Aloha Table: Aloha!!....even during non-meal hours

Area:  Sunroad (underground shopping area on the Takashimaya side of Nagoya station), サンロード
Restaurant:  Aloha Table 　アロハテーブル
Website:  http://nagoya-mm.alohatable.com/

Hours: 11am-9:30

Lunch is served until 5pm, so it's a great place for people like me with late breaks from work.  Being a Hawaiian restaurant, I ordered ahi poki (less than 1000 yen, and you can add a drink for just 150 yen more).  It's basically a rice bowl topped with sashimi, avocado, and a lettuce and onion salad.  The fun thing about it is that you can mix and match all different flavors since there is also mayonnaise, wasabi and furikake (seasoning sprinkle for rice) in this dish.  Soy sauce is also available on the side.  If you go to a regular sushi house or Japanese restaurant this may be looked down upon.  All the ingredients of this dish are mainly raw and plain, so it's difficult to go wrong here; as long as the vegetables are fresh, which they were, it's a good combination.

One of the signature sweets here seems to be the Malasada, basically a sugar-coated doughnut.  I tried the coconut sugar flavour (150円).  It comes warm and just-fried.  From a quick internet search, I found that it's a popular Portuguese dessert in Hawaii, with a crunchy and chewy texture.  The crunch perhaps comes from the sugar coating, but the malasada at this restaurant did not have the chewiness I was hoping for, at least at first.  It was so light it almost had no weight.  My advice, if you are looking for chewy, is to let the doughnut cool down when it becomes a nice firmer texture.

Being in a convenient area, and serving both sweets and meals, it's a popular restaurant filled with chatty young ladies.  So if you`re looking for peace and quiet, this may not be the best place for that.

Planeta Grill: Seems really authentically Brazilian, but is it?

Area:  about 200m west of Marunouchi Station 丸の内駅, Exit 7
Restaurant:  Planeta Grill プラネタ　グリル
Map and info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23038801/dtlmap/

Hours:  10am-10pm


It seems like a small store and restaurant , selling a few selected imported goods from Brazil.  However when I was told to take a seat in the back, the space opens up quite a bit.  It's bright, and the tables are covered with lace making it reminiscent of an old American gas station cafe, if you know what I mean.  Only this is not America...although it didn't seem like Japan either.  With the big screen TV playing a pop music concert from Brazil and the tables filling up at 3pm with only Brazilians, could this be what an eatery in Brazil feels like?

I ordered the mixed grill plate (980円) after it had been recommended.  When I think of Brazilian food, I think of meat meat meat, and this is what the plate consisted of.  There was a small shredded cabbage salad (in Japan style) with white French dressing.  A thin slice of pork was grilled nicely with the flavors of it's own fat and juices taking over.  The sausage was cut in half and grilled so there was a crispy layer.  It had flavor other than just sodium, and as such was way better than the small sausages you find in the grocery stores here.   The beef was a bit salty but was really tender.  It went well with the sour store made sauce consisting of vinegar, tomato, olives and onion. The chicken was probably the most plain, seasoned with salt and pepper, the breast meat was a little tough.  The rice, and bean soup are all you can eat, but Brazilian food is quite filling, so there was no need for extra.  The bean soup was meaty in flavor, as it was stewed with pork and Brazilian sausage.  Although salty itself, it somehow went well to clean the palette of the meat's high sodium level.  The rice looks like regular Japanese rice, but it has salt added to it and maybe some garlic essence. 

On the side, I ordered a Brazilian version of a croquette, only it's much different in both flavor and texture than the Japanese one. Although it's potato, it so smooth and sticks to the roof of your mouth like cheese does.  The outside is crisp and the chicken filling's flavor melds with the potato.  

I came back on a separate occasion to try the Brazilian salgado or savory mid-afternoon snacks (often meat filled buns). I had the caseirhino カゼイリーニョ which is a soft bun with a chicken and cream cheese filling.  The chicken is grilled and a bit dry, but somehow when it's a filling, that's ok, since it reminds me of a leftover white meat turkey sandwich.  The bread is soft and pulls apart in strands and has a nice chewiness to it. It's plain, but that's preferable when there's a filling with mild flavoring.  I also ordered a beef filled bun to go.  It was even more delicious than the chicken bun. The juicy shredded beef was seasoned with only a bit of salt and mainly the flavours of it's own fat shone through. 

The coffee lives up to the Brazilian high standards, with a good roundness and toastiness.  Overall, a friendly restaurant, and with the customers being mainly Brazilian, I can feel content that I ate some authentic fare.

The Kawabun Nagoya: A good place to treat a friend for lunch

Area:  5 min walk from Marunouchi Station, Exit 2 or 4 丸の内駅
Restaurant:  The Kawabun Nagoya 　ザ　カワブン　ナゴヤ
Website and Map:  http://www.thekawabunnagoya.com/en/access/

Hours:  11am-10pm


You`ll feel like VIP walking into this modern Japanese establishment, with the staff greeting and opening the door at your arrival.  It's separated into two sections, a cafe and a dining area.  Since I was not here for fine dining, I chose to sit in the cafe.  With the dim lighting, and tables facing the outdoor garden, it felt almost like a fancy resort.  To give you an idea of the prettiness, there was a wedding party taking photos in the garden on this chilly day.

The lunch menu includes a small soup and salad.  You can choose from a fried shrimp sandwich (900円), a croque monsieur (900円), lasagna (1200円), or the main of the day (1200円).  Today's main was pork loin with a roasted red pepper, onion and olive garnish.  It started off with focaccia bread, plain with a slight saltiness, it needed some olive oil to enjoy it.  The salad had a variety of leaves and a tart, perhaps white wine vinegar and olive oil emulsified dressing.  This dressing was a nice change from the usual and went well with the strong flavor of celery leaves.  The carrot soup had just the right amount of natural sweetness.  The pork was not over-salted and was laden with juicy fat.  The accompanying vegetables, asparagus, and rapini (first time seeing this is Japan), not only added a pretty green but the roasted flavor went well with the meat.

This meal was not filling, but the flavors and the affordability, along with the atmosphere, make for an enjoyable experience.

Pierre Marcolini: Can one really tell from the taste of this chocolate if it is expensive?

Area:  Midland Square B1 ミッドランドスクエア　(Across the street from Nagoya Station)
Restaurant:  Pierre Marcolini　ピエール　マルコリーニ
Website and info:  http://www.pierremarcolini.jp/shop/nagoya.html

Hours:  11am-8pm

Just by stepping into this chocolatier, instantly you know that it will be expensive.  The dim lightning, and chocolate truffles showcased in glass give this feeling away.  It is possible to have a taste of the store's specialty chocolate in the cafe.  It looks like a high-class drink bar, but it's a coffee and dessert cafe.  If you order a dessert, you can enjoy a free coffee with it.  However, after seeing a movie at the 5th floor cinema, a presentation of the ticket allowed me a free chocolate truffle (in addition to the one that comes with the original order).

The orange and white truffle was a mango and caramel flavor.  The balance of these two flavours along with the mildly sweet white chocolate was a nice match.  The other chocolate is apparently a mix of cocoa from Venezuela, Ecuador and Madagascar.  I'm not sure your everyday person can really appreciate this, so to me it just tasted like dark chocolate.  These truffles may look big in this picture, but keep in mind that I ordered an espresso (630 yen), meaning the cup is small!  It was nicely made with good crema, and went nicely with the dark cocoa.

Cafe Gentian Leger: Get away from the bustle of Nagoya Station

Area:  Nagoya Station (Shinkansen side or Taiko-dori side)
Restaurant:  Cafe Gentian Leger カフェジャンシアーヌレジェ
Info:  http://www.jrt-food-service.co.jp/store/details19.html

Hours:  7am-9pm, LO 8:30pm


There are 2 Cafe Gentiane's in JR station. I'm not sure exactly what's different about them but the one named "Leger" is a bit separated from the main hallway. This is the one I visited just because it seemed less busy.  I had the mix sandwich (500円) which includes an egg, and a potato salad on top of ham lettuce and tomato.  I was glad to see that the bread was toasted and the crust wasn't cut off.  The noticeable butter flavor is nice with the creamy egg salad, but I'm not so sure about the Italian dressing on the veggies.  When I have Italian dressing, it's usually limited to salads, so I think I'd prefer it that way here as well.  It's not bad in the sandwich, but I could do without; especially because it adds to the worry that the bread will become soggy if not eaten quickly.  The potato salad had big chunks of dry and tasteless potato (more egg salad please!). Perhaps this is why the Italian dressing is added.

With quiet piano music playing in the background, and people around me catching up with friends, this Cafe is kind of a retreat away from the noise of the station. 

One of this restaurant's signature desserts seems to be the Piyorin (300円).  If you've been to Nagoya station before you'd probably recognize this character.  It's basically pudding, made with cochin chicken eggs (an expensive Nagoya-raised type of chicken).  This pudding is embedded inside vanilla mousse which is coated with sponge cake crumbs.  There is a thin layer of caramel separating the pudding and mousse.  I don't know why, but it was difficult to start eating this cute little character;  I guess I didn't want to demolish his face, so I started by taking away the chocolate, making the arms, eyes and smile disappear.  The vanilla mousse was a nice milky taste with a mild sweetness balancing out the sweet white chocolate decorations.  The pudding had a strong eggy flavor which is probably the point in showing off the special chicken's gold.  However, I got the sense that Cochin chicken's eggs are expensive since the amount of pudding in this inexpensive dessert was minimal. Perhaps in all, not more than a tablespoonful of pudding was there.  For only 150円 more I added a coffee.  I'm glad there is this cheap option since that is about what it's worth (not worth 300円 for that cup of java). 

Cafe Takatori: It's considered to be comfort food for the Japanese

Area:  about a 5min walk northeast of Nagoya station
Restaurant:  Cafe Takatori カフェ　タカトリ
Map and Info:  http://nagoya.xtone.jp/archives/cafe-takatori.html

Hours:  7:30am-6pm


I try not to visit and post about the kissatens, or Japanese-style coffee houses (usually older establishments) because they are often filled with chain-smoking businessmen which is not necessarily a bad thing, but the main reason is because they all serve up the same food, with a standard flavor.  The menu almost always includes curry rice, kara-age, hamburger patties, pork katsu, mix sandwiches, omelette rice, etc.  However, upon searching for a place to enjoy my next lunch on the internet, I came across Cafe Takatori.  It was described as a modern decor, but old-fashioned taste kissaten.  It did have an old-fashioned flare with the 40's or 50's piano music running in the background.  Apparently it's been around for quite sometime, and they are known for their Italian Spaghetti dish (750円, includes a salad).

I'm still intrigued by what makes this Japanese take on Italian pasta so popular.  I tried it at another cafe, but wasn't too impressed, so I ventured here to get a taste of perhaps the “real thing”. Napolitan is usually what it's called.  This one, served on a hot plate with egg poured around the noodles, was not any different than other Napolitans I've tried.  Perhaps I've figured out why the Japanese love it so much.  The plain ketchup flavoring avoids all the herbs in Italian cooking that are never used in Japanese dishes.  In addition, the noodles are soft and actually reminiscent of yaki soba. Like yaki soba, they even had delicious burnt parts where the noodles have sat on the grill for a bit.  So while it's called Italian, I would call it ketchup flavored yaki soba.  When I think of it this way, it tastes better in my mind.  The butter used to oil the hot plate is a nice touch to the egg and ketchup combo.  

Coffee is 380円, but if ordered after a meal, it's 80円 cheaper.  And since it was ‘oyatsu’ time (snack time), it came with a light-as-air mini cake and Japanese rice crackers (arare). 

Cafe de Campagne: Melted butter and sweet red bean paste...Nagoya is great!

Area:  About 600m from Kamejima Station 亀島駅 (Higashiyama line), or 10min Northeast from the east exit of Nagoya station
Restaurant:  Cafe de Campagne カフェドカンパーニュ
Map and Info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23031922/dtlmap/

Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-10pm, Sat 7am-5pm, closed Sundays and holidays


It's not often that I get out for breakfast since I like to lounge around in my PJ's while drinking my morning coffee, but once in a while, I'll have the urge to have a morning set in a Japanese cafe.

Today was one of those days and I found myself at Cafe de Campagne.  Despite the French name, there's nothing French about this cafe.  It's basically an old kissaten (Japanese style coffee house) with tables that give a diner feel.  But the wire rack on the counter area gives it an open-kitchen, modern essence (not entirely sure this was the shop's intent though).  

The "morning" (370円) includes a drink, half a slice of thick, buttered toast with a choice of jam or sweet red bean paste topping, a hard boiled egg, and a mini dessert cup of the day.  The coffee was a bit on the 'sitting-around-for a long time' side, but wasn't undrinkable. The mini dessert was a coffee jelly on top of a milk pudding.  It wasn't overly sweet so it balanced out the sweetness of the bean paste toast and the bitterness of the coffee jelly.  Let me say that sweet red bean paste and melted butter is a match made in heaven!  Kids growing up in Nagoya and aichi area seem to have grown up eating this, so it's become a Nagoya specialty.

All this for the price of one coffee; this is what makes morning great. 

Cafe Zileri: Kissaten masked by decor

Area:  about 100m from Kokusai Center Station (国際センター駅）, B1 of Dai Tokai Building 大東海ビル, Exit 12 of Unimall

Restaurant: Cafe Zileri カフェ　ジレリ

Map and Info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23046135/dtlmap/

Hours:  8am-5pm, closed weekends and holidays

From the outside it looks like a promising modern cafe, but upon entering, there is the air of a typical kissaten.  Filled with businessmen, and a menu that includes pork katsu, omuraisu and sandwiches, the decor fooled me.  With antique-looking coffee grinders sitting on back lit  bookshelves, and grey brick work, the cafe does have a nice atmosphere.  

Today's lunch special was a Korean-style chicken thigh donburi (750円).  It was slightly spicy with the red chili paste sauce, and way too salty.  The vegetable consomme soup was also a bit on the salty side.  The accompanying gobo and carrot salad was the kind you can find in air-vacuumed bags at the convenience stores.  The coffee was definitely old and reheated.  The only reason I would come here again is if I want a quiet place to sit and have a late lunch.  The instrumental music softly playing oldies such as New York, New York makes for a peaceful lunch break.  

Rakeru: Is it worth going back for their OmuRaisu?

Area:  Spiral Towers B1, just in front of Meitetsu department store at Nagoya station

Restaurant:  Rakeru ラケル

Website: http://www.rakeru.co.jp/index.shtml

Map: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23029652/

Hours:  Weekdays  11am-9:30pm, Weekends 10:30am-10pm

This restaurant was started in Tokyo many years ago as a yoshoku or restaurant meant to mimic western flavours, but geared for the Japanese tastebuds.  That seems to be the reason for the specialty here: omuraisu (ketchup flavored rice covered in an omelette).  Another one of their signature items is a bun served warm with a melting brick of butter placed inside.  Sounds great, and it is, if you like the typical slightly sweet buns commonly found here.

There are a variety of lunch plates to choose from (and thankfully can be ordered late afternoon).  I regret it now, but since I'm not the biggest fan of omuraisu I went for the doria (baked rice dish) and quiche plate (1134円).  The soup was a milky corn soup that smelled like dessert and was sweet enough to maybe even pass as one.  The accompanying baked potato was extremely dry and could have used some of that butter from the bun.  The salad was standard with a white French dressing.  The one strand of watercress laid on top gave it a nice punch and could have used more.  The quiche had a nice flakey crust and the lardons (tiny pieces of pork fat) gave it a slight bacon flavor.  It's too bad the mountain of ketchup on top imparted it's acidy artificial flavor on it.  The Doris's rice was curry flavor (reminiscent of Lipton's instant rice) topped with tomato-based meat sauce and cheese.  There's so little meat sauce that I almost didn't even notice it.  

I'm interested in trying their omuraisu in hopes that it might change my feelings about this Japanese household staple.  I'll post if I do try it!