Eating Tokyo

Tokyo was the last stop on our amazing trip. We had around 5 days in this incredible city with a population of 37 million. It was beautiful, vibrant, MASSIVE, quirky. I can absolutely understand the reason Tokyo has become such a bucket list spot.

I think you could spend 3 months in Tokyo and not see all that you wanted to.  We certainly saw some amazing things, albeit briefly. And unfortunately Tokyo is when after being on the go, that exhaustion caught up and I inevitably got sick. That aside, I forged though and still have incredible memories.

Shinjuku Gyoen is the Central Park of Tokyo and was one of my must sees! It was very close to our hotel and I ended up going twice. 

It was an incredible garden and was a little piece of calm in the middle of the city.

I couldn't resist when I saw this adorable food truck.

It was not cheap at AUD 13 but my goodness it was delicious. A really tasty hot dog on a perfect bread roll with pickled veg which are produced in the garden itself. Very fresh, very delicious and the vendor was really lovely and friendly. 

On our other visit, I stopped in at Tsubura, a cafe in the gardens. They offered a small selection of bentos, sweets, hot and cold drinks and I had a gyodon and home made lemonade slushy while dad had a latte. 

Really sweet presentation, and a nice morning tea. Around AUD25 for the bento, drink and coffee.

A month before we departed I had the most stressful time acquiring tickets to the Ghibli Museum. Logging on at 10am on the dot as told to, I was put into a queue where I was 4099th in line. Tickets are only $10 per person, but are very limited and very coveted. The museum was tiny but very lovely, and absolutely worth the trouble. We wouldn't have journeyed out to Mitaka if we hadn't had tickets and wouldn't have discovered the beautiful Inokashira Park, which was utterly Ghibli in itself. (photography is not allowed inside the museum)

While at the park we stopped for a beer at Italian Restaurant Isentai and decided to share one of the woodfired pizzas. It was beautiful as well as incredibly tasty.

This was the house special and had a base of mascarpone and fresh cream and was topped with prosciutto, rocket, honey and edible flowers.

On one of our last days, I was feeling particularly poorly, but I said to dad I wanted to venture out but I didn't want to do any of the thinking or planning, I just wanted to be lead around. Bless him he did such a wonderful job. 

He knew I wanted to see some seaside and he knew I found the subway and metro incredibly stressful, so se booked us tickets on the open top bus (we had previously open top bussed and ADORED it) and chose the route that would take us portside to Odaiba. 

It was a beautiful out-of-the-way spot that we assume is where Tokyoites spend their weekends and holidays. It was a perfect day and the beach was speakling blue and clean as anything and no hussle and bustle.

We stopped in at a cafe, Sea Side Cafe Solaris that had a decidedly Hawaiian feeling to it for coffee, I also had a cream cheese pretzel which has that perfect sweet and salty combo going on.

We wandered around the area for an hour or two before hopping on the bus back to Ginza. We drove past the Tsukiji Market which resembled a heaving mass of bodies and took a raincheck before finding a bite to eat at the cutest restaurant we'd passed, Il Barocco.

We were lucky to get a seat as it was getting towards the end of lunch time on a Saturday. Inside felt like a traditional Italian Trattoria, not a tourist in sight and smells of deliciousness thick in the air.

I started with a blood orange mimosa and dad a beer with our garlic prawns and house made focaccia (to dip). They were INCREDIBLE.

Our other entree was slow cooked pork shoulder served with mushrooms which was also gorgeous.

Mains were spaghetti marinara and pizza el fungi.

The pizza was very nice, but the star was the spagetti. It had perfect flavour that was in no way overbearing. The seafood was fresh and cooked perfectly and these two actually complimented each other perfectly.

And this place we chose at least partially for the outside of the restaurant.

Cheap and cheerful Chinese! My sweet and sour pork was perfect and I could have eaten two or maybe even three serves. 

Check out dad's plate, actually it was the size of a platter! With fried rice that dad said was superb, fried chicken and gyoza.

This is the final of the Japan series. I feel so lucky to have been invited to join my father on this trip of a lifetime. My dad is the perfect travel partner. I admire his calm in stressful situations, his never-ending youthful adventurousness and his open and empathetic understanding of those around him.

Love you, Papa. 

Molto bene: Osteria Vista at Stefano Lubiana Wines

 

Not far from our house, heading towards the Bridgewater Bridge is a turnoff up a dirt road. You wouldn't know it unless you looked for it. Today we were looking for it as we had a lunch booked at the recently opened Osteria Vista located at Stefano Lubiana Winery.
I had been following their opening on social media and was very keen to try one of their set lunches. Joined by my beautiful friend Dee, we were overdue for a gossip and had arranged a ride so we could partake in matching wines.

We are greeted by our lovely waitress, Sarah, and sat at a table with a spectacular view over the Derwent.

It just feels so very Italy here. I am transported back to Tuscany and the aesthetics and mood just screams Buongiorno!

We are brought the set menu as well as the matching wines listing and it all sounds delightful.

To begin, we are brought a bubbling glass of Brut Rose which is a delightful start to the meal, It is beautiful and fresh, dry and slightly fruity.

To accompany this is our first course which consists of  Focaccia bread and ricotta, prosciutto and olives, soft cheese with tomatoes and olive oil and arancini balls.

Firstly, I have to say how stunning the olive oil was. I could have drunk it by the glass. Good olive oil is so different to supermarket olive oil, it's not even fair to compare them and I was dunking the beautiful focaccia into it with every mouthful of this smashing first course. The prosciutto (imported from Italy) and olives were a delight and the arancini as good as any you've ever tried. But for me the creamy, soft mozzarella style cheese with the spectacular olive oil and those gorgeous gems of perfectly in-season tomatoes really did it for me.

Next up, served with one of the most memorable Rieslings I've ever tried is our pasta dish. Dee mentions she is taken back by the squid-ink black. I have to admit, it is confronting. I found some interesting quotes on the psychology of colour and food.

“Colour is the single most important (...) sensory cue when it comes to setting people’s expectations regarding the likely taste and flavour of food and drink.”Charles Spence

‘Colour creates a psychological expectation for a certain flavour that is often impossible to dislodge.’

Harris G. in “Colorless food? We blanch.”
The New York Times 2011.https://forty8creates.com/colour-psychology-of-food-drink/

I have had squid ink pasta before, so fortunately I have very positive connotations of black pasta. The first thing we notice is the al-dente nature of the macaroni style pasta, something that I think can be a slight shock as I know I constantly overcook pasta as soft pasta is something I have become accustomed to. However I find the texture to be outstanding once I had gotten used to it. The next thing we notice is the wonderful savoury sausage flavour, it's delicious and an umami dream. The sauce is creamy from the cheese and I found this to just be heavenly. My only qualm was the little stab of fennel I got in one mouthful, but that's only because I have never gotten used to aniseed in savoury cooking, especially when I'm not expecting it.

PORK BELLY! Delicious twinning of wonderful salty pork flesh and porky fat topped with crispy, crunchy crackling. What's not to love? Served here with salsa verde and a wonderful vegetable with the flavour of broccoli in a leafy green. Baby, herbed potatoes and a simple green salad of lettuce and cucumber to cut through the heaviness. Something I discovered this season, the first that I have had a successful veg garden, is that lettuce has incredible flavour when freshy picked, it's really quite amazing.

By our last course, we are jovial, flushed rosy with delicious wine and have befriended Sarah who was really quite a spectacular server. Food and atmosphere are not the only things that make a meal memorable, the staff are an integral part and can make or break a meal.The dessert, of zabaglione a custard is served with a dense, moist cake crumble, poached pear and summer berries and the Iced Sauvignon Blanc, a sweet dessert wine is not only a beautiful paring, but is an exceptional wine full stop.As our meal concludes, Sarah invites us to try a wine tasting next door or feel free to wander about the grounds. As I feel we'd had just about the right amount of wine already we take a quick look around the restaurant grounds before being collected to go home.

This was a truly memorable meal and a fantastic addition to Southern Tasmania. I look forward to visiting seasonally to see how the menu changes and to witness such a pleasurable lunch again.

Osteria Vista

Stefano Lubiana Wines
60 Rowbottoms Road, Granton
03 62637457
hello@osteriavista.com.au

Eat Street... The New One

Last time I went to Eat Street it was at it's old location in June 2014 See post here.

I have walked past the site of the new Eat Street and it actually looks terrifyingly huge. The last time I went it was so busy and difficult to get a seat and I think this is why I hadn't been back in so long.

However, I was well overdue with a catch up with Miss C and we were going to Eat Street.

As we attempt to park the car, my concern creeps in, there are so many cars, how many people would be inside???

However we eventually get a spot, pay the $2.50 entry fee and make our way in.

The first thing I notice as that even though there are alot of people, there is space to move. There is a carnival feel, and everyone seems happy.

The new Eat Street is HUGE. I would suggest 4 or 5 times bigger than the old one and offers a huge array of eating options.

We start off getting a Mango and coconut mocktail ($7) from Mocktail Madness. It comes in a container is both interesting and cylindrical, the contents refreshing and delicious.

photo courtesy of eatstreetmarkets.com

We wander about and end up at the Trawler Deck and stumble on a pasta in cheese wheel stall called I <3 Pizza and Pasta and are hypnotised my the wafting smells of fresh basil and cheese. We decide to share a serve ($14). The pasta is delicious but I'm a little surprised that the cheese flavour isn't as prominent as I would have hoped, the fresh pesto is delicious though.

Next we wander over to pick to Asia Street to try what C calls 'the best satay she has ever tasted" at Yum Tum Thai Street food where we go halves in a share plate ($15)

The prawns, (even though I think they were both done the same?) were fresh and delicious. The chicken satay was indeed very delicious, and exactly what I think of when I think of GOOD satay. Very crisp and tasty spring rolls. I'm not one for soft shell crab, I just don't think they offer much, but it was... okay, I guess.

Unfortunately, by this stage, we were done.

I think this would be a great place to come with a group so you could all share and indulge in many items without getting to full, as most of the items we looked at were entree or small meal size costing between $12 and $18, rather than tasters which I think would be a great option.

So we went looking for a small sweet to finish off with and found Miss Claude's French Crepes and went for the Caramel Ambrosia, which was 2 crepes filled with salted caramel, served with banana, strawberry and vanilla ice cream ($10). These were just perfect, and shared this while overlooking the Brisbane River.

I had a really nice time and I really look forward to going back again.

It seems that meal times are the busiest, so I'd like to try for a mid-afternoon Sunday I think.