FROCKS & FORKS

Travel in 2015

December 19, 2015sarahloulake

As 2015 draws to a close I wanted to summarise my travels of the last twelve months before embarking on planning the next twelve months!

Amsterdam

A super fast trip, and not my first to Amsterdam. It was 24 hours with great food, a walk through the red light district and tacky souvenirs.

Gothenburg

A last minute trip to Gothenburg was a great weekend with shopping and a really good experience at Koka.

Chicago

Three visits to Chicago this year- February, May and October. This city will always have a special place in my heart.

Vienna

Another quick, flying visit. Staying at the Melia hotel with lovely rooms and a great restaurant on Level 57.

Copenhagen

Somewhat grey and dreary but with some amazing food at The Studio and Host

Tokyo

The best trip of 2015- definitely! We did so much in a really short amount of time.

Cyprus

The most relaxing holiday of the year, without a doubt. Sunshine, reading and a private pool

This week, Buzzfeed has been doing a feature all about mental health. As one of the biggest players on the social media network, it is admirable that they would devote so much time to what is still a fairly taboo topic. I have read many of the articles and found their first hand accounts eye opening. I have empathised with many of them. One in four adults suffer with a form of mental health issues and I am sure the objective of media focus like this is to get people to talk about it, to make it less of a taboo. So here it is: I am one of the one in four. I refer to it as “flaws and foibles” in my previous post but in reality it is “depression and anxiety”. It has manifested itself in many ways over the years. The one (somewhat) relieving thing about my thirties has been getting better at recognising the shape of my mental health; the triggers, the peaks and the troughs. It has most certainly been a take out of 2015. It hasn’t removed it (in fact the “not plain sailing” point in my previous post is a nod to the frequency and intensity of those peaks and troughs this year), but I have learned to accept it and to be ok with not always being ok, and embrace that I can be a bit “weird”.

So what has triggered this post? There is every chance that I am in the midst of a trough (learning I still haven’t mastered: think before you hit send/publish), but it has been triggered by something on Buzzfeed. If you ever read Buzzfeed articles, they are littered with things like “15 ways humankind failed in 2015”. They are, essentially, a way of creating quick content from the content of others. They posted an article called: 21 Times Tumblr Users Helped You Feel Less Alone, as part of their mental health week. It was accompanied by a picture of a pretty purple post it note saying “you owe yourself the love that you give to other people”. I read it, thought “that’s nice” and moved on. However, it is now 3am and that pretty purple post it note is bothering me. (Insomnia!)

The pretty purple post it

Buzzfeed: you did a great thing, focusing on mental health. However, this is LAZY content administration. I reflected on the quote. The quote sits right for some situations. You could say this to someone in a shitty relationship. Or who has a friend who is toxic. However, in my experience, this quote does not help you feel “less alone”, as the title of the article suggests. Some people (I am being careful not to generalise) suffering from anxiety or depression would look at that quote and deem they deserve nothing. In their dark days they rule themselves to be terrible sons and daughters, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, employees and friends. In their dark days they would conclude that they deserve no love, because they are so terrible at demonstrating or feeling that love for others.

I KNOW that mental health is unique to the individual. I have seen that first hand. So my mini rant may be irrelevant. Somebody else may have found great solace in the pretty purple post it. However, my point is more this: bravo Buzzfeed for highlighting mental health. Some of your articles over the last week have been superb. Shame on you, however, for delivering lazy content by using a snipping tool on tumblr. You undermine all of your well thought through work with what is essentially a top ten of inspirational quotes, supported by an attractive picture of a pretty purple post it.

Save that for Pinterest.

Writing a blog

December 12, 2015sarahloulake

It is now a year since I started my blog. The last year wasn’t that easy. Don’t get me wrong- it was by no means the hardest year I have ever had to deal with- it just wasn’t plain sailing. This time a year ago I missed America and had to do a job I hated (which is over now, thank goodness!) and really just felt a bit lost. So, the blog was supposed to be a way of funnelling my energy into something positive, and I think it worked.

What did I learn?

Don’t try and curate something that isn’t real

In November this year, Essena O’Neill, an Australian social media star, quit social media. She described it as “contrived perfection made to get attention”. I can absolutely see how that happens. There are times when I have considered what I am writing and almost changed it to be more palatable. However, I have kept it. I think my most…uncomfortable…post was this one. I debated it, and chose to publish it. Not as a message to anyone in particular, but because it was how I felt at the time. To NOT post it, would be an attempt to curate a life that wasn’t mine. To NOT post it would be a failure to acknowledge our (my!) flaws and foibles. I turned 30 this year: I have to be ok with my weirdness and flaws, because I don’t think they’ll be going anywhere soon! So, plenty of food, plenty of travel and some uncomfortable commentary. It’s not curated for anyone. If nothing happens in my life (or if I am in a place where I just can’t write) there is a gap in blog posts. Definitely true in May and August of 2015, where I was struggling a bit! And that’s ok. There is no point making the thing a chore where you feel like you have to post. If I have something to say, I will. If I don’t, you’ll get radio silence!

Write it for yourself, not for others

I never really wrote it with the intention that other people would read it. I know that sounds stupid. However, it was a way of me writing down some of what was in my head and some of my experiences to funnel my energy into something creative. The reality is, over 4000 people have visited the blog. Small in terms of most sites, but it still surprises me. What’s even more surprising is that 800 of those people kept coming back. It’s easy to get into thinking “what would people like to read?”, but that was never the point of this. I have to do that all day long at work- think about what other people would react to- so the point of this exercise was just to blab out what was in my head. The minute I start to write the content for others, it’s more like a job. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do that, or am not open to that, it just wasn’t the point of the exercise.

Don’t put it all out there

I came to realise that, sometimes, I put it all out there. For anyone who knows me, that’s true on the blog, and it’s true in real life. And it gets me in trouble! When I was talking to somebody about my holiday and they said that they had read about it already, I recognised that I had overshared. The blog is fun, but it’s no substitute for talking to the people in your life. Now I just try to pick topics, restaurants or events to focus on. That’s a pretty recent learning. Also, other forms social media are probably more suited to a running commentary, like Twitter and Instagram.

People get embarrassed about reading it

It’s out there. However, people get embarrassed about reading it! Some people have said “so sorry- I was just stalking you”, or people who have mentioned something about my life and I’ve said “I didn’t realise I told you about that” and they come up with some lame excuse…it’s ok to say you read it on the blog! I wouldn’t publish it into the ether if I didn’t think somebody might read it.

Keep doing it

Writing the blog has helped me enormously. It helped me recognise that life AA (after America!), had plenty going on. It helped me focus my energy outside of the workplace- which was a first for me. It helped me gain some control when I felt like everything was out of my control, and it helped me find a creative way of expressing myself. I am not a good writer, by any stretch of the imagination, but the process of writing down thoughts can make you feel accomplished. It can also help refine your thoughts- if you’re like me and have a million things zipping around in your head at once, that you can’t quite organise. Eventually, that helps restore your confidence in your thoughts and ideas. So, I’ll definitely keep doing it. If the 800 of you who come back and read this thing keep doing so, I’d be glad to keep writing you my uncontrived, slightly edited (just so I save something for face to face conversation) rhetoric. And if you know me and read it, it’s totally fine to say so. It doesn’t make you a stalker.

Thanks for reading everyone x

Lidkoeb in Copenhagen

December 5, 2015sarahloulake

I have to briefly write about this place, because I think it might be one of my favourite bars I have EVER been to. You have to know about it really, as it’s not easy to find. You go down a small alley and through what I can only assume was an old coach house and then there is an old apothecary. Apparently, until the 1980s it had been used to produce medicine, but then had been left in a state of disrepair. It has, however, been transformed into the most beautiful bar.

High, curved windows with booth seating and heavy faux-skin blankets look onto a bar with traditional- almost Moroccan- style tiling and an old fashioned, wooden fridge for the wine. The menu comes on a clipboard with a thick slab of leather to lift and view the drink selection. The shelf across the bar is lined with whiskey- their speciality. Each booth is lit with stylish Danish lighting. At one end there is a roaring fire and a piano. At the other end an enormous Helmut Newton exhibition advertisement with an androgynous looking woman in a tux and a naked woman embracing her, on the street. (I have since discovered this is a 1975 YSL shoot)

It is the kind of marriage between the old and new that I love. Combine that with good wine and a phenomenal soundtrack (Jimi Hendrix to Hot 8 Brass Band to James Brown to a bit of Danish rap thrown in for good measure) and I think I have found my perfect bar.

Just a shame that it is in Copenhagen and not here!

I was enjoying myself so much, I didn’t take that many pictures. However, I discovered it via Cereal so here is a link to some of their pictures

Höst in Copenhagen

December 5, 2015sarahloulake

Not a Michelin star this time, but that is compensated by the stylish decor. This restaurant was awarded the Best Design Restaurant in the world, having been created by Menu and Norm Architects.

The serving staff are beautiful: we had a Ruby Rose look-a-like serving us. The drunker I got, the more I repeated (not to her face, of course) “that woman is stunning”. She was. I wish I could pull off a cropped hairstyle like that. So, beautiful setting, beautiful staff the next thing is the beautiful food.

This time we went for it: we did the “An evening at Host” from the menu: sparkling wine, three courses, wine pairing, coffee, water- all of it, all in for 595DKK or £60. It was so much more than three courses though.

It started with some sparkling wine and an amuse bouche, in the form of a beetroot meringue. It reminded me of that floristry oasis- it simply disappeared when you bit into it, like a bright pink dust!

Following on from this, a slate arrived with two hollowed out pieces of bone. In the cavity was beef tartare, topped with a bone marrow cream. If you’re vegetarian, it probably seems utterly barbaric to hollow out a bone and stuff it with the meat. I kept thinking that when I was eating it. The utensil was like the kind of scoop you get with ice cream, but whittled out of something like Mother of Pearl. Or perhaps it was bone- that would make more sense. Anyway, I can take or leave beef tartare. It’s ok. Perhaps I haven’t had phenomenal beef tartare yet. I like it, I’ll eat it, but it never has me punching the air and exclaiming “YES! RAW MINCED BEEF!”*

After this, the next dish was a little bit more “New Nordic”: tiny pies of lingonberries and blue cheese (divine) and then a bowl of duck heart in a milky froth. We think it had artichoke in it too. Given the track record from the other restaurants, it wouldn’t surprise me. The heart lumps weren’t the most pleasant thing. I am actually not a huge offal fan either (I know, I sound like a picky eater, I am not). However, I do believe that offal can be good if prepared properly. Japan definitely proved that to me. You had to eat that course pie first, then the duck heart froth. Chef said so. We obeyed.

Finally, we got our first proper course: Hake with pickled onions, watercress and sauce from apples and pork . It was the unfishiest fish I think I have ever eaten. It was almost like meat. It was delicious. Beautifully presented and beautifully flavoured. Yum yum. And served with a crisp Chablis. I simply couldn’t have this wine pairing double parked. Down went the sparkling wine. Down went the other sparkling wine and on I cracked with the Chabils. I had, a couple of hours before this, been drinking at Lidkoeb. So, you can see where this story may be heading.

Next, a bit of bread. The bread was ok- nothing spectacular. The butter was made with wheatgerm. Served on a stone. Of course- as is the Nordic way. I have to say, I was relieved when I heard wheatgerm. I saw a mound of green, churned stuff coming at me and thought “If that is green scrambled egg I am going to have to ask them to take it away”. Awkward British moment avoided. Hurrah.

Then the goose with dried cabbage, celeriac and burned butter . It also came with a sauce of fermented garlic in- you’ve guessed it- a teeny weeny saucepan and it was poured over it at the table. The red wine was the best wine- I know it was a Super Tuscan (the extent of my red wine education) and it was delicious. Yeah. I drank both sparkling wines. And both red wines.

Dessert was a three part process. Any restaurant that delivers you a pre-dessert (and no, a shitty ball of crap sorbet does NOT count), wins in my book. Especially when it is Danish yogurt with salted caramel dust (not the right word). If anybody has had yogurt from a Scandinavian country, you will know it is decadent, think and creamy and is in no way reminiscent of fat free, aspartame filled crappy yogurt you find in the supermarket at home.

The main dessert event was a lemon mousse with pear-sorbet, walnuts and meringue with a thyme oil. Yep. They poured it over, at the table. Honestly, I don’t think a dessert needs a salad dressing. Just my humble opinion. Yummy nonetheless. This was paired with a sweet, sparkling dessert wine. I don’t know, but I may have drunk both glasses of that too.

Just when you think it is all over, ANOTHER dessert arrived! This time, a hard shelled, chocolate caramel something, surrounded with a kind of crumb that when you put it in your mouth, it popped like popping candy. It was some Willy Wonka voodoo, but with that much wine and the third dessert, I was giddy and elated, as you can imagine.

So, at this stage, the restaurant is very, very warm. I am on my sixth (ish) glass of wine. We’ve eaten some amazing food. I am getting less and less subtle about how beautiful our waitress is. It was time for coffee. What a disappointment! It was like the coffee you get at a conference centre! So sad! I should have avoided it, but I needed to sober up. It ended up keeping me awake with a caffeine buzz until 5am.

Höst gives you some of the adventure of a Michelin star restaurant, in a Scandi designed setting without the pretension of some of the others, It is genuinely relaxed, fun and great value with the menu and wine pairing offer. I really would recommend visiting this restaurant if you’re heading to Copenhagen. I’m fairly certain I had a good night.

*carpaccio is in a different class all together.

The Studio Copenhagen

December 5, 2015sarahloulake

On the harbourside in Copenhagen there is a green, art deco building with a clocktower. Opened by Claus Meyer, from Noma, and jazz musician Niels Lan Doky, the building houses a jazz club and three restaurants: Almanak serves sandwiches in the day and more traditional food at night, Verandah serves pan-Indian food and Studio, where we went, which aims to create dishes inspired by nature. It has a Michelin star and is run by ex-Noma chef Torsten Vildgaard (read about him on Eater here) who actually served us some of the courses. It only opens for lunch two days a week so we went along on Thursday, along with two other tables and had an amazing lunch.

The staff were so friendly and attentive, they knew who we were on arrival (a product of well spaced reservation timings I suspect) and took us over to our table. We had a view of a grey, rainy Copenhagen and the half built bridge that connects Christianhavn and the main city. That sounds dreary- it wasn’t.

We started with champagne and these beautiful potato fritters as amuse bouche.

Delicately flavoured with herbs they were stunning golden nests. On the first bite, however, the familiar taste overwhelmed us: potato, salt and vinegar- this was a very fancy chip shop amuse bouche! Of course it was better than the Great British Takeaway at the top of the street at home. The amuse bouche came with a sealed envelope-and silver letter opener- where you can read the menu and make your choices. We chose the three course menu. However, it became so much more than that!

As it was a special occasion for us (unintentionally we told them this- they just asked why we were in Copenhagen!), they served us with two huge oysters with lime juice and green strawberries to start with. (oops. Only took the photo once they were eaten). That was just a little extra that was off the menu that the charming Torsten Vidgaard served us himself! I thought they were Danish oysters…turns out they were French. Exquisitely flavoured and very kind and generous of the team at The Studio.

I cannot remember the exact order that everything came in.

There was a velvet bag with warm profiteroles made with bone marrow and a cream cheese and roe dip.

There was also some beautiful bread with hand churned butter (served on a stone, seems to be the Scandi way). There was a sour bread, with a 4 year old sour dough starter and then an envelope with a dark crisp bread. The butter could be slathered on with, what I can only describe as, a plastering tool.

There was a dish of tiny quail’s eggs, stuffed with some kind of cream and topped with truffles. You had to dip the egg into a pile of black salt too. Now, I don’t eat eggs. But I did on this occasion. I just can’t get on with the texture of a boiled egg, but if you dip it in salt and top it with truffle, an egg is significantly improved!

There was a delicious squid dish- Miso marinated squid with creamy mussel sauce
Wild cress- not at all rubbery. The sauce was served- again- from a teeny weeny saucepan.

Then the main course was wild duck breast, glazed with liquorice and served with rose hips and these wafer thin pieces of beetroot dusted with rose powder. No, it didn’t taste like pot pourri! There were also blackberries on the plate, and the sauce (again…teeny weeny saucepan) was a wild berry concoction with thyme. Visually it was bright and beautiful, and it tasted so good. The rose hips were almost like dried fruit.

The dessert-Mutzo apples with Jerusalem artichok and brown butter Verbena-was ribbons of apple with dark, almost black, discs of burned hazelnuts formed into biscuits (they tasted like a solid form of Nutella!) Then, there it was again: Jerusalem artichoke ice cream!

Then, just when you thought there could be no more- we had an espresso, which was served with petit fours: a macaroon (we still don’t know the flavour- but it was on a bed of orange gravel/cat litter that was also edible and tasted like childhood sweets) and some nougat served on a petri dish of pot pourri AKA rose petals

The design of this place is very Danish (as far as my design knowledge goes): an open kitchen with striking turquoise tiling, black lamps that hang down or extend over the tables and Danish chairs- including the most attractive office wheelie chair I have ever seen. There is no bar, so the deep, curved windowsills are adorned with rums and whiskeys. I would definitely recommend this place. The reason I booked for lunch was because they were full in the evening, but the guy informed us that they usually get a few cancellations on the day. It is Michelin star as I expect it to be (in comparison to Relae the night before), with exceptional service in a beautiful location. It is reasonably priced as well: our lunch was 450DKK which is about £45.

Relae Copenhagen

December 4, 2015sarahloulake

This is where all the food starts to blend together, and I should have been my usual, studious self and kept up with my blog writing as I went along. Forty-eight hours after I arrived, I am back in Copenhagen airport. It probably wins on “best shopping at an airport”. It’s not just ridiculously expensive stuff either. Anyway, I have purchased my obligatory crap fridge magnet for the collection, and found my way to the BA lounge. Now it’s time to decipher the 25+ courses I have eaten and photographed over the last two days (it’s not as greedy as it sounds…but it is pretty greedy) and work out what was eaten where, and whether it was good or not.

So, starting chronologically. On Wednesday night we strolled over to the northern part of the city, near Nørrebro and stopped at a drink at Mikkeller and Friends, where they brew their own beer. Copenhagen is most definitely a Carlsberg city so if you want anything else, this is a good option (and I am not really a beer drinker!). I got the festive feeling with a “Have a Hoppy Christmas”.

After this, we walked over to Relae restaurant. This restaurant has a Michelin star and the food is defined as “New Nordic”. The two chefs who set it up (Christian Puglisi and Kim Rossen) are ex-Noma and, as we have been on the waitlist for Noma for over a month (to no avail), this looked like the next best thing. The reservation was for 9.30pm. We were eight minutes early. Eight minutes. And we were asked to come back in eight minutes time. Which, I guess is kind of fair. If your reservation is 9.30pm, don’t show up at 9.22pm. However, Denmark at night, in December is COLD.

So. After sauntering up the street. Then down the street. It was 9.30pm. We arrive and are pointed to where we can hang our coats up. Then we are left. This restaurant is pretty small, with no waiting area. We end up looking like total idiots in front of the restaurant, having to seek out the waitress to seat us.

Finally, we are seated. The restaurant is intentionally “relaxed”. I am writing it like this because it tries to be relaxed, whilst (in some way), being unnecessarily pretentious. As a result, it kind of falls through the crack and fails on both parts. It is neither attentive in service nor chilled and relaxed. There are two areas, we sat in the area where you can see the kitchen. Fine by me, I find working kitchens mesmerising. At Relae, the serving staff and chefs are one and the same. If they made it, they serve it.

Sitting, we are served some sparkling wine and instructed to open the drawer where the cutlery and the menu is housed. We choose the four course menu. It just says “four course”- the rest is a surprise and a discovery. We opt out of the wine pairing for this one- and she tells us that, when we are ready for more wine, we will be given it to align with the course (we are not trusted to choose for ourselves! That’s ok though. I know pretty much nothing about wine).

The first amuse bouche is a salsify fritter with mushroom powder. We are delighted to discover that the Danish don’t shy away from salt. The mushroom powder plumes into the air as we take a bite and the light illuminates the little clouds we create with every bite.

The next course is hardly worth a photo. I have one, but no amount of VSCO and filters can make it look better than it did. It was steamed leeks and oysters: it just looked like a pile of steamed leeks plonked on a plate. In fairness, they were delicious. Best damn leeks I have ever had, probably. However, the oysters. The oysters. I LIKE oysters. I like oysters RAW. However, something weird happens when you cook them: they become like little hard lumps of salty bleurgh. Ick. And I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. I was, however, terribly British about it all. The couple on the table next to us (well, the woman from the couple on the table next to us) just said it. Straight out. No qualms.

Then we have some bread. This redeemed Relae. Just amazing sour bread with Sicilian olive oil. You ate it, and more came. To the point where we realised you have to leave a little crust to stop the continuous delivery of bread.

What followed was the snazziest potato dish I have ever had. Pureed potato served with the caramelised skins and buttermilk sauce. Here’s something I learned about New Nordic cuisine: they love to serve a sauce at the table in a teeny weeny saucepan. It was delicious. However, it did make me think of my own days in catering and the foray into “can we dish a Pot Noodle up and make it sound good- and charge £18 for it?”. Did we just get served a really fancy plate of Smash? I’m not sure. It tasted good though, so all is forgiven.

Another little pallet cleanser: it was a bowl of chicken broth and chicken fat. That’s how it was described. I’m not going to lie: it was like drinking out of the bottom of the roasting tray after a Sunday lunch. It was good. As ashamed as a I am to admit it: “my name is Sarah and I just drank chicken fat and liked it”.

Then the main course. Chicken leg that had been poached at 62 degrees for 2.5 hours, served with a crunchy chicken skin crumble, cabbage and some other stuff (they didn’t write it down! And they spoke really fast!). Honestly, it was like fancy KFC. There is just no need to be faffing around like that with a 2 inch piece of chicken. I mean- it was OKAY, but it wasn’t amazing.

At this point as well, we were totally prepared for the second glass of wine- the one we weren’t allowed to choose- but it never came. We continued to drink water for the rest of the meal!

Then pudding. Yum. Well, if you know me, I have a real issue with the mixing of sweet and savoury. No cranberry on my Christmas dinner. No pineapple on pizza (they are like little pellets of scolding sugar…why?!). Sugar cannot invade my savoury. However, this is the first time that savoury has invaded my sweet (that I can recall): this was Jerusalem Artichoke ice cream topped with Jerusalem Artichoke crispy something. After the shock, it was actually pretty nice. And it ended up not being my only serving of it. It showed up at The Studio too. I am guessing chefs move between the many Michelin star restaurants in Copenhagen. Finally some coffee: coffee selected JUST FOR THEM by the Coffee Collective. I rarely drink my coffee black (even when the guy in Colonna and Smalls in Bath told me I had to, I made him bring me a bit of milk!) but this was delicious. We actually went back to Coffee Collective later on in the trip.

I guess you can see where this is heading. It was nice. It was alright. But it wasn’t Michelin star alright. I know we were the last people in (9.30pm table) but still, the staff were kind of uppity and not relaxed at all, and some of the food was less experimental and eye-opening and sometimes just (frankly), a little bit ick (I am referring to the oysters here specifically). The opinion of a few on the night too. I guess you’re getting something Noma-esque with Relae, however I get the impression that it might just be a poor iteration. On the plus side, you are getting something Noma-esque without the Noma price tag: 4 courses was 450DKK which is about £45. So, whilst I have been critical about it being an iteration, the price is adjusted accordingly!

Final Day In Tokyo

November 17, 2015sarahloulake

First of all- three full days in Tokyo is not enough. I reckon another day and half would have been perfect. However, it is what it is, so here’s how we spent the final day Tokyo.

First stop was the Tokyo Skytree for some shopping and a bit of lunch. We stopped at Rokurinsha for tsukemen ramen (read all about it in this article here). As ever, in Japan, it was ruthlessly efficient: you order at the little vending machine at the front, take your ticket and give it to the waitress. It was speedy, spicy and delicious. We sat by the window, so the queue watched (and laughed) at us eating it!

After this, we walked across the river to Senso-Ji temple, the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan. It is a tourist trap, but worth going to.

Outside of the temple there is a long market stall stretch- again, full of tourists, but fascinating people watching.

So, we waded through the stalls of hot sake, kimonos and food to find the metro and head over to Akihabara, or “Electric Town”- this is probably what I had imagined Tokyo to be like. Noise, manga, video games and lights. The one thing I have learned about is maid cafes- look it up if you don’t know.

The jet lag had finally got the better of me, so back to Akasaka for a nap (I know! On the last day?!) and then we went out for dinner in Akasaka. There is so much going on here, so if you ever visit Tokyo, head here for a choice of restaurants and bars. We chose to eat Motsuyaki (which, it turns out is offal…but it tasted good). You eat standing up and order dishes which arrive separately. It’s a bit like Japanese tapas. The place was small and there was a guy in the middle in charge of the grill.

We then walked around Akasaka, stopping for a hot cocktail in the humid, November rain.

Our last challenge remains getting from Tokyo to Narita airport at 6.30am amidst a Japanese rush hour. Eek!

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Second Day in Tokyo

November 16, 2015sarahloulake

Struggling with jet lag and broken sleep, we spent the morning at the Tsukiji Fish Market (separate post here) before strolling around the shops in Ginza. A particular favourite (and planned destination!) was Ito-ya, a stationery store established in 1905, with a beautiful newly refurbished store in Ginza. Twelve floors of stationery, note books and paper including a cafe and farm (!) where they grow plants to create the paper. Yes, they make their own paper. In every colour imaginable: beautiful…

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After this, we wandered around the shops and department stores. Stopping for some lunch on the go (pork and potato fried…something?!)

Then we walked over to the Imperial Palace- not really much to see, as it was pretty much blocked off, but managed to get some pictures:

After this, we jumped on the metro to the Tokyo Tower, which is essentially a television aerial that has become a tourist attraction!

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Underwhelmed, we needed a pick up. So we went for coffee. Or koffee. This is no ordinary coffee place. Omotesando Koffee (www.ooo-koffee.com) is in the back streets in Harajuku and is a pop up shop (with a more permanent license now), attached to a 60 year old Japanese home. The barista works in a small cube, there are no seat (but there is a kind of courtyard), and each coffee is prepared with the patience and perfectionism that you might expect from a top mixologist. There was a queue, and you have to wait- this isn’t Starbucks speed- but the setting, design and taste mean it is worth the wait.

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Also in Harajuku is Maisen, a Tonkatsu restaurant. It wasn’t on the huge list of restaurants I have stored on my phone, but it smelled so good we couldn’t resist. There are different floors (including a tatami option), but we opted to sit at the bar. I don’t have any pictures of the food because they have a “no mobile phones” request which, in a city obsessed with their smart devices, we chose to adhere to! Tonkatsu is a fried pork dish and the menu walks you through the different parts of the pig you can eat. I had Kurobuta Rosu (pork loin), which comes served with rice, cabbage, miso soup and pickles. It was amazing. The service was great (the woman knew the words “please”, “thank you” and “sorry” and repeated them in one long string whenever she spoke to us- e.g. she put the beer down next to me and say “please-thank-you-sorry”- it was great!) So, one photo from the place- and it’s a shot of outside and the bar we sat at…

Then back to Akasaka for dessert, which came from Libertable, a beautiful store with the most stunning desserts. Each one is a piece of art! We ordered two, and they were carefully wrapped with ice packs inside and out for them to last the walk home (Tokyo has been unseasonably hot this week)

Now…can I find a spoon!?

Tsukiji Fish Market

November 16, 2015sarahloulake

Since being in Japan, I have read this article in The New York Times Travel section about the future of the Tsukiji Fish Market and how, after next year, it will be moved out of the city. Today we walked through the market and witnessed all the stalls and mini cafes. It was hectic and kind of stinky, but something tells me that it harks back to an “old” Japan (it opened in 1935). There were several guided tours happening, and many of the attendees were elderly Japanese people. Moving through the market was slow, in part due to elderly visitors, and in part because you need to weave through the long queues for certain ramen bars along the front of the market.

Here’s some of the pictures I took today…

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