Good Ramen in OC? Hai!!!!

I am going to stray off the main topic of being inside of Japan to once again give some kudos to a wonderful Japanese restaurant in Orange County.

On the occasion when I use LAX for a domestic business trip, I usually find myself making the one hour plus drive home late at night after the return flight.  This allows me the chance to stop at my favorite Orange County Ramen shop - Shinsengumi in Fountain Valley for a nice dinner.  Yes, we have some great Japanese Ramen shops in Orange County.

For some of you who have visited me in Orange County, you may wonder why I am not saying Santoka in the Mitsuwa food court in Costa Mesa is not my favorite.  Well, it is a very close call.  Actually, it might be a tie.  But what breaks the tie is that this Hakata Ramen shop has a side dish that I have fallen in love with - Takana Fried Rice.

Takana Fried Rice is a fabulous combination of rice, some kind of meat I think (I suspect pork), egg, a pickled, green leafy vegetable (mustard greens???) and the final touch of thick strands of ginger.  It is really, really good to my taste.  While it may seem a little over the top to have the starch of rice in addition to the starch of noodles, for me it is the perfect combination.  Here is a picture of this meal, one of my favorites in Orange County!

The regular bowl of this Kyushu style ramen does not include the egg.  I put it in there anyway, because I like it.  Here is a picture of the Takana rice being fried in the hot wok.

There are a few of these Shinsengumi restaurants around the greater Los Angeles area.  Their main component is a Robata - Yakitori style grill.  There are many, many items on their menu and all of the ones I have tried are very tasty!.  It is a really popular place.  Immediately next door to the Fountain Valley Robata - Yakitori restaurant is the Ramen shop.  They share a passageway between them.


This shop also serves up some very good gyoza. An all around great place. Only problem is there is always a line out front (see the first picture). The wait is worth it. Trust me.

Oh one last thing. For all you competitive eaters out there, like Ken and Hank K., why don't you stop by for some of this?

Nov. 2010 Japan Trip - Post #10: Matsushima ah!

When Mary and I planned to stay in the Tohoku region for a couple of nights, it was really a fairly easy decision on where we would stay - Matsushima!  Yes that's right, just swallow deeply when it comes to paying the bill for it is not cheap, but it is definitely worth it.  We decided to stay at the Matsushima Century Hotel, which was a little bit less expensive than some of the other behemoth properties that cater to the swells of Japanese (and foreign) tourists that this city is dependent on for it's main commerce.

The Century is perfectly located right on the edge of Matsushima Bay, and the views out our window are the same views that have fascinated visitors to this amazing area for centuries.  We had wonderful weather while we were there, but one of the great thrills of this hotel stay was Mary and I sleeping on futons for the very first time.  And we LIKED IT!!!!

Yes you may laugh and think the hot spring bath and views should be the best.  Well I did try the bath, and it was interesting (a bit too hot for me actually, but still refreshing), but the futon was a really wonderful experience.  Please pardon our messy room below, but unless I showed you, you may not believe me!  And look at the door.  Mary even took her shoes off.  How polite!!!

Strolling around this small town is wonderful.  There is a big temple there (Zuigan-ji), but we did not get a chance to visit it (next time).

I will have a couple of more posts on this Matsushima visit before we leave this amazing town.

This will not be the last time I visit this place (hopefully).

Japan in America

About 3 months or so ago, I was surfing on the website "Yelp", when I came across a sushi restaurant in my home town that I had never heard of before.  I was shocked to see that it was rated extremely high.  How could this place be here without me knowing about it??  My old Japanese friends who have visited here have tasted some of the other popular sushi restaurants near my house that are quite good.  This one though was different.  It is really good, and it combines traditional Japanese sushi with some nouvelle French style cuisine.  The result is very impressive.

From the outside, it is nothing special.  It sits in the corner of a small shopping area and if you didn't know it was there you might drive right on by it.  However once you walk in the door, it reminds me instantly of being in Japan.  It is a relatively small shop (like Japan), with a counter that seats around 12, and tables that seat maybe 3 times that much.

The owner is a nice man named Hideki-san.  He and his wife run this place.  His wife's sister actually works for the same company that I do in Tokyo, so we exchanged some stories.  This restaurant is less than two years old and I am very hopeful that they make it.  It is not easy in this business where I live as there is a lot of competition.

The quality of fish here and the preparation is extremely high.  I am looking forward to taking some of my Japanese friends here to see if they agree.  Oh, and the name of this place?  It is called "Bistro Anju".  I highly recommend it (and so does my wife)!!!

Great Dinners in Japan: Torizen

So I got to thinking, if there are people out there who are actually reading this blog, they may think all I do in Japan is go out to dinner.  Well with more than 30 trips to the Land of the Rising Sun under my belt, which average 5 nights a pop, that comes to over 150 dinners.  So yes, I have had a LOT of dinners in Japan!!  :-)

There are a few though that stick out above the others (quite a few actually, heck maybe even most!!!) and one of these was a special night in Tagajo in October of 2008.  After a meeting at our facility, a group of coworkers and I went out to Torizen, a great restaurant just around the corner from our plant.  It has kind of a unique facade, as there is a waterwheel in the lovely garden in front, and the building itself almost looks more like a house than a restaurant.

Inside, there are different sections in the restaurant, with different table set ups.  Some have their own cooktops I think, and then there are private rooms that can accommodate groups of say 8 or more.  They have FANTASTIC fresh fish among other things.  This was one of the few restaurants where I have actually eaten uni out of it's own shell.

Anyway on this particular night my friends had booked a private room, and we enjoyed a wonderful meal.  It was a really relaxing evening, with great food and great conversation.  At the end, we took the following picture.

Now in searching through my photo archives, I realized I didn't have any good shots of the front of Torizen.  As you can probably guess, Torizen was quite severely impacted by the Tsunami.  However, I believe I have heard that they have reopened.  I will try to get some confirmation on this.  I was sent the following picture of the front of Torizen taken just days after the Tsunami.  Quite a mess unfortunately.

I do hope to return to this fantastic restaurant once again, and share another meal with friends.

Japan Trip - Mako Playing Blues Alley Again

I am making a much anticipated trip to Japan next month.  It is my first trip since the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11th  It will surely be a very memorable trip, and I look forward to it very much.

I also wanted to let everyone know Mako-san has another show coming up at Blue's Alley in Tokyo.  She will be singing there on Sunday, November 20th.  She will also be selling her first single there I believe.  A very special time for her!  Regrettably, I will miss her show by just a few days.
http://www.bluesalley.co.jp/schedule/live.html

When the starter gets tired, it's time to go to the bullpen - Osamu's Place

Here in the U.S., it is baseball season playoffs time, and I thought I would use that theme to describe this post.  One night not too long ago in Kita-Shinagawa, I had the pleasure to go out in Japan with my old friend Tom and his beautiful wife Mimi.  We had a nice dinner, and then decided to have a short Karaoke practice session at my favorite spot Tampopo.  On this particular night the Master and Mama-san seemed a bit tired and closed early (probably right on schedule that particular night, but it seemed early to us!).  We did not feel we were "done" with our session, so we seeked out another place that might be open down the "Tokaido Road".

It was actually a bit late (just after 11:00 maybe), when we stumbled up some stairs, down a hall, to a closed door with the faint sound of music inside.  We opened the door, and voila!  Inside was a smallish karaoke shop that was oriented to western (American) music.  It was called "Osamu's Place" (I think.  I took a business card but at the moment cannot find it!).

This place has only a few tables, and there was another small group of people in there when we entered.  They left after a short time, and then another group came in and took their place.

In this fuzzy picture is the Master "Osamu" (I hope I am getting his name right!!!).  He was a very nice guy, and was happy we came in.  Well the second group that came in was a few guys along with a couple of ladies.  It was also a niji-kai for them.  After a number of songs, one of the guys gets up and sings "Desperado" by the Eagles (quite well I might add).  When I acknowledged his song by calling out the name and artist at the beginning, we started socializing a bit with this group.  I then sang "Take It Easy" by the Eagles on my next turn.  We had fun with this group, although they did not speak English (Tom and Mimi handled the translations).

The picture above is of Tom, himself a very accomplished karaoke singer.  I have found so many of my Japanese co-workers to be amazing singers.  This has really impressed me.  Pictured below is Mimi (sorry again for the blurry picture).  She is also a very good singer!!!

We ended up having a really good session with this group of people who came in.  The one guy (who sang the Eagles song) worked for Fujitsu in sales and he gave me his card.  I think we finished at around 1:00 a.m. or so.  You never really know what is going to happen when you venture out in Tokyo.  This was a perfect example of the beauty that can await.

The Leader of the Ichi Ryu Yatai Mura

My favorite Tokyo restaurant, the Ichi-Ryu Yatai-Mura in Kita-Shinagawa, is very capably run by Mutsumi F.  Mutsumi-san has always been so kind to me, ever since the very beginning of my visits to this wonderful place.  In return for this kindness, as well as always good food and drink, I have given this place my loyalty.  I have always wanted to take one of their boat cruises (they have one boat that is anchored off the deck in the back).  Their boat is appropriately named the "Mutsumi Maru".  One of these days, I will make it (I heard they have Karaoke available on the boat at nights - this also draws me to it!!!).

One of my favorite stories about Mutsumi-san is that one night I was having dinner in there with two friends, one of whom was Japanese.  At a table close by, a group of Japanese construction workers (complete with their fashionable baggy pants and special footware) were having a hard core drinking party.  We were later to find out they were celebrating the completion of one of those new Shinagawa Station area skyscrapers I talked about in a previous post.  There was probably eight of them, and they had a large water pitcher that they filled up with Shochu.  They would pass around the pitcher, and when it was your turn, you would stand up and chug that Shochu while the other clapped and said some kind of Japanese cheer.  It was heavy, heavy drinking, and these guys were getting very intoxicated.  Well after a little while, one of them comes over to our table and invites us to join them.  He was speaking in Japanese to our one local guy.  I thought hey this could be a very fun experience!!!  Drink with these local Japanese guys.  What a party!  Then what flashed through my mind though was how I knew my head would feel the following morning, and I did have business meetings the next day.

Just as all of these thoughts were swirling through my mind, Mutsumi-san, who was watching this whole exchange, quickly came over to our table and admonished the construction worker and told him to leave us alone.  She motioned him to go back to his table, which of course he did.  Mutsumi-san was looking after her loyal customer, and probably knew if we had entered into that madness it was not going to be a pretty sight.

Thank you Mutsumi-san for watching out for us, and for always being so nice each time I stop in for a meal.

Nov. 2010 Japan Trip - Post #9: Dinner in Tagajo

After visiting the Chuson-ji Temple (which has now received the coveted UNESCO World Heritage Site designation), we drove back down south to Tagajo to meet up with some additional friends for a group dinner.  Before we hit the round though, we stopped in one of the only open places outside of the Temple for some refreshments.  The walk around the grounds had built up a thirst in all of us!

I am not sure of the name of the restaurant in Tagajo, but it was a nice, modern style Izakaya type place.  Upon arrival Mary and I had a chance to meet my good friend Sam's wife and son which was very cool.  The decor of the restaurant was quite nice, and the company was of course fantastic.  Having two of my previous co-workers there (Henry and Miyazaki-san) along with my other close friends was quite special.  That they had all given up their Sunday nights to do this with Mary and me made it even more so.

We enjoyed many nice dishes, and everyone made us feel so welcome and happy.  At the end, one of these friends (and I am so embarrassed to say I forgot who - was it Tak, or Henry, or Tom?) brought in a nice cake for dessert that we all shared.

This was a great way to spend our first night in Miyagi.  When dinner was over, we took the following group picture outside.  Then, after transferring our luggage over to Tom's car he gave us a ride to our hotel in Matsushima where we checked in.  Thanks again to everyone who joined us at this wonderful dinner.

As a final note, can any of my friends tell me the fate of this restaurant after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami?  I hope they came out ok.