I used last week’s three-day weekend to pop over to Tokyo. The very first place I headed after arriving was Taimeiken, a famous yoshoku (Japanese-style Western food) restaurant that anyone in the know has heard of. There’s always a long queue so I’d never found the time to go, but this time I really wanted to try it, so I rushed over as soon as I landed.
A wine shop under Tokyo Station
I spotted this on my way to Nihonbashi. It’s in the underground mall at the station and has a pretty good range of sweet wines. I wanted to buy a bottle, but I was carrying too much luggage, so I gave up for now. I’m sure there’ll be another chance.
The streets of Nihonbashi
After going back and forth between home and the office for so long, I hadn’t even noticed that full-on summer had arrived until I finally got out. It was seriously hot and I was sweating buckets.
Taimeiken’s front entrance
Maybe because it was the weekend, the queue was long. I got there around 11:30 and in the end only got in after waiting an hour. Way too many people on weekends. For a yoshoku place it isn’t exactly cheap, so seeing a queue like this, there must be some secret to its popularity.
Condiments on the table
An indoor test shot… but it came out blurry.
Borscht
This is one of the house signatures, and it’s just 50 yen. It really made me feel like I was at an old-school yoshoku restaurant.
Coleslaw
This is 50 yen too. Apparently it’s the best-value item on the menu ^_^ It’s a bit like tsukemono (Japanese pickles), so I guess it suits Japanese tastes well.
Tampopo Omurice, Itami Juzo style
This is Taimeiken’s signature dish. It’s said to be a faithful recreation of the omurice from the food movie Tampopo. I don’t think it was ever screened in Korea, but it was hugely popular in Japan. The theme of the movie was making the ultimate ramen -_-. Back then it must have been truly amazing ramen, but by today’s ramen standards that level is just the basics. ^_^ It does feel a little dated, but I remember it as a film full of real passion for cooking. Tsutomu Yamazaki, the star of Tampopo, turned up as the final boss in The Ramen Girl, a Hollywood movie released recently, so I guess Tampopo was popular in the West as well.
I heard it’s simple to make, and the recipe is even published on Taimeiken’s website. As you can see, you just put an omelette on top of chicken rice and you’re done.
Cut it open and…
The middle of the omelette is soft and runny. The filling has to ooze out slowly for it to count as Itami Juzo-style Tampopo omurice. Apparently nobody on the film could make it like this, so the director picked up the frying pan himself. What a director…
Special ketchup
Dipped in the special ketchup, it tastes superb. The omelette melting over the chewy stir-fried rice, with the tangy ketchup pulling it all together, makes for top-notch omurice. Personally I prefer the style where the rice is completely wrapped and served with demi-glace sauce, but this type is pretty good too. ^_^
If I get another chance to visit, I’d like to try their special ramen too. This time I came alone, so I could only have a limited number of signature dishes, which was a real shame.