Bond Coffee: a bit of a disappointment (closed)

Area:  a few blocks south of Fushimi station exit 6 伏見駅
Restaurant:  Bond Coffee  ボンドコーヒー
Website and map:  http://www.bondcoffee.jp/index.html
Easy to read map: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23000946/dtlmap/

Hours: 8am-7pm, (Morning 8am-10:30am, Lunch 11am-2pm)


Since I love sandwiches, I thought it would be a good place to come, since it advertises itself as a sandwich cafe on the door.  Unfortunately, the lunch service wasn't available today (since it was the weekend), but there were plenty of sandwiches to try on the menu. I went for the mix sandwich (¥700).  I thought it would be a nice surprise to see what the “Mix” was.  The coffee here is hand dripped, and if you order a sandwich or pasta, you get a ¥100 discount (normally ¥400).

When the sandwich came, I thought it was kind of small, maybe because the crusts were cut off.  There was just 1 type of sandwich, consisting of tomato, lettuce, cucumber and ham with mayo, mustard, and margarine.  The tomato and lettuce were fresh, but this sandwich was not so innovative, nor really a mix sandwich since it was basically all the same! It was on 2 different kinds of bread; plain white and a brown coloured one which was probably a kuro sato bread (a dark sugar), but I wonder if that's why it was called a mix sandwich.  

The coffee was a bit on the sour, old side, so I'm not sure how fresh it was.  

It's a quaint little cafe, with only 4 tables and it's relaxing with the instrumental music playing, but it was a bit of a disappointment on the food and drink side of things.  I've had better and cheaper.

Perhaps I will give it another chance and come back to try their Lunch Special sandwiches on a weekday. 

Yummy Hawaiian BBQ: A step away from Japan and into America

Area:  about a 2-min walk from Exit 6, south of Fushimi station 伏見駅
Restaurant:  Yummy Hawaiian BBQ
Website and Map:  http://www.yummy-bbq.com/storeinfo.html

Hours:  11am-10pm


I came across this Hawaiian BBQ restaurant when I was waiting for a movie to start around the Fushimi theatre.    I'm not so sure exactly what Hawaiian BBQ is, but this restaurant did have an American feel to it, as you order your food at the counter fast food style.  There are a variety of dishes to choose from such as meat plates, rice bowls, loco moco and noodle bowls.  There is a lunch menu, but I think the only difference is that soup is included.  The most popular was supposedly the meat plate.  The seasoning is the same for all the meats, so you just choose your type.  I had the chicken plate (¥880).  It comes with your choice of 4 sides.  Strangely most of the sides were Korean in flavor from duk boki, jap chae, namul and tofu (kimchi style).  Others included the Japanese tamagoyaki (rolled egg) and pasta salads, etc.  I chose the bean sprout namul, Japanese broccoli namul, carrot salad and duk boki.  The namul was standard in sesame oil and garlic flavor, not too salty.  The carrot was dressed with an Italian dressing.  The duk boki was only slightly hot and a bit sweet, and the rice cakes had a nice chewy texture.  The chicken was seasoned well with a sweet garlic and slight ginger aroma teriyaki-like sauce.  It was almost like the food court's "Made in Japan" chain of teppanyaki fast food that you find in malls in North America.  It came on top of 2 scoops of rice.

For ¥100 extra, you can add a coffee.  It's a French vanilla flavor coinciding with what is supposed to be Hawaiian java.

This eatery is definitely a good deal;  for under ¥1000, you can finish up feeling very full indeed.  Not only that, it's a balanced meal with nutrients from all the food groups.  The coffee is even a pleasant change from the regular.

The Hawaiian music playing over the speakers and the sun shining through the windows makes for an atmosphere a bit different than the regular Japanese eateries.    

Ricco: Housemade pasta a plus, but needs a bit more

Area:  about 200m northwest of Kokusai Centre station 国際センター駅, 5 min from Unimall's Exit 10 or 12
Restaurant:  Ricco  リッコ
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23049715/

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



The lunch menu consists of 2 pasta lunches to choose from.  The first was a mountain veggie peperoncini, the second was a shrimp and shiso tomato sauce.  Both included Japanese ingredients such as shiso and fuki.  They were both ¥815 and included a salad and baguette.  The salad was simple, lettuce dressed with a light Italian dressing.  The baguette was came warmed, toasted and unbuttered.  It however needed no butter,  and tasted just like the baguettes at home.

The spaghetti was thick and had a nice chewy bite to it.  When I asked the waiter afterwards, he indeed confirmed my hunch that it was housemade pasta.  I chose the peperoncini, so it had a simple garlic and olive oil sauce, seasoned only with salt, pepper and a bit of fresh parsley.  The fuki, with a stringy texture like celery, was an interesting addition to this pasta.  It has a flavor that is difficult to explain, but is probably one that needs an acquired taste, so I'm not so sure it goes well in this dish.  There was only one tiny slice of pepper, so there was not so much heat.  I'm not sure, but I thought peperoncini meant it should have more chile peppers in it.

The clean white walls, wooden tables, and greenery in this restaurant gave it a kind of garden feel.  The Westlife and Rihanna playing made it seem very casual.

Saint German Tendress: Needs a bit of a coffee renewal (updated blog)

Area: Midland Square B1 (building across the street from the Meitestu department store at Nagoya Station
Restaurant: Saint German Tendresse サンジェルマンテンドレス
Website:  http://www.saint-germain.co.jp/brand/tendresse/

Despite the French name, this bakery seems to sell a lot of the typical Japanese bakery fare (at a slightly higher price.  Until 2pm, they have a lunch menu such as soup with a basket of various bread, a bread and dip set, or a sandwich and salad set (all for around 1000円 each, including drink).

The BLT set came with a good-sized salad, pickled veggies and plain yogurt topped with strawberry jam.  Being a bakery, the ever so slightly toasted bread had a good density and is perfect for this sandwich.  The thickly cut bacon was delicious and is what made this sandwich a joy to gobble down.

I'm just not so sure about the coffee though.  Yes, it comes in a large mug, but somehow doesn't taste fresh at all.  For a store that sells lots of sweet baked items, I'd like to see this bakery sell better coffee to enjoy them with.

This bakery's lunches often sell out before lunch hours are over, so I took the opportunity during an early lunch break to come here.  I ordered the dip set (¥1020) which includes a drink, salad, 3 different types of dips and a variety of bread.  The salad was a colorful array of lettuce, red and yellow peppers, and red onion.  Its dressing was merely olive oil and a sprinkling of dry basil, which I found acted as a nice 4th dip in the end as well!

One dip was a ratatouille (zucchini, onion, tomato, eggplant, carrots).  This one could be enjoyed on it's own like a veggie tomato-based stew. it was a bit on the sweeter side, probably from the natural sugars if the softened veggies.  The orange colored dip was a tomato cream cheese.  I usually am not a fan of cream cheese but this one was light, almost as if whipped, and it only had a slight sourness to it.  The pineapple and coconut dip was my favorite of the three; it was also light and fluffy and the sweetness was just right.  

The variety of bread was also enjoyable.  One was probably made from rice flour; when eaten while still warm, it had such a delightful softness and chewiness to it.  The baguette was a little too crispy, but the sliced regular loaf was moist and had a nice bounciness to the dough.  The corn bread was also moist (not corn flour but white bread that has corn kernels dispersed throughout), but I didn't see the point of the corn, as it added no flavor.  The walnut and raisin bread was a bit different in that it also contained orange peel.  This one went well with the pineapple and coconut cream cheese.  For the amount of dip given, this set could have used more bread.  The loaf bread would've held up to the dips a bit more if it was slightly toasted.  

This bakery is busy and bustling, so despite the soft French instrumental music playing, it's a difficult environment to relax in.  And yes, the coffee was just as un-enjoyable as the first time around.  

Bacchanale: Noodles for pasta works well

Area:  1 block east of Nagoya station (Takashimaya side)
Restaurant:  Bacchanale ばかなる
Website and Map:  http://www.bacchanale-nagoya.com/%E3%82%A2%E3%82%AF%E3%82%BB%E3%82%B9/

Hours:  Lunch 11am-3pm (LO 2pm), Dinner 5-11pm (LO 10:30pm)


I wasn't sure what to expect from this restaurant; it was in the basement of an old building where nothing else was open, the specialty was Italian and French food, but they also prided themselves on the Nagoya ankake spaghetti.  The lunch set came with a salad, drink bar, focaccia and dessert.  There were two featured pastas.  One was a clam and mushroom cream sauce (¥950), but I went with the green bean, walnut and ground chicken bianco (¥850).

The salad was a mix of penne, lettuce, tomatoes and ham.  The dressing was interesting, it tasted like caesar but was sweet and actually really enjoyable. The pasta had a kind of pleasant doughy chewiness to it leading me to believe it was fresh pasta.  When I asked the waiter, indeed they make their own noodles (I noticed after that the menu board actually did say it was fresh pasta).  I would call them noodles rather than pasta because the texture reminded me more of yakisoba (perfect for ankake pasta, or pasta with a spicy thick tomato-based sauce). This dish had an almost overly salty and peppery chicken broth flavor.  The walnuts were a great addition though. The soft chewy texture of the noodles and the crunchiness of the green beans and walnuts were the best part. The focaccia had a lot of basil and had a likeable chewy density to it.

Dessert was a tiramisu cake.  It had the flavor of espresso but it didn't have the creaminess of regular tiramisu.  It went well with the little bit of strawberry compote on the side, reminding me of Black Forest cake.  The fruit jelly was refreshing but tasted just like a Dole fruit cup.  The black licorice flavored green on top was a very nice flavour boost.  The macaron was coconut flavored with a butter cream filling.  It was very sweet and had a great chewy texture, the way I know macarons to be, it was heavenly!   The coffee was mild, not the typical, fairly strong coffees that the Japanese tend to like.  

So although unconventional in the pasta area, neither completely Japanese nor Italian, it was delicious.  The wooden wall paneling, flooring, tables and the light music playing gave a bar/cabin-like atmosphere (like Montana's, if you know that American chain restaurant).  I would definitely come back, next time I have lunch break before 2pm (open til 2:30, LO 2pm).  

Yururito: Japanese curry for the sweet toothed

Area:  about 350m northwest of Marunouchi Station 丸の内駅
Restaurant:  Yururito ゆるり人
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23007763/

Hours:  7:30am - 5:30pm, closed Sundays and Holidays


I don't often eat Japanese curry because it usually all tastes very similar; just like the type you can find in the supermarket and just add water to.  However, this cafe only sells vegetable curry (under 1000 yen) along with a variety of toasts (toasted bread with different toppings to choose from such as pizza, honey, cheese, tuna, etc).  Today's curry was a mushroom and kabu (turnip) one.  Although kabu translates as turnip, it is different than the yellow turnip I'm used to.  Japan's kabu is white, and reminds me more of parsnip although rounder.  It also had onion and komatsuna (a green leafy vegetable with stalks like bak choy, but thinner).  It came with homemade cucumber tsukemono (pickled in salt).  It was a little less salty than store bought, but that just made it refreshing inbetween the bites of spicy curry.  The curry was a little different.  The strong flavor of typical Japanese curry was still there, but it had a fruity, almost buttery pear like essence.  When I asked, I was able to find out that there was apple, an enormous amount of onions, and tomato in it.

The accompanying coffee was a medium roast with a nice toasty flavour.  And it came with the leftover coffee in the mini coffee pot so i could get 2 cups of coffee!  Not only that, the meal came with a pre-meal, on the house sweet coffee jelly snack and afterwards, the cafe's specialty pudding for dessert. The coffee jelly had a whitish sauce with just the right amount of sweetness to enjoy before a meal like an appetizer.  The pudding was light, milky in flavour and had an may have included white chocolate in it.

The wooden furniture and orchestral music made it feel homey.  It has its share of regular customers coming and going, so although it looks empty in the photo, it was quite popular.