てけてけ 居酒屋 (teke teke izakaya) review

photo credits: http://www.teke-teke.com/

TekeTeke is an izakaya chain which can be found at most, if not, all train/subway stations around Tokyo. It is notorious for its cheap ¥79 (tax not included) Yakitori (焼き鳥) chicken part skewers.

Unlike the picture above, TekeTeke bars are usually located in the basements of buildings. They do this to keep their expenses low.

Keep in mind that it can get quite loud in these izakayas and do not expect there to be good service.

(all prices do not include taxes. Consumption taxes are 8% in Japan)

Deep Fried Cheese sticks with Semolina Flakes (クリームチーズのセモリナ粉揚げ) ¥390 + tax

fried cheese sticks ¥390

I loved these fried cheese sticks! They were served hot and fresh! The insides were filled with cream cheese. 

inside of the cheese sticks :9 ¥360

 it was filled with goodness inside! the cheese was really hot... so be careful if you plan to order this.
I highly recommend this for any cheese lovers who come across this Izakaya.

Famous! Tepanyaki Chicken Gyoza (な物!鉄板鶏餃子) ¥490+ tax

Chicken dumplings ¥490

The chicken dumplings were actually a chicken stuffed with dumpling / Gyoza (餃子) filling. This was one of the best dishes we ordered. The taste was made right and paired with a delicious vinegar. I highly recommend this item.

Yakitori (焼き鶏) ¥474+tax/5 pieces (quail, chicken bum, chicken skin, chicken liver, chicken glizzard) ¥79/skewer

yakitori! ¥79/each or ¥450/set of 5 pieces

 The quail eggs were the best (I guess you can't exactly go wrong with them XD).  The others were slightly burnt... and dry... overcooked. The flavour wasn't bad... I didn't find the need to put in an extra amount of salt. Was it worth it? at another location, yes... at this... only the quail eggs.

Chicken Broth Congee/Porridge ¥490

Chicken broth Congee/Porridge ¥490

 This was a so-so item. It was slightly small for the price (you can see how big the spoon looks -____-) but it was quite well made. I liked the amount of black pepper they added into the congee/porridge. The main ingredients were: 5 pieces of chicken, an egg, broth, black pepper, green onion and some onions. The combination was quite good.

Otooshi (お通し) ¥300/person

otooshi ¥300/person

This otoushi (お通し) was by far the biggest ripoff. For those who are not familiar with what is Otoushi, it is a sort of service fee (or seating fee/cover charge) paid to the bar if you order drinks (especially alcohol drinks).

Most Otoushi are small but very well made... they are usually unique to that bar/restaurant, it usually very delicious... this was just cabbage -______-|| The cabbage was paired with a sesame tasting dipping sauce. The sauce was quite flavourful... still... this is NOT otoushi quality.... 

Another problem was this came almost at the end of the meal... and we only got one per table... ONE! :(

Location: Ebisu (I was a bit disappointed at this one... I have been to others which were much better)

score: 6.5/10 (for Ebisu location)

website: http://www.teke-teke.com/

居酒屋 かまどか (Kamadoka) short review

If you have been following me on Facebook, you would have already seen this post about my short review of this place. But since there were requests to (and I feel the need to) write a longer review... here it is!

Since I wasn't the one ordering (everything is written in Japanese... not very foreigner friendly), I was in for surprises. We started off with drinks and we were given salads as appetizers. 

Steamed Tofu with Soy Sauce

This was a surprise. I actually thought it was going to be sweet, but it turned out to be salty. It was nicely steamed. It literally had the consistency of pudding... but in a form of a savoury steamed egg taste.

Edamame

This is a very typical Izakaya food in Japan. I can't comment much other than it was tasty... I really liked how they added a dish of salt on the side so we can control the savouriness of these Edamame beans.

The sashimi was really fresh. I liked how they seared the Salmon slightly giving it a nice taste. Since this was a daily special, you might not get the same fish we got. The sliced raw fish were nicely prepared.

Grilled Chicken Leg

This was really delicious. This grilled chicken leg was very well marinaded (something that is quite uncommon in Tokyo) with salt and grilled perfectly giving a nice grilled taste. The cabbage was used to wrap the pieces of chicken leg so it wouldn't feel so oily. Overall this was a very decent dish. I highly recommend it. I was also in awe how this chicken leg was so big too.

(ginger) Tempura

This tasted like fried ginger. I wasn't sure whether this was green onion/spring onion. But it tasted like ginger. It was very interesting and quite tasty... the veggie in question was extremely fresh.

Soba

It was my first time having Soba in an izakaya. It was very delicious. The Soba was very soft and cooked to perfection. Unlike soba restaurants, the soba was extremely smooth. The soba was also very fresh. I liked the presentation of this soba... it was very Japanese: simple yet elegant.

I had a wonderful time at this Izakaya. I will definitely be coming back. The only down side (like most Izakayas) they did not separate smoking and nonsmoking. As a nonsmoker, I wasn't very happy when the table next to us started smoking and contaminating our air.

score: 9/10
website: http://www.kamadoka.com/

居酒屋 千年の宴 (sen nen noutage) Izakaya short review

Firstly, this is a chain 'Japanese' bar. So you do not have to go to the one I went to. 千年の宴 can be translated as "A thousand year's feast (or banquet)". The name gives me a feeling that it is a celebration to something important... or why else a thousand years?

Ginger Ale with White Wine

I find it intriguing that they would put Ginger Ale with White Wine... (I've had Ginger Ale and Beer... and it was good... so perhaps this would be a good mix too).

impressions:

• too much ice
• combination is ok... (prefer Ginger Ale and Beer more)

It was... good... but I like Ginger Ale and Beer SO MUCH MORE... this was ok... but somehow the combination made the White Wine not very "winey" and the Ginger Ale lost it's distinctive taste.... it doesn't seem like a really good match.

Appetizers

The appetizers were very savoury. They were well marinaded with salt and sesame oil (and the likes) They were really good. After having these appetizers, I was excited to try the other items we ordered.

Onigiri

Having Onigiri at an Izakaya is strange... but to my surprise these onigiri was really good! It tasted so much better than the Onigiri available at convenient stores... it was so tasty. I was also impressed with the sour plums (梅干し) on the side. You can choose how you like your onigiri.

Omelette

This was a very typical omelette. It was well made and tasted quite good. It was served really warm.

raw octopus with wasabi

I know this doesn't look so appetizing... but it was really good!

The Wasabi was extremely overpowering... but it was a good combination with the octopus/squid! I can't tell the difference between Octopus or squid... the wasabi was simply too strong.

Omelette rice? guess again!

Omelette filled with Yakisoba

This was a surprise for me... The usual Japanese dish has rice inside. But tada! This one had Yakisoba inside! It was very delicious. It was on the sweet side but still extremely delicious!

Fried 山藥 with cheese

This was one of the highlights of this meal... (山藥 translates to Yam/山芋/Yamaimo). It was really good. There was some wasabi salt to pair it off. I would never have imagined combining Yamaimo with cheese was ever a good idea. But this was definitely a surprise for me... they were so well matched.

fried Chicken

It might seem like ordinary fried chicken but these were extremely crispy! The presentation doesn't look very appealing but the taste was really good. Unlike most places, the chicken was well marinaded. When I took my first bite, I was surprised as to how juicy it was.

Sashimi salad

There were lots of octopus sashimi inside. It was a strange Greek salad drizzled with a herb filled oil topped with pepper. It was very delicious though. I highly recommend it. The quantity was quite big :).

Hokkaido Milk Cheese Cake ice cream

This was another highlight of the evening. Hokkaido Milk Cheese Cake Ice Cream. I was already full when my friend decided to order this... there were two scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream with Cheese Cake bits at the bottom. It sounds simple but it was really REALLY delicious! :9

Score: 9/10
Website: no website

PaTaPaTa Ya (ぱたぱた家) Chicken izakaya review

the izakaya is all the way at the end of the hallway

So, after I got home and googled this place (for the sake of this review) I discovered this was a chain, there are 6 shops in total. The one I went to is located in Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, you can find the address and info at the end of this review. 

Izakayas are one of my favourite places to dine in in Tokyo because they are so unique. Food you can find in one Izakaya would possibly not be available in another... and even if it is available the taste won't be the same.

menu

I got plum liquor... because I'm in Japan :P... It was for ¥420. My friend got a Cassis and Orange Cocktail.

Plum Liquor and lotus root appetizer

For the Plum liquor, you can choose to add warm water, tea or soda water. I chose Soda water because I wanted something cold. It was good but I felt that the plum taste was not very strong. It was also not very sweet. 

Like most Izakaya, they had complementary appetizer, for our appetizer they provided a mild spicy lotus root cold salad. It was quite good.

menu of chicken wings (those are not my fingers)

Since it was an Izakaya that specilized in chicken, we decided to get chicken wings. These definitely caught our attention! The people next to us also got these... and the smell was so tempting.

5 chicken wings

We were so glad when these chicken wings came. They were slightly fried and coated in honey. Then they used sesame and black pepper to coat over the honey. The black pepper's aroma was so mesmerizing. I highly recommend this dish... though it doesn't look like a lot, we were 1/3 full when we finished the wings (these wings were split between just 2 of us).

I thought they were going to be much more saltier, but turns out they were quite sweet... I didn't mind the sweetness... because it still tasted good... however, I would suggest that they try to add raw sea salt to intensify the taste.

Chicken organs

Since we had no idea what to get... we just opted for orders with pictures and determined the tastiness of them based on pictures. We ended up ordering this.

Chicken organs actual 

I think this is perhaps one of the very few times where the actual dish looks better than the image on the menu!

This turns out to be random pieces of Chicken organs. It might look small but it was things that I was able to identify were: chicken liver and chicken gizzard.

I found the organs to be slightly overcooked, so they were slightly "harder" than your normal organs dish. The sauce was slightly sweet with a bit of hot pepper taste (the green veggies you see in this picture are hot green peppers). 

we didn't know what it was but it looked good

Just like the previous dish, we just randomly chose this dish. It looked quite appetizing... so we just went with instinct.

chicken drumstick in some black pepper sauce

I really liked the black pepper sauce, but felt that the chicken was slightly overcooked... the skin was was falling off the meat and the meat was separated from the bone. It was delicious and quite salty.

The service was quite good... we met a girl from China who was very friendly. We also got to chat with her (mixture of Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese).

Our meal cost a total of ¥3060. We were FULL by the end. It is quite a reasonable price and I think I will be visiting again... when I'm around the area.

Score: 8/10

Website: http://www.g-taste.co.jp/patapataya/

Specific branch page: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g025031/

Address: 東京都港区芝5-34-6新田町ビル1F

ＪＲ田町駅 西口/地下鉄三田駅
A4出口 徒歩1分

Tel: 03-5730-3001

(Address Translation: Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 5-34-6 Nitta cho Building 1F

JR Tamachi Station West Exit / Mita Subway Station

A4 exit 1-minute walk)

無敵家 V2 Ramen Izakaya review

V2 Ramen Izakaya logo

Ramen craze has made it's way to Toronto, first it was Downtown and now I feel it spreading to the Scarborough and Markham area. 無敵家 V2 Ramen Izakaya This place is really busy (or it could be because we chose to come here on Sunday afternoon). I must comment that the waitresses are quite professional (we felt taken care of). The tea was very tasteless though.

Rib Ramen with Tonkatsu Soup Base

ramen impression:

• nice ramen
• too plain (needs more seasoning)
• good quantity
• love the soft boiled egg
• you can select Tonkatsu or Miso soup base 

The Ramen (as in noodles) quality was quite good but I felt the soup could do with more flavouring (salt or more pork flavouring). The ramen was very filling, we were very full after finishing our ramen.

Chicken Knee Caps

chicken knee caps impression:

• nice grill taste
• seasoned nicely
• large portion

Chicken knee caps are a rare find especially in Toronto, so we ordered that (I know it sounds quite disgusting, but they are none other than the joints of the chicken legs you get). Everyone makes them differently, most places fry them, but this place had them grilled and coated them with a light sauce. I highly recommend it. 

complimentary dessert

We were extremely impressed and very happy when they served us dessert in the end. The dessert was Lychee jello with 3 popping boba (similar to the topping found at Menchies).

mhm.. ramen~

facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/V2-Ramen-Izakaya/1397392800474411