Pontochoux - Paris

The More Things Change....
Having spent years in Asia I should've accepted the core of Buddhism by now - change as a constant.  I hate change.  In Paris I feel like an old man, mourning my dead friends.  My old favorite Jean Millet was bought over and turned into a bright spaceship. What kind of god allows this while Berko goes untouched?  Au Levain du Marais looks the same from the outside, but it's not.  They used to have the "go-to" croissant.  Au Duc de Montmorency - gone.  I want everything to be as it was - there are too many hamburger places now, too much English spoken.  Vegan?  In Paris?  Thankfully, some of the oldies are still around, and some have sprouted.  The folks from Chez Taeko opened Pontochoux, a change I can deal with.

Hokkyokusei - Osaka

Omelet Rice Ground Zero
Not far from the famous crab sign, out of the neon flicker, Hokkyokusei humbly awaits your discovery.  They invented "omuraisu", otherwise known as omelet rice, and they're proud of it.  It is as you might infer, an omelet stuffed with rice.

Canezees Donut - Fukuoka, Japan

"Healthy" Japanese Donuts from the Memory Bank
In the early days I'd blog immediately.  I find I'm getting slower and slower.  Take Canezees - I was there almost two months ago and am just posting.  It's not a comment on their donuts, more my laziness.  I remember being surprised by this funky donut shop, found along the railroad tracks in a forlorn section of Hakata.

Hisago - Kyoto

Going Against the Crowd (Us Usual)
Visiting the famous temples in Kyoto nourishes the spirit but not the body.  Using a Japanese food guide as our bible we made our way to Hisago (ひさご) to try their famous Oyakodon.  We, as in her.  I went against the norm - every single person there was ordering, waiting for or eating Oyakodon.  I thumbed my nose at them all and chose the cha soba, cold buckwheat noodles zapped with green tea.

Dohton Bori - Osaka

As You Like It, in Osaka
Okonomiyaki is Osakan soul food, they tell me.   It means "cooked the way you like it" (okonomi = as you like it and yaki=cooked or grilled.)  At Dohton Bori, they take your freedom seriously, giving you all kinds of crazy combo choices for what I'd describe as a savory pancake/omelette.  I kept it inside the ropes, adding ham, cheese, prawns, and eggs to a batter made of shredded yam, flour and water. On top were the usual accompaniments: a Worcestershire-like black sauce, mayo and bonito shavings.

Swindle Factory - Fukuoka, Japan

It Helps to Be Forgetful
"Who goes on vacation for two weeks and forgets their wallet?"  It was a fair question, one I'd asked myself before she gave voice to my inner thoughts.  I wasn't sure if she was mad or scared.  Is there a small tumor wriggling it's elbows inside my grey matter?  Or is it early onset alzheimers?  Or, was it a devious plot, she suggested, to keep from paying for her shopping?  At our hotel, after coffee at Swindle Factory, the debate was put to rest.  I couldn't find my camera - I'd left it behind.  We tracked back to fetch it and decided to stay for dinner.  Thanks to my creeping senility we filled up on Hayashi rice and pasta.

Asahi Ken - Fukuoka, Japan

Whatchya Making Grandmama?  Gyoza?
You ever been to a restaurant where grannie is sitting right behind the counter hand-making gyoza and chit-chatting with the customers?  I have and I feel special.  We picked Asahi Ken (旭軒) out of a Japanese food magazine we bought at the train station.  After a few bites of grannie's food, I wanted to pick up that fat pink superphone on the counter and call everyone I knew to brag! 

Hakata Yatai - Fukuoka, Japan

My Best Experience in Fukuoka
Fukuoka is known for ramen, but they also have famed street stalls called Yatai.  They're no larger than a picnic table and you sit elbow to elbow on attached wooden benches and gobble freshly made, tasty street food.  We happened into this one as we got lost trying to find our hotel and came back for dinner.  Dodo dragged her feet a bit - she mumbled about not immediately getting to eat ramen.  After a few bites she stopped complaining.  Every thing we ate was good, especially the tightly rolled tamago, dolloped with a local delicacy - Mentaiko, a marinated pollock roe.

Tempura Tsunahachi - Tokyo

It Takes More Than Hot Oil...
As a boy, when we went out to eat, I refused to eat anything but burgers, fries and milkshakes.  How things change - I didn't even wait for her to finish saying "prawn head" before I'd popped it in and crunched happily.  I think she was as surprised by my lack of hesitation as I was.  It was nice, in a way that suggested a master's steady hand.  At Tsunahachi, every member of the staff looked to be in their sixties, including our chef.  I'd venture that experience is a positive when you're dunking things in hot oil.

Columbia 8 - Osaka

Burn You Twice Curry
It burned the buds and it's gonna burn the cheeks.  Not the cheeks on your face, the other ones.  The Columbia 8 curry is the hottest thing I've eaten in Asia, bar none.  That includes Thailand.  It didn't help that Dodo "gohan sukoshi'd"' (less rice) the order, forcing me to eat two spoonfuls of fire for each spoonful of rice.  This hidden ten seater is a nice place to eat curry in Osaka.

Bakeshop - Jiyugaoka, Tokyo

Iced Coffee Relief
I imagined it was pool-sized.  I dived in, did a doggy-paddle past a stray ice cube and then back-stroked to the straw.  Back in the real world, a few sips of the Bakeshop iced latte were like slipping on a frozen raincoat.  My temples stopped pulsing and the moving lips of my girlfriend started to make words I recognized.  Be warned if you come to Tokyo in August, it's hot.  Stroke-inducing, lung-collapsing hot.

Moon Rabbit Onigiri - Jiyugaoka, Tokyo

Rice Ball Charmer
I'd forgotten that Tokyo is a steaming cement stew in August.  I made a quick first purchase - a dark black umbrella, under which we wandered the streets of Jiyugaoka in Meguro prefecture.  Happenstance or perhaps heat stroke led us to a four-seater serving onigiri with sides.  Onigiri are rice balls and the version at Moon Rabbit are pure - unlike my translation of their name.  Officially, the place is called "Tsukitate Onigiri Tsuki Usagi."

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison - Singapore

Juicy Pork Loin Salvation
After a day with Dodo's girlfriends spent gossiping in the hair salon and loitering in the mall as they tested skin cream and shouldered pricey bags, I felt like I'd grown ovaries.  What saw me and my shrinking gonads through it all was the anticipation of a deep-fried pork loin dinner at Tonkatsu by Ma Maison.  They served me the juiciest, most succulent, mind-bending tonkatsu - I cannot imagine a better one - not even on my upcoming Japan vacation!  If I find a superior version, as improbable as that is, it will be purely by chance.  I feel about their tonkatsu as I do about the Dodo - no need to search any further.

Zuzu Ramen - Brooklyn

Traveling Changes You, Sometimes for the Worse
From a very young age I wanted to travel.  As soon as I graduated college I got a Eurail pass and bounced around Europe for a summer.  I even did a 41 day stretch on the trains, sleeping upright in the seats and pulling into a new town every day.  Now I split my time amongst three continents and am constantly amazed by it.  I've learned more from travel than from any classroom.  Unfortunately, it's spoiled me.  I cannot eat Mexican in Paris (sorry Candelaria) or croissants in New York.  I'm stubborn about ramen, even though I've slurped it many times in Tokyo and should know better.  My latest disappointment was at Zuzu, where they plied me with gyoza with skin as tough as a rawhide football....

Cocoron Soba - Manhattan

You Better Be Good With the Sticks
One more hour of tweaking powerpoints and I was going to snap.  I hoped a faraway lunch adventure would break up the drudgery.  No planes involved, only a NYC subway ride to Cocoron Soba.  Just what the doctor ordered - pork croquettes and plenty of noodles.  However, there's work to put in - the chopstick variety.  You better be able to maneuver with the wooden sticks - at Cocoron you may have to dip your own soba into boiling broth, one pinch at a time.

Nanashi II - Paris

Japarisian Deserves a Second Look
I've always admired the hard-working Japanese ladies at Rose Bakery.  They wake up early to make me scones and carrot cake for breakfast.  I like to get there early to peoplewatch them mixing and kneading next to the towering double stove.  One of them, Kaori Endo, left to open Nanashi in the 10th and I figured it would be a no-brainer success.  When she quickly opened another in the 3rd, I was surprised.  It's right in Rose's backyard.  I tried it out today and while not quite ready for primetime, it deserves a repeat visit.

Hui Sushi - Taipei

The Best Japanese Outside of Japan
Dodo's Taiwanese colleague didn't offer the thought as a conversation starter.  She stated as fact that the "best Japanese outside Japan is to be found in Taiwan."  I was skeptical until chef Weng from Hui Sushi started placing dishes in front of me.  The Japanese were in Taiwan for about 50 years starting in 1895 so it makes sense.  However, since I tend to stay away from superlatives, let's just say that Hui Sushi was the best Japanese food I've ever tasted in Taiwan!  It was damned good and I offer up the photos and words to prove it.  Take a peek at the miso soup with prawn and hidden chunks of succulent fish.

Kappa Sake House - Brooklyn

It Really is a Sake Bar...
....but we didn't realize, we saw the phrase "home-cooked Japanese" and thought Hibino.  We'd just spent an hour at Four and Twenty Blackbirds eating pie and now we wanted some lunch.  Yep, we tend to put dessert first, you never know when you'll absentmindedly step into traffic.

Naruto Ramen - Brooklyn

Memorable, for the Wrong Reason
I'm no food expert, and I definitely don't know much about ramen. But as it turns out, it wasn't necessary at Naruto. Four hours later I still have a stomach ache, just like I did at Minca in the East Village. It's as if the ramen got to my stomach and wove itself into a tight ball and refused to move any further.

Flor Patisserie - Singapore

It's a Matter of Taste
Imagine yourself in a dream, floating high above the earth. You're not scared, you feel safe and happy. The sun is warm and bright, causing you to squint. It's beauty like you've never seen, all the colors are glowing. Sugary white clouds billow around you, beckoning you, and in your dream state you know they're edible. You close your eyes, open your mouth and gently bite. How does it taste?