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.

Seconda Bambina: good price, standard pizza

Area:  about 200m west of Kokusai Center Station 国際センター駅 (or exit 10 of Unimall ユニモール)
Restaurant:  Seconda Bambina  セコンだバンビーナ
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23040832/

Hours:  Lunch 11:30am-2:30pm (LO 2pm), Dinner 5pm-12am (LO 11pm), Sundays and holidays 11:30am-2pm (LO 1:30pm) 5-10pm (LO 9:30pm)


The pizza and pasta lunches are all 980 yen and include a soup and drink.  Today, the soups was a minestrone with gobo, cabbage, carrots, white beans and daikon.  The gobo was nice even if it's not a traditional Italian ingredient because it gave the soup texture since the other veggies were all soft from stewing in the soup.  I've always known minestrone to contain pasta, but perhaps this is not a rule.

Because this is a pizzeria, I had to try the pizza.  Since I like white pizzas, I ordered the Rejina pizza which was a cheese base, with a basil, tomato and smoked cheese topping.  It was sprinkled with some dried oregano as well.  The smoked cheese gave it a kind of bacon-like flavour.  The cheese topping seemed like a processed mozzarella.  The dough was a thin crust but still retained its shape (not the flimsy Neapolitan type) when picked up, easy to eat with one hand.  It was a chewy texture and not greasy.  The basil was sweet, and there was something that made it taste like fruit was added.  The drizzling of olive oil was a nice garnish.  

Fortnum and Mason: for the tea drinkers and light eaters

Area:  B1 of Midland Square ミッドランドスクエア　(building across from Nagoya Station)
Restaurant:  Fortnum and Mason  フォートナム　アンド　メイソン
Website:  http://www.fortnumandmason.co.jp/tea/index.html#Afternoon

Hours:  11am-9pm

This company, I believe, is originally born in England and was first known for their gift baskets.  Now, since their tea and teatime snacks/food have become well-known, they've also opened up restaurants around the world.  This particular one in Nagoya has a front store where they sell different blends of tea.  If you take a seat in the restaurant area, one can enjoy afternoon tea sets consisting of cakes, scones and sandwiches.

There are two sandwich sets to choose from after 2pm.  One, a salmon and sour cream, the other an egg salad and ham (¥864), both come with a small salad and a cup of coffee or tea.  I'm more of a coffee drinker, but I had to try the tea specialists' tea.  It was a regular royal blend.  It was poured through a strainer into the tea cup in front of me.  Strong when black, I added a bit of milk and sugar which made it smooth. The salad was lightly dressed with a caesar dressing (it needed a bit more).  The English muffin was a Fortnum original. A little different than the regular, it was rich with butter and covered with crunchy coarse corn grits.  The sandwich was filled with a thick slice of tomato, some lettuce and scant slices of smoked salmon.  Nothing too special, you can probably imagine the flavors.  The English muffin was the best par I enjoyed the most.

Mirepoix: for slightly more expensive YOUSHOKU

Area:  about 400m south of Kokusai Center station 国際センター駅　(this is the new location)
Restaurant:  Mirepoix  ミルポワ
Website:  http://www.tavel.jp/aboutus.html
Map:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23036250/dtlmap/

Hours:  11:30am-10:30pm, closed Sun and holidays


I feel like I've been eating a lot of the same thing two days in a row lately, but what better way to compare.  Well, today was a bit different than a hamburger, today was a hamburger patty.  This cute little restaurant with only 2 tables and a four-seat counter (the new location seems bigger) has a French name, but they specialize in Japanese Youshoku (Japanese take on western food decades ago).    These include items such as fried shrimps, croquettes, hayashi rice, beef stew and omuraisu, but I had to try the signature item, the hamburger steak (980 yen).

The meal comes with a choice of bread and soup, or rice and miso soup.  I went for the former and got a warm fluffy bun with chilled potato soup.  The bun reminded me of the cheap baguettes that grocery stores sell back home, a bit too airy for my taste.  The soup had a nice mild seasoning, showing off the potato's flavor, and had a thin but smooth texture.   

The hamburger was soft and juicy; there was no need for a knife.  It was not the kind of patty you'd use for a hamburger on a bun, this one was more like meat loaf.  Its sauce, flavored with nutmeg went well and didn't over power it at all.  It was not cooked too long at all, and was even still slightly pinkish.  The addition of minced pork and an abundance of onions helped keep it moist.  

The Corner Burger: yet another soggy burger (but nice flavors!!)

Area:  about 400m north of Kokusai Center Station 国際センター駅
Restaurant:  The Corner Hamburger & Saloon   ザ　コーナーハンバーガー＆サルーン
Website and info:  http://saloon-thecorner.com/en/shopinformation/

Hours:  Lunch 11:30am-3pm (LO 2:30pm), Dinner 5:30pm-1am (LO 12:30am), Sundays and Holidays 11:30am-9pm (LO 8:30pm), closed Tues



 I was in the mood to have a hamburger today, which is funny because I never used to have this craving back home.  I guess it's the lack of good hamburger restaurants here that make me feel this way.

This restaurant has a variety of burgers available during dinner hours, but for lunch there is a standard one that you can add toppings to for an extra fee.  I chose a topping of grilled onions.  You can also choose between fries, onion rings or mashed potato.  I guess I was in the onion mood today and chose onion rings.  The meal (¥1000) also comes with a drink and small salad.  The other lunch set is taco rice which is what it sounds like, taco ingredients on top of rice instead of stuffed in a taco.

The burger was so juicy that just picking it up lead to a whole lot of juice seeping out.  The bun, although a fitting flavour, buttery and slightly sweet, definitely could not hold up to this.  The bun immediately went soggy and I had to turn to a fork and knife.  The meat itself was plainly seasoned with just salt and pepper, but with just the right amounts of each.  It was for sure 100% beef.  Onion rings had a slight curry and nutmeg flavor.  The bun had a sauce with a prominent nutmeg flavour but that well with the patty as this is a spice normally added to hamburgers.  Unfortunately I had a leave a mess of soggy bread and onion rings on my plate after the initial spillage of meat juice.  I keep forgetting that in Japan, hamburgers are put in paper bags to avoid this from happening.  The bag which is open on 2 sides makes it easier to hold especially when there are a lot of fillings that might slip out upon biting into the burger.  You can then use your fork to eat those toppings that couldn't stay in the burger.  

Nanafuku; one of the best chicken Kara-age I've had so far in town!

Area: about 100m northwest of Kokusai Center Station 国際センター駅 across the street from Family Mart
Restaurant;  Nanafuku  なな福
Info and Map:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23051314/

Hours:  Lunch 11:30am-2pm, Dinner 5pm-1am (3am on Fri, Sat or the night before a holiday)


I was gladly shown the one coin (here that means ¥500) menu, but unfortunately it's only for students; I was just happy to be mistaken for one.  I asked the waiter's recommendation and he was really pushing the karaage.  A local magazine cover posted on the restaurant's windows had pictures of this, so I decided to go with the recommendation.  The menu said an obanzai (small side dish) was included.  This included Korean-style intestines, nori tsukudani and tamago yaki.  The tsukudani was the saltiest I've ever had, on the other hand, the egg was not seasoned at all.

The miso soup had plenty of carrots, shiitake and fish.  What was nice about it was the soft, jelly-like collagen (lots of bones but that just required careful eating).  

The kara-age batter was not all that crispy but not soggy either and kept the chicken extremely moist.  It was seasoned nicely with just salt and pepper I think. This simple seasoning enhanced the flavour of the chicken.   The salad's dressing had a bit of sansho (Japanese pepper) and had some pretty pink daikon included.  I was actually very content to have gone with the recommendation; not only did it come with a variety of dishes, it was full of a variety of veggies (salad was different than the bed of purple cabbage lying underneath the kara-age, often the salad is the same as the garnish).  That's one thing I like about Japanese fried food, it usually comes with a mountain of veggies as well (usually shredded cabbage) to cut the greasiness.  

The meal also came with a drink of choice between coffee, tea, cola (they never call it just coke!) or juice.  All this for only ¥800!   

Cancale: Hungry after lunch hours?

Area:  JR Towers at Nagoya station 12F
Restaurant:  Cancale  カンカル
Website and Info: http://www.cancale.jp/access.php

Hours:  11am-11pm (LO 10pm)


This bar/bistro/cafe serves lunch until 3pm, but turns into a cafe after and still serves food.  I came at cafe time, so I had a small menu to choose from.  There's pasta, french fries, sausages etc.  I went for the hamburger doria (¥1000).  It came with a salad as well.  I was surprised at the volume of this salad; normally accompanying salads in Japan are scant.  It was well dressed with a nice vinaigrette and had a good variety of vegetables (including edible petals and alfalfa sprouts, a rarity).  This time there was enough dressing to coat every bite.

The doria was filled with shimeji mushrooms and okra as well as kernels of corn.  I'm not so sure the sliminess and flavor of the okra went well with the sauce, but it gave the dish crunch.  The sauce was a simple tomato sauce, probably made fresh, seasoned with only a slight amount of salt and lardons.  The hamburger patty, on the other hand, was heavily seasoned, so perhaps it all balanced out with the sauce.  The meat was soft but not mushy and still had bite.  The melted cheese topping was a good match for this dish.