AKASAKA: Chon-Jin-Don Korean Restaurant REVISTED for one of THE tastiest Tofu-Chige for only 600yen!

Parents out and about with their children among Sakura flowers... start of the new School year.

Its been a few months since I last visited this amazing little restaurant... had a craving and off I went.

Arrived at an early 11:30 to miss the Akasaka lunch rush... people started flowing in at about 12 noon.

Free Korean barley tea... oishii.

And there it was... My 600yen Tofu-Chige.  Looked sooo good!

This was simply stacked with a firmer texture tofu... not the soft watery type that tends to dilute the tasty soup.

This rice was amazing.  Each piece was perfectly plump and had a very shiny surface.  Simply cooked to perfection... think they use a higher grade rice than most shops.

Love the seasoned kamaboko on the right side... 

The tofu held its shape and never fell apart... love the texture.

Check written in Korean... nice!

My initial review... follow this link!

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2011/12/akasaka-yakiniku-chon-jin-don-for.html

Shop: Yakiniku Chon-Jin-Don

Hotpepper.jp: http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ000796347/ 

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1308/A130802/13027624/

Address J: 東京都港区赤坂2-13-17 赤坂45ビル 2F

Address E: Tokyo, Minato-ku, Akasaka 2-13-17, 2F

MAP:

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AKASAKA/Akasaka-Mitsuke: Korean Restaurant "Koka'an" (REVISITED) for amazing Tenjan Chigae

So tempted to go for the great 850yen Chicken-Kalbi-Teishoku from my last visit but thought I'd go for something lighter since it was a Friday... need to save some space for beeru tonight.

The Tenjan Chigae lunch set was 980yen (compared to 1200yen in the evenings).

Arrived towards the end of the 11:30 - 2pm lunch period and it was empty this day.  Almost had the entire space to myself!

The waitress said the Tenjan Chigae is a "Dentouteki" meal in Korea... think that means very traditional.  It came with a total of 4 dishes... 

Green vegetables seasoned in spicy kimchee sauce

The Tenjan Chigae Korean miso soup... smelled excellent.

And finally a basket full of greens and a bowl of rice with some spicy Korean paste.   If given no direction I would simply eat the veggies separately (there was no dressing on it), scoop some of the rice and dip it into the Chige soup... very basic and its what I always do with Sundubu Tofu Chige. BUT!!

The super friendly waitress gave me directions.  First place all the greens into the bowl of rice and mix it well... then add the Chige soup to this bowl until the greens become soft. Wow, it was kind of like cooking lessons... a bit fun.

Everything mixed in...

Chige contained firm portions of cubed Tofu.  In Japan its all about the Sundubu Tofu Soup with very soft uneven pieces of Momen Tofu... very rarely will you come upon Tenjan-Chigae or this firm Kinu tofu.  The firmer it is the less water it releases and less dilution to your chige soup... But if you are interested there normally 2 types of Tofu sold at supermarkets called Momen (silky texture) and Kinu (firm texure).

The Tenjan Chige was simply sooo tasty on its own... perfect balance of Korean miso flavor ad spice. I can't recall the last time I had Tenjan this good.... and I closed with some Chosen-Carrot drink.

If you are bored you can read about my Tenjan Chigae (Deon Jang Chigae) at MaMa's House inside of Chicago's Mitsuwa Supermarket (hint: It stank)... http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=nCVxCbU44w5pYSS_40MlEg

My Previous Chicken Kalbi Entry:

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.com/2012/03/akasaka-korean-family-style-restaurant.html 

Shop: KOKA'AN - Korean Family Style 

Foodie website: http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1308/A130801/13005023/

Hotpepper: http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ000240450/

Address J: 東京都港区赤坂3-20-8 臨水ビル Ｂ１Ｆ

Address E: Tokyo, Minato-ku, Akasaka 3-20-8, B1F
MAP:

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AKASAKA: Korean Family Style Restaurant "Koka'an"... great lunch!

I really don't know what else to recommend in Akasaka other than Korean food and of course The best Hawaiian Restaurant in Tokyo "Ogo's"

KOKAAN has one of the highest Korean rankings among foodies in the Akasaka so I had to go!  Their daily special and brand new on the menu was "Tori Kalbi Teishoku" for 850yen..

Lots of items to choose from.  The Yakiniku Salad Teishoku was a huge hit with the ladies having lunch in this place... brought out in a gigantic bowl.  But after asking the super kind waitress what she recommended she said go for the Chicken Kalbi Lunch because its very good.   Sounds good to me!

Very cool chopsticks... they were very long and pointy and quite fun to use.

There it is!  A great value for 850yen.

This was kind of like a beef stew with korean spice... The potatoes and carrots were extremely tender and seasoned, the chicken very tasty and the stew base had a sweet/spicy flavor.  It really did taste like home cooking... sooo good.

Closed with a tiny cup of Chosen-Ninjin (Korean Carrot) Milk?

There seems to be alot of choices for dinner but this was the only page with pics other than the lunch menu so if you go make sure to brush up on the Japanese.  

There were quite a few pretty ladies and unusually several foreigners having lunch here...  All tatami seating.

I can't remember the last time I saw these cool rubber Korean slippers (used to goto the restroom).... must have been when I was attending Taegu American Elementary School!  It was sooo nostalgic. 

Lots of magazine coverage

The entrance is very subtle so have an eye out for the 1st floor Yello TODOROKI Ramen Shop.  Overall the service was just super friendly, the food sooo good and the atmosphere was sooo comfortable.  If you are on the look out for Korean this place is a must in Akasaka!

Shop: KOKA'AN - Korean Family Style 

Foodie website: http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1308/A130801/13005023/

Hotpepper: http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ000240450/

Address J: 東京都港区赤坂3-20-8 臨水ビル Ｂ１Ｆ

Address E: Tokyo, Minato-ku, Akasaka 3-20-8, B1F
MAP:

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AKASAKA: Tonchan Korean late night spicy soup... reasonable with 4 side dishes!

There are alot of choices in Akasaka for Korean food but to find a reasonable spicy chige soup at this late night hour can be a hunt... but luckily found Tonchan... a frequent franchise sighting all around Tokyo.

All soups are around 1,029 yen.

Every order comes with 4 free small Korean dishes.

Lots of famous Autographs on the wall.

Overall a nice spot for Korean soup... 

Restaurant: Tonchang Akasaka Branch

Shop Website: http://www.tonchang.com/branch_akasaka.html

Foodie Website: http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1308/A130801/13019289/

Gnavi: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/b109702/

Address J: 東京都港区赤坂2-13-14 福富ビル ２Ｆ

Address E: Tokyo, Minato-ku, Akasaka 2-13-14
MAP:

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AKASAKA: 500yen Lunch at Kudara... prices have gone up up! (REVISITED)

Tokyo is cold cold in the Winter... probably notice it a bit more than the US due to all the walking we do...  Anyways its been a while since I visited Kudara so off I went.

Noticed in black "all items 500yen" then under the Samugetan was 700yen...hmm... The attraction here was always the incredible value of the Samugetan at 500yen.  After I placed my order the waitress said its now 700yen, is this ok?  At +200yen its still a great value but it sure does taste better at 500yen~.

There seemed to be a bit more chicken inside this time... might have gotten lucky this day.

The crowd was unusually light today... perhaps increasing the price slightly in restaurant filled Akasaka caused a few lunch goers to wander elsewhere for lunch.

Don't think I'll be back anytime soon... time to give a few other Korean spots a try.

Address details here:

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.com/2011/09/akasaka-kudara-korean-restaurant-best.html