Salty, and yet I finished every bite

Area: a 1 min walk from Fushimi Station, Exit 1 伏見駅
Restaurant:  Brasserie Glouton
Website and map: http://www.glouton.bpl.jp/cafe/access/index.html

Hours: Lunch 11am-2pm, Cafe time 2pm-5:30pm, Dinner 5:30pm-11pm

You might think that being called a brasserie, you'd find french food here, but it's just brasserie in name and look (the French music playing through the speakers also adds to this).  They don't actually brew their own beer, but it has the atmosphere that would make you want to drink a glass of wine or beer with your meal.

The lunch menu is different everyday and is posted on the restaurant's website.  It always consists of lunch A, an omuraisu, B, a pasta lunch, or C, a Japanese-style meat and rice dish (all 800円 and includes soup and drink). The flavours, however, are what changes with the day.

Unfortunately, I was too late to be able to choose from the lunch menu (I would have liked to try the prociutto and salad omuraisu of the day).  So I chose the hot plate pork steak from the cafe time menu (1000円, includes soup and rice).  Covered in a pepper and overly salty crust, this pork needed a side dish of rice and a glass of water to go with it.   It was however soft and the juices from the fatty side melded into the abundant bed of vegetables underneath, giving them an almost buttery flavour.  Speaking of butter, the soup may just have had a chunk of butter melted in it.

I will have to come back in time to catch their lunch menu someday...

Don't miss this MORNING

Area:  5 min. walk northeast of Kokusai Center station, Exit 2 国際センター駅

Store: Cafe de Sara カフェドサラ
Map and Info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23004323/dtlmap/

Hours: 8:45am-5:30pm (LO 5pm), Morning service 9am-11am

Located in an old Japanese house, this cafe already looks great from the outside.  Inside, the dim lighting gives the feel of an old-fashioned kissaten (Japanese coffee house).  The orchestral classical music playing in the background and the calmness of the other cafe's visitors makes it a relaxing place to have a slow breakfast.

Although strictly a cafe serving coffee, tea and sweets only, they do have a morning service.  For 400円, you get not only a drink, but also a choice of two plates.  Instead of the usual hard-boiled egg and toast that is normally found throughout Nagoya's `morning', Cafe de Sara serves up a really delicious-looking breakfast.  I had the 2 kinds of toast plate.  This included black sesame toast, brown sugar toast, berry jam and egg salad.  The thick slices of homemade bread had a wonderful texture; toasted nicely so that when pulled apart it doesn't break, but separates into stringy, fluffy layers (it's difficult to explain!).  The house-made jam had just enough sugar added to it so that the natural sweetness of the berries came through.  The egg salad was fair, it's what one would expect of an egg and mayonnaise mixture.  Really, the toast doesn't need any toppings at all, it is enjoyable as is.

The other breakfast appears to be egg salad on top of the black sesame toast, with a side of house-made yogurt.

The coffee was fresh and was definitely not a letdown after the high quality of the morning plate.  I would be interested in trying the desserts as well someday...gorgonzola cheesecake for example.  Not the regular dessert, this cafe serves them made for adults' tastes.

Only if you're in the area....

Area: 5 min walk from Nagoya University of Foreign Studies (from Higashiyama's last stop, Fujikaoka, hop on a bus to the University)

Restaurant: And Cafe アンドカフェ

Website and info: http://www.andcafe.jp/SHOP%20INFO/

Hours: 11am - 3am (Sun-Thurs, until 2:30am)

This cafe is a bit out of the way from any subway station, but if you're at the University, there's not much around, so it's worth it to make the 5 min walk to And Cafe.  For lunch there are a few sets to choose from such as pasta, hot dog or curry.  I chose the bagel sandwich and soup set (998円).  I had a hard time deciding between the teriyaki chicken, stir-fried sliced beef, salmon and avocado, and the camembert with prosciutto bagel.  Eventually I decided on the cheese.  It was exploding with lettuce, but the few pieces of arugula really added punch to this sandwich.  The mildness of the cheese with the salty slices of prosciutto is always a nice match.  The bagel was soft, but had a nice density and chewiness (like a Montreal-style bagel).  

Alongside the sandwich was coleslaw, corn soup and french fries.  The fries had a nice spicy flavouring to them.  

The cafe has more of an american family restaurant/bar feel similar to Kelsey's (which actually might be a Canadian chain restaurant) or Jack Astor's.  It is open until the wee hours of the morning, so that's likely the reason for this bar-like atmosphere.  

re:Li: This cafe has just what Nagoya needs: innovation

Area:  about 400m northwest of Osu Kannon station 大須観音駅

Restaurant: re:Li 　リリ

Website and Info: http://cafereli.com/contact/

Hours: 11:30am-12am (LO 11pm) Closed Thurs and 3rd Wed of the month

I was planning to eat at a different cafe, but it was full, so I took it as a sign to try cafe re:Li (I'd be interested in asking the owners about the meaning of this name).  Boy am I glad that first cafe was full.  I was really pleased with re:Li's innovation and my overall experience here.  

I chose the chicken saute lunch; juicy chicken breast served with a red wine mushroom sauce.  The concentrated wine flavour went perfectly with the mushrooms.  The roasted potato+hijiki balsamic warm salad was a nice change from the usual soy sauce flavoured hijiki you can find everywhere. The eggplant and shishito green pepper tempura needed no dipping sauce, it was tasteful just as is.   The celery and hakusai salad (in the shot glass) was also a nicely flavoured salad (almost as if sweet white miso was used in it).  Lastly the genmai rice's chewiness and slight nutty flavour was a treat from the regular white rice.  

And it didn't end there, the included coffee was also nicely brewed and came in a good size cup. All for only 1050円, I wish I worked closer to this cafe.  Also, the 3rd floor is a gallery space with some nicely handmade products on sale.  It's worth it to take a look after enjoying your meal.  

Undecided about the flavours, but atmosphere was enticing

Area:  500m southeast of Marunouchi Station 丸の内駅
Restaurant:  Wine Shokudo Nico ワイン食堂二コ
Website and info:  http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ001028258/
Map:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23050227/dtlmap/

Hours:  Lunch Weekdays 11:30am-3pm, Lunch Weekends 12pm-3pm, Dinner 5pm-12pm

Somehow this restaurant gives the feeling that it's a wine bar.  With its decorative wine barrels, abundance of wine glasses around the bar area, and its modern elegance, the atmosphere makes me want to enjoy a glass of wine.  However much I wanted to drink a glass, I was only here for lunch, so I went for the salad and main set (850円).

The salad had a nice variety of vegetables and was good in size.  The mushroom meat sauce pasta was slightly different than expected.  The sauce was a tomato base, but it was very sweet.  It would definitely be popular among Japanese tastes.  I'd be interested to see what kind of wine they would pair it with.  If you've ever eaten filipino style spaghetti, the sweetness is similar to that, but possibly even sweeter.

Another dish that caught my eye on the menu was the minestrone soup pasta.  According to the waitress, it's spaghetti as a soup (Italian ramen?).  Like many of the restaurants in Japan, they also serve a hamburger patty lunch and a curry lunch.

Healthy bento box makes a fine lunch

Area: About 600m from Honjin station 本陣駅 or Nakamura Nisseki station 中村日赤駅 (Higashiyama Line)
Restaurant: Mame no Machi 豆の街
Map and info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23007347/dtlmap/

Hours: Morning time 9am-11am, Lunch 11am-2pm, Cafe time 2pm-5pm, Dinner (reservations only) 5pm-9pm, Closed Sundays

I feel like lately I've been splurging a bit.  Today's lunch was a Japanese bento that came with a salad, dessert and drink, all for 1500円.  Considering it's still under the 2000円 range, I guess it's not that bad, especially looking at the volume and prettiness of this lunch.

This cafe is suited for Japanese obasans and ojichans (grandmothers and grandfathers) OR for young woman to meet and chat over a meal.  There were both these types of customers in the store today.  Although the lighting is dim, it adds a bit of romance.  The wooden furniture and counter, and the tatami mat room in the back add a Japanese touch.

In the box were spinach with a sesame dressing, daikon+carrot vinegar salad, tamagoyaki, cucumber+turnip+hakusai pickles, hijiki+beans, vegetables cooked in a soy sauce based broth, potato with a miso sauce,  a sweet (possibly white miso) white fish, and chikuwa.  The salad was a mix of mizuna and potato salad, accompanied by vegetable tempura and renkon+ground meat tempura.  All were familiar flavours typical of Japanese food, but nonetheless nicely done.  And where else can you find such variety in a lunch box?  This is one thing I like about Japan's bento.  The renkon (lotus root) tempura was delicious; it had ground meat sandwiched between two slices of renkon, covered in batter and then fried.  This tempura needed no dipping sauce, it was flavorful just as is.

Dessert was matcha ice cream with a soft silky pudding.  The pudding was very mild in flavour so it's best to eat it after or before the sweet ice cream in order to really enjoy it (otherwise the matcha flavour and sweetness of the ice cream dominate).

The coffee was a bit weak, it looked like tea when it came, but I commend the restaurant for grinding the beans upon order and making a fresh cup just for you.

The other menu item for lunch is a gratin 1000円; I'm excited to go back and try that someday.

Upscale Italian for a reasonable price

Area: 500m east of Kamejima Station 亀島駅, 10min walk north east of Nagoya station (near Lucent tower)
Restaurant: Vita Felice ブィーターフェリーチェ
Website and map: http://www.vita-fel.com/access/access.html

Hours: Lunch 11:30am-2pm, Dinner 6pm-9pm.  Closed Mondays

This Italian restaurant is a bit more on the fancy side, but even so, the lunch isn't that expensive.  I went on a Sunday, so that may be why the lunch was 1500円, but the website has lunches listed for 900円 which is possible a weekday deal.

What I liked about their menu was that it wasn't the typical pasta and pizza only lunches that Italian restaurants often offer.  This lunch included a salad, soup, main (a choice of pork or fish), dessert and a drink.  I was a bit lucky that I was given a delicious terrine to go with the salad (it seems the early birds got it).  This terrine had salmon, lobster, white fish, asparagus and other vegetables in it, accompanied by basil cream cheese and basil puree.  What a delight it was!  Fresh, and light as an appetizer.

Next came a minestrone soup.  Lots of vegetables, and bits of a slightly spicy sausage were the ingredients of this soup.  The brown bread that came with it was also a nice touch (it's not often you get served brown bread in Japan).  The main was I believe sawara fish served in a white wine sauce.  The scallop was nice and plump, but the fish was a touch overcooked and a bit dry.  The sauce was very mild in flavour so the vegetables seemed a bit bland, but I liked the variety of legumes and mushrooms on the plate.

Dessert was a mango ice cream topped with a candied walnut, dragon fruit, and a coconut mousse cake served with a berry sauce.  The ice cream was very creamy and not too sweet; great with the mousse.

Overall, a good experience, the staff were also very attentive and friendly.  They didn't make me feel rushed at all, and patiently waited until one dish was done to bring the next.

A chunky hamburger, if you know what I mean

Area:  Fushimi 伏見駅 or Marunouchi station 丸の内駅 (about 5 min from either station)
Restaurant:  Japan Craft Beer & Wine Grillman ジャパンクラフトビアアンドワイングリルマン
Website and map:  http://www.bar-and-restaurant.com/en/grillman.html

Hours: Lunch/cafe 11am-5pm, Dinner 5pm-11pm

Today, again, I went for the simple burger (800円), nothing but the meat, some greens and tomato. I also ordered some chipotle sauce on the side (50円) since this restaurant seems to have a lot of Mexican inspired dishes.

I tend to order the simple burgers first just so that I can taste the meat as opposed to mayo and sauces of such.  This burger patty is different, but in a good and meaty way.  It definitely uses all beef, but the difference is that the meat is kept pretty chunky.  Don't get me wrong, it is still ground meet, but somehow it felt as if I was biting into a soft steak.  It was juicy and exploded with the flavour of meat (which is a good thing in a hamburger!).  The chipotle sauce added a bit of heat and smokiness (I ordered it on the side so I could taste the burger with and without it).  Smokey chipotle does go well with hamburgers I've decided.  I didn't, however, like that the bun was made with a lot of margarine.  A lot of buns in Japan have the strong flavour of margarine, and somehow it doesn't quite match a hamburger.  

The picture makes this place look like a library with the shelf full of books, but it has a bar/ranch feeling to it.  The great thing is that you can enjoy a burger at any odd time of day, not just within Japan's lunch hours. 

The sign reads 'since 1997', but could be 1930 in my mind

Area: About 300m west of Fushimi station 伏見駅
Restaurant: Nov. Cafe ノブカフェ
Website: http://www.kkan.net/hidehiko_mizuno/9904Magreb/nov_cafe.html
Map: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23007099/dtlmap/

Hours: 9am-11pm, Lunch plate 11:30am-2pm

I came before 2pm, but disappointingly the lunch plate was already finished for the day.  However, the coffee bartender said he could make me a sandwich lunch that included salad, soup, a drink and dessert, so I went for that.  The sandwich of the day was fried onion with smoked salmon.  I'm kind of glad the lunch plate was over since this sandwich was a delight!  The bread and onions were key factors in this realization.  Not too dense, and not too light, the bun was perfect with salmon and slightly sweet fried onion.

The small cake that came with the nicely brewed coffee was also worth mentioning.  It was a pistachio/almond (but I'm betting on pistachio since it was green) cake with a sweet lemon glaze.

Being in this cafe feels like you've taken a step back in time.  It's dark, but that's part of what gives it the 1930's atmosphere (not that I'd really know since I wasn't around during those days).  Adding to the effect, the store's phone ring sounds like it does in old movies.