Dome: a bit of an unfortunate use of good ingredients

Area:  about 300m south of Kokusai Centre Station  国際センター駅
Restaurant:  Dome  ドメ
Website and Map: http://www.domestic.jp/access/

Hours:  Lunch 11am-2pm (Mon-Fri only), Dinner 5-12pm (1am on Fri and Sat, LO 1 hr before close), closed Sun



This teishoku lunch (Japanese style set meal) restaurant serves lunch until 2 pm, after that they are an izakaya at night.  A quick look at their website tells me that they specialize in using only what's freshly available and local.  It seemed a bit more modern than your regular teishoku shop, so I wanted to try it out.  

Unfortunately, the most popular item, the grilled fish was sold out.  Thus I went for the next popular item it seemed (pork steak ¥1200).

The sato imo was served chilled, probably simmered and had a light, sweet soy base glaze. The pork was not that fatty in the centre, but the circumference was all fat (in Japan they eat this fat and do not cut it off, it's rather tasty).  It was swimming in a thick, peppery worcestershire sauce; a bit too koi (rich, or thick) for my taste.  

The dashi-maki tamago (like an omlette made with egg mixed with dashi) and the hijiki (stewed seaweed) dish was very sweet.

The dessert was a vanilla pudding contained on a clear, warabi mochi-like layer (a sticky jelly).  It was soft and smooth, and somehow also had the flavor of matcha in it somewhere (maybe it had to do with the leaf it was wrapped in)

The undrinkable coffee was sour, and was probably sitting around for a long time.

Air cafe: a nice location

Area:  about 400m northeast of Imaike station 今池駅
Restaurant:  Air Cafe   エールカフェ
Website and Map:  http://aircafe-centralgarden.com/access/

Hours:  11am-10pm (Lunch menu until 3pm)


Near Ikeshita station, Nagoya Central Garden houses a few expensive looking and stylish restaurants, as well as bakeries and even a specialty grocery store.

This cafe is a bit hidden in the back and it does have a bit of an older feeling.  It's actually a brasserie, and it does have that French bar look.  

Today's lunch appetizer was a scallop escabeche salad.  The dressing was vinegary, but sweet almost like grapefruit juice or fruit juice was used.  There was also had a shiso flavor dressing the edges of the salad.  The scallops were coated in flour before cooking, so they soaked up the marinade nicely.  It was refreshing and the onion topping was a nice touch.  

The suzuki (white fish) main was cooked in an olive oil and white wine broth.  It was mild in both those flavors, but was seasoned well.  It almost tasted like chicken broth.  The bread came warmed, a baguette and a soft pillowy white kaiser. 

Dessert was a grapefruit jelly, and tasted just as if I were eating a grapefruit. Coffee was also included (a slightly pricey 1600 yen for the meal).  It was a dark, but relaxing space with Norah Jones music playing in the background.

Miinokichi: Is the food in Kyoto typically mushy?

Area:  Nagoya station Takashimaya B1 名古屋駅タカシマヤ
Shop:  Minokichi  美濃吉
Website:  https://www.minokichi.net/index.php

This is a shop on the B1 floor of Takashimaya department store.  They specialize in Kyoto cooking and osozai (accompanying dishes or appetizers).

From left to right.  This chawan mushi (savory steamed egg custard) had abura age (fried tofu) in it, but they had a weird texture, almost like it was covered in flour (not a very good thing).

The dashi jelly had a nice flavor, but the carrot and potato were too mushy, the squash a bit dry.  The fried eggplant was nice though.

The beef shabu-shabu was a bit tough, but the the accompanying miso jelly was a nice summery chilled sauce (with more of a soy sauce flavor).  I liked that it was sitting on soggy lettuce that picked up the flavor.

The red wine jelly just tasted like a fruit cup with mushy fruit.   It looked interesting but I was a bit disappointed on the end.

Overall, the flavors were very mild (as is typical for Kyoto dishes), and there were a lot of mushy things here.

Piacere: Don't be fooled, there's no piano here

Area:  about 500m east of Kamejima station 亀島駅
Restaurant:  Piacere ピアチェエレ
Map:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230113/23035515/


I originally thought that this cafe was also a stage for pianists at night.  However, on second look at the Piacere website, I realized that it was a different restaurant.  There is very little about this cafe on the web, however I stumbled upon it during a google map search while in the area.

This Piacere looks like a cute little house with a secluded patio in front.  Inside, with the abundance of flowers and European mini statues, and orchestral music,  it seems like a European house. The staff seemed to have no yaruki, or motivation to work.  As I walked in I felt ignored.  Everything was completely self serve from water to cutlery, but that's no excuse for no greeting!

There were 4 options for lunch (¥880), of which you choose two.  There was a 100g sirloin, chicken sauté kara-age, and pork shoga yaki.  The salad bar, soup, and rice were all all-you-can-eat.  The consommé soup felt housemade with perhaps the addition of a bay leaf.  

The steak reminded me of steak back home, probably tough by Japanese standards.  There were 3 sauces to choose from; garlic, ponzu or a demiglace.  The steak was cooked to a medium rare and the garlic sauce was perfect not too salty, with a bit of sweetnes (asian style).  The garlic chips added a nice garlic punch.  The chicken was a bit dry, but had yummy crispy skin with a grated daikon Japanese style sauce.  The fries were a bit too mushy.   

Lucky for me, they had just brought out a super juicy watermelon as I went for dessert; yogurt and granola with some canned fruit.  A refreshing way to end the meat-filled meal. 

Diavolo e Bambina: For the flimsy pizza lovers

Area: a 3 min. walk northeast of Nagoya station
Restaurant:  Diavolo e Bambina  ディアボロ　バンビーナ
Website and Map:  http://www.sora-g.jp/bambina/

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



This pizzeria seems to be associated with last week's visited pizza restaurant, however the menu is different and even the pizza dough is different.  Here, the Neapolitan style crust is the specialty.  The websites say that margherita is not to be missed.  But I wanted more than that, so I chose the romana version which came with anchovies.

The meal started out like Seconda's, a minestrone soup.  This one was filled with onions, carrots, cabbage, daikon, and a bit too many beans for my liking (again no pasta).  Ham also was included.  The natural sweetness of the veggies, and the saltiness of the ham seemed to be the simple seasoning.    

The pizza was flimsy as Napoli style should be.  The crust was chewy but not so different than regular crust.  I seem to remember the crust in the real Naples to be a bit more chewier and significantly distinguishable from regular crust.  The tomato sauce was simple and the mozzarella was milky.  It could have used more basil (especially since the anchovies were powerful).  The anchovies definitely gave it punch and a different flavor compared to a regular margherita.  It didn't really melt into the pizza, but it gave a variety of flavor bites (some more salty, some more milky, some tomato-ey, etc).  

Atelier Fable: Be refreshed with tea recommended by the *Monsieur*

Area:  a few blocks north of Kamejima station, exit 1 亀島駅
Shop:  Atelier Fable  アトリエファブル
Map and website:  http://www.a-fable.jp/fable_access.html

Hours:  10am-7pm, closed every 2nd sunday, and 4 and 5th Saturday


This is an interesting store that sells all kinds of herbal cosmetics, teas, aromas, gardening goods, crafts, etc.  I was interested in taking a rest here, so I ordered the cake set that comes with a tea recommended by the master according to how you feel (650 yen).  I was feeling a bit on the tired side, so the master brewed a rose hip blend.  With calcium and vitamin C, and a bit of sourness, it was supposed to take away fatigue.  It went well with the sweet and dense walnut and raisin cake.  The accompanying blueberry puree was nice since it wasn't too sweet (different than jam).  

The master was really hospitable, turning on the air conditioning as soon as I sat down, and insisted that I take the bigger table when he noticed I had some books with me.  The water he brought was not surprisingly a refreshing herb water (could have been thyme).  

Bene!: Perhaps the night menu is more Be-ne

Area:  about 400m east of Kamejima station (Higashiyama Line)  亀島駅
Restaurant:  Bene!  ベーネ
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230113/23051342/

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


This restaurant's lunch ends early, so I came on a day off when in the area .  It had been rather newly opened and the colorful exterior had caught my eye as I was walking past one day.

There were three lunches to choose from; a business lunch (¥850) which included 4 small dishes with rice, a fresh pasta lunch (¥880) or an Italian curry lunch (¥880).  All came with a soup, salad and drink.  The business lunch was enticing because I do like variety but today's dishes included Asian flavors only such as fried tebasaki (chicken wings), mapo tofu, etc.  This is an Italian restaurant so I wanted to try their Italian fare.  The curry was only 'Italian' in that cheese is baked on top and there are tomatoes in it.  

The salad had a Japanese dressing but what was different here was that it was topped with couscous, something I find rare in Japan.  Couscous is nice in a salad because it soaks up the dressing and becomes moist enough to stick to the veggies, providing a flavour burst. There were a good variety of vegetables (cucumber, red and yellow peppers, tomatoes) in this salad. The soup was filled with lots of fresh peas, carrots and corn, the bits of beef gave this consommé a nice flavour.  I think it was a Japanese dashi base, but this way I suppose it goes well with both the Asian flavours of the business lunch and the Italian in the pasta.   The pasta I chose was a peperoncino, with a bit of Japanese kick (shirasu, tiny whole fish).  The fresh pasta reminded me more of ramen noodles, a bit softer but still retaining some chewiness in the end.  The simple olive oil sauce was seasoned only by the salt of the shirasu and some hot peppers.   

The music playing was modern American pop music, giving the place a bar type atmosphere.     

Azione: a quiet and complete lunch at an Italian eatery

Area:  about 2 blocks north of Fushimi station 伏見駅
Restaurant:  Azione  アジオーネ
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23051720/dtlmap/

Hours:  Lunch 11am-3pm (LO 2pm), Dinner 5-10pm (LO 9:30pm), closed Sun



I never considered coming here because I thought it was just another mediocre Italian restaurant, but upon looking at tabeblog, and seeing that it received 3.5 stars, I wanted to try it.  The chef and owner was there all by himself, serving and cooking. I read that he started out working in an expensive Italian restaurant around Nagoya's Chikusa area, and that he puts his own original ideas into the menu.  

First, the appetizer plate; the carrot salad had a mild vinaigrette, sweetened by raisins, and had a nice olive oil flavor.  The eggplant was refreshingly chilled and was a bit more vinegary than salad.  The gobo (burdock root) salad, dressed with a simple mayo, a typical dressing for this type of salad in Japan.  The corn soup was puréed fresh corn which gave it a prominent corn flavor (not a cream or milky flavor that corn soup often has in Japan).  This corn soup almost reminded me of movie theatre popcorn.  The Prosciutto was of good quality.  The fritatta was interesting as it had noodles embedded in it, which gave this egg bite.  Its flavor also reflected the ground beef and vegetables that were added.

The housemade focaccia was moist and dense with a soft crust.  The crunch came from the sea salt sprinkled on top.  It was softer than the focaccia I'm used to but with the density and the toasty flavored crust, I quite enjoyed it.  

There were two pastas to choose from, a tomato meat sauce, or a cream sauce.  The cream seemed more interesting to me.  It was a mushroom and shrimp sauce.  The button mushrooms (not used as much as other types of mushrooms in Japan), gave this sauce a cream of mushroom flavor (kind of nice that it reminded me of one of my childhood favorite cambell's soup).  The shrimps were not overcooked and the sauce was perfectly seasoned. 

Coffee was a good-sized americano (I'd call it large for Japanese standards).

Overall, a quiet and spacious restaurant.  The sax music sort of sounded like elevator music, but gave this place a relaxing atmosphere. 

Narumitsu: Signature item not available at lunch, unfortunate

Area:  about a 3 min walk northeast of Nagoya station (VIA 141 building)
Restaurant:  Narumitsu  ナルミツ
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230113/23024270/dtlmap/?lid=tocoupon3


Hours:  Lunch 11am-2pm (LO 1:45), Dinner 5:30-10pm (LO 9:30pm), closed Sun and holidays



This restaurant prides itself on its Nagoya/Italian combo.  They do an Italian style pasta cooked on a stone plate in the Nagoya loved way (ketchup flavored).  Unfortunately this can not be ordered during lunch hours.  Everybody seemed to order the pasta lunch, so I did as well.

The accompanying salad was dressed lightly with a vinaigrette, nothing stood out here.  The soup was a consommé (veggie I think) with soft onions, and a couple of pieces of stale tasting croutons. 

The pasta was a small scallop and broccoli cream sauce.  I think they do use a fresh fettuccine, but I would have preferred slightly more al dente.  The sauce was seasoned well, the cream mellowing out the acdity of the tomato.  The scallops gave it a slight seafood flavour accent but did not overpower the tomato's fresh flavor.  The broccoli was perfectly pre-cooked and soaked up all the sauce nicely.