How do 4 Russian-cuisine neophytes eat through 19 dishes and 24 drinks at Tokyo’s
most adored (and perhaps only?) Belarusian restaurant? Give them some vodka and a menu.
A dark dark dark black beer (highhhhhly recommended) and a double shot of ice cold Stolichnaya vodka in a frozen shotglass. Flanking an unspectacular thoroughfare near the Russian Embassy, lies a world in which vodka passes as water, and yuppies on Atkin’s diets run for dear life. On a recent outing with my 3 adventurous eating companions, our quest to self-challenge our own gastronomic familiarity was met with equal prowess played by the part of a very adept team of Belarusian chefs and waitresses who slung comments like, “You guys can really drink, huh?” I’ll take that as a compliment at a Belarusian restaurant any day.
Another vodka and black beer round began the journey. We started with the smoked salmon crepes, rolled with capers and decadent cheese sauce, which we knew we’d be seeing again. The potato pancake stuffed with warm baked meat and the stuffed paprika (red and yellow spliced bell pepper) showed us that what’s on the inside really counts. The stuffing trend continued with a few Golubtsys (stuffed cabbage rolls) and what my friend so eloquently describes as “Sumpin’ with sumpin’ inside”. But where he lacked verbosity, he made up for with appetite, challenging the burly white-hatted chefs to a duel of culinary adventure. Another black beer, another double shot of Stolichnaya vodka. And it was then that they pulled out their trump cards. The perfection of the Sour Cream Pork Stew left us begging for seconds; tender soft pork cutlets in tangy sour cream sauce sang a duet with the Beef Stroganoff, the Bolinchky, and as foreshadowed, another 4 orders of the salmon crepes.
While independent since 1990, the former USSR republic has continued to develop and refine its own distinct culinary culture. At one time, Belarusians used to be scornfully called bulbashi, or potato-eaters. Now though, restaurants like Minsk are showing Tokyoites the superlative truth, one dish at a time.
Minsk [Belarusian Home Cooking]
1-4-2 Azabudai Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel: (03)-3586-6600
Well believe it or not, there are people here in Japan that actually don’t like sushi. Fair enough. But the other day I talked a friend, who doesn’t like sushi, into trying it out one more time before giving up, in a place of my choice.
So I took her to Midori Sushi in Umegaoka, a sushi restaurant which gets a top grade in my black book for taste.
If you walk out of this restaurant, and you haven’t loosened your belt, you haven’t truly had a Shamaim experience. Meaning “from the sky” in Hebrew, Tokyo’s premier Israeli restaurant serves up nonstop rich flavorful plates of everything from the familiar falafel, breaded steak, fried chicken and hummus to the rarer spicy carrots, garlicy tahini, tomato soup and basmati rice with lentils. Their all-you-can-eat set is incredible and diverse and even my friends who are *gasp* picky eaters, still find enough to satiate even their most tumultuous hunger.
If you want a ghetto style bar then this is the one! Hidden inside a maze of old style Japanese shops, I would guess that burglar alerted people would think twice before entering the maze at night. For the ones who dare to enter can find Namazu in the corner, closest to the Shimo station.
Walking into Aveda, the spa and shop in Aoyama in which one could not possibly help but feel pampered by the bio-organic raw materials, offers of massages, aromatherapy, and yoga mats. Not to be overlooked though, is the attached Pure Cafe, a little bit of edible pleasure which leaves one walking out essentially levitating. Every day, Pure puts together sets, and you can choose your essentials, from soups, sandwiches, salads, cookies, and other dishes like vegan lasagna and torte.
Imagine my surprise then when I stumble across delicious authentic CHEAP Thai food (actually run by Thai people) in the heart of Shinjuku station.
Hungry in Shibuya around noon? Curry-Yasan (カレーやさん) will totally take care of that. Be prepared to enter a queue though, which might make you wonder if Yon-sama is eating in there.
We went with the Mesob set course and although we were avid eaters, after African samosas, mango daiquiris, a bottle of honey wine, a cassis martini, wild goat and chicken kebabs, and somehow french fries?, we were barely unable to finish the main event: Injera (Ethiopian spongey bread) loaded with various lentil, lamb, and chicken dishes.
Tokyo Foodie.com 