en.html
Tel: +81(52)589-0112
Business Hours:
Lunch: 11:00~15:30 (Last order 15:00)
Dinner: 17:00~23:00 (Last order 21:30)



Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Travel | Seoul 28 Oct - 2 Nov 2014 | Dr. Bang Masan Monkfish 方박사아구찜 @ Sinsa-dong Ganjang Gejang Alley

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Ganjang 간장 means soy sauce and ge means crab while jang means condiment.  Ganjang gejang simply means raw crabs marinated in soy sauce. Yup, that's right, raw crabs. Sounds like something that Andrew Zimmern would eat? Actually, this seasonal delicacy was rather yummy. It was on my "die die must eat" list we visited Seoul in late Oct last year.

Was at Sinsa-dong 신사동 Ganjang Gejang Alley to find a place to lunch at. Convenient as plenty of shops sells the same stuffs, so we didn't know which one to choose. For tourists, Pro Ganjang Gejang is often cited. Their service staff was uniformed and looked like valets.

We wanted to find out if their prices were similar, so we went around asking about the prices. Outcome was yes, most have priced their ganjang gejangs similarly; 2 small crabs for 55,000 with banchans. Usually, the minimum order is 2 small crabs.

Finally found a place that can do two small crabs for 50,000, inclusive of rice. On top of that, we requested for one crab in marinated soy style and the other one spicy yangnyeom gejang 양념게장 style.

Dr. Bang Masan Monkfish
dining area
Yes, this is another place where one needs to remove their shoes.

side dishes with the crabs

Not a whole lot of side-dishes, just 4 types. The konbu and blanched cabbage were eaten as wraps. The soup was bean paste soup with some vegetables that tasted like dried vege that's used to boil soups.

soy sauce marinated crab 간장게장
yangnyeom gejang 양념게장

Raw marinated crabs have very soft flesh. Very much like raw shrimps. To eat it, one simply squeezes it from bottom up and suck on the soft tasty flesh. Plastic gloves are provided so that your hands don't get too dirty.

We squeezed out some of the flesh onto the blanched cabbage (or konbu) and wrap it with some hot rice. The hot cold combo with soy or spicy, tasted awesome! For the soy crab, put some rice onto the shell, top it up with roe and mix well. The umami taste was just heavenly!

rice with millet

The spicy version was very shioks and its spice level was about a scale of 3 out of 5.

Enjoyable experience. Saw the locals indulging in a pot of red stew with noodles. That should be the agu jjim 아구찜, a braised spicy monkfish. Huge pot meant for 2 pax. Ganjang Gejang Alley was used to be known for its agujjim, but nowadays it is more popular for raw marinated crabs.



 
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