the best unagi

Behind these doors lie the best unagi in the world.

This seemingly nondescript restaurant in Akasaka has been standing in this spot for almost a century, serving up the best unagi in the city. Even their pet fishies know how to eat. Apparently, the eel are kept alive until somebody orders unagi. So while they were making our unagi from scratch, they kept us busy with some delicious chicken yakitori. They make a mean chicken yakitori, this place. The outer crust is coated in sweet, delicious yakitori sauce, and the meat inside is incredibly tender, juicy and drenched in flavor. The chicken served in Japan is so fresh ... I can almost say that it barely resembles the roided up chicken that we get here in the US—oops I did say it. Afterward, a hot broth with the eel's liver. And finally, the piece de resistance, the unagi. The meat was so fresh that the texture was smooth and silky. There was no trace of fishiness in the taste, just delicious, flaky meat. Oh my stomach's growling just thinking about it.

Apparently, this restaurant delivers and when they do, the unagi comes in the same black lacquered containers, which they then pick up from your home after. Pretty cool stuff. Seriously the best unagi I've ever had. I may never be able to eat those microwaveable types I used to buy from the Japanese store. I'm ruined, yet again! But it was worth it.

love-hate

That's the way I feel about some things in my life these days. Part cornball, part angst, and all for less than $50, I just had to snap these up when I saw them at a random store in La Foret mall in Harajuku. One of my favorite finds for this trip.

an afternoon with hiro

Meet my fabulous Japanese friend Hiro. I met Hiro when we were both Fashion Merchandising Management students at FIT. Hiro hails from Okinawa and is now a visual merchandiser at Forever 21. Doesn't he have fab style?

Hiro and I haven't seen each other since he left New York last year so it was really good to catch up. I brought him a copy of New York Magazine, which he's been sorely missing, and he brought me to an amazing ramen place on a random sidestreet in Omotesando. That glazed pork on the side is the most tender and flavorful pork I have ever had, I swear to god. The texture of the meat was silky on my tongue, the broth packed with flavor, and the ramen just perfectly nice and chewy. This ramen was simply dee-lish! He also showed me Tokyo's colorful side, from the out of control crepes crowding the street to the more elusive Harajuku girls. Speaking of out of control, that's exactly what the buildings are like in this area. From the low-end (H&M, bottom, left) to the luxe (Prada, bottom, center), buildings were massive in both size and coolness factors. Prada was really fun to explore, and they have the world's most amazing carpet. Seriously. It's plush, it's a very discreet pink, and it makes you feel like you're walking on clouds. If I ever become uber rich, I'm gonna have a room in my mansion that's empty save for Prada's wall-to-wall carpeting. It's that amazing. I snapped a pic of the uber cool Comme de Garcons shop (bottom, right)but didn't go in because as much as I love their stuff, it just aint my style. Apparently though, Tokyo is a great place to shop for CDG because you can get stuff cheaper there.

On our way to Shibuya, we passed a poster of Inglorious Basterds, which I had to take a picture of because everything looks more bad-ass with Japanese type. I am still kicking myself for not taking pictures of the truly amazing Isetan basement. There's a brilliant selection of food there, from a multitude of flavors of French macarons to fresh kobe beef. That is a place for me to come back to, for sure, since I didn't get to dawdle and eat as much as I wanted to. Finally, Hiro showed me the bright lights of Shibuya, which made me feel like I was in the middle of Lost in Translation. L-O-V-E.

Thank you for the lovely day Hiro! Just like old times, when you and I used to run around Chelsea and Soho. New York needs you back, stat.

Meanwhile, I miss you Tokyo. Do you miss me too?

the japanese kimono

I've had a fascination for kimonos since reading Memoirs of a Geisha years ago. It boggles my mind how expensive a well-made silk kimono from Kyoto can be. Our friend Mikki wouldn't say exactly how much a kimono costs but revealed that a high quality silk obi can cost over $80,000. Can you imagine that??? I can't.

Anyhow, the main reason that we went to Tokyo was to attend the wedding of our friends Masa and Yuki. We weren't present at the actual ceremony but went to the wedding reception where all of their friends were invited. Yuki hails from Kyoto so her kimono was gorgeous of course.

Isn't she just breathtaking? I swear, I'm really starting to think that Western brides get the short end of the stick after seeing what Indian and Japanese brides get to wear!

A few nights after the wedding, I had a conversation with our other friend Murayama Yuka, about kimonos. I was just raving about how beautiful I think kimonos are and how amazing the workmanship is. The next day, we were hanging out at their house when Yuka came to me holding a yukata (a casual cotton summer kimono) that she wore when she was in her twenties. She said that she couldn't wear it anymore because the style was too youthful, so she wanted to give it to ... ME!!! Oh my god, I was so happy, I had to restrain myself from jumping up and down. Yuka showed me how to put it on and thankfully gave me printed instructions because I think I was so giddy that I didn't really absorb any information.

How did I fare as a wannabe Japanese yukata-wearing twenty-something?

Ok dearies, that's about all I can muster up today. Just got back into New York on a ridiculously long series of flights at 6:45AM and am gonna try to squeeze in a short nap before I head to work. More updates soon I promise! I missed you all!

tsukiji fish market

At the crack of dawn on Friday morning, we raced to the most popular sushi restaurant at the Tsukiji fish market. I can't really tell you what it's called because as you can see on the picture, the name is in Japanese. (Edit: The restaurant's name is Sushi-Dai.) But if you ever go to Tsukiji, it's the rightmost restaurant on sushi row. You'll know which one it is because there's always a line, with people waiting for up to two and half hours if you get there after dawn. We arrived in front of the store front at exactly 4:26AM and there were already two people waiting in line. Within the first two minutes that we were standing there, the line swelled to this size:

What a difference a few minutes made! The sushi restaurant only seats 12 people so we were soooo glad we made into the first seating. You do not want to be that guy who almost but didn't quite make it in, and therefore had to spend at least another hour staring into the window longingly at the people enjoying their ultra-fresh sushi. So glad we came early! Tsukiji has an electric atmosphere at the crack of dawn, with guys in small vehicles zipping around delivering cartons of ultra-fresh sushi to waiting trucks and restaurants. You gotta keep your wits about you if you don't want to end up getting sideswiped.

After what seemed like the longest 30 minutes ever, the doors finally swung open and we were seated. My eyes gaped and stomach grumbled at the sight of the piles and piles of otoro on the counter. This is the freshest and undoubtedly the best sushi you can get in Tokyo. I never used to give much thought to tamago, the Japanese omelette that's made into sushi and commonly served at restaurants. Everywhere I've been outside of Tokyo, it's pretty nondescript. But apparently, a sushi restaurant's expertise can be measured by how it makes its tamago. In fact, it's considered rude to order tamago first when you're at a sushi restaurant because it's like telling the sushi chef that you're measuring him up right away. It was just one more sign that we were in for a treat when we saw this massive slab of fresh, steaming tamago laid on the counter. Oh sweet Jesus ...

We ordered the Omakase, which mean's chef's choice. I strongly recommend you do the same. The first thing that landed in front of us were these slices of octopus. It was cleaned extremely well so that there isn't a trace of sliminess to it, and was so fresh that we just crunched through every bite. Next we were given this seemingly innocuous bowl that just blew our minds. I can't tell you exactly what this is (lost in translation as we are) but it sounded to me like this is called sharaku. In any case, our friend Mikki compared this to foie gras and that's a pretty close approximation of what it tastes like. The texture is creamy and silky, and the taste really quite similar to my favorite treat. Incredible. (Edit: This dish is called Shirako, which means white child, and is actually cod testis! Yes I am aware of how gross that sounds. Thank god I didn't know because I might not have tried it if I did and this was way too good to miss!)

Next, a succulent piece of oyster that has quite possibly ruined me forever. I may never enjoy another oyster again after having had this wonderfully juicy piece with scarcely the taste of brine. And then, the awaited tamago,which was of course hearty, pleasantly sweet, and completely comforting. After asserting their superiority with the fabulous tamago, the much awaited o-toro was laid in front of us.

Isn't that just a beauty? Otoro comes from the fattiest part of the tuna belly and is the most prized part of the tuna. The sushi chefs serve the otoro already seasoned with soy sauce and wasabi so that all you have to do is pop it into your mouth and marvel at how the beautifully marbled meat just melts in your mouth. We were in heaven after that piece.

This next plate was not part of the Omakase but we spied it at the party seated next to us and just had to give it a try. I'd hazard the guess that it's monkfish liver inside a sliver of hamachi. Whatever it was, it was just brilliant. I strongly recommend being a copycat at this joint. Then came some more excellent sushi: some ultra-fresh yellow tail and a truly satisfying piece of maguro.

After those two very yummy but staid pieces of sushi, the chef laid a shocker on us. This piece of squid was, I kid you not, still moving. Seriously. Mika was talking to his sushi, saying, "Hey, stop moving so I can eat you!" Mine literally squirmed in my mouth. Not for the faint of heart, but if you're an adventurous soul, it is delicious.

Next was a succulent piece of striped jack sushi. It was amazing. Mika was trying to convince me I didn't want it. Uh, yeah, in your dreams buddy. And then, a piece I had been waiting for with bated breath: the uni! It was velvety and succulent, so fresh and devoid of that fishy taste. Oh heaven ... Mika had one and declared that he still did not like uni. Blasphemy! Afterward, a piece of horse mackerel that rocked my world. I had eaten mackerel sushi before but it never tasted remotely close to this. It was so fresh that the flesh was still deliciously oily and tender. Mackerel tends to spoil quickly and so it is usually cured, and can have an off-putting fishy smell. But not this fresh-off-the-boat baby here. Oh it was just utter perfection.

Then some white shrimp sushi. Photogenic? No. Delicious? Hell yes. That was followed by what I guess was some hamachi, then some amazing salmon roe, and incredibly delicious fresh water eel. The mere thought of the sweet, meaty eel is making me salivate right now. At the end of the meal, the chef asks you what your favorite was and they'll give it to you to cap off the meal. We picked otoro of course. Oh it is just so good ...

While we were eating, our friend Mikki told the sushi chefs that Mika just won back-to-back US Open 9-ball tournaments and is in Japan to defend his Japan Open 9-ball championship from last year. They were quite impressed so before we left, Mika took the sponsor patches from his shirt and gave them to the chefs as souvenirs. By the time we got out it was around 6AM and the line was long. But if there's one meal worth waiting for, it is definitely this. Dreaming of my next visit to Tsukiji already!