Japan Trip 2013 - Day 18

Day 18

Today was just a day of relaxation and shopping. We were perusing around the top floors of Shibuya's Hikarie department store and chose this place called Rikyu that specialized in gyu-tan, otherwise known as cow tongue. Of course we got one of the lunch sets.

Stewed Beef Appetizer

First we started with a cold appetizer. It was very soft, and very tender. Like many of Japan's stewed meats, its a soy sauce flavored base.

White Rice and Beef Bone Soup

 This set was promptly followed by a hefty bowl of rice and soup. The rice had barley mixed into it, giving it healthier spin. The soup was one of my favorites. Instead of a usual miso, we were given this very light soup broth seasoned with white pepper and green onions. It also came with some of the boned meat that contributed to taste of this wonderful soup.

Gyu-tan deliciousness

Time for the main course to make its appearance! For $16 the set includes 8 slices of juicy grilled beef tongue. It also came with some pickled cabbage and a little mound of pickled spicy vegetables. Some of you may be raising your eyebrows, but believe us when we say beef tongue is delicious, especially when made by this place! Texture wise it's a little more firm...not chewy..simply firm. And the taste of the tongue is a little fatty that's evenly spread out through the tongue....argh! I'm just not doing justice on how great beef tongue is!

 After our bellies were full we made a quick last minute run to Akihabara. Shopping and playing UFO catchers expends a lot of energy of course that calls for a dessert break. We found a place called Honey Toast Cafe. We already had a honey toast once and didn't feel like we could totally conquer one with just the two of us, so I ordered a milk drink with honey and a palette of cakes.

Honey Milk

 This was so appropriate for the rainy day. Nothing like steamed hot milk laced with honey...I can see why it's featured in children's stories and comics here in Japan. There is something extremely complementary about these two flavor coming together..I really have to replicate this at home.

Cake Pallette

 There were seven cakes to choose from and we ended up with:

• Strawberry Shortcake
• Early Grey
• Pumpkin Mousse with Vanilla Cream and Orange Jelly
• Honey Mousse with Lemon Cream and Honeycomb Chocolate
• Praline Mousse Tart with White Chocolate Cream

We both liked the simplest one the most: the strawberry shortcake. The other cakes were very good in their own ways as well. Praline and and honey mousse was something we haven't had before, but thoroughly enjoyable. None of the cakes were overwhelmingly sweet. The pumpkin mousse cake came in a very pretty jar but we ended up liking in the least since it had a weird bitter flavor that we didn't know how to appreciate.

For dinner we really wanted to just sit down and try 家庭料理 (katei ryouri), which is basically a home style restaurant. These type of restaurants specialize in simple set meals that reminisces the parents' home cooking. This is a very healthy low-cost alternative for busy people who can't afford the time to cook (or people who just don't want to cook). 

Homestyle Cooking Restaurant

It was a small shop run by one middle aged guy. Even the restaurant itself had a very homely feel...there was nothing fancy about it at all and all these mismatched bowls and plates definitely reminds me of home. I asked for his recommendation and just went with it. In a few minutes we were greeted by a plethora of dishes.

Ducky's Fish Set Meal 

Ducky's meal came with a whole Pacific Saury fish and grated daikon, sauteed eggplants and bellpeppers, pickled vegetables, rice, and miso soup. He thoroughly enjoyed it since it was not heavy at all...a simple taste yet a hearty meal. The fish had a crispy grilled skin and only lightly salted.

Kitty's Pork Soup Set Meal

 My set came with rice, grilled mackerel, kinpira (sauteed gobo and carrots), pickled vegetables, and tonjiru (pork soup). It was a very well balanced meal, lightly seasoned, and a good amount of things to eat with rice. The soup was my favorite part...it was a rich miso pork soup with onions, carrots, gobo, and konnyaku.

Overall Ducky and I really loved this homely meal, and each of these sets was only $6.30!!! If I lived in Japan I would probably give up cooking and eat at places like these everyday.

Bear Hokkaido Milk Cake

For dessert, we picked up one of these at Tokyo Station. More than anything I got this because of the bear. The cake itself was a little more dense that we would have liked. At least it wasn't strongly sweet. I ate its head and gave the rest to Ducky....