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.

Nishihara Coffee: They seem to KNOW coffee

Area:  about 300m west of Fushimi station 伏見駅
Restaurant:  Nishihara Coffee Shop  西原珈琲店
Website and Map:  http://nishiharacoffee.com/about/nishihara/fushimi/

Hours: 10am-7pm (Lunch served until 2pm)

This cafe is a little bit hidden.  From the outside it looks like a small, old building, housing only an office.  But upon entering and walking down one level, all the way to the back, there is Nishihara Coffee.  It has a feel of an old European cafe with dim lighting, black wooden walls and furniture.  Orchestral music from The Nutcracker and piano music were playing over the speakers.   Seating was booth seating, but you can also choose to sit at the counter, where the shelves behind it have various china cups and plates on display.

I was first given the drink and sandwich menu because I came at 2:30pm (after lunch).  But upon asking, they brought the lunch menu.  Lunch includes a sandwich, soup, salad and a drink.  This cafe features a different coffee bean every month, so this is what I wanted to try.  They brought the coffee out first.  This variety was a nice medium blend, and it tasted fresh.  

The sandwiches choices were a ham, ham & cheese, or the Nishihara recommended.  Today's recommended was a meat omelette.  It was on toasted bread (with the crusts included, yay!).  The bread was around an 5-slice loaf (fairly thick).  In Japan, the loaves are about half the size of a regular loaf and the thickness of one slice is described by the number of slices it's cut in.  I'm glad the crusts were left on because the crust on this loaf added a nice toasty flavor.  The cucumber gave it a nice crunch and the onions in the ground meat omelette was a nice addition.  The sandwich benefited from the spread of ketchup. The salad was combination of lettuce, cucumber and a cherry tomato dressed with a Japanese shiso dressing.  The soup was a cream corn soup, but this one had depth compared to other corn soups that seem like corn flavored sweet milk  This one started with a good broth, and was cooked with onions, bacon and mushrooms, and seasoned with a dash of pepper.  I quite enjoyed this cream corn soup.  

Cafe A. Bloom: Kissaten and Cafe Hybrid

Area:  about 200m northwest of Marunouchi station 丸の内駅
Restaurant:  Cafe A. Bloom  カフェ　アブルーム
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23044765/dtlmap/

Hours:  Weekends 7am-9pm, Saturdays 8am-6pm, Sundays & Holidays 8am-5pm



This cafe's menu sounds almost like a typical kissaten, but something about the face of this restaurant caught my eye, so I decided to try it one day.  They do serve the typical Japanese-style cafe omuraisu, curry rice and hamburger patty, but on the day's special menu the lunch choices were tonteki (pork steak), fried sardine and salmon, or a salmon meuniere  Salmon meuniere sounded a bit different than the regular stuff, so that's what I ordered (¥800).  I was glad to see the variety if vegetables on this plate.  First was a purple and green cabbage salad with a sesame dressing.  There was also stewed daikon and carrot, juicy and not soggy, infused nicely with dashi and soy sauce flavors.  The komatsuna (a green vegetable with crunchy stems and broad leaves), was mildy flavored with a contrasting mustard dressing.  The slice of tamago-yaki was also lightly seasoned as to let the taste of egg reign.  The meuniere, which is a lightly floured fish sauté was a bit dry, but went nice with the shiso leaf topping and ponzu dip (there was also a choice of teriyaki and tartar sauce).

The clientele are business-men and women dining alone.  There is a computer room that is free for anyone to use, but this was probably more useful in the days before the smart phone.  Although smoking is allowed, these salary-men were not the smoking type, so the air was clean.  The piano music playing in the background with the sounds of plates and the espresso maker made for a quiet cafe-like  (not kissaten) experience.

I hear they serve a big value morning, so I wouldn't mind coming back to try that. 

Nagoya City Science Museum Cafe and Restaurant: Expected more originality, but kids might like it

Area:  Just south of Fushimi Station Exit 5 伏見駅
Restaurant:  Nagoya City Science Museum cafe and restaurant 名古屋市科学館
Museum website and map:  http://www.ncsm.city.nagoya.jp/en/visitors_guide/access.html

Hours:  9:30am-5pm, Closed Mondays and every 3rd Friday of the month



I thought maybe the Nagoya City Museum cafe might have some interesting and funky dishes, being a science museum and all.  But I was disappointed that it was just expensive and was not at all that interesting.  There was a curry, hayashi rice, taco rice, loco moco, and a few pastas.  The only science-y thing about it were the names of the dishes such as black hole curry, green earth pasta, etc.

I went for the taco rice, a few nachos with lettuce, a half cooked egg and a spicy meat sauce.  The flavour, not all that different than how I remember taco sauces to be. But for ¥850, I expected more meat sauce or a bigger bowl!

The one thing that caught my eye was the green mushi bagel (¥350, since when were bagels this expensive?  This is Japan!).  Literally it means the green insect.  It's actually a bagel made with Euglena which is a type of micro organism apparently containing lots of nutrients important for the human body.  The bagel had a really nice moist, dense and chewy texture, but I guess euglena has no flavor because it just tasted like a regular bagel. 

Madame Cafe Budouen Ombrage: Does not live up to it's price

Area:  Meitetsu Deparment store at Nagoya Station　7th floor 名鉄百貨店　7F
Restaurant:  Madame Cafe Budouen Ombrage  マダムカフェぶどう園オンブラージュ
Website and Info:  http://www.e-meitetsu.com/mds/food/cafe/index.html
Map:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23005909/dtlmap/

Hours:  10am-8pm, Lunch 11am-2pm

This restaurant's lunch ends at 2pm, which is precisely when my break starts so I haven't been able to make it here.  But there was one rainy day when I was able to take an early break.  It was perfect that I didn't have to venture outside in the rain since it's located in a department store attached to Nagoya station.

Today, the lunch sets were a hayashi rice (Japanese beef stew), pasta, or omelette rice.  All seem very Japanese comfort food like.  I went with the pasta lunch (¥1180, including drink of choice).   

Just a I expected, the flavors were not all that different then a Japanese kissaten. The small egg salad sandwich and the ham and cucumber sandwich used an interesting yellow kabocha (squash) bread, but this was not at all apparent in the taste.  At least it had the crust still attached though! The salad was a shredded cabbage, lettuce and mizuna mix with a sesame dressing.  The dinner roll had a marmalade spread in it.  The main, tomato cream pasta, had fresh peas (I like that in Japan green peas are usually the fresh crunchy and plump type as opposed to the shriveled, mushy frozen type), broccoli and onion.  They also served it with a half cooked egg to be eaten how you like, but mainly for breaking overtop the pasta. There were also a few slices of squid.  The sauce was so salty and so the tomato flavor wasn't really apparent.  The half cooked egg was a good touch to mellow out this saltiness.  The soup was an egg drop chicken consommé with a few slices of onion and squash, tasting like lipton's soup with dried parsley for decor.

The waffle for dessert was light like styrofoam, and was not very sweet.  I'm not sure if it matches with matcha, but they should bring the dessert and drink after the meal while both are still warm.