When we were in Tokyo, some colleagues were kind enough to take me out for a traditional Japanese dinner which included Sushi and Shabu Shabu.

It is fairly typical for nice restaurants in Tokyo to have segregated sections for each table so that your party can dine in private.  This restaurant was no different, and we in fact had our own room with sliding doors for complete privacy.  In Japan it is traditional (‘protocol’ would actually be a better description) for the guest to sit furthest away from the room entrance.  The guest is also the first one to be served each course.  Since I did not know this protocol (and my colleagues were too polite to correct me), I sat near to the door when entering the room and as a result one of my colleagues who was my host actually received all of the courses first.

Shabu Shabu is Japanese fondue style meal where thinly sliced meat (beef in our case) is served with vegetables and dipping sauces.  The first stage of the process involves submerging thin slices of meat in to boiling water for between 5 and 13 (ish) seconds (depending on how well you like it cooked), then dipping it in one of two sauces (soy sauce, and another which I cannot remember the name of) before eating it.

I was a little worried that I was not cooking the meat enough, particularly since the part which I had pinched with the chop sticks often came out a little pink But I was not ill afterwards, so I guess I didn’t do too bad a job.  And I must say, that it was tasty! I experimented and decided that 7.5 seconds was my preference for the time to leave the meat in the water

I did get ‘told off’ for placing my chop sticks on the table, rather than resting them on the small ceramic stands provided, I won’t make that mistake again…

…see what I did there?

I decided to try and be a little imaginative with today’s sandwich. . .

Rating: 7/10

Ingredients…

• 1 red pepper
• 1 orange pepper
• Chicken breast
• Cathedral city cheese
• Pesto
• Butter
• 2 Tesco deli roles

Preperation…

• Cooked the peppers in the oven on a baking tray for 20 minutes
• Lined both sides of the buns with butter and pesto
• Shaved the cheese (sliced very thin)
• Placed chicken on top of cheese
• Placed peppers on top of chicken

Verdict…

It was nice, but could have been better.  It was a little dry depsite all of the butter and pesto.  Perhaps this combination will be better with thinner bread.  In future I will also be trying a similar combination, but with melted cheese and peppers cooked in olive oil.

During my Sunday in Shanghai with Charles, Helen, David and Mark, we went to a fantastic restaurant called 城隍庙南翔小笼 (which in English means ‘Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant’) for traditional Chinese dumplings.

The place is said to have the best dumplings in Shanghai, and this claim was certain supported by the HUGE queue of people outside the shop for the take-away service.

What was interesting was the way the pricing structure worked…

1. Cheapest / long wait…
   queue up outside and get your dumplins to take away and eat on the street
   (at least a 1 hour wait)
   This video shows the size of the queue (and how the dumplins were made). . .
   
2. A bit more expensive / less wait…
   queue on the stairs on the way up to the first level restaurant, where you can sit down and eat your dumplins
   (I am guessing a 30 to 45 minute wait)
   
3. Even more expensive / short wait…
   queue at the top of the stairs, where you can sit in the second level restaurant and eat your dumplins and other food from the menu
   (we went for this option and we only waited about 10 or 15 minutes)
   
4. MOST expensive / no wait
   We saw a small group get taken to the back of the second level restaurant and in to their own private room.  I guess they had to book and I guess it was very expensive

I thoroughly recommend option 3.  for westerners, it’s still pretty cheap!

We started our lunch with some Dim Sum, which Helen kindly demoed how to unwrap and eat …

The dumplings which came next contain soup and pork.  They are served in little wicker tubs, in which they are also cooked (by steam).  To eat them you first put some ginger and soy sauce in to a small dish, in to which you dip the dumpling.  You must then bite a small hole in the side, suck out the soup and then eat what is left in one mouth full.  Here is Charles demonstrating. . .

Last night we went to a traditional Japanese restaurant called Toriyoshi, in Shinjuku.  Although we did not need to sit on the floor like in many local places, we were required to take off our shoes and place them in a personal shoe locker until we had finished eating (see the photo on the right).

We had a mixture of dishes to start including vegetables, tofu and some other bits, although main course was apparently the restaurant speciality – chicken skewers.  The difference between these chicken skewers and those which we may see in the west was that each one contained different parts of the chicken.  The body parts I can remember included cartilage, heart and thigh.  There was also a rather easier to eat minced chicken package (of which I ate quite a few).

I am proud to say that I did try the cartilage, which was unsurprisingly VERY hard to eat, I won’t be in a rush to try again, here is a video of Ryo taking it off the skewer…

I also had the chicken heart (which was a little chewy, but not too bad).  Here is the photo to prove it, which also showcases my newly improved chop stick skills (thanks to Chieko’s tuition )…

Here is a little intro about the restaurant from Chieko…

And as we drunk Saki, Wine and Beer, here is a little round table video clip of everyone enjoying their food…

Tonight is my last night in Shanghai, Chris, a colleague from MS Shanghai offered to show me around a little.  We went over to Pudong, which is on the opposite side of the river to my hotel, and hosts many of the local financial institutions. 

We went up to the top of the financial center, which is the tallest building in Asia (I will post separately about that later). Afterwards we wondered down to the river and found a great place called Paulaner’s Beirgarden, which was right next to the river Yangtze river. 

It was a great spot! There was some dodgy Chinese band inside singing ‘Hotel California’ and classics from Shakira, but we were outside so only had the pleasure of hearing them during visits to the toilets. We ended up chatting for a few hours, drinking a few glasses of wine/beer and enjoying the night time heat whilst watching the boats sail by.  Good times

Here is a little video of the place we were sitting…

I was a little peckish when I arrived at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 yesterday afternoon, so decided to get some lunch before my flight.  Every time I have been to the terminal in the past i have proceeded straight downstairs, browsed the shops and ended up at Weatherspoons for a glass of Rose and some pasta.  Today I noticed a little place called Huxleys which is on the far left, after the security checks, but on the same level.

The staff were friendly, they had a good selection of wine and an equally good choice of food.  I actually arrived just before lunch time, and had not had breakfast, so went for an all day breakfast (just before the 12pm deadline).  I think it is enough to say that the food was great, without describing in detail the texture of the sausages or the volume of baked beans.  Whilst I was eating I saw a selection of other meals being served and they certainly made me want to go back again next time and try something else from the menu.

If you fancy a nice relaxing meal and drink before your flight, I would recommend turning right to Huxleys next time you are in terminal 5

Here is a link to their menu (PDF)…