Can't they do Chinese a little differently?

Area: Kokusai International Center 国際センター 25th Floor
Restaurant: Totenko 東天紅
Website and info: http://www.totenko.co.jp/restaurant/nagoya/info_ngy

Hours: 11:30am-10pm

This is the cheapest of the lunch sets (1050円) available only on weekdays.  You can choose between mains such as mapo-tofu, beef and bamboo stir-fry, ebi chilli (shrimp), sweet and sour pork, but I chose the happosai.  If you haven't already guessed, this is a Chinese restaurant serving typical dishes that the Japanese like to associate with Chinese food.  Happosai is basically a stir-fry of different proteins (in this case, shrimp, chicken, quail egg and squid) with vegetables (broccoli, mini corn, and mushrooms).  Its base sauce is like a thick chicken broth.  This restaurant's version was tasty, but no different than any other Chinese restaurant.

The accompanying egg-drop soup was nice, with lots of ingredients added to it.  The set also came with steamed rice, Chinese pickled veggies and of course, annin-doufu (almond flavoured, tofu-like dessert).  Why is it that all Chinese restaurants in Japan have serve this dessert?  There are a wide variety of Chinese desserts that are delicious and that would suit Japanese tastes out there.

Looking out from the 25th floor of Kokusai Center while munching provides a nice atmosphere, so in terms of the price, I guess that's what you're paying for.

Can't comment on authenticity, but it was yummy

Area: Honjin station 本陣駅 (Higashiyama line, 2nd stop from Nagoya station)
Restaurant: Turkish Taste ターキッシュテイスト
Map and info: http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ000913330/map/

Hours: Lunch 11am-3pm, Dinner 5pm-9pm, Closed Tues

Today was a take-out dinner.  Being in love with pizza, this Turkish-style one caught my eye.  The spinach and cheese (890円) Turkish pizza had a warm and chewy dough filled with lots of spinach.  It's a simple pizza, with not many added spices, but with all that cheese and a nicely done crust, it doesn't need much extra.

I'm not an expert on Turkish food, but I'd like to try more dishes from their menu, such as the doner sandwich (appears to be a pita sandwich filled with lettuce and meat), or the kebab.  One think you can't buy in the grocery stores can be found here; hummus.  I miss hummus, so I'll have to try that someday as well.

There's a counter from which you can watch the chef cook on a hot table, or you can choose to sit at a table.  This restaurant has a take-out restaurant feel to it though, perhaps that's why I was compelled to order my pizza and eat it at home.

Don't mistake it for a flower shop!

Area:  East side of Nagoya Station (about a 7min walk northeast)
Cafe: Bunch of Peonies バンチオブピオニーズ
Map and info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23007819/dtlmap/

Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Weekends and holidays 11am-7pm

From the outside, you may think this is a flower/plant shop.  The door is hidden behind all that greenery so it's easy to miss.  It probably was a flower shop in it's early days, but when you walk all the way to the back, there actually is a cafe.  The white walls and wooden furniture and abundance of magazines and books make it a bright, antique library-like atmosphere.

The menu consists of mainly teas, coffees, lattes and such, as well as soups, scones and desserts if you're looking for something to munch on.  I came for a late, light lunch, so I had the soup and drink combo (800円）.  There were two soups to choose from (they seem to change daily).  One was a demiglace/tomato vegetable soup, and the one I went with was the gobo (burdock root) potage.  Gobo can have a very strong and overpowering flavour, but in this soup, it was just the right.  The accompanying bread, plain and sesame, were without a doubt house-baked.  It came to the table warm, soft, and crust crispy.

The coffee was also well brewed, a nice way to end my light lunch.

If you don't have enough money to go to Italy, come here for a taste

Area: Fushimi Station 伏見駅 (450m southeast)
Restaurant: Bar Ambrosia バーアンブロージア
Website: http://scuolambrosia.com/index.html
Map: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23045582/dtlmap/

Hours: Mon-Wed 10:30am-5:30pm, Thurs 10:30am-9pm, Sat 10:30am-3pm, Closed Sun

This quaint little space seems to be a part of a bigger Italian language and cultural centre.  It felt like went to Italy for an hour, with the non-Japanese staff, and the trattoria atmosphere.  It also helped that all I heard was the beautiful language of Italian being spoken the whole time I was there.

For lunch, you can choose between the panino set (600円) or the pizza set (700円).  Both come with a soup and a drink.  For 100円 extra, you can add a dolce or sweet.  The soup was marvelous, a minestrone soup with lots of vegetables and legumes, cheese and baguette.  The flavours married so well in my mouth.  It reminded me of a ribollita bread soup I had in Italy.

When the panino came, I was a bit disappointed at first.  It was just cold cuts, shredded lettuce and cheese.  But taking a bite into it, there was nothing plain about it.  The cured meat was not something you'd find in your regular grocery store (it had bits of some green vegetable embedded in it).  The olive oil, I'm sure is of good quality, imported from Italy.

For my drink, I had a cappuccino, the perfect ratio of milk, espresso and foam....and cuteness (heart coffee art an all).  The dessert was just a delight.  It's apparently call budino, a pudding that's made with the addition of flour making it a little more richer and heavier.  It was like eating the inside of a molten chocolate cake, but chilled.  I really would like to know how to make this delectable dessert.  For just 100円 I wish I asked for another one.

Poutine, Smoked Salmon, Maple sauces...no wonder it felt a bit homey

Area: about a 2 min walk southeast of Marunouchi station 丸の内 (Exit 5)
Restaurant: Coat of Arms コートオブアームズ
Website and Map: http://www.coatofarms.jp/otoiawase.aspx

Hours: Mon-Thurs 11:30am-12pm, Fri & Sat 11:30am-1am, Closed Sun

It feels somewhat like being back home stepping into this bar.  With its big screen TV showing sports and its non-Japanese staff, I had memories of Kelsey's or Jack Astors.

The menu has a lot of typical pub food, as well as food that the Japanese are used to eating such as curry.  I had the smoked salmon salad (about 1000円).  I was surprised to see that they smoke it in house, so I thought I'd give it a try.  The moist salmon, and the creamy lemony dressing went very well together.  The size of the salad was satisfying, but I found that the amount of dressing was a bit too much.  Would you like a salad with your dressing?  With a bit less dressing, this salad would be perfect.

I'm not sure if the person that makes the menu has ties with Canada or not, but I was happy to see that poutine is on the menu!  Fries, topped with cheese curds and gravy, how I do miss you.  However, I was feeling a bit on the lighter side today, so poutine will have to wait.  I'm curious to see if they use real cheese curds (squeakiness is important; maybe only Canadians would understand this!).

I'm pretty sure rice would have been a better choice

Area: a 3min. walk from Marunouchi 丸の内 or Hisayaodori 久屋大通 station (in the middle of the two, just north of sakura-dori road)
Restaurant: Switch スウィッチ
Map and info: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/n639300/map/

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

Looking at the Lunch special calendar, it seems everyday features a different kind of rice dish, whether it's curry, a rice bowl (ingredients laid on a bed of rice), omuraisu (rice wrapped in an omelette), etc. I'm not a huge fan of omuraisu, today's special, so I went for the pasta lunch (700円).  I paid an extra 100円 for the soft sesame seed bun (not sure it was worth it though).  The lunch comes with soup, salad, and a drink bar, so I naturally went for the coffee.  My second cup was not from the coffee canister (they made it for me because it was nearing the end of lunch time and there was no coffee left), but that cup was noticeably tastier.

The pasta had volume, but the noodles were mushy, the sauce a bit too plain and thin.  It came with large pieces of chicken breast and grilled eggplant.  The thick slices of eggplant were the only thing I liked about this dish.

This cafe has the feel of a bar or night club with its red furniture and dark lighting, but it's a quiet place to spend lunch time.  If you make a visit here, go for a rice dish...there are plenty of better pastas in Nagoya.

A different type of lunch plate could have used a BIT more

Area: 3 min walk southeast of Marunouchi station 丸の内駅, Exit 5
Restaurant: Practica プラティカ
Website and Map: http://pratica.hp4u.jp/access

Hours: Lunch 11:30am - 3:30pm (LO 3pm), Dinner 6pm - 10:30pm (LO 10pm),
Closed Sundays

As with a lot of Japanese restaurants, it looks old and run down on the outside, but stepping inside, the atmosphere changes drastically into a comfortable dinning space.

There are a variety of lunches to choose from (pasta, pizza, meat), but I went for the lunch plate (800円).  All come with buffet salad and dessert!  I was thankful for this since if you look at the lunch plate, there isn't much on it.  There was ricotta cheese, pork pate and a steamed egg fritatta (almost like an Italian version of Japan's chawanmushi).  It was delicious, but I'm not sure I'd call this a lunch plate; more like snack plate.  The egg thing was the best part, savory and soft with the light flavor of egg and its other veggie ingredients (can someone tell me the real name for this?).

The desserts were a bit off the mark.  Yogurt was too plain and the pana cotta was tough and had almost zero sweetness.  The pineapple jelly was alright, but served alongside fresh pineapple, I would rather just eat the real stuff.