Can't they do Chinese a little differently?

Area: Kokusai International Center 国際センター 25th Floor
Restaurant: Totenko 東天紅
Website and info: http://www.totenko.co.jp/restaurant/nagoya/info_ngy

Hours: 11:30am-10pm

This is the cheapest of the lunch sets (1050円) available only on weekdays.  You can choose between mains such as mapo-tofu, beef and bamboo stir-fry, ebi chilli (shrimp), sweet and sour pork, but I chose the happosai.  If you haven't already guessed, this is a Chinese restaurant serving typical dishes that the Japanese like to associate with Chinese food.  Happosai is basically a stir-fry of different proteins (in this case, shrimp, chicken, quail egg and squid) with vegetables (broccoli, mini corn, and mushrooms).  Its base sauce is like a thick chicken broth.  This restaurant's version was tasty, but no different than any other Chinese restaurant.

The accompanying egg-drop soup was nice, with lots of ingredients added to it.  The set also came with steamed rice, Chinese pickled veggies and of course, annin-doufu (almond flavoured, tofu-like dessert).  Why is it that all Chinese restaurants in Japan have serve this dessert?  There are a wide variety of Chinese desserts that are delicious and that would suit Japanese tastes out there.

Looking out from the 25th floor of Kokusai Center while munching provides a nice atmosphere, so in terms of the price, I guess that's what you're paying for.

Can't comment on authenticity, but it was yummy

Area: Honjin station 本陣駅 (Higashiyama line, 2nd stop from Nagoya station)
Restaurant: Turkish Taste ターキッシュテイスト
Map and info: http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ000913330/map/

Hours: Lunch 11am-3pm, Dinner 5pm-9pm, Closed Tues

Today was a take-out dinner.  Being in love with pizza, this Turkish-style one caught my eye.  The spinach and cheese (890円) Turkish pizza had a warm and chewy dough filled with lots of spinach.  It's a simple pizza, with not many added spices, but with all that cheese and a nicely done crust, it doesn't need much extra.

I'm not an expert on Turkish food, but I'd like to try more dishes from their menu, such as the doner sandwich (appears to be a pita sandwich filled with lettuce and meat), or the kebab.  One think you can't buy in the grocery stores can be found here; hummus.  I miss hummus, so I'll have to try that someday as well.

There's a counter from which you can watch the chef cook on a hot table, or you can choose to sit at a table.  This restaurant has a take-out restaurant feel to it though, perhaps that's why I was compelled to order my pizza and eat it at home.

Don't mistake it for a flower shop!

Area:  East side of Nagoya Station (about a 7min walk northeast)
Cafe: Bunch of Peonies バンチオブピオニーズ
Map and info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23007819/dtlmap/

Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Weekends and holidays 11am-7pm

From the outside, you may think this is a flower/plant shop.  The door is hidden behind all that greenery so it's easy to miss.  It probably was a flower shop in it's early days, but when you walk all the way to the back, there actually is a cafe.  The white walls and wooden furniture and abundance of magazines and books make it a bright, antique library-like atmosphere.

The menu consists of mainly teas, coffees, lattes and such, as well as soups, scones and desserts if you're looking for something to munch on.  I came for a late, light lunch, so I had the soup and drink combo (800円）.  There were two soups to choose from (they seem to change daily).  One was a demiglace/tomato vegetable soup, and the one I went with was the gobo (burdock root) potage.  Gobo can have a very strong and overpowering flavour, but in this soup, it was just the right.  The accompanying bread, plain and sesame, were without a doubt house-baked.  It came to the table warm, soft, and crust crispy.

The coffee was also well brewed, a nice way to end my light lunch.

If you don't have enough money to go to Italy, come here for a taste

Area: Fushimi Station 伏見駅 (450m southeast)
Restaurant: Bar Ambrosia バーアンブロージア
Website: http://scuolambrosia.com/index.html
Map: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23045582/dtlmap/

Hours: Mon-Wed 10:30am-5:30pm, Thurs 10:30am-9pm, Sat 10:30am-3pm, Closed Sun

This quaint little space seems to be a part of a bigger Italian language and cultural centre.  It felt like went to Italy for an hour, with the non-Japanese staff, and the trattoria atmosphere.  It also helped that all I heard was the beautiful language of Italian being spoken the whole time I was there.

For lunch, you can choose between the panino set (600円) or the pizza set (700円).  Both come with a soup and a drink.  For 100円 extra, you can add a dolce or sweet.  The soup was marvelous, a minestrone soup with lots of vegetables and legumes, cheese and baguette.  The flavours married so well in my mouth.  It reminded me of a ribollita bread soup I had in Italy.

When the panino came, I was a bit disappointed at first.  It was just cold cuts, shredded lettuce and cheese.  But taking a bite into it, there was nothing plain about it.  The cured meat was not something you'd find in your regular grocery store (it had bits of some green vegetable embedded in it).  The olive oil, I'm sure is of good quality, imported from Italy.

For my drink, I had a cappuccino, the perfect ratio of milk, espresso and foam....and cuteness (heart coffee art an all).  The dessert was just a delight.  It's apparently call budino, a pudding that's made with the addition of flour making it a little more richer and heavier.  It was like eating the inside of a molten chocolate cake, but chilled.  I really would like to know how to make this delectable dessert.  For just 100円 I wish I asked for another one.

Poutine, Smoked Salmon, Maple sauces...no wonder it felt a bit homey

Area: about a 2 min walk southeast of Marunouchi station 丸の内 (Exit 5)
Restaurant: Coat of Arms コートオブアームズ
Website and Map: http://www.coatofarms.jp/otoiawase.aspx

Hours: Mon-Thurs 11:30am-12pm, Fri & Sat 11:30am-1am, Closed Sun

It feels somewhat like being back home stepping into this bar.  With its big screen TV showing sports and its non-Japanese staff, I had memories of Kelsey's or Jack Astors.

The menu has a lot of typical pub food, as well as food that the Japanese are used to eating such as curry.  I had the smoked salmon salad (about 1000円).  I was surprised to see that they smoke it in house, so I thought I'd give it a try.  The moist salmon, and the creamy lemony dressing went very well together.  The size of the salad was satisfying, but I found that the amount of dressing was a bit too much.  Would you like a salad with your dressing?  With a bit less dressing, this salad would be perfect.

I'm not sure if the person that makes the menu has ties with Canada or not, but I was happy to see that poutine is on the menu!  Fries, topped with cheese curds and gravy, how I do miss you.  However, I was feeling a bit on the lighter side today, so poutine will have to wait.  I'm curious to see if they use real cheese curds (squeakiness is important; maybe only Canadians would understand this!).

I'm pretty sure rice would have been a better choice

Area: a 3min. walk from Marunouchi 丸の内 or Hisayaodori 久屋大通 station (in the middle of the two, just north of sakura-dori road)
Restaurant: Switch スウィッチ
Map and info: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/n639300/map/

Hours: Lunch 11:30am-3pm, Cafe time 3pm-5pm, Dinner 5pm-3am (LO 2:30am)

Looking at the Lunch special calendar, it seems everyday features a different kind of rice dish, whether it's curry, a rice bowl (ingredients laid on a bed of rice), omuraisu (rice wrapped in an omelette), etc. I'm not a huge fan of omuraisu, today's special, so I went for the pasta lunch (700円).  I paid an extra 100円 for the soft sesame seed bun (not sure it was worth it though).  The lunch comes with soup, salad, and a drink bar, so I naturally went for the coffee.  My second cup was not from the coffee canister (they made it for me because it was nearing the end of lunch time and there was no coffee left), but that cup was noticeably tastier.

The pasta had volume, but the noodles were mushy, the sauce a bit too plain and thin.  It came with large pieces of chicken breast and grilled eggplant.  The thick slices of eggplant were the only thing I liked about this dish.

This cafe has the feel of a bar or night club with its red furniture and dark lighting, but it's a quiet place to spend lunch time.  If you make a visit here, go for a rice dish...there are plenty of better pastas in Nagoya.

A different type of lunch plate could have used a BIT more

Area: 3 min walk southeast of Marunouchi station 丸の内駅, Exit 5
Restaurant: Practica プラティカ
Website and Map: http://pratica.hp4u.jp/access

Hours: Lunch 11:30am - 3:30pm (LO 3pm), Dinner 6pm - 10:30pm (LO 10pm),
Closed Sundays

As with a lot of Japanese restaurants, it looks old and run down on the outside, but stepping inside, the atmosphere changes drastically into a comfortable dinning space.

There are a variety of lunches to choose from (pasta, pizza, meat), but I went for the lunch plate (800円).  All come with buffet salad and dessert!  I was thankful for this since if you look at the lunch plate, there isn't much on it.  There was ricotta cheese, pork pate and a steamed egg fritatta (almost like an Italian version of Japan's chawanmushi).  It was delicious, but I'm not sure I'd call this a lunch plate; more like snack plate.  The egg thing was the best part, savory and soft with the light flavor of egg and its other veggie ingredients (can someone tell me the real name for this?).

The desserts were a bit off the mark.  Yogurt was too plain and the pana cotta was tough and had almost zero sweetness.  The pineapple jelly was alright, but served alongside fresh pineapple, I would rather just eat the real stuff.

My image of risotto in Japan has changed

Area: 5-min walk north east of Nagoya Station (4th floor of Suntown サンタウン名駅)
Restaurant: Butterfly Cafe バタフライカフェ
Website and map: http://www.butterfly-cafe.com/info/index.html

Hours: Lunch 11:30 - 2pm, Dinner 5pm - 1am (LO 12:30)

There are 3 courses to choose from, all include a self-service drink bar, a main dish with salad, and a dessert plate.  The 1500円 lunch is maybe a bit more rich, and for 200円 more you can choose steak, the 2200円 course includes pasta/risotto AND a main dish.  I, however, went for the cheapest 1000円 course but was satisfied with my choice.

It was my first time having risotto in Japan since I thought using Japanese rice would come out a soggy, sticky mess, but it actually had bite, leading me to believe perhaps it was arborio rice (although arborio is expensive here, so I'm not really sure).  This risotto was a Japanese flavored, stewed beef and hakusai cream sauce dish.  It was sweet, almost as if it were a sweet potato cream (I'm still not sure exactly what it was), but whatever it was, I quite enjoyed it.  The salad was regular and needed more dressing.  I could have used without the little cup of vinegary veggies and pork.  The veggies were fine, but the pork's large chunks of fat does not go well when served in a cold dish such as this.  The baguette...was it made 2 or 3 days ago?  That's how I felt about the bread.

The dessert was pretty and nice to look at.  I liked the berry mousse, the coffee pudding, and the grapefruit jelly.  The vanilla ice cream should have been served beside the tasteless chiffon cake though.

Looking around, it seems like this would be a good place to bring girlfriends and chat over lunch. If you bring a guy, he might get angry at you for taking him there.

Even if all they sold was coffee, I'd still be satisfied

Area: Fushimi Station 伏見駅 (about 300m north)

Restaurant: Mitts Coffee Stand ミッツコーヒースタンド

Website and Map: http://www.mitts-coffee.com/information/

Hours: 

Weekdays 7am - 10pm

Weekends/Holidays  8am - 6pm 

This cafe prides itself on its premium coffee and its home-made bread.  The sandwich set (800円） included a drink, salad, and the soup of the day.  The salad seems plain at first but for some reason I really enjoyed the dressing.  It was Italian with lots of umami and aromatic spices.  The sandwich I chose was the egg salad and avocado (also had sweet red peppers).  It's what you would expect of an egg salad and avocado combo.  I would have liked the bread to be slightly less toasted so that I could get a sense of the texture and flavour of their prided home-made creation.  It was a little too crispy to really judge it.  The soup was a potato consomme; thick but smooth.

You can choose from a couple of blends if you order coffee.  I tried the Nicaraguan beans; this cafe definitely makes their coffee well, and I'm sure they make it fresh upon order.  

The space in the back of the cafe where the tables are is a bit too dark in my opinion, but perhaps that's because I was planning to read.  However the counter area is bright and has almost a completely different atmosphere compared to the back.  

If you're here to see a movie, drop by this Mag-nificent cafe

Area:  Sasashima Raibu station (about 3 min north) ささしまライブ駅　(Aonami Line).  It's in the same building as 109 movie theatre

Restaurant:  English Cafe Mag-net マグネット

Website and Map: http://mag-net.info/-info-.html

Hours: 10am-10pm (LO 9:30)

Lunch at this brightly decorated cafe can be enjoyed at any time of day it seems.  The special `plate' of the day (980円） was Nanban chicken (fried chicken that's been marinated in a sweet and sour sauce).  Alongside this main was a thick Spanish omelette, salad, soup and Japanese-style stewed veggies.  

The Nanban was very sweet, but the egg-y tartar sauce went well to mellow out that sweetness a bit.  The stewed veggies was very typical of what you might find in a grocery store bento box (soy sauce flavor).  The salad had an interesting dressing, of what looked like it contained grated sticky long Nagai-imo (long pototo).  The omelette was what you might expect an omelette to taste like, topped with ketchup.  Instead of rice, I asked for baguette, which was a good idea in my opinion.  Even though rice goes better with nanban chicken, the toasted baguette was also nice with the crispy crust.  The soup was a little bit weird in my opinion, it tasted like it was made from the strong flavour of oregano only (didn't really go well with the plate lunch).

Other menu items include hamburger patties, rice bowls, curry, pasta, salads, sandwiches, soups, a wide variety to choose from.  All are very reasonably priced and among those categories are a variety of flavors, take a look at the site's menu to see what I mean.

A nice course meal for a nice price

Area: Sakae (1 min. walk north of Hisaya-odori station 久屋大通り駅、Exit 1)
Restauarant: Da Marco ダマルコ
Website and map: http://www.damarco.jp/shopguide.html

Hours: Lunch 11:30am - 2:30pm (LO 2pm), Dinner 6pm - 11pm (LO 10pm)

I love restaurants with a modern, earthy feel, so that's why this place caught my eye.  The sign outside also prided itself on using lots of fresh vegetables.  The lunch (1000円) consists of drink and bread bar (meaning you can eat and drink as much as you like).

The bread is baked fresh so it's warm, soft, but has a slight chewiness to it (almost as if it's made with rice flour?).  It looks like they use vegetables such as carrot to colour the dough.  I quiet enjoyed the walnut bread as the flavour of walnuts was pretty evident.  The coffee was very fresh, but I guess that depends on how many other people are drinking coffee as well.

The appetizer was a cauliflower soup, with rosemary lotus root alongside it.  Both very well done; the mild sweetness of the soup and the strong aroma of rosemary makes a nice combo.

The main dish (there was a choice between a meat or pasta dish), was braised pork with daikon.  The flavour was nice with the consomme, but it would have been nice if it were a tiny bit more soft and juicy.

The dessert was a berry panna cotta.  It was just the right amount of sweetness and the berry sauce was a pretty addition to it.

A great place to spend a sunny afternoon!

No photo (sorry!), but deserves a great posting!!!

Area:  About 3 min east of Exit 3 Kokusai Center Station (国際センター駅）, on the east side of the river
Restaurant:  Vinvino ヴァンヴィーノ
Info and map: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23044364/dtlmap/

Hours: Lunch 11am-3pm (LO 2:30pm), Dinner 6pm-12pm (LO 11:30pm), closed Sundays

I'm sorry I don't have a picture for this one, but it was lost when my cell phone broke down before I could transfer the photo.  Even without a photo, Vinvino deserves a great review, so I
felt I had to write about it.

A small wooden bar counter (with the chef working alone behind it), an outdoor little patio looking out onto the river and a couple of table seats, this restaurant looks like a wine cellar that sells all kinds of wines and good food to match.

The lunch (1000円) is not only a great deal, it definitely separates itself from the typical pasta and curry lunches found around Nagoya.  First, it comes with an appetizer plate with 4 different little bites.  It probably changes often, but this time there was tomato slice with gorgonzola foam, pate, salt-cured fish, tomato stewed veggies and ham (the chef called it ham but it seemed more like rilettes).  Aside from the slightly gritty tomato, the appetizer plate was to be eaten slowly so I could savor all the wonderful flavors.

The main was a choice of 3 pot pies.  I chose the beef stewed in red wine filling.  The flakey and buttery crust held up so well and matched perfectly with the stew filling.  Big chunks of soft meat and the essence of red wine made me want to order a glass of wine to go with it.  The pot pie is served with grilled veggies and a salad.  The olive oil was great to balance the tannins of the pie.

The chef apparently spent a year in England...hence the pot pies!

I'll take more salad and less pizza

Area:  500m from Sasashima Raibu Station (ささしまライブ駅) on the Aonami Line, or a 7min. walk south of Nagoya station

Restaurant: Ragna-ya ラグナヤ

Website and map: http://ragna-ya.com/

Hours:

Weekdays 11:30am - 11:00pm (LO 10:30pm) 

Weekends 11:30am - 3:00pm (LO 2:30pm)

This cafe's modern decor makes it seem like a nice place to meet and chat with friends.  Looking at the website, it seems they cater to wedding parties as well (hence all the white furniture).  For lunch, there was a choice of hamburger patty, pasta, soup-less tan-tan men (taiwan style spicy ramen), curry and pizza.

I went for the pizza lunch (about 1000円).  If you look at their site, the menu is a bit different, but I came on a holiday Monday where the menu is special for the day.   Normally the lunches are in the 850円 range.  The seafood pizza lunch came with a salad and soup.  The salad was yummy because hiding underneath that lettuce were thick slices of salmon carpaccio.  However the pizza was mediocre; the sauce was just basically tomatoes and the flavoring came from dried oregano sprinkled over top.  The texture of the dough was nice and chewy with a crispy crust, but the toppings needed some oomph.  

Brings back memories of Italy

Area: Nagoya JR Towers 13F (there are other branches at Oasis 21 Sakae Station, and one around Yabacho Station)
Restaurant:  Antico Caffe Al Avis アンティコカフェ
Website: http://www.anticocaffe.ne.jp/eng_top.html

Hours: 10am-11pm (LO 10:30)

This Italian coffee bar looks like it could be found in the same square or plaza as St. Mark's Basilica in Rome.  It's a good thing you don't have to pay a seating fee, but it's not actually Rome either.  I went on a weekend so it was just as busy as a cafe would be if it were next to a tourist spot, but it's probably much quieter on a weekday.

Here, there are no sets where food and drink are cheaper if ordered together as a combo.  They take pride in their paninis first it seems.  These sandwiches are pre-made and displayed in a case, then pressed and grilled upon ordering.  I chose the spinach and bacon filled sesame bun (480円).  Delicious!  The texture and crust of the bread was so nice, I can just eat that.  The filling, with ample spinach, and seasoned with the flavor of bacon and perhaps cheese was a good match with the nutty sesame bun.  Other sandwiches include prosciutto+camembert, egg salad, shrimp+avocado, breaded pork, and so on.

The coffee (330円）is done well, but it didn't stand out to me.  Perhaps I should have gone for the espresso since it is an Italian cafe.  Also I'd like to try the Italian baba (a traditional syrup soaked cake) next time I stop by.

Cafe Ajit: Avocado Cream sauce...or just cream sauce

Area: On the west side (Bic Camera side) of Nagoya station
Restaurant:  Caffe Ajit アジト
Info: http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ001036780/
Map: http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ001036780/map/?vos=nhppalsa000013

Hours:

Weekdays      11:30am-12pm (Lunch 11:30-3, Cafe time 2-5, Dinner 5-12) LO 11pm

Weekends & Holidays     11:30am-2am LO 1am

Lunch was a choice between the fresh pasta (900円), peperoncino (800円), or curry rice (800円）.  All come with bread, and you can add a salad, drink or dessert for 100円 each.

The fresh pasta of the day was Avocado cream sauce.  The soft, buttery eggplant and the thickly cut bits of bacon matched well with the sauce.  It could have however used more chunks of avocado; the creaminess was there, but the flavor of avocado was a bit lacking.  This pasta gets points for having a lot of veggies added to it.  The accompanying bread and caesar salad don't particularly stand out in any way.  

Eat with you eyes and enjoy a nice lunch

Area:  10 min walk from Kokusai Center station　国際センター (from exit 2, walk east and cross the river, follow the river north).  Or a 5 min walk from Marunouchi station　丸の内, exit 8.
Restaurant: Blanka Gallery and Cafe ブランカ
Website and Map: http://www.blanka.co.jp/top.html

Hours: 11:30am-5pm (Lunch 11:30am-3pm), closed Mondays and first Tuesday of the month

Blanka is not only a place to enjoy coffee and lunch, you can also enjoy the works in the small gallery.  The cafe section is separated from the gallery by a glass window, so you can literally drink coffee while viewing the paintings.  Or if you prefer, you can gaze outside and take in the scenery of the flowing river.

For lunch, there are a variety of sets to choose from; quiche, pasta, thai curry and cake sale (700円). Not knowing what cake sale was, I was curious to find out.  It's basically a savory cake, but it has the texture quiche mixed with a muffin.  Today's flavor was tuna, broccoli and various veggies.  Tuna has a strong flavor so that's what shone through, almost like a tuna quiche, but overall a nice, light meal.

The accompanying salad had yuba (tofu skins), a nice addition to the Japanese flavored dressing.  The soup was a corn and sweet potato flavor.  Thick, but smooth and creamy, it was almost like dessert with the sweetness of the vegetables.

Modern, fresh feel...housemade focaccia stands out

Area: About 400m west of Fushimi Station, along Hirokoji Dori (just east of the river)

Restaurant: Royal Garden Cafe　ロイヤルガーデンカフェ

Website and Map: http://www.royal-gardencafe.com/shop_nagoya.html

Hours:  11:00am - 11:00pm (Lunch 11:00am-3pm)

With the wooden furniture and spacious atmosphere, this cafe really does have a countryside, garden feel where you can relax while your munching.  The lunch menu of course has a pasta (980円）, and a curry lunch　(950円）, but you can also choose from a salad lunch　(1000円）, pizza lunch　(1200円） and main dish lunch.  Today's main dish was meatloaf (1380円）.  Feeling healthy, I went for the salad; roasted sqaush, tuna and mushrooms.  The dressing was a light Italian olive oil-based one.  It was actually filling due to the size and the abundance of canned tuna, but nothing really stands out about itl.  Housemade focaccia, a drink and soup were included in this set.  I'd like to give mention to the bread, and with the olive oil free to use at table side, I quite enjoyed it.  This focaccia somehow had the flavor of macadamia nuts.  I'm not sure what's actually used in the recipe, but who doesn't like macadamia nuts?

Even though this lunch was simple, it was done well, and I would like to come back to try some of their other fare.