A food collage of 2013

December is the time when people look back at the year that is quickly passing by, and naturally for us, we look back at the food we had and many of the wonderful things we came to experience in 2013.

Sushi Garyu - Crouching dragon, or one that yawns?

I came across Sushi Garyu at Yotsuya San-chome when I was in pursuit for lesser-known yet highly-rated sushi restaurants in Tokyo. This restaurant is ranked among the Top 30 on Tabelog, consistently above even some of the more famous ones in town, so I was curious to see if there is any truth to this, and I asked the hotel concierge to help book a seat for me to check it out one evening.

My "Kinder Surprise" Meal - Yuzen at Arakicho

I didn't make any advance dinner plan for one evening while in Tokyo and decided to "wing it" - essentially trying out a random place that I happened to come across. I remembered last time I was planning to head to the neighborhood of Arakicho (荒木町) near Yotsuya for some unagi dishes (at a restaurant called Masami) but that didn't quite fit into our schedule at the end. I didn't believe Masami would have seats available at last minute, but I figured... let's head over there this time and see what did they have.

Late Dinner at Sushisho Masa

I walked down the stairs into Chef Masakatsu Oka's Sushisho Masa restaurant with very high expectation. My foodie friend H (aka the icecream chef) recommended this place after her visit a couple months ago, so I made a reservation for dinner during my recent visit to Tokyo.

This 7-seater restaurant in the basement of a building in Nishi-Azabu - around 15 minutes' walk from Roppongi Junction - is popular among locals and foreigners and often requires reservation weeks in advance, unless you don't mind eating a bit late. I had my dinner booked for 9:30pm, which turned out working well for me as I had more time to run chores after work, and for the most part I was their only customer during that time slot.

The Perfect Tempura Lunch - Tokyo's Rakutei

For the past few trips to Tokyo, I always tried to find time for at least one decent sushi meal, and one tempura meal. This time, I booked myself a lunch spot at the Michelin 2-starred tempura restaurant Rakutei in the neighborhood of Akasaka.