Thursday, September 5, 2019

Mae-an Thai

Location: Mae-an Thai

Rating: OK
Meal:  Lunch for 3
Price: 3680 yen
Payment: Appears cash only
Dishes: Fried rice, gapao chicken, some pork with veg dish
English Menu: Not really
Smoking: Didn't notice, but I think no smoking


Mae-an is a Thai restaurant in Ameyoko, the market area just south of Ueno Station.  It is located directly beneath the train tracks, so you get the occasional thunderous rumble over head while eating.  I'd been meaning to try it for years, but finally we had a chance the other day.


The menu is huge, so unfortunately I can only go off of what we had.  My son as usual went for fried rice, my wife tried the gapao chicken, while I had a dish that I thought would have big hunks of fatty pork, but turned out to be just thin strips of lean pork with vegetables.  They have 3 levels of spice and my wife got number 2 and we were warned it would be quite spicy.  Sure enough, the gapao was quite warm, almost too much for my wife, so we swapped dishes.  It was pretty good, but the egg was old and dry, not fresh and runny, sadly.  My son's fried rice tasted pretty good, but was nothing spectacular.


We enjoyed our food, but in retrospect it wasn't really all that amazing, so I'm just giving it an Ok.


Monday, August 26, 2019

Wellington's

Location: Wellington's


Rating: OK
Meal:  Dinner for 2
Price: ~$125
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Caprese salad, escargot, soups of the day (french onion and lobster bisque), beef wellington, lamb t-bone steak, warm chocolate tart, mango creme brulee
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No smoking

Our 19th anniversary was last week, but we decided to celebrate it on the weekend as we were going to be in Tokyo anyway for a church picnic near the New Sanno hotel.  The final restaurant we had yet to try is called Wellington's, a fancy, upscale steak restaurant with prices to accompany.  Definitely anniversary meal material, so we decided it was time to give it a shot.  It is also, by the way, a handy way to get a room there, as it is commonly sold out on the weekends, but they always reserve a few rooms to go with a Wellington's meal reservation.

If you are going for the fine dining experience, I think they did a pretty good job.   The room is quiet and well appointed, the staff excellent, and it ticks all the right boxes.  My wife and I were highly amused to get the "different menu" treatment, in which the man gets to see all the prices, while the woman does not.  This was a novel thing for us, and my wife thought it an excellent idea. 

This blog, however, is all about the food, and unfortunately, while edible, the food's quality wasn't as high as the prices might indicate.  Overall my wife and I thought it deserved no more than an Ok.  I'll comment on each food item below.

Escargot

I think I liked the escargot the best of all the dishes.  It was rich, buttery, and the texture of the snails was excellent.

Caprese salad
 My wife's caprese salad was decent, but the odd decision to make the vinaigrette into little pearls of agar agar meant you didn't really get the mingling of the flavors that you do when it is drizzled properly.
French onion soup
 Wow...quite a disappointment.  The soup itself was decent, but the cheese topping was one of the most tasteless, chewy things I've ever put in my mouth.  I'd much rather just have the soup.
Lobster bisque
 Pretty good, but minuscule.
Salad
 The endives were interesting, but the artichoke hearts tasted like they were from a bottom shelf jar at the commissary.
Lamb t-bone steak
 My main dish...the amount of meat was quit a disappointment, mostly taken up by the bone.  The flavor was not really all that impressive.  The risotto was too al dente, and very lacking in taste.  The vegetables were good however.
Beef wellington
 My wife's main dish, we were both very interested in the signature wellington, have never had it before.  I thought the pastry was underdone and wasn't too impressed, but my wife liked it well enough.  Again with the teeny tiny amount of food.  She opted for the truffle mashed potatoes, which definitely had that truffle taste we remember from the time we used the Costco truffle oil in everything for a while...and then decided it was possible to overdose on it.
Warm chocolate tart
 Ugh...this was down right gross, and I did not finish it.  Chalky, moisture absorbing, and tasteless.  The ice cream as all right.
Mango creme brulee
My wife's dessert, it was all right, but quite sweet and she regretted it later.

Well, that's it...we probably won't bother with Wellington's again.  For the price, you could go to a lot of interesting Japanese restaurants of much higher quality.  I should take that back...we might go again, if we have to make a reservation in order to spend the night!  Though I hear you can do the same for the teppanyaki place, which is probably better.

Friday, July 12, 2019

Saken Shokubo

Location: Saken Shokubo


Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 2
Price: 2570 yen
Dishes:  Not sure exactly
Payment: Cash only
English Menu: No
Smoking: No



Another Sunday in Ueno and we found a very interesting spot for lunch.  It appears to be some variety of Chinese food that I've never encountered before.  Their primary dish consists of smallish hot soups with various ingredients.  These are priced fairly low, so I'm guessing the idea is to order a couple of them along with other items.



We got a variety of dishes and I must say I was pleasantly surprised.  Even the plate of cold meats (including chicken feet) was tasty.  There were also some noodle dishes I wish we could have tried.  We'll have to come back with my wife and try more things for sure.



Saturday, July 6, 2019

Outback Steakhouse

Location: Outback Steakhouse

Rating: Not great
Meal: Dinner for 2
Price: 9800 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Drinks, two prime rib meals (250g)
English Menu: Yes
Smoking:  Yes


I met a friend in Shinagawa and decided to take him to the Outback Steakhouse as I had never been to one here in Japan.  It was happy hour, so drinks were half off, thank goodness!


We both had the prime rib and while it was ok, it was certainly nothing special.  Definitely not worth the price.  I probably won't be back to one of these places again.  Also, smoking.


Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Maruha

Location: Maruha


Rating: OK
Meal:  Lunch for 2
Price: ~2000 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Buta-don, two meat plates, two soft boiled eggs
English Menu: No
Smoking: Not sure, but probably not


My son and I ate at this random place near the Okachimachi station (one stop south of Ueno station).  It was late and we just needed food, so we didn't look long.  I saw meat dishes and figured it would do.  It's got a ticket vending machine, no english, touch interface.  Took a bit to figure out, but we eventually got some things that looked edible.  This place says they specialize in Hokkaido cuisine, which might mean something to anyone who has been there, but for the purposes of this blog, it's just Japanese food.

Buta-don

My son said he quite liked his buta-don (pork rice bowl, a classic dish from the area we visited in the mid-west), and I made do with two platters of what I think was beef, and a couple of soft boiled eggs.  It was filling enough, but nothing special really.

Meat plates with eggs (and butter)

Friday, June 28, 2019

Torishin

Location: Torishin


Rating: OK
Meal:  Dinner
Price: 2600 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Drink, yakitori
English Menu: No
Smoking: Yes


Met a friend near Kanzawa-Hakkei station last night.  Afterwards I looked around for a new spot to eat and found Torishin.  Hadn't had yakitori in a while so decided to give it a shot.  It was ok, not bad, but not great either.




Gintora

Location: Gintora


Rating: Not great
Meal: Dinner for 2
Price: 7700 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Drinks, avocado, tamagoyaki, bacon, meat platter, roast beef don
English Menu: No
Smoking:  Yes


This is the restaurant that replaced Station Grill.  It is a barebones izakaya with dark, unadorned, black boxes in which you will be inserted.


I have no idea how the price got so insane...my son and I were not very impressed with this place.  The smoke and noise seeped in from all around.


My son's main dish, the roast beef don, took forever to arrive.  All the rest of the food was eaten for a good 10 minutes before it finally arrived.  When it did he took a couple bites and declared the meat tough and not worth eating.


The avocado was unripe.  The tamagoyaki unremarkable.  The meat dishes weren't bad.


Overall not a place we're likely to ever return to.