The 1 hour long queue for Tempura Donburi (Tokyo)- 金子半之助

Tempura donburi is often abbreviated as Tendon. I only learnt that recently in late 2015. Anyway, the beauty of this tendon is that it only costs 1000 Yen (approximately USD $8). It is much satisfying experience for me, and better to the wallet.

Location and website can be found here http://kaneko-hannosuke.com/shopinfo/#tenpurameshi_kanekohannosuke

The Restaurant Exterior

We went there on Monday 7-8pm thinking that it's going to be less crowded as it was on weekday. Apparently, it made no difference as there was 4 lines by the time we arrived.  Two people that past us in a hurry managed to beat us in few seconds. Below is the image with 3 lines. At the bottom left of this picture, there was a hot tea dispenser for the patrons.

After a long 1 hour wait, we finally got a table on the 2nd floor. There were 2 options. Michelle opted for regular size while I got the upsize (about 100 Yen more). When the food arrived, they looked the same. I thought I was cheated. After eating halfway, I then realized that my bowl had deeper depth for more rice. So yes, don't get the upsize thinking that you will get more tempura. It's just more rice.

So what was on the plate? One crispy eel, two shrimps, one crispy nori seaweed (it's really crispy), a couple of octopus or small scallops (can't tell) and one half boiled egg with fried exterior. Rice was drenched with sauce, probably yuzu. You can see the yuzu skin in the picture below.

Half eaten half boiled fried egg. The white round thing on the right is either octopus or scallop.

Final verdict? A must try. For a 1000 Yen, this is a no-brainer. Yes, you have to wait but it's worth the time. Looking for a variety of deep fried crispy tempuras? Come here and leave satisfied without a torn wallet.

The morning rush for Sushi Dai (Tokyo)

It was 2.40 am. It was time to wake up and get ready for the food rush. There was no metro train or bus running yet at this hour so you either have to take a cab, walk or rent a bike. We decided to do our morning exercise by jogging to the Tsukiji fish market.

Yup, you read it right. It's just like the black friday for a sushi. Sushi Dai is located in the Tsukiji fish market and is a popular sushi restaurant. It probably has about 10-15 seats so crazy queue is a norm. They only served sushi till 2pm, based on our visit in December 2015, the queue was stopped by 10 am, that means the last person has to wait for 4 hours. 

The first time we came here in 2012, we came at 6am (with train) and waited only for 1.5 hours. Based on my friend's advise who came here few months ago, we decided to up the game and come here before 4am instead.

By the time we arrived at 3.45am, there were already 30 people ahead of us. I would guess that the first person probably came around 2am. More people joined the queue. Between 3.45 to 4am, 15 people joined the queue after us. There's no other queue for other shops, except for Sushi Dai. 

For 10+1 omakase, it costs about 3800 yen. Very good price for omakase.

The first seating

The queue around the corner

All of these people queued up for Sushi Dai

Around 4.30am, someone from the Sushi Dai came out to start getting order and pass out hot tea.  By then, people from the queue started to migrate to Sushi Daiwa and other venues to avoid the long wait.

It was around 6.15am when we finally seated down. That's a total waiting time of 2.50 hours. If you come single, chances of early seating is more likely.

For the start, we got a seafood miso soup and tamago. Hot soup is always a welcome given that we had to endure the cold wait. The soup is very rich in flavor and the tamago is sweet and tender.

Fatty Tuna- It wasn't as fatty as what I had before

Sea bream

Snapper

Uni - Yes, it's moist and creamy but still have some fishy smell.

Horse Mackarel

Clam. The chef smacked it first before placing it on the table and you can see it move. Sign of freshness.

Spanish Mackarel

Ikura

Tuna

Tuna Roll

Sea Eel

We can choose the last piece from the menu and we all opted for the Shirako. It was a weird experience the first time I had it 3 years ago as it was creamy and warm. If you don't know what this is, it is sperm sacs of cod fish. 

This time, it was not as warm as last time, and I had better experience. Less disgusted as well.

Yellow tail- additional item off the omakase set.

This is the queue by the time we got out of Sushi Dai, around 7am.

Overall impression, meal is not bad, but not as impressive as my first time. If you don't mind the wait, then go for it. Meal is decently priced for the quality it can offers. Best to come as early as you can to avoid the queue.

Kyo Ya

Kyo Ya is one of NYC restaurants that offers kaiseki menu (9, 10 or 11 course). I came with high expectation as it received many good reviews from both food critics and review sites. Kyo Ya distinguishes itself from most restaurants as it is 'hidden'–located below street level and does not put any restaurant sign (hidden similar to Zenkichi), even their restrooms are hidden. They also do not advertise itself in internet–no restaurant website or post menu online (their menu changes occasionally).

We opted for 10 course which is the most popular and priced at $120. From what I understand, the  primary difference with the 9 course is the addition of the sashimi course (a must try), while the 11 course has the addition of a variety of appetizer, grilled dish and sashimi course.

Overall, there are 3 memorable courses while others are decent. Therefore, I gave it a 3.5/5 rating. Perhaps I need to try the ala carte menu as I noticed that many of the Japanese patrons did not order the kaiseki courses.

Our 10 course kaiseki menu was already placed when we arrived at our chef table. You need to reserve in advance for Kaiseki.

Below are series of ala carte menu that I took for future references.

 Even though I am six feet tall, I can't see much of what the chef was doing. However, you will have better chance if you asked for the chef table's corner.

Two restrooms are hidden in the wall. Many patrons walked all the way to the back and found themselves looking at the kitchen.

They allowed you to smell their tea choices before you ordered

First course- Hokkaido Sanma Arimani with crispy rice puff

It reminded me of a fancier version of a canned dish. Flavor is good but not memorable.

Second course: spaghetti squash carbonara with smoked shrimp and pine nuts

One of the course highlights. The waitress sprinkled fish roes on top of the dish and on a side for me to try separately. The smoke amplified the flavor.

 Third course: Maki sushi tempura

Made of tuna and snapper. Since it's lightly fried, it had a crunchy texture. After consuming them, my throat was a little dry and has an acidic aftertaste (perhaps from vinegar). Decent enough.

 Fourth course: Tetsubin mushi

Iron pot soup with hamo pike eel, matsutake and onion. 

Each item are cooked and seasoned separately before added to the broth.

The iron pot was initially covered with the lid. The waitress then gave us a small serving bowl so that we can pour the soup into, and a slice of lemon. This meal is comforting and definitely helped warm ourselves from the cold weather. My advice is not to put too much lemon.

 

Fifth course: Fresh Oyster of the day (Hood canal)

Looked so inducing that I didn't take too much pictures. The oyster is indeed fresh and enjoyable.

Part of the fifth course: sashimi of the day

Never would I expect that I will have the best sashimi experience in this restaurant. I would attribute it to the fact that apart from the fresh sashimi, I had fun eating those leaves and flower that I thought was for decorative purpose. Even the white layer was edible (daikon) which we only learned at the end of the course when the chef told us about it. 

Top right was scallop from Nantucket which was very soft and sweet. Bottom right was the octopus from Hokkaido which we added a sprinkle of seaweed salt (if i remember correctly) based on the chef's recommendation. It was a little chewy and I might have put too much salt on it. The chef also recommended to pluck and scattered the salty fingers leaves (between octopus and scallop) which were very suprising as they were juicy. Also in the pictures are saba mackarel from Boston, shimaji from Japan and shisho green flowers (very flavorful) and oyster leaves. We basically wiped out everything, leaving nothing except the ice.

This is seasonal uni from Maine. The serving was pretty generous and they gave several nori for us to roll it with the uni.

Sixth course: Amadi tile fish tsubu miso yaki

The fish was cured with miso yaki before it was grilled. Flavor was there although the fish was a little overcooked and dry. The two round balls are satoimo potato enclosed with mochi skin, which are enjoyable. 

Seventh course: Dried persimmon, fresh persimmon and ebishinjo agedashi

Before eating, we broke apart the shaved daikon to thicken the broth. Most enjoyable items were the dried persimmon (left fried stuff) and the shrimp ball which was full of flavor.

Eight course: umi somen, oroshi hosui pear with dashi vinegar (not shown)

 The palate cleanser before the rice dish. Decent dish

Ninth course: maitake mushroom and Jidori kamadaki rice

First presented in the pot

The waitress first opened the pot to show us the inside before they took it away on the side.

Red miso soup and watermelon pickle as accompaniment.  

The rice was served in a smaller bowl. It was pretty mild in flavor and seasoning. We had the waitress packed the remaining dish to go. It was wrapped nicely in some type of leaves.

Random ala carte dishes that other ordered

Oh boy, so tempting

Last course: red bean and green tea bavarois cake and hojicha ice cream

Then the dessert course arrived with the waitress and chef singing happy birthday. Funny thing was there was another girl celebrating birthday right beside us. 

Both desserts were great and was another highlight of the course.

The green tea cake reminded me of the one we had in Takahachi bakery.

The ice cream was flavorful of green tea. It was better than the Brushstroke's green tea pudding.

After the end of the course, the waitress gave a small bottle of salad dressing as birthday gift, which was a nice gesture