Vege Bar Mitsubashi: Needs a bit of work on seasoning

Area:  about 100m south of Kokusai Center Station 国際センター駅
Restaurant:  Vege Bar Mitsubachi  ミツバチ
Website and Info:  http://www.a-round1995.com/mitsubachi/access.html

Hours:  Weekdays and Sat  5pm-1am, Sundays and Holidays 5pm-12am



Although I made it in time for lunch, it was close to the end, so the salad bar was a bit scarce.  Luckily I could still take a bit of everything, except for the steamed bagna cauda veggie area (only renkon, or lotus root left).  The renkon was nice and soft but not mushy.  I dressed my salad with a bit of yuzu kosho dressing (Japanese citrus and pepper) and with plain olive oil with herbed salt.  The salt went nicely with the  olive oil, and even though yuzu kosho itself is usually very high in sodium, as a dressing (mixed with oil), it was nice.  The French dressing was like a creamy caesar, mislabeled perhaps.  I preferred the milder herbed salt to the too salty rose salt.

For the main, the paella had a thin layer of crispy tomato flavored rice. The crispiness (from being placed on a hot plate) was the best part.  It was topped with daikon, carrots, zucchini, and peppers, all of which were all kind of dried out due to the oven baking. It probably could have used some oil and salt seasoning.  The seafood, mussels, clams, shrimp were meaty and moist  They imparted their seafood flavor nicely on to the rice.  The clams baked into the rice so somehow they had a nice chewiness to them.  This paella was a bit too under seasoned though. 

I decided to give this restaurant another try. First I ordered a vegetable tapas plate.  You get to choose 3 (\480) from a list.  First, the tako (octopus) and celery; the orange peel added a nice touch to the light marination.  The spinach with cream cheese was basically just cream cheese mixed with mayo; where was the spinach?  The cauliflower mousse at first was nice because I thought it was a puréed cauliflower but then I realized it was just a tiny bit of cauliflower mixed with whipped cream.  I guess I ordered 4 tapas', but I don't remember how much it was.  The broccoli and shrimp had a typical ebi-mayo sauce (a dish found in most Chinese food restaurants here, the sauce consisting of mostly mayo and a bit of ketchup).  

The smoked tuna (\580) was so salty that I asked them if that's the way it's supposed to be.  They took away the plate and offered to do it again, but when they brought it back out again it was missing all the veggies that I was looking forward to eating!  This time it was seasoned with olive oil, and was slighty better, but still was pretty salty.

With the patio feel, this restaurant could be a nice place to sit and relax and enjoy the food, but only if the food was done a tad better.  

Cucina Wada: Good for a special occasion, well worth the price

Area:  a couple of blocks south of Fushimi station 伏見駅
Restaurant:  Cucina Wada  クチーナワダ
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23038494/

Hours:  Lunch 12-2pm, Dinner 6-10pm


This is a slightly more expensive, fine dining restaurant, but the lunch is only \2000.  It currently is receiving a score of 3.7 out of 5 on Tabeblog.  Straight to the food;  the appetizer indo-maguro carpaccio was seasoned with an olive oil basil sauce which matched with the plump shrimp and arugula.  The tuna was very soft and slightly seared with pepper.  There was also a nice sea salt crunch to the sauce.  The raw daikon was not hot, but the pepper sort of overpowered the maguro at first bite.  However the tastes buds may become accustomed to the pepper, and afterwards, the flavour of the tuna comes through.

The whole wheat bread had a yeasty flavor and was light.  The focaccia was denser, with a crispy olive oil brushed and rosemary sprinkled crust.

Next, the sardine pasta was covered with a simple olive oil sauce, but this one didn't taste like canned sardines, so that was good.
       

The sawara (king mackerel) sauté, was not only cooked in the pan, but was oven roasted, giving it a toasty skin. It used the same basil sauce as the starter, but matched well.  The tomato sauce was a cream base, so the tomato flavor was mild.  The carrot was also roasted and it was the sweetest carrot I've ever had (a bit dry, but I guess that's expected for oven roasting). 

I was seated at the counter on the first floor, right in from of the kitchen so it was interesting to watch everything they were doing, as if I were in the kitchen.  

The music plaing was instrumental jazz.

For dessert, I was brought a housemade tiramisu. It was not too sweet and I could really taste the liquor.  The meal-ending espresso was fresh and good crema 

Mangiamo: a popular, good mix of Italian and Japanese

Area:  a couple of block north of Nagoya Station (Mont Blanc Hotel, モンブラン　ホテル）
Restaurant:  Mangiamo  マンジャーモ
Website and Info:  http://www.montblanc-hotel.jp/restaurant/mangiamo.html
Map:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23001559/

Hours:  Breakfast 7-9:30am, Lunch 11:30am-2pm, Dinner 5:30-11pm


I was pretty surprised that even entering at 1:30pm, half an hour before last order, this restaurant was still bustling with diners coming and going.  I thought this might be a good sign.

It immediately has a European feel from the outside, and even inside with the arches and the European jazzy music playing.  They were a variety of lunches to choose from.  They seem to have pride on the mix of Italian food and Japanese warmth.  The menu and the two obachan waitresses gave his feel.  

Salad was kind of warm like it was sitting out for a long time.  The lemony vinaigrette dressing may have been better if served cold.  It tasted like bottled lemon juice (not fresh).  I chose the chicken sauté (\829).  It had nice and crispy skin, although it was not the juiciest chicken thigh I've had.   The mushroom cream sauce tasted of browned butter and went really nicely with the chicken. I liked that it had a lot of puréed mushroom in it and was not too heavy.  The accompanying potato salad was standard.  The bread was also a standard baguette, not warmed, but at least the butter was soft and spreadable.  

Kobekan meieki: This is definitely something different...and delicious

Area:  a few blocks north of Unimall Exit 10  ユニモール, a 3 min walk northwest of Kokusai Center station 国際センター駅
Restaurant:  Kobekan  神戸館　名駅店
Website and Info:  http://www.kobekangroup.com/shop/comfortable/index.html

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



This restaurant's lunch is ¥850 and includes a soup, salad and drink.

There's a large variety of lunches to choose, from pasta and pizza, to omuraisu and menchikatsu (a breaded and fried Japanese burger patty).  When I asked for a recommendation, the squash cream gratin was first.  The penne cream gratin is actually baked in the squash!  You're meant to scrape away the squash on the sides and eat it with the white sauce. Beware, it's very hot and stays hot for a long time; you definitely can't eat this if you're in a rush.  The bacon was very mild so it was not overpowering but gave a smokey flavor.  The sauce was very simple with barely any seasoning, but this went perfectly to bring out the natural sweetness of the squash.  The penne gave it a bit of texture and bite to the dish; without it, there's not much to chew on.

The salad dressing was like a catalina, although I haven't seen Catalina sold in Japan.  Soup was a tomato based veggie and bacon soup.  It tasted like they used fresh tomatoes and not a veggie bouillon cube, or a canned soup.

Pancake Mahalo Cafe: Buttermilk pancakes are a small step above

Area:  about 400m south of Kokusai Center station 国際センター駅
Restaurant:  Pancake Mahalo Cafe  マハロ　カフェ
Website and Info:  http://www.pancake-cafe.jp/shop_meiekihirokouji.html

Hours:  Lunch 11am-2pm, Teatime 2-6pm, Dinner 6-11pm (Fri and Sat until 12am)


Why pancakes are such a boom in Japan is kind of a mystery to me.  I think it might have to do with the fact that they associate pancakes with Hawaii, and the Japanese are obsessed with travel to Hawaii and all things Hawaiian.

There was a line up on this weekend day, and with their Hawaiian hospitality, served free orange juice to the waiting.  Upon being shown to my seat, a cup of refreshing lemon water was brought to the table.  This restaurant prides itself on their use of buttermilk in the batter.  During lunch hours, the pancakes come with an unlimited drink bar.  There were 4 pancakes to choose from, both sweet (vanilla ice cream, mango coconut cream) and savory (taco style, prosciutto and arugula).  I went for the latter, salad pancake (\1180).  The pancakes here have a nice flavor to them, which was unfortunately lost when eaten with the salty prosciutto and spicy arugula.  I did find that they matched the ricotta cheese on top however.  The tomatoes were nicely marinated in olive oil making them rather juicy.  The balsamic sauce, well, it's always a good match with arugula and prosciutto.  The pancake itself is more on the dense, sticky side.  But having said this, I think buttermilk is supposed to make it fluffier.  Whatever it does, I did enjoy the texture of this pancake more than some other pancakes I've eaten in the area.

The American music that seems fitting for a Hawaiian cafe, and the indoor greenery (palm tree-like plants) certainly gave a Hawaiian feel.  

Osteria L'amante: A pasta lunch with lots of veggies

Area:  about 350m northeast of Kokusai Center Station 国際センター駅
Restaurant:  Osteria L'amante  オステリア　ラ　マンテ
Website and Info:  http://r.gnavi.co.jp/3455xn1r0000/

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

The most affordable is the pasta lunch here (¥950).  It includes a salad, bread, and a choice between 2 pastas.  The green salad was dressed with a nice oil emulsion.  The carrot salad was pretty plain.  The egg was different than the Japanese tamago-yaki;  it was very eggy in flavor, and was swerved with a fresh tomato sauce.  The marinated seafood salad was nice, with a slight basil flavor.  It was not vinegary, and the seafood was spongy and soaked up the olive and onion flavors in the sauce.

The focaccia  was soft on the inside with a good yeasty flavor, and had a nice crusty bottom.  It was served with ample of olive oil that was seasoned with  sea salt, and was perfect for dipping.  The pasta consisted of a thin spaghetti, probably dry, not fresh pasta.  They pride themselves on the sunny lettuce, but I'll have to be honest and say I couldn't really tell the difference between store bought.  The sauce was a simple olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper.  It was done nicely, with nothing too overpowering, not too salty or peppery.  The dried tomato added a savory punch.  The shrimps were juicy and cooked well.  It was topped with freshly grated cheese.  This pasta, although simple, had a nice balance of flavours.  Coffee (+¥100) was mild, fresh, with a hint of cinnamon flavor left on the tongue.

The Naughty by Nature and Lord Tariq music gave a casual atmosphere.  

  

Aoi club: If the non-signature item is this good....

Area:  a couple of blocks north of Shinsakaemachi station 新栄町駅
Shop:  Aoi Cafe  葵倶楽部
Map:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230104/23048527/
Website:  http://syumoku.exblog.jp/i30/

Hours:  12-7pm


I'm sure this is not just a regular cafe.  While I was there, the owner was giving a tour and talk to a young man who was taking notes.  Perhaps it's an old house of a famous person.  It seems they also hold art exhibitions once in a while.

Looking at internet reviews and the homepage, it seems that the most popular item is the NY style cheesecake.  However, just my luck, on this day, there was no cheesecake left.  All there was left were homemade scones.  They came warmed and immediately had the fragrance of butter.  The chocolate cheese cream (this is what she called it as opposed to cream cheese) gave a whole new flavor to it, like a savory cheese scone.  The crispy outer edges were like eating a crisp cookie.  The coffee was fresh.

The classical music playing made it easy to take my time and enjoy my scone and coffee.  

Wine Watanabe; For wine lovers this might be a go-to place

Area:  about 400m east of Sakae station 栄駅
Restaurant:  Wine Watanabe  ワイン渡辺
Website and Info:  http://www.c-food.jp/wine-watanabe/

Hours:  Lunch 12-2pm, Dinner 5pm-12am (2am on Fri, Sat and holidays)



This is a standing bar only; well, there are seats, but they are those super uncomfortable bars that you just lean against.  I opted to order an appetizer dish (instead of the plate lunch) because there was a foie gras terrine (\850).  Upon first bite, which melted in my mouth immediately, I wanted a wine!  I asked for a wine pairing suggestion, and the waiter had to go ask someone.  I was   recommended a full-bodied red from Italy (\600).  It indeed match; I was expecting a sweet white to be recommended so I was a little surprised, but it went well.  Even with the slightly sour and sweet haskap sauce.  Then I thought I should try something else, so I went for the carrot salad (\450).  The ajillo sort of caught my eye, but ajillo tends to taste the same everywhere (salty olive oil).  The carrot's marinade was sweet, with no vinegar used, almost like a mild honey (there was no liquid at all).  Almond slices and raisins went well.  The accompanying greens were dressed lightly with oil.

The music playing, Ella Fitzgerald's version of Tennessee waltz, and other adult oldie contemporary songs matched the restaurant's aura.