fvz wrote (View Post): ›
Rasa Malaysia - Malaysian

Address - 4F, Hashimoto Bldg., 1-6-6, Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0021
Opening hours - Every day from 17:00 to 23:00 (Weekends and holidays from 12:00 to 23:00)
Telephone - 03-3209-9315
Menu - In Japanese and English
Credit Cards - OK

My first contact with Malay food was a fantastic Lakhsa (a kind of ramen, just much better and very hot) I had many years ago in Sydney. Later experiences in Kuala Lumpur confirmed to me that that first good experience was no fluke.
Alas, in Japan I seem to be unable, regardless of how long I look, to find real Malay food, as opposed to Chinese Malay.
Rasa Malaysia in itself is not bad, but it isn't what I am looking for either. Let's just say I won't go out of my way to eat there again.
It looks no different from countless Thai restaurants in Tokyo, and only a close look to the menu finally reveals exactly where you are.
The list of dishes is long and divided in a few broad sections: soups, meat dishes, seafood, veggies, tofu, noodles and desserts, but apart from some signature names, and nasi goreng would be one, there's little to set it apart from a regular, not even too interesting, Chinese restaurant. We had laksa ha mi (spicy noodles), nasi goreng, bakti, rojak india (a kind of salad), and sate, and spent about 3000 yen apiece.
I hope I have been both fair and clear: this isn't a bad restaurant, but it isn't new or interesting either.
November 2003

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Mikasa Kaikan - Burmese
Reviewed by Claus P. Regge

Address - 2F Isetan Kaikan, 15-17 Shinjuku 3-chome, Shinjuku-ku
Telephone - 03-3354-1729
Menu - In Japanese and French
Credit Cards - Yes

The main Mikasa Kaikan in Ginza can look back upon a history of three quarters of a century, having been founded in 1925, as it says on their matches. The same book of matches also carries their highly imaginative slogan: "The ultimate in exquisite culinary cuisine." What a surprise, "culinary cuisine."
My dinner companion and I ended up at Mikasa Kaikan in Shinjuku less by choice than by default; everyplace else we tried in that area was crowded on the Friday night after New Year's. Here, free tables aplenty. Very soft background music, ivory-colored tablecloths, average age of the few customers probably over 50, all Japanese as far as I could tell. The waiters are much younger, fairly well trained, and truly predictable in avoiding both disasters and anything to make their service memorable.
Four or five fixed price courses on the menu, the most expensive at Yen 8000. A limited choice of a la carte dishes. The wine list not huge, but substantial, mainly but not exclusively French. Strangely enough, the wines are organized by varietals -- Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and so forth for the whites, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Gamay, etc. for the reds -- something you'll never see in France; and most French wines are blends of two or more grape varieties anyhow. Do I detect some Californian or Australian influence here? Wine prices are within the standard acceptable range, but vintages are mainly mediocre or worse. Lots of '97s for the Bordeaux reds, a vintage best forgotten. I picked a '98 Madiran, a very muscular, tannic wine, but that's what I happened to want that night. Affordable at Yen 5000 the bottle. The first bottle they brought was chilled, but fortunately I caught that and they had another bottle stored at room temperature.
The food ("culinary," remember!): quite predictable standard dishes from southern France, a few from further north. I had a thick, satisfying fish soup described on the menu as "Marseille style" and in fact resembling bouillabaisse. My companion had a garlicky baby squid dish with herb and vegetable trimmings with which she declared herself quite satisfied. These starters were served surprisingly fast, within two or three minutes from ordering. Is it my imagination, or did I really hear an "haute cuisine" microwave purring somewhere?
Our main dishes are easily described, too. Halibut floating in a milky broth with lots of vegetables for her, a ragout de boeuf with mushrooms, actually more a casserole, for me. Mine, at least, a nice match for that almost black Madiran. Then some kind of fruity cake for her dessert. I tried to order cheese but was told that so close after New Years supplies hadn't arrived yet.
The total bill came to about 13,000 Yen. Like everything about Mikasa Kaikan, very predictable and not overly "culinary."

Jan 4, 2002

sanji's comment : as a matter of fact, the '97 vintage in Bordeaux, which used to be considered as a "transition year", turned out to be rather good.

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Zuien Bekkan - Chinese ****

Address - Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 2-7-4
Opening hours - every day from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Telephone - 03-3351-3511
Menu - In Japanese
Credit Cards - OK

China is the mother of everything, here in Asia, but Chinese food has never been one of my favorites, perhaps because familiarity breeds contempt, or perhaps because in Tokyo there is so much new stuff to try that I never get around visiting one of the countless Chinese restaurants in town. One week ago, I made an exception for Zuien Bekkan (which in spite of its name is not part of a chain. The main restaurant closed ten years ago), a very famous place recommended to me by some friends. It is indeed excellent, and it has an interesting menu well worth exploring, and including rarities (in China) like lamb meat. I am told that what the place is famous for is Peking duck. Ideally you should order both the Japanese and the Chinese versions of the dish. In one case you eat only the skin, in the other the whole bird. Remember to book in advance on Fridays and weekends, or you will never find a table.
How to get there: Get out of Shinjuku Station's East exit, turn right on Shinjuku Dori, walk on the left side of the street for about 700 meters past Isetan and an Asahi Bank. Zuien Bekkan is few meters after an eyeglasses shop.

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Kao Keng - Thai ****

Address - Shinjuku-ku, Kabuki-cho 1-3-2
Opening hours After five. Closed on weekends
Telephone - 03-3200-2932
Credit Cards - No

Kao Keng is not the sort of restaurant for the finicky. It is one of the dirty joints at the so-called Yatai-Mura in Kabuki-cho frequented mostly by Thai girls and their Japanese friends, and you can easily imagine the rats crawl on the tables at night. I am not squeamish, but I did feel just a little queasy about eating there, and that made it a tad difficult to enjoy the undeniably excellent food prepared by the cook, a Thai woman of undefinable age. The menu is only in Japanese and Thai, but the pictures are informative enough.

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My Dung (Myun) - Vietnamese ****
Ikebukuro - Hongo - Shinjuku

Addresses -
Ikebukuro[i] : Toshima-ku, Nishi Ikebukuro 5-1-6 DainiYajima Bldg 2F
[i]Hongo : Bunkyo-ku, Hongo 4-2-2 Musashi Bldg 2F
Shinjuku : Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 1-3-8 YKB Shinjuku Gyoen B1
Opening hours - Open every day from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and from 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Telephones -
Ikebukuro[i] : 03-3985-8967
[i]Hongo : 03-3815-1195
Shinjuku : 03-3358-9951 / 03-5379-5240
Menu - In Japanese with pictures
Credit Cards - No

Yesterday, invited by a Kiwi friend, I visited My Dung's Ikebukuro branch and found it very good. At first I was negatively impressed by the menu only in Japanese (no Vietnamese names) and by the fact that all customers were very young, mostly girls, but these turned out to be false alarms: the food is tasty and prices OK. I particularly liked the Vietnamese salami (Chozume in Japanese), the fried rice and the curry flavored fried chicken. The name of the restaurant (Myun in Katakana) and the menu are only in Japanese, so be alert when looking for the sign on the street and use the pictures when ordering. My Dung in Ikebukuro is easy to find. Come out of the west exit and go straight passing Marui (or OIOI if you prefer) at the large intersection. Go ahead until the police box on your left. Turn diagonally left, then turn right at McDonalds' and you will see Myun on the second floor opposite the convenience store.

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Indonesia Raya –Indonesian ****
Shinbashi, Ginza

Addresses -
Shinjuku : 新宿区歌舞伎町 1-23 すずやビル５Ｆ
Shinbashi : Shinbashi Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Shinbashi 4-4-3
Ginza : Ginza - Minato-ku, Ginza 7-108
Opening hours - Open every day from 12:00 am to 11:00 pm
Telephones -
Shinjuku : 03-3200-4835
Shinbashi : 03-3433-7005
Ginza : 03-3572-7499
Menu - In Japanese and English
Credit Cards - OK

Raya is not as good as Bengawan Solo, at least to me, but still it's worth the money and it has convenient locations. In Shinjuku it's an old and dingy place next door to Ban Thai (a Thai restaurant I don't like), and it might be a good alternative to Bengawan Solo because it offers different things. They have for example a chicken dish garnished with a heavy caramel-like sauce I like a lot. Most of the stuff is the standard Indonesian fare: gado gado (salad with peanut dressing), chicken, lamb, and beef curries, sate, tempe (tofu-like stuff) soup, shrimp crackers, shish kebab, etc.

Indonesia Raya Revisited (November, 2001) by David Mills
Francesco used to be right -- Indonesia Raya was not as good as Bengawan Solo in Roppongi. But note the "used to," please. On previous visits I, too, had been somewhat "underwhelmed" by their food and service, so it was with a bit of trepidation that I entered with a dinner companion a few evenings ago. Well, we were in for a pleasant surprise. True, the building is still old, the elevator squeaky. But inside, Indonesia Raya exudes an air of comfort, the atmosphere of an old house that's been inhabited by real people for many years. Like a well-worn pair of shoes. The menu is still on the "Indonesian conservative" side, but every dish is carefully prepared from decent ingredients, and prices are still very reasonable. Yen 7,000 is not too much to spend on five dishes, dessert, plus four (medium sized) bottles of beer and a few soft drinks. Service was attentive and fast, helped by the fact that it was a Monday night and only half the tables were occupied.
Now, having been disappointed by Bengawan Solo a few times, I actually prefer Indonesia Raya. See you there sometime soon.

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Tainantamii – Taiwanese ****
Various Locations

Opening hours - Open every day from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and from 5:00 to 11:00 (Ikebukuro and Suidobashi), 2:00 or 4:00 am (Shinjuku Kabuki-cho)
Telephones -
Shinjuku Shokuan Dori : 03-3232-8839
Shinjuku Kabuki-cho : 03-3209-5488
Shibuya : 03-3464-7544
Ikebukuro : 03-3988-1158
Suidobashi : 03-3262-4530
Suidobashi Big Egg : 03-3263-4007
Roppongi : 03-3408-2111

Menu - In Japanese and Chinese with pictures
Credit Cards - OK

This is a chain of really good restaurants in convenient neighborhoods. The food is not the Chinese stuff you are used to: fried peanuts with shirasu (tiny white fish), fried balls of squid paste, rotten eggs, red steamed rice and the like in diminutive amounts. You will like it, especially because it is on the cheap side, and really lovely. The menu seems endless, with always something yet to be discovered. In short, even if Tainantamii is always busy and one needs therefore patience (booking is impossible) I cannot recommend it enough. Satisfaction guaranteed.

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Krung Tai - Thai
Review by Junko Okabe

Address - Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 2-12-4 Accord Shinjuku Bldg 2F
Opening hours - 11:30 to 15:30 and 17:00 to 24:00
Telephone - 03-3356-0138
Menu - In English and Japanese

Me and my friend really wanted to go to Ban Kirao (tel. 03-3352-1070, but beware, this romanization might be wrong: I have just the katakana version of the name), a greasy spoons restaurant she knows and likes, but it was full, so we tried close-by Krung Thai. It was deserted, something that made us suspicious right away, but I was hungry and the menu looked interesting, so we decided to try it anyway. It wasn't a good move. The atmosphere, the food and the prices were all average. I thought all dishes looked sort of gone limp. In conclusion, I cannot say that it was bad, but I am probably never going back.
How to get there: From Shinjuku station walk on Shinjuku Dori past Isetan, and at an Asahi Bank turn left. Cross the street and you will find Krung Thai right before an exit of the subway.