Making the List - Part IV

Waseda University

さよなら早稲田。  I went to school for the last time to turn in my locker key and id card.  The process wasn't as painful as I expected, and I didn't have to sign anything.  Therefore, I ended up with some time leftover and toured the campus one last time. 

First time I've seen a beer vending machine in Japan.  People think that Japan has all these crazy vending machines, but those are just news-making novelties.  The machine above was only there because it was connected to a restaurant.  Have yet to see some of the crazier vending machines and probably never will.

I had a good time just walking around campus.  I'm glad that I came to Waseda and would not have done anything differently, except maybe some course choices.  My last stop at Waseda was the shrine on campus.

 
Nestled away in a corner, this small shrine is scenic and quite private.  Several ume trees were in bloom surrounding the temple.  I'm not sure if it's bad luck to talk about what you prayed for, but I was feeling especially brain-dead this morning (V can attest to this).  So when I rang the bell, I said, "Give us...good things."  Whatever man.  I've done a lot of praying in Japan and I'm sure I've built up a ton of karma.

Business taken care of, it was time to meet up with V, Casey, and Karen for lunch.

一風堂 - Ippudo

If you had not heard yet, I was extremely close to an Ippudo membership card.  At this point, I'm pretty much Ippudo'ed out, but there's no way I could pass up the bragging rights of being a member. 

As they were once handed to me, I in turn handed down the coupon books to Casey.  He has one month to eat like twenty free eggs, twenty free extra noodles, and twenty free half gyozas.  Good luck.

I went back to the first bowl I had at Ippudo, the karakamen.  It was good; better than I remember.  This was probably my last bowl of ramen in Japan and it's been a good ride.  I'll miss you guys...all of you. 

On a happier note, Casey graciously bought us lunch and then it came:

Steve, Wei.  Be proud.  We did it.  We finally did it.  Well, actually that form above is for you to fill out the contact information for where they actually send your membership card.  Apparently it takes two weeks for you to receive the card and gift set, so I won't be able to receive while I'm still in Japan.  I'll have to borrow an address for the time being, but sooner or later I will have that card in my hand.

野田岩 - Nodaiwa

V has her list and I have mine,  which basically means that we've been trading dates for the last few days.  Dinner was V's turn with a place that's been on her radar for months.  Nodaiwa is a tiny house tucked away on a large street across from the Tokyo Tower.  The last time we had made plans to check it out was in fact when we were heading to the tower.  For all potential tourists, I highly recommend the Nodaiwa - Tokyo Tower combination.

Nodaiwa does one thing and one thing really well: unagi.  They're especially well known for their wild-caught eel, but since those are not in season we had to settle for the normal ones. The menu was especially difficult to decipher for me and I had to rely heavily on V.  Still, I think we ended up with a superb array of choices.

Our first dish was a special: unagi egg pudding.  I'm not sure how else to describe these things, but when you bake egg a certain way you end up with this deliciously savory custard.  It made for a freaking awesome combination with the unagi.  For the price, this dish was smaller than I expected, but anything involving unagi tends to be expensive in Japan.

That's one thing I've never quite understood anyway.  Unagi is a pretty prominent Japanese cuisine, but the prepackaged variety I see in the US is way cheaper than the ones in Japan.  Maybe the fish is fairly rare in Japan?  I'm not sure.

Next up was the main attraction: V's unadon. Nodaiwa's unagi tastes amazing, but I think the thing that really sets it apart is the texture.  I'm not sure how they do it, but that stuff is sooo soft.  Literally melts away in your mouth...delicious. 

I got a sort of unadon + broth combo.  It starts out looking pretty similar to V's above, but you scoop out pieces into a bowl and add in various toppings that a prepared for you.  In that bowl is unagi, rice, nori, yuzu (I think), negi, and wasabi.

Then you add some dashi.

The resulting unadon soup is super comforting.  I feel like unadon is a comfort food regardless of how upscale it is and making it soupy takes the comfort level up a notch.  All the flavors in that bowl come together perfectly, and I'm glad I just ran out of food or else I would have eaten til I died.

The atmosphere inside Nodaiwa is very traditional and private.  There are always a plethora of servers and I'm pretty sure that they're quite used to tourists.  It's just an amazingly quaint and pleasant place to enjoy a Japanese specialty.

Our meal didn't look like a lot of food, but V and I were stuffed as we walked back to Akabanebashi Station with Tokyo Tower in the background.  Nodaiwa is the consummate can't miss eatery.  Check it out.

Tokyo Midtown

Akin to Roppongi Hills, Tokyo Midtown is a residence x shopping complex in Roppongi. There weren't that many stores inside that interested us as most of the shops tend to be the super high end, luxury type of goods.  Even if you have no interest in shopping, it's the type of place that is nice to check out for the architecture.

It even houses an outdoor ice skating rink.

What that guy is doing ice skating alone in the rain is a mystery. 

We wandered the halls of Tokyo Midtown, not buying anything and barely even entering any stores.  The top floor was the most interesting with various kitchen and home goods stores, but since we're leaving Tokyo it seems pretty silly to buy anything like that.  We did eventually make our way outdoors where we found a Tsutaya bookstore and bought a couple of those little things that V so loves, notepads in this case. 

Also outside was one of the dessert places V had wanted to take me.  She had eventually chosen another place instead of this one, but now I suddenly had a chance to return the flavor.

Toshi Yoroizuka has a sit-down are as well as a storefront, but for some reason, only the sit-down option is available on Tuesdays.  No matter, we were totally in the mood for some dessert after our unagi and settled in for a quick bite.  I was browsing the short menu when I spotted this:

Ah, Pauwel Kwak beer.  It's like a taste of home if home was Belgium.  Well anything Kwak is my home anyway!  I highly recommend it to those who have never tried it.  It's been a while, and I had almost forgotten what beer tastes like.  As for our desserts...

I ordered what was called an Ukishima.  Matcha pound cake with azuki and browned rice, topped by something I can't even call ice cream.  The white icy thing had a much more light texture; it was like a mix between whipped cream, ice cream and shaved ice.  Pretty indescribable and totally unidentifiable.  The combination of all those things was just heavenly.  I mean like eye-openingly delicious.

V's was named La Gorgonzola Pistache.  I wish it had been mascarpone instead of gorgonzola since the result was just too cheesy for our tastes.  I could barely taste any pistachio coming through and although I appreciate a little savoriness in my desserts, this one was overwhelming.  I switched my dessert with her so she could enjoy the beautiful tongue-pleaser that is Ukishima while I only mildly enjoyed her La Gorgonzola Pistache.

Mixed reviews about Toshi Yoroizuka.  My guess is that their execution is fantastic, but don't try to get too fancy with what you order.  Stick to something you know and you can't go wrong.  Like Kwak beer.  Can't go wrong.  Kwak.