Shuri

This photo of Nangoku Shokudo Shuri Yokohama is courtesy of TripAdvisor

because I forgot to take one

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 2
Price: 2900 yen
Payment: Goya champuru and gyusugi teishoku, rafute
English Menu: No
Smoking: No

My wife and I went to Yokohama on Saturday to look at some mattresses and while there decided to grab lunch.  We ended up at the More's City building where there are several restaurants on the top two floors.  We were going to eat at the Hungry Tiger but the line was insane, so we opted for the Okinawan Shuri.

Goya Champuru

The lunch menu was filled with the usual favorites and my wife wanted some goya champuru, while I liked the look of the gyusugi.  I also wanted to be sure I got my fill of fatty pork, so I ordered some rafute as well.  There was also an extensive list of awamori, complete with furigana for the names (making it much easier to tell what you are ordering) and age information.  I'd like to come back some time and try a few of their older vintages.

Gyusugi

The food was decent and tasty, and quite cheap (lunch prices).  I'd definitely stop back in here if I had a hankering for some heavy Okinawan food, which happens quite often I'd say.

Rafute

Crystal Jade Kitchen

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner
Price: 520,000 VND
Payment: Pork belly, char siu, duck
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

Last restaurant in Vietnam as I was headed back in the airport.  There was a Chinese restaurant that had some nice meat options on the menu.  It was served up quick and was quite tasty.

Cohibar

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner for 2
Price: 950,000 VND
Payment: Steak, stir fried noodles, and something else...
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: Yes

My brother and I spent a lot of time at the Cohibar, a cigar bar near where he lives.  Eventually we came back to eat a proper meal there.  I had a steak, while my brother had some stir fried noodles.  I was quite pleased with the steak, and the accompanying cream mushroom sauce was delicious.

Stir fried noodles

Steak with mushroom sauce

Tucana

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 2
Price: 315,000 VND
Payment: Beef shortribs, pork stew dish with a boiled egg, oyster scrambled eggs, fresh coconut
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: Yes

For lunch my brother wanted to go to one of his favorite vietnamese restaurants called Tucana.  We ordered a few dishes and it was very good.  I especially liked the fatty pork stew and oyster scrambled eggs dish.

Beef shortribs

Pork stew with boiled egg

Oyster scrambled eggs

Pho Viet Kieu

Rating: Very good
Meal: Breakfast for 2
Price: 225,000 VND
Payment: Beef pho, meat/veg on rice
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: Not usually, but sometimes

My brother and I decided to eat pho for breakfast.  We wandered down to a street with lots of potential restaurants and most of them were closed for the holiday, but eventually we found one that was oddly run by several young foreigners.  They spoke vietnamese and there were vietnamese cooks in the back though.

Beef pho

I opted for the beef pho and my brother had a meat/veg dish on rice.  The pho was much better than the place the other day, so I was glad to be able to say I had some very good pho while in Vietnam.

Meat and veg on rice

Nha Hang Nam Hao 2

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner part 2
Price: 300,000 VND
Payment: Cash only (as far as I could tell...language barrier was pretty high)
Dishes: Grilled Pork northern style, blood sausage
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: Yes (it's basically outside)

Not feeling satisfied by my partial pho dish, I went on the prowl for some meat.  I had seen this other restaurant on my walkabout earlier and decided to try it out.  I apologize for my ignorance of the variation within Vietnamese cuisine, but this place appears to be something specific, I just don't know what it is.  There were lots of big tables outside and a friendly, family atmosphere, especially as more people came to dinner.  It looks like the sort of place you bring the whole family or group of friends and order a ton of dishes to share.

Blood sausage with boiled offal

Sadly, I was by myself, and half full already, so I just ordered some grilled pork.  I was told it would take a while, and it did.  Eventually I got bored and ordered blood sausage thinking it would come out quicker.  It arrived at the same time as the pork.  The blood sausage was ok, but it came with a ton of boiled onions and intestines.  I'm all for offal, but this stuff was a bit tough to chew, except for the liver, but it also had fresh chilies added which was nice.  The blood sausage may have had some rice mixed in, at least that was the texture I got.  Oh well...gonna have to carb it for a bit here.  The grilled pork was very tasty, especially with the rock salt and chili mixture it came with.

Grilled pork northern style

I snarfed it all up and am sad I know I just scratched the surface of everything that place had to offer.

Pho Thu

Rating: OK
Meal:  Dinner part 1
Price:  137,000 VND
Payment: Cash only
Dishes:  Pho, fresh coconut
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

I'm in Da Nang, Vietnam, visiting my brother.  He's on an odd schedule to sync up with his US-based job, so I had the evening to myself.  I wandered about a bit, eventually swinging back to where I started.  I decided to start with some pho, because I've always wondered if the pho I've had elsewhere was anything close to the original.  Pho Thu was a nicer looking place so I decided to give it a shot.

The menu had several options so I went for the one with the most stuff in it.  Even though I've given myself permission to eat carbs for this trip, I still found myself unable to take more than a bite of the noodles.  I ate all the meat and drank the soup though.  Overall, while good, it didn't really blow me away flavor-wise.  Maybe I'll get to try some better examples during my short time here.

Tatsu

Rating: OK
Meal:  Breakfast
Price:  2800 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes:  Steak
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

I'm traveling to Da Nang, Vietnam to visit my brother.  This morning I was at Narita Airport Terminal 1 and had some time before leaving on the plane.  Not wanting to be tempted by the horrible food on the plane, I looked around for some meat to eat (carnivore diet atm) and found a steak teishoku at Tatsu, which also advertises craft beer which I sadly did not partake of.

Steak

I opted for no rice, so I got a few slices of meat, which was what I wanted.  Just ok of course, not amazing stuff, but it worked.

Halima Kebab Biryani

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner for 2
Price: 4200 yen
Payment: Cash only (credit card machine not working)
Dishes: Tandoori meat platter, lamb chop, samosas, paneer cheese sandwich, kerala paratha
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

Masala papdum

My wife and I were in Tokyo on Saturday and Sunday, so we spent Saturday night in the Ueno area as that would position us well for church on Sunday.  We had an enjoyable time traipsing all over the Ameyokocho market, identifying numerous potential restaurants for dinner.  We ended up at one closer to our hotel called Halima Kebab Biryani, which as the name indicates is a rare find in Tokyo:  an Indian restaurant run and staffed by actual Indians!

Samosas

The menu and font look very similar in many ways to our favorite Indian restaurant in Japan:  Royal Parasol, but the food tastes a bit different.  I am eating carnivore these days so I stuck with a tandoori meat platter and lamb chop and my wife wanted to just eat a bunch of appetizers so she went for samosas, a paneer cheese sandwich thing, and some kerala paratha.

Paneer sandwich thing

The meat was pretty good, although I found their tandoori sauce to be a bit high on vinegary scale.  But the malay chicken was nice and creamy, and the lamb chop was surprisingly hefty.  My wife said her dishes were pretty good too, although the paratha was a bit disappointing as it wasn't covered in ghee or butter, but oh well.

Tandoori meat platter

While eating, an Indian family came in and sat next to us and ordered biryani and curries and such, and I'm really looking forward to returning to try those dishes as well.  I may even change the rating up to an Excellent if they merit it.  But for now the rating is a Very Good as both of us felt Royal Parasal is a cut above.

Afghani lamb chop

Kerala paratha