Another one of my business traveling grub hunting exercise; I present you the humble food-on-stix, the Japanese Yakitori (literal translation: Grilled Bird"). This is a type of post-work grub fare that is very popular offering in Izakayas, which is equivalent of Spanish tapas bars. I love this way of eating small assortments of nibbles very much. The whole hors d'hoeuvres, big-ass entree, and dessert exercise is tiring and boring - I feel - and not as intimate as sharing a plate with your friends. Or for me, since I have to eat alone quite a bit on business trips - there is nothing more fun than being at the counter tasting everything, while chatting up the bartender / stix-operator.
Birdland was a bit hard to find as it was a restaurant that is embedded and tucked within the subway corridors -- but once you step in, the host and the staff were very friendly to this almost-Japanese girl. They presented with me bilingual menus and carefully explained the origin and preparation of each and every ingredient. I love that they take so much pride and care in their service - to their commitment to local farmers/growers collectives, to their clients - an easy and extended welcome - where glasses of wine poured with a quick nod and wink. That is classy - and to me, will beat any pretentious Michelin-constellation toting restaurant any day*
Had only my crappy cell camera - so it is a bit fuzzy. The menu I scribbled down -- a bit harriedly -- so let's see.. For amuse bouches: Kanazawa cucumber in vinaigrette, baby lotus in wasabi foam, grilled chicken gizzard gently roasted with okra, and Junsai -- a member of the water lily family. Looked weird - floating all curled up in a slimy vinaigrette - but I eat and will try everything - and thank goodness, it was delicately tasty.
I googled and this showed up for Junsai:
A member of the water lily family, junsai grows in clumps in natural ponds and irrigation reservoirs. A perennial water grass, junsai's flower is a deep maroon-red. It is the young, unfurled sprout covered in a slippery, transparent jelly, which is the culinary item prized by so many Japanese. Fresh sprouts come to market early in the summer.
Otherwise, the Omakase set was completed including wasabi and basil roasted chicken, grilled liver with fleur de sel (I hate liver, but I had seconds !!), crisp-charred hicken skins with yuzu/lime salt (lovely) and roasted vegetables including - gingko nuts, maitake mushrooms and shishito (japanese pepper) and my favorite myoga (a ginger variant, so yummy).
Charred chicken skins:
Grilled Myoga ginger: Divine - aromatic, a twist of green grass and slightest bitterness!
Myogas usually looks like this:
And a palate cleansing Tofu cube with coarse salt and pepper, extra virgin olive oil and a 'micro'-tomato. It was a perfectly ripe, pea-sized tomato. Weird !
Dinner ended quietly with a small Oyako-don (scrambled eggs and chicken on rice), and miso soup... with a creme brulee for dessert before I rolled myself outside for a little nightcap at a winebar in Ginza.
*Although did you hear (NYT, Feb 2008), that some of the Japanese restaurants / chefs declined to be reviewed Michellin as they felt Westerners have no business or an acquired palate in tasting/discerning Japanese food. (Umm...yeah, sorry!! We can be like that in Japan. I am not really apologizing - but some of this outright defensiveness of our culture is a perplexing/amusing/frustrating to explain to colleagues and friends even for me.)
