The cooking, eating and travel blog of a hungry blogger from Sydney, Australia featuring original recipes, interviews and articles on all things food @Not Quite Nigella

Category Archives: The Unusual

The Lock-Up Prison restaurant at Shibuya

What would you say if I invited you to come along to a Haunted Prison themed restaurant, in one of the busiest hubs of Tokyo and told you that you may indeed be scared senseless entering the restaurant and that you’ll be led to a jail cell in handcuffs and then locked up in it for the duration of the meal? Sounds good? Then you’re someone that I would be friends with.

I had been looking forward to The Lockup in Shibuya ever since arriving to Tokyo as I kept hearing how very weird it was. At another location (there are several Lockups throughout Tokyo), apparently you and your party get placed into a darkened room and if you find the secret opening, then you make it into the restaurant. I had no idea what to expect so when we see the sign indicating we are to go to Basement 2, we follow, hesitating. The entrance looms and there is a genuinely spooky atmosphere given by the extremely dark and winding hallways, cold rush of air and cackling and screaming sounds around us. We inch around the corner slowly, as to not to fall (it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen and this would never happen in a litigious country like America or even Australia) and what happens next frightens the hell out of me, a man strapped to an electric chair, Clive Barker from Hellraiser sans pins, rocks back and forth screaming with lights flashing.

I scream my lungs out and then fortifying myself, move on where we encounter other bumps and things designed to scare (I won’t ruin the surprise for those that want to go) and encounter three doors, one door being the correct one, and two others….well let’s not ruin that for you too! If you want to experience entering the LockUp there are a couple of videos on Youtube

Making it into the sanctum of the restaurant, my husband is led by handcuffs to our prison cell (I don’t get handcuffed apparently, only one member of your group is which I think is a bit disappointing). We get our own “prison cell” and are locked in although the door isn’t actually locked and we are free to go but they do pull the doors shut.

We peruse the menu and find some cocktails that tickle our fancy, mainly due to the presentation as we can’t actually read the menu that well and there is no English menu. It’s Izakaya food, which I absolutely love as I like small dishes in a plentiful number so that I can try as many tastes as possible.

A friend translated the cocktail menu for me as it reads as follows:

Cloning Experiment
Electric Shock
Illegal Parking (Injection) [Red Ticket]= pronunciations of Japanese words for ‘parking’ and ‘injection’ are the same
Bad Loan – your eyeballs have blown up because you’ve lent too much money
Human Experiment
Drug Addition (you are already dead)
Time Bomb Capsules – they may explode after you’ve swallowed them?

Test tube cocktail (non alcoholic Y800)

Our cocktails arrive, the first one a non alcoholic number served in a beaker and with 5 test tubes with different flavours and a dropper to add each flavour to the drink. The drink itself is like a carbonated light yogurt drink and the flavours are sweet and tasty. I enjoy this chance to play scientist and “mix” drinks all night.

Syringe drink Y580

The second drink comes also comes in a beaker but this also has a syringe full of red jelly which we squirt into the drink. It has a sweet berry flavour to it and is alcoholic (and strongly so).

Complimentary breadsticks and cheese dip

The drinks also arrive with some breadsticks broken in half in a beaker along with the sweet and savoury cream cheese. It’s curious and not too bad indeed.

BBQ pork with spring onions Y609

Our range of dishes arrives in quick succession. The BBQ pork dish at first looks like it has too much spring onion on top of it but once popped into the mouth, it tastes perfect, the pork beautifully soft and melt in the mouth. It’s a delicate touch for an Izakaya and we are both impressed.

Big Salad Y871
The second dish, a 35cms tall salad in a glass arrives and the waitress serves this up by tipping out the salad onto a bowl and spreading it out. There is finely sliced crunchy daikon, lettuce, cherry tomato and fried chicken pieces with a Japanese Wafu dressing. There’s no egg as per the picture though but we welcome the taste of fresh salad.

Chinese chicken salad Y504

The third dish is actually different from what we had ordered but it’s very good so we don’t mind in the slightest. It’s a chicken and sesame mayo Chinese chicken salad served in a purple cabbage cup. It’s very good, one of my favourite salads ever so we don’t ask what happened to the original dish (not that we could anyway, my Japanese only gets me as far as ordering, not complaining)

Nankotsu Y504

The fourth dish is one of my favourites ever since I first had this in an Izakaya. It’s not always available at every Izakaya and whenever I see it, I always order it. It’s Nankotsu (chicken cartilege), breaded and deep fried so that the bone is no as crunchy as when it is grilled. A sprinkle of Tabasco and it is perfection and this is indeed.

Mince Okonomiyaki Y609
The last dish, a beef mince okonomiyaki is not to my taste. I am also very full so I pass up on this after a first taste. My husband prefers the mince as it is more “moist” than a regular Okonomiyaki whereas I prefer the regular version. This tastes like a lot of mince with some fish flakes on top. My husband on the other hand is hypnotised by the swaying of the fish flakes.

We sit back and watch other parties being led this time by bondage-y style clad waitresses and wish we had more time to try the other Lock Up experiences. Just because a meal tastes better after a fright.

The Lock Up

33-1 Udagawa-cho
(just off Center-gai, Shibuya Grand Tokyo Bldg. B2F)
Tokyo
Tel: +81 (03)-5728-7731
Open:
Monday to Friday 17:00～01:00
Saturday 17:00～05:00
Sunday 17:00～24:00

Shibuya

Cover charge Y525 per person plus tax charge

24 comments | July 11, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella

Christon Cafe at Shinjuku, Tokyo

A knowledgable friend of mine, Kathy from Brisbane recommended that I try Christon Cafe after I canvassed friends for unique Tokyo experiences. Started in Osaka in 2000, there are now 8 Christon cafes around Japan, each boasting incredibly detailed interiors decorated in a religious gothic theme. It speaks to the strong Lolita goth culture that exists in Tokyo. In the lobby there is a glass display of the Virgin Mary. Upstairs, Cafe Christon doesn’t disappoint. On the 8th and 9th floor of the Oriental Wave building, you’re struck by the fantastic interior decor the minute you step off the elevator.

We were greeted with 3 leather chairs with naked iron maidens on them the arms well worn and loved. We were then led into the inner sanctum which was awash with wrought iron, gothic and catholic imagery.

To our delight, we’re led towards a blood red curtained booth, private and completely gothic. I’m not a Catholic so the imagery doesn’t strike fear into my heart although I have heard that it can make anyone raised Catholic slightly uneasy. Indeed, there is an altar in the restaurant which we’re told is an authentic altar that was used in a European church.

The details are numerous and quite astounding including the painting on the ceiling.

Gargoyles

Gigantic chandelier

We’re shown the menu, an assortment of izakaya dishes (small dishes typically served with beer). We choose a Japanese beef carpaccio Y1380, Foie Gras sreak with baked risotto Y1800 and grilled salmon steak with mushroom cream sauce Y880.

Amuse Bouche Y300

We’re given an amuse bouche or a spinach tortilla and some sort of pressed meat like a mortadella (we learn we are later charged for this although we may have agreed to it, we just kept nodding yes). The spinach tortilla is delicious and full of spinach and cheese and the luncheon meat is actually delicious, much better than a mortadella.

Japanese beef carpaccio Y1380

Click here to read the full story

17 comments | July 8, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella

Alice In Wonderland Fantasy Dining in Ginza, Tokyo

Yes Dear Reader, I know I promised to write about my overseas travels. This was delayed somewhat with intermittent internet acces. Tokyo is a city that has a firm place in my heart. I lived there for a couple of years and found myself at times, bewildered, curious, enchanted and exasperated by this fantastically weird city. It’s a city I enjoy now as a tourist which allows me to weave in and out of the areas with a familiar assuredness whilst remaining detached and appreciative of the idiosyncracies that may have niggled at me before.

So without further ado, I give you my adventures starting in the weird and wonderful city of Tokyo, followed later by Finland, Paris and London.

I love the story of Alice in wonderland as my babbling and cupcakes will attest. So it was with excitement that I found a “Fantasy Dining” restaurant in Ginza called “Alice” where waitresses, dressed in cute little alice outfits served Alice in Wonderland themed food, all in a setting fitting the eccentric little tale. We asked the Hotel concierge to book for us (I cannot live without a good concierge in Tokyo) but even then it was busy and we couldn’t get the exact time we wanted. It seemed promising, most places are only full if they are good as the Japanese really queue and wait for things that are worthwhile.

Two of the Alice waitresses

Arriving at our destination, we head up to the 5th floor in the elevator along with 6 other people also headed to Alice and are led through narrow blue velvet curtained mirrored halls, past a large oversized clock and into our blue curtained private booth. All of the rooms are blue curtained booths in varying sizes to accommodate different sized parties. It’s not for the claustrophobic although I find it cozy and quite Alice rabbit burrow-like. There are silhouetted mirror images of Alice and the Hare at the tea party and a vertical mirror image of it. We can see the people in the other booths somewhat through these but not clearly.

Our first waitress is a scream. She’s completely batty and I’m sure has no idea that she isn’t in Wonderland. She’s confused and confusing us to no end but doing it with a big smile and enthusiasm. We do place our order despite this and it is correct so perhaps it’s all part of the experience (although the later waitresses show no sign of the “altitude sickness”).

The drinks menu

Playing cards open to reveal pictures of the drinks

There is a minimum order of 1 drink and 1 meal per person which she tries to explain to us. She shows us each menu like revealing a big storybook and the drinks menu is particularly cute with the cocktails hidden inside playing cards. The coasters are Alice playing cards and should you want service, you simply press the bell on the table and a waitress will come within seconds. There is even a section at the back of the menu that tells you where you can buy the outfits from.

Amuse Bouch Y600 (yes, seriously)

As we are waiting they give us the Amuse Bouche course, curiously a tiny cup of dried banana chips and dried apricots with a little sign saying “Eat Me”. I didn’t like either given how parched we were and the waitress was a little batty so it took a while to get our drinks and water. Again, we learn that we are charged for our Amuse Bouches under the heading “charm” and the price of these little unwanted morsels? Y600 each, yep $12AUD for two of us for some bits of dried fruit.

Left “Lolita” drink Y750 Right Milkshake Y850

Our drinks finally arrive, the Lolita drink (orange and cranberry) is not off to a great start. The orange juice is not particularly fresh (you know, the point where Orange juice in your fridge is starting to go off but hasn’t yet) but the milkshake isn’t bad, although it is more just milk mixed with fruit, no ice cream.

Cheshire Cat croquette Y750

Click here to read the full story

20 comments | July 5, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella

Freeganism – The New Frontier

**THIS STORY WAS NOMINATED FOR A WELL FED NETWORK AWARD FOR THE BEST FOOD BLOG-POST**

I’d first heard about Freeganism, a worldwide anti consumerism movement, whilst watching Gordon Ramsay’s “The F Word” TV show where top end food critic Giles Coren gathered himself a meal from a dumpster. Since then Oprah has devoted several episodes to the idea along with the idea of living on less and reducing the amount of conspicuous and unnecessary consumption. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept itself, Freeganism is a movement, borne of a reaction to the mindless consumerism and wastage that goes on around the world. An offshoot of Freeganism, is Dumpster Diving aka Skip Dipping or Urban Gleaning, where people salvage still edible food (as well as other things) by foraging through commercial dumpsters. It’s not a huge movement here in Australia but it certainly has a very organised and strong movement in the US and UK. The participants include middle class people, students and pretty much anyone and everyone (ok except maybe A-list celebrities although I wouldn’t discount D-List Big Brother reality show types). People that can afford to buy the food, but don’t because there is so much thrown out already.

There is also an offshoot of Freegan which is the Meagan, vegetarians who only eat meat will be discarded and therefore its life hasn’t completely gone to waste. Which brings up an interesting question that my husband asked his vegetarian family. Would they eat roadkill? Their answer was, if they were starving although they would probably feel sick from eating meat. Hmmm.

For most, there is a line where if it goes into a bin, they don’t want it. But a lot will buy an item that is nearing its use by or best before date, if discounted or if in desperate need of that item. So the actual point of refusal is if it actually makes it into the bin. Once it’s in there, most people wouldn’t be interested in it but before that point, it’s fair game (depending on the produce, sashimi would be out). And I think whilst many would pick up hard rubbish items like furniture on the side of the road, they may draw the line at picking up a food item in a dumpster, either through fear of food poisoning or another reason.

And why Freeganism? Over 17 million tonnes of solid waste is disposed of in Australian landfills every year.*

An internet search revealed that whilst the US has websites devoted to where one can Dumpster Dive, or Skip Dip as Australians like to call it, organised by state, city and area, Australia has no such directory of sites. I decided to find out a bit more about it and contacted Ash Falkingham, Dumpster Diver expert and veteran of 4.5 years Dumpster Diving across the UK, US, Canada, Germany and across Australia. I got in touch with him through a Freegan message board where there were about a dozen freegans wanting to meet up and Dumpster Dive together. He responded quickly and was amenable to showing me around the best places to Dumpster Dive as he likes spreading the word.

When we picked him up at his terrace house, it was 8.30pm at night on a cold Sunday night. He was well dressed in a jacket, shirt and pants and carrying a spiffy camera. He was accompanied by his friend, another chap called Ross, another hardcore Dumpster Diver who lives in a Motorhome. We traveled to an Inner City Coles dumpster. They warned us that whilst this was an excellent place for food, it was probably the dirtiest dumpster we’d see tonight. Parking a little far away, we walked over to the Dumpster. I had no idea what to expect, having never looked in a Dumpster before (and on TV, don’t they always contain a dead body? OK too much Law & Order for me). But my husband’s eyes lit up and they grabbed a hand of bananas from the top in great condition.

Cat food with broken packaging

Click here to read the full story

56 comments | June 19, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella

Deus cafe at Deusexmachina, Camperdown

Deusexmachina is a motorcycle shop that we’ve driven past many a time which peaked our interest due to the clever name and eyecatching windows. Deus Ex Machina means literally in Latin “God out of a machine” which is a rather clever name for a motorcycle shop, cum cafe, cum gallery. The way it reads on the outside almost looks like “De Sex Machine” which really catches the eye. And for those who can’t quite recall what Deus Ex Machina means, it’s a plot device used in books, movies or television that allows for the improbable but neat solution to resolve a situation or plot. Think Dallas and the question “Who Shot J.R.?” being resolved with “It was all a dream”. I couldn’t have ever imagined stopping there to have a look as I don’t have any interest in Motorcycles until I read that they actually had a cafe attached to it, called naturally, Deus cafe.

One lazy Sunday afternoon we decided to have lunch there (ok it was brunch but at lunch time). As they close at 3pm we had to get our butts into gear, across the bridge and down the peculiarly numbered Parramatta Road earlier than we would normally leave the house on a cold Sunday.

Entering the huge space of the cafe you’re immediately struck by the low lighting, large communal tables and the fact that it is jam packed for an area that doesn’t have that much nearby. The mark of Dare Jennings, the Mambo founder is stamped across everything. It’s that rustic, laidback, boy friendly but not girl unfriendly look where objects look like a collection of cool vintage and new.

We share some surprisingly soft and comfortable wicker couches with others and I go to order. I take a good 5 minutes standing (probably open mouthed) trying to decide that to order. There are specials that finish at noon, cakes, rolls, salads, breakfast eggs in all sorts of variations as well as more substantial lunch food like lamb shanks. I wanted to order the Bircher muesli with fresh stewed fruit but they’ve sold out, as they have with the granola with yogurt and fresh fruit. I settle on the fruit toast ($4) as I’m told it’s made on the premises, a New England Clam Chowder with Deus roll ($10) and a Lamb sausage with tzatziki, tomato confit on Deus bread with chips ($12). It’s order and pay at the counter and they provide complimentary help yourself filtered water. There is a huge tables of magazines from the New Yorker to the Sunday life and newspapers so I grab some and get reading.

Fruit toast $4

Our fruit toast arrives first, two thick wedges of lightly toasted raisin bread with 2 squares of butter at the perfect temperature so that it spreads easily. I am glad to see that it is packed with lots of raisins and even though my husband isn’t a big toast eater, whereas I am, he enjoys this as much as I do.

New England Clam Chowder $10

The New England Clam Chowder and the Lamb sausages arrive together about 10 minutes later. The clam chowder is full of lots of bacon, celery, potato and some very tiny sliced up clams. Although it’s not particularly clam-my or briney, it’s creamy and comforting and lovely with the freshly baked roll, which is like across between a panini and a turkish roll. I’m hoping my husband won’t like it but of course he does.

Lamb sausages with tzatziki, tomato confit and chips $12

The Lamb sausages sit within a split lightly toasted Deus roll with two confit of tomatoes and a generous serve of tzatziki. The sausages are strong in fennel seed and whilst it’s nice, there is a little something lacking in the sandwich. I find myself adding salt which improves it slightly but not enough for me to want to eat more. My husband finds that there is too much roll for the filling and I have to agree. The french fries are actually stone cold which is a disappointment but we can’t be bothered waiting to wait for a fresh serve.

We’re full so we walk into the shop adjacent to the cafe where there is the distinct smell of grease and oil. Lots of motorcycles, books and interesting displays adorn the shop and for a motorcycle enthusiast, it’s probably their idea of nirvana.