Tokyo Belly: Soup

Showing posts with label Soup. Show all posts

Monday, March 25, 2013

IKEBUKURO: Yakiniku Gyu-En for some god awful Sundubu Chige

I'm a huuuge fan of great Korean Chige's and my stroll thru the side streets of Ikebukuro led me to this menu on the road... 650yen for Sundubu Tofu Chige. How could I go wrong!

Ashtray... not good.

It was simply dead empty at 12:45pm on a weekday... highly unusual as most other restaruants were busy with the weekday lunch rush. Plus Rikkyo University (Saint Paul's University) was right around the corner... bad bad sign.

And my much anticipated Korean lunch arrives!

Kimchee was definitely grocery store bought... the seasoned bean sprouts just tasted all wrong, like it was just old.

Now for the Tofu Chige. Boiled water with red oil... it just tasted like red water. Honestly... this is the WORST Sundubu I have had in my life. Very little tofu, the clams still had sand in them and whats up with all the little skinny mushrooms?

The egg that is normally cracked fresh into the Sundubu had already been boiled solid.

The sandy clams... I have to admit they were generous with this. Possibly 4-5 pices.

After 15 minutes I just felt sick... Did my best to finish the Kimchee but forget about the rest. I simply got up and left.

The attraction to this restaurant might be the all you can eat 980yen Yakiniku and nothing else. But I did see them bring out the meat to another customer... meat was all frozen who knows where they source it from.

I am usually one to NEVER randomly walk into a restaurant without checking the foodie rankings but how could I have gotten Tofu Chige so wrong. Wish Gordon Ramsey could visit this spot... its just sh*t.

Shop: Yakiniku Gyu-En

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13131799/

Address J: 東京都豊島区西池袋3-29-2 三原ビル 4F

Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Nishi Ikebukuro 3-29-2, 4F
MAP:

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

SHINJUKU: Yang no Ie (Yang's Home)... Black Peppery Salty Sundubu!

I think its the cold weather but I've been craving Korean Sundubu for weeks. Did a little searching in Shinjuku and found a very reasonable Sundubu spot! How can i resist 630yen!

The B3 of the Bic Camera building is a cozy little food court.

Lunch selections come with a bowl of rice and 2 tiny side appetizers.

Sundubu!

Very casual but there we soooo many celebrity autographed pics with the owner posted all over the walls. My lunch is gonna be amazing!!! Is what I assumed...

When the Sundubu arrived it can possibly be the smallest ever bowl I've ever seen other than Yande-Gamu in Akasaka.

Had a taste... very salty peppery, heavy fishy flavor and the soup was simply clear like instant Nong Shim Ramen. It didn't have that deep rich flavor like many of the great spots in Akasaka.

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2012/04/akasaka-chon-jin-don-korean-restaurant.html

Few pieces of clam. Basically consisted of one egg, a sliver of Tofu and a couple baby clams... was probably one of the most boring Sundubu's I've had in Japan.

If you are bored, super cold and just want to warm up then maybe the 630yen is worth the time but it really failed to impress in any way at all. Its like comparing Taco Bell vs Los Angeles Taco Trucks... kinda the same but totally different.

Shop: Yang no Ie - West Shinjuku Halc Branch

Shop Website: http://www.yangnoie.com/about.html

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13119297/

Address J: 東京都新宿区西新宿1-5-1 食堂酒場ハル地下MB3F

Address E: Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku, Nishi Shinjuku 1-5-1, MB3F (Basement)
MAP:

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Thursday, January 17, 2013

NERIMA: Yakiniku Jinju for daily special... low budget Chinese masked as a Korean restaurant.

Just getting over a both fortunate (lost 2 kgs) but mostly unlucky stomach flu so what better than some Korean Sundubu Tofu Soup! Something light for the poor stomach.

Searched Japan's foodie blog to find this spot rather that was rather lowly ranked but hey 680yen for Tofu-Soup, why not! Then I spotted this sign... the daily 580yen special was Kamujyatan! Normally a very very flavorful spicy soup base with loads of oxtail, potatoes, veggies and stuff.

reasonably priced selections

This tray arrived as soon as I sat down... guess we all get this for lunch.

ALERT! Several smokers puffing away... absolutely hate this.

Salad was cold (been sitting in the frig) and seemed a bit old... I took a bite and left the rest to be recycled onto the next customer.

I've never seen Kimchee this pitiful... 3 pieces that were extremely sour.

Visually looked kinda good.

Rice was dry and a very commercially low grade that's probably not sold in supermarkets... I've heard low grade rice is imported for commercial use.

The Kamuzyatan was all bones with very little meat... one piece of Potato... soup was so bland and boring. Everything about this simple dish was wrong. After having amazing Korean Soups/Chige/Sundubu in Akasaka I assumed Koreans would always make a proper soup based meal but not here... In Japan I can expect this from Chinese shops offering low cost lunches http://www.chinesecafe8.com/ but first time to wander into a crappy Korean spot.

Meal closed with a free Coffee...

Overall the quality was bad... and as I sat next to the kitchen I could hear the chef coughing and sneezing all throughout my meal. Crossing my fingers I don't catch whatever she has. NO Love for this place!!

Restaurant: Korean Restaurant Jinjyu

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132102/13057121/

Address J: 東京都練馬区豊玉北5-31-7

Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Toyotama-Kita 5-31-7
MAP:

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Monday, April 9, 2012

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.