I’m always after a authentic experience. And anything that is slightly seedy but good and busy always peaks my interest I am almost embarrassed to admit. So when I read about Yurakucho’s Yakitori alley, a small alleyway underneath a train line where commuters and Japanese congregate under rickety stalls that look slightly patched together, I knew we had to visit. It’s small, packed and absolutely fascinating.

It’s hard to find, we find the Lonely Planet’s map lacking essential details (grrr!) and we get lost during the way. We finally find it and the telltale red lanterns and smokey grill aroma tells us that we have finally arrived at the right place. There are 3 stallholders here each serving their own Yakitori dishes with their own tables. On the walls there are a multitude of Japanese signs, none in English at all, so we ask for an English menu and take a seat at one of the stalls.

We order the: roast Chicken skewer, Chicken meatball skewer, gizzard skewer, pork skewer, nankotsu (bone cartilage) skewer and heart skewer (all Y160 per skewer). We then ask what the waitress recommends and she points at an item on the Japanese specials menu of pork and miso Y460 and also suggests a potato salad Y420. We always get good recommendations when we ask the staff what is good so I always make a point to ask.

Potato Salad Y420

The potato is a typical Japanese potato salad although it is a very good version of it. There are two ice cream scoops of creamy potato salad, which is a combination of a slightly sweet mashed potato with carrot and spring onions as well as small potato chunks.

From left to right.: heart, gizzard, pork skewer Y160 each

The heart skewer is…Im sorry to say unpalatable. I tried to take one bite and released it from my teeth and passed it to my husband. If you happen to like rubbery tough organs, this may be your thing. My husband ate it but more because it was there and has was hungry after we got lost.

The Gizzard Skewer suffers a similar fate. I don’t even know why I ordered it. I think more to try something odd but when push came to shove, I couldn’t eat it.

The pork skewer is slightly better, although the pork pieces are also quite chewy and not quite as tender as I’d like.

From left to right: Nankotsu (2), chicken and meatball skewers Y160 each

The second plate is more successful, the roast chicken skewer is good, especially when the pieces are removed from the stick and dunked into the sauce. The chicken meatball skewer is also good and slightly crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. I’ve had better nankotsu with the bone cartilage being softer, this nankotsu is hard and quite hard to chew.

Pork and Miso skewers Y420

The mystery pork skewers with miso are however perfection. Softly tender and juicy pieces of pork are marinated in a miso sauce which complements it perfectly. If only I could have ordered 6 serves of this, I would have been inordinately pleased.

We leave just as the smoke level rises as more grilled skewers are pressed to the grill. The pork and miso skewers were definitely worth the search.

Yurakcuho Yakitori Alley

Under JR train line near Hibiya station
2-1-10 Yurakucho
Chioyda-ku tokyo

Tel +81 (03) 3508 9454

I don’t know quite where The Old Dong Dong Noodles went but a visit to Dong Dong Noodles at Kingsford reveals a block packed with options and a brightly neon sign and an equally brightly lit new looking eatery packed with people. We’re greeted with a delicious looking window full of BBQ duck and pork-or a vegetarian’s worst nightmare. My Mother in law, a lifelong vegetarian, with parents that were vegetarian could not believe that they would string ducks up like that in an attempt to appeal the food to people. And I’ve yet to describe the idea of carving up a Peking Duck at the table to her, I think she would probably faint at seeing that.

It’s surprisingly larger than you’d think with a back room as well as the front room. we’re seated in the back room and given our large 210 item menus. My husband can’t help but comment that Gordon Ramsay would probably tell them to cut down their menu size. I’m dithering as I want to try some BBQ Duck but I want to try some tomato rice and some wonton soup. A closer look at the menu reveals many of the dishes, especially the noodle soup dishes are overlapped so that we actually found wonton noodle soup with BBQ Duck ($8) as well as a myriad of combinations. We also order a bowl of West Lake Shredded Beef souop ($4.50) and a plate of Roast Chicken Tomato rice ($6.80 plus 80c for tomato or “red” rice instead of plain rice).

Roast Chicken Tomato rice ($7.60 or $6.80 with plain rice)

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Congee is the chicken soup of Asia. When a child, teen or adult is sick, out comes the big pot and a large batch of Congee is made. For those unfamiliar with it, it’s a soupy rice porridge into which other ingredients are added like egg omelette, mince, meat, eggs, fried bread sticks, shredded BBQ chicken as well as soy and ginger. It’s whatever you really fancy and I can imagine many a mum found it useful as that meant she could add whatever she wanted into it.

This recipe is by Elizabeth Chong, but you needn’t follow the topping suggestions, you could really add anything to a Congee. Of course I found it from Vogue forum where many avid cooks congregate to exchange recipes and talk about shoes. Because I made it for vegetarians, I stopped before adding the mince although I’ve shown the recipe in its original form should you want to make it for meat eaters. Adding the stock makes it so much more flavourful than plain water.

One thing that she doesn’t specifically mention but I adore is a packet of Hainanese Chicken rice spice paste of finely ground oily paste ginger and sesame oil which is traditionally served with chicken rice. It’s made by Asian Home Gourmet and is sold by the 50g flat packet called “Hainanese Chicken Rice Spice Paste”. It’s worth hunting for this as it’s gorgeous with the congee. Crispy or crunchy things often fare well as accompaniments to Congee and I tried to find deep fried breadsticks but to no avail. Things such as the aforementioned BBQ chicken or stir fried chicken are also great with Congee

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Would you believe me, Dear Reader, when I told you that the humble sausage roll had broken the $7 price barrier? You might be even more surprised when I tell you that at $7 it was worth every lip smackin’, finger lickin’, slowly savoured bite. The sausage roll in question is from Justin North’s “Plan B”, the tiny hole in the wall cafe next to Bécasse. I was put onto it by Y from Lemonpi who had visited earlier and told me about their fantastic Wagyu burger and $7 sausage roll. The most expensive sausage roll I’d had was the sausage roll at Bourke Street Bakery and even that was hardly what you’d call expensive at $4, and a lovely sausage roll it was. But I wasn’t too fussed about trying this one as it was almost double the price. I had no idea that Plan B existed, so tiny hole in the wall it was, I even dined at Bécasse right next to it without knowing of its existence and that it has been there for as long as the restaurant has, for 3 whole years.

Cake selection $3.50-$4 each

There are 3 tables outside that seat 2 people each, so it’s definitely more of a takeaway your lunch back to the office and read blogs during your lunch-hour kind of place. Apparently the new logo’d umbrellas call out its existence a bit better to passing trade. It’s small but it is stylishly outfitted of course. You’d expect no less from Becasse. I’ve rung ahead to pick up my lunch as we’re stopping through the city. I ordered a Wagyu burger (made with 600 day grain fed Wagyu beef) and a sandwich with pork and apple. The crisp pork belly, hoisin sauce and spring onion was out unfortunately so I made do with the pork and apple although I did toss up between that and the coronation chicken. I’d decide on a cake when I got there and I could see them up close.

Sandwich selection, $8 each

My wagyu burger was lost, apparently there was a miscommunication between the cafe and kitchen and my burger was just put on the grill when I arrived to collect it. Two suits who are standing up inside having finished their burgers get up to leave. I see the range of prepacked sandwiches and a plate of cakes and biscuits as well as designer drinks (I don’t think they even had Coke). The cakes look particularly good. The menu on the website seems to have changed slightly for the seasons. Whilst they had a caramelised mango tart, now it’s caramelised apple.

My burger is still running late and a man comes in from an outside table asking for a paper napkin. He happily declares “I’m covered in crumbs but it was all worth it, that was the best sausage roll ever! Worth every crumb!” and wipes the imaginary crumbs off himself and exits. I need no more convincing and I add a sausage roll to the order. I also buy a caramelised apple tart and a candied lemon and vanilla cookie for good measure. I get a coffee takeaway and it is fantastically good, one of the best coffees I’ve ever had (if not the best). It eventually all comes together in a brown handled paper bag and the lovely girl behind the counter apologises profusely for the delay.

Wagyu burger made with 600 day grain fed Wagyu $10

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Anzac Parade, Kingsford is littered with student priced eateries ready to cater for the hordes of students from the nearby University of New South Wales. What it is light on, is a restaurant for the non student, the person whose budget could extend a little further. That’s where Ratu Sari fills a gap, an Indonesian restaurant that looks a bit spiffier than the utilitarian student dives (and please know, I use the term “dive” without malice, there is often great food to be had at these places).

We’ve booked for an early dinner as we are seeing Rose and Ronald off at the airport and need to be in and out fairly quickly. I wasn’t sure if I needed to book but I did a couple of days before for 6pm and even though we’ve arrived at 5.45am on this Saturday evening there are already 3 tables ordering or eating. We sit down and there are 4 waitstaffers rushing about bringing dishes and food from the kitchen. It’s hard to flag one down but where one doesn’t hear us, another hears and summons another to take our order. I ask for some recommendations and we end up ordering a Soto Ayam (Chicken soup $9.50), Prawns Kapitan ($18.90), Ayam Goreng Pemundi ($15.90) and Lontong Salad ($12.90). I can’t resist when I see the name of a drink, the Cherry Blossom drink so I order that too ($5). We let our waitress know that we need to make a flight so she assures us that she will let the kitchen know about this. She’s efficient, if not exactly stop and chat friendly.

Cherry Blossom drink $5

During the next 5-10 minutes, when it’s nearly 6pm, a surge of people arrive and the restaurant goes from having a few tables to becoming completely full with many large groups. The clientele is mixed and consist of larger groups of Non Indonesians to family groups of Indonesians and Chinese. During this time, my Cherry Blossom drink arrives with a layer of syrup at the bottom (raspberry rose flavoured but fairly hard to pin down), a layer of milk with milk ice shavings and then jelly-like basil seeds on top. It’s sweet and refreshingly good and everyone tries some and enjoys it.

Ayam Goreng Pemundi ($15.90)

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