My first full day in Prague would be a day of rest and regeneration from the lovely effects of jetlag.  Fortunately, the weather gods had taken pity on me and decided to make it a very rainy day.  From pretty much the time I got up to going to bed later that night there were various levels of rain.  Still, I had to eat at some point but given my state of mind, it had to be close.

Luckily, it turned out that one of the restaurants I had been recommended, Dish Fine Burger Bistro was right around the corner.  I opted for the burger that had a local Movarian cheese and wine poached onions along with some steak fries with rosemary.  Chris opted for the Dish Burger and fries.  Since the beer was actually cheaper than water, I had a local pilsner.

It was pretty much exactly what I needed on a cool, rainy day and as soon as I finished, another wave of tiredness came over me so we headed back to the loft.  Four hours later, I groggily woke up and eventually forced myself to get some dinner.

I once again knew that it would have be a very local place and the owner of the loft suggested Bruxx, a Belgian restaurant only about 5 minutes from here.  It was still raining a bit but the walk was easy enough.

Having had my fill of the lighter beers, this time I opted for Leffe Dark, which was a nice change of pace.  The restaurant was pretty busy and the menu looked promising.  Wanting something I can’t get that often in the States, I selected the leg of rabbit with a Lambic (cherry beer) reduction.

It certainly looked appetizing but the rabbit was far from tender and almost bone dry.  After drinking almost half of my beer to choke down a couple of bites, I decided to send it back.  The waiter was very apologetic and said he would get a new one.  I told Chris that regardless of what I got next time, I would eat it.  While still not really even close to being tender, the second try was better so I was at least able to eat it.

That was just about all of the energy I could muster, so we headed home as tomorrow would be a big walking day.

Earlier in the year during my Japan adventures, my traveling companion, Chris, was in the process of figuring out his agenda for exploring Europe this summer.  He noted towards the end of the trip he was going to Prague, a city I’ve longed wanted to explore.  I decided right then to join up with him in Prague and finally check that city off my bucket list.

As it turned out, a newish discount airline called Norwegian Air was gearing up to start service from LAX to various European cities, including Prague.  Even better was the fact that there was only one stop, Oslo versus other carriers that had 2 or more stops.  I opted to treat myself to their “premium economy” to give my poor legs a break from yet another 10 plus hour flight.

After what seemed to be way too long since I had booked everything, I was finally en route to Prague.  Part of Norwegian Air’s long haul discount strategy was to use the new Boeing Dreamliners as they use significantly less fuel.  Unfortunately as I knew from personal experience, these planes haven’t been the most reliable of fleets lately.  Norwegian Air had been having a lot of problems so my flight approached, I was nervously hoping for the best.  Thankfully, besides some brutal turbulence, the flight was fine and the premium economy seat was very comfortable.

10 hours later, I arrived at Oslo’s incredibly cool airport, one of the nicest I’ve been to in quite awhile.  I had 5 hours before my flight to Prague so despite only having about 4 hours sleep, I headed into the heart of Oslo courtesy of their very handy express train, which took only 19 mins door to door.  After finding a locker to store my bag, I stumbled out into a main square, which was teeming with people despite a light drizzle.

I had read about the massive fortress that dominated Oslo, the Archsus so I thought that would be a good way to kill time.  I was slightly hampered though but a large construction project on the path to the fortress so I ended up meandering a bit more than intended.  Fortunately, by then the rain had stopped and it was a very pleasant walk.  One of the more striking buildings I saw along the walk was the Oslo Opera House.

I continued to wander taking in the sights.

That was the first time I had ever seen a rollerblader use cross country ski poles.

While the fortress was easy enough to spot, it being a fortress and all, the exact location of the Armed Forces Museum that had been recommended to check out, remained a bit unclear.

When I ran across a large number of cannons and a tank, it was obviously that the museum had to be close.

Housed in one of the newer (as in not middle ages) buildings within the fortress, the museum showcased the military history of Norway – from the vikings all the way to modern warfare.  Although it was fairly small, the collection had been well-cured and included such fun items as these.

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I spent the majority of the time upstairs reading about Norway’s involvement with Napoleon. I had no idea that Norway and Denmark were actually part of his armies, including the famed Norwegian ski patrol, the first of its kind.

Upstairs also had a scale model of the fortress, which gives you as sense of just how massive it is.

My energy was beginning to wane due to the jetlag so I headed back to the central station, first stopping for my first and only Norwegian beer – not too bad actually.

I also wanted to get back to have time to explore the Oslo airport a bit. I mean just look at this beauty – Scandinavian design aesthetics at its finest.

Feeling hungry, I ventured out to find some Norwegian salmon.  Unfortunately, while there were a few places that had it, the prices were crazy – $40 for a simple baked salmon!  $30 for a salmon burger! – so I eventually gave up.  Instead, I had that Norwegian staple croque monsieur, which actually turned out to be quite good and half the cost.  No picture as it was hardly food porn worthy alas.

Given the bumpy flight over, I was a bit apprehensive to get on yet another plane but mercifully it was both smooth and under 2 hours.  One curious thing I noticed was there was no passing out of custom forms or similar paperwork.  I raced ahead of most passengers only to find that there wasn’t any kind of passport control and when I got my bag, no customs either.  That was a first for me.

The host where I was staying had arranged a car for me as Prague cabbies are notoriously bad and a mere 30 mins later, I arrived out front with Chris greeting me.  The loft is on the 5th floor and in a recently renovated art deco building in the Praha 2 district, which is in the heart of the city.

Exhausted, I crashed as soon as I could.  As luck would have it, the weather called for rain tomorrow so I knew I’d be able to take it easy as I tried to get over the jetlag and prepare for the fun ahead in Prague.

After my epic feast at Elizabeth the previous night, I was amazed that I woke up actually hungry again.  I ventured out once again to the Windy City, this time taking an Uber X ride to save some time… or so I thought.  A very unwise path to downtown by my driver had me sprinting before my reservation ended.  Thankfully, I arrive with 2 minutes to spare and was granted access to Rick Bayless’ famous tribute to all things Mexico – Frontera Grill.

Having grown up in Texas, I tend not to favor Mexican restaurants when dining out as it’s just too familiar to me.  However, having read extensively about Bayless and his true passion for Mexican food, I figured it was worthy of a visit.  I had originally tried to get into his upscale Topolobampo but it was booked out 2 months in advance.  Still, Frontera was known for its brunch so I figured it out still be a worth substitute.

While the menu did have some familiar Mexican food tropes, including the tacos al carbon that my server seemed to be pushing hard, there were also some very interesting combinations and elements not typically seen on a menu like this.  One that immediately caught my eye was on their Specialties list – Frontera Hot Cakes – Four Sisters’ Garden corn cakes with whipped goat cheese and pecans, two farm sunny side up eggs with Burton’s maple syrup and red chile glazed bacon.

The corn cakes were light and fluffy, and served as a perfect vehicle for the very strong but delicious whipped goat cheese.  The pecans were a nice touch and added some texture to each bite.  The bacon had some heat due to the red chili glaze but wasn’t overpowering.  Overall, a very nice take on a traditional breakfast.

Because I had gotten there so late, it was almost 3PM by the time I finished the corn cakes.  I debated whether or not to get something else, opting to hold off and perhaps get something later when wandering around town.  However, then I saw that one of the desserts was home made Mexican vanilla ice cream mixed with Torres brandy and a goat milk caramel sauce.  And that was simply too good to pass up as I’m a sucker for boozy ice cream.

Although pricey at $9, this was truly heaven in a bowl.  The Mexican vanilla beans had a distinctive taste to them and the Torres brandy flavor was bold and plentiful.  However, what took it to the next level was the truly amazing goat milk caramel.  Called catena, the warm thickened goat milk with gooey caramel oozed perfectly over the top of the ice cream, creating that wondrous warm melted taste of so many flavors mixed together.

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the city and taking a very cool boat ride on the history of Chicago architecture.  But enough about that, back to the food…

My next stop was at Grant Achatz’s The Aviary, which had been described as molecular gastromony meets cocktail bar.  I had failed to gain entry into Achatz’s famed foodie temple, Alinea, but at least I could get a different take here.  Located 2 blocks from Moto, The Aviary was hidden behind a large door with a stern looking women with the dreaded clipboard/headset combo.  Fortunately, I had been able to secure a reservation in advance and was soon inside.  To the right as I walked in, there was an active kitchen and bar known as “The Birdcage” where the drinks and food were being carefully prepared.  Unlike most cocktail bars, I couldn’t order at a bar because of said cage so instead I was offered a seat in the main room.

A friendly server explained the concept and suggested that I do one of the food/cocktail pairings.  I had read in advance about the various options and although the 5 course pairing had some appeal, I concluded having 5 cocktails wouldn’t be a good idea.  Instead, I chose the 3 course cocktails and decided to do my own food pairings from the small list of ala carte choices.

For my first pairing, I had chosen a champagne cocktail with both an orange liqueur and some fresh Valencia oranges with a tincture of smoked paprika – basically a smoky, spicy mimosa.  With this, I knew I had to try what was called “BBQ pork”, which was one of their specialties, a massive slab of fried pork skin with some really delicious BBQ powder on it.  At first I was intimated by the sheer size of it but some 10 odd minutes later, I was crunching down on the last piece.

For my second course, I had been recommended “No Chocolate Here” – which which was a bourbon-based drink with black truffles and cynar.  With that, I opted for the A5 Wagyu (basically the best of the best) rib eye with a Dark and Stormy glaze.  The server explained that since the beef is so good on its own that it didn’t really need to be paired with anything else.  However, they thought that was a bit too Spartan so they added the distilled Dark and Stormy cocktail (which is why it’s not dark) as a complementary cocktail.  It was a great choice.  Unfortunately though, it made the other cocktail the odd man out with a none too pleasant clash of flavors that just didn’t work for me.

My server noticed it was sitting untouched and decided that he’d offer me something else instead.  He soon returned with the most theatrical presentation of the evening.

After lighting the cocktail with a mix of 151 rum and Campari, the non-flaming version was called “A Moment of Silence” – Angosturra bitters, apry, aveno and rye whiskey.  This was a much better pairing than the last one plus, flame on!

After a brief respite to finish digesting the rich beef I was presented with a leather treasure chest, which when opened had smoke billowing out of it.  Inside was a glass that was also swirling with smoke.  This was my final cocktail called “Infernal Imagery” – Barolo vermouth, mauria quina (a French liqueur) and rum.

I had been told by numerous people that the foie gras Snickers bar was the way to go for my last bite.  While not a huge fan of foie gras, I had enjoyed it in the past with a sweet component plus I do love me some Snickers so what the Hell.  The cocktail was dense and very complex, with the various liquors and liqueurs somehow not fighting each other.  This was needed to combat the overwhelming richness of the candy bar, with the foie gras adding that truly decadent level of taste.  I was DONE.

Or so I thought.  Looking for a night cap but nothing too strong, I was drawn to their small beer list, which included a couple of collaborations with the famous Evil Twin brewery in Belgium.  Still, I wasn’t quite finding what I wanted and it turned out that my current server was also in charge of their beer program.  She said she would come back with her “baby” from the private room downstairs called The Office.  I was soon presented with a very impressive list of beers from some of the most respected brewers in the world, including an entire page of just Evil Twin imperial stouts – my favorite type of beer.

Unfortunately they were all in bottles and I was in no condition to have a full bottle of an imperial stout after 4 cocktails.  There was one option though from their draft list, a collaboration between The Aviary and Evil Twin.  Called “Stalk You Like a Hurricane” it was a smoked porter which also came in a 7 oz half size and a mere 6.9 ABV.  It turned out to be the perfect way to end the evening, with a nice coffee-like taste and just a hint of the smoke so as not to overpower.  I was surprised how much flavor had been coaxed out of it.

Since The Aviary was only 2 blocks from the green line and it was still relatively early, I hopped on the L and headed back to Oak Park.  It was a beautiful night so upon arriving, I walked the 1.5 miles back to my friend’s place which also helped me sober up a bit.  I crashed immediately, drifting off to sleep with visions of smoky foods and flaming cocktails dancing in my head.

The next day I headed into Chicago on a truly spectacular day with a perfectly sunny sky and high 60s temperature.  Ironically enough, most of my day would be spent indoors although it made riding the L and walking from stop to stop much easier.  First up was The Gage.  I had read good things about it plus it was basically across the street from The Art Institute of Chicago where I would be going to after lunch.

The Gage is an impressively large restaurant on a recently renovated office building located directly across from Millennium Park.  Since I was once again dining solo, I was given a seat in the back of the restaurant along a large banquet, surrounded by a mix of tourists and businessmen having their power lunches.  Location aside, my real reason for picking The Gage was to try their venison burger, which had been getting some recent acclaim.

I was hoping to pair it with a nice local beer but their selection was pretty wanting.  Two of the beers that looked good had already been tapped out so I went with a Goose Island Matilda, which was close enough.

The burger soon arrived along side a large dill pickle and fries.  It was a perfectly juicy medium rare with pickled shallots, roasted wild mushrooms and smoked gouda.  I think the smoked gouda was a bit much as it took away from the burger taste but the pickled shallots added some nice acid to cut through the richness of it all.  I was also somewhat disappointed that there wasn’t much of the unique gamey flavor of a typical cut of venison meat but again that also wasn’t helped by the smoked gouda kind of overpowering everything.  Still, a very good burger that I figured would keep me full until the next feast.

The Art Institute turned out to be everything I hoped it would be and more.  So many paintings and other works of art that I had studied in college were right in front of me.  I’ll spare the blow by blow however and carry on to the good stuff – my epic meal at Elizabeth.

After a failed attempt of getting into Alinea due to the fact they only sell tables in groups of 2, I had stumbled across a restaurant getting a lot of acclaim called Elizabeth.  The restaurant used the same ticket system as Alinea and their other properties but in this case, I was allowed to purchase a single ticket.  It was quite a different experience having essentially paid for my meal 3 weeks before actually eating it but now the time had finally arrived.

The restaurant is located in the new and upcoming area called Lincoln Square, which reminded me a lot of the Mission District in San Francisco.  After a quick 10 minute walk from the L station, I entered the small but very cozy Elizabeth.  Named after the chef’s sister, the restaurant is known for its combination of modern techniques with locally sourced and even foraged (though don’t tell the health department that!) food.

Since I was solo, they had set up a special table right at the edge of the kitchen, which gave me a great view into all of the action.  Soon after that, chef Ilana came by to introduce herself and explain the concept.  The meal was to consist of 16 courses focusing on fish, meat and vegetables either collected by herself personally or via a very local source.

The first “snack” was called “chilled spruce” and cold microgreens along with a sauce made with day lilies, a gelee of day lily and two types of potato.  The day lily sauce with the gelee had a very nice brightness and the entire couple of bites did in fact remind me of the smell of spruce trees.  A very intriguing start.

The next course “caviar” was in reality a small lasagna layered with day lily, ramps and topped with fresh white trout roe.  This was a real winner as the light vegetables mixed beautifully with the smoky roe.  After finishing, I realized that this meal would probably be very special.

Next up was the first course that showcased the chef’s playful approach to food.  Called “the rock course – wild rice and bear”, I was instructed to use the rock as my dining utensil and to eat it in one bite, calling it an “adult rice crispy treat.”  The puffed wild rice had curry powder sprinkled on it and on top sat a piece of bear jerky – yep.  I picked up the stone and ate it all in one bite as advised.  The rice piece absolutely tasted like a spiced rice crispy treat and the bear jerky, while a bit tough, had a very rich, smoky flavor.

My next server told me this course was one that would never leave the chef’s menu.  Perfected from her years of doing an underground dining club, it was a string of noodles that had been made entirely out of shrimp.  Wow, this was a stunning bite, and I could see why it was such a staple.

The next course was the “tea course” although in this case the tea was actually a rich mushroom “tea” which had been fortified with bear stock (yep)  The stock gave the mushrooms an even deeper flavor and the aroma was amazing.  I loved this one.

Shortly after I finished the “tea”, a server came over and picked up what I had assumed was just a centerpiece on the table.  However, it turned out that the ends of the centerpiece here in fact the next course.  Local carrots that had been sous vided for 48 hours and then stretched into almost a taffy like consistency.  I wasn’t a huge fan of this as the texture was a bit odd but appreciated the creativity.

As an amuse to reset the palette, I was presented with what was described as a “red wine meringue” which was paired with some baby carrots and edible flowers.  Encouraged to eat it in one bite, the meringue indeed did have a very distinct wine flavor and a nice added crunch by the carrots.  A nice way to transition to the heavier courses still to come.

The first of the “knife and fork” courses was a Hen of the Woods fried mushroom, which had been coated in an acorn based powder with a scoop of aioli.  Given my garlic issues, I skipped the aioli but the perfectly fried mushroom didn’t really need it anyway.  The acorn crust was very crunchy and the earthy, meaty mushroom underneath was delicious.

The next course was “soup inspired by greens”  It was a fantastic mix of a rich, velvety pea soup with some grilled fiddle head ferns, fava beans and uh, something else I can’t remember (hey this isn’t a food review!)  To be perfectly honest, it was during this course I had switched to my 3rd glass of wine and I largely missed the explanation of the various components, which lasted a good 10 seconds.  It was another very solid course though despite my slight distaste for fava beans.

When the next course arrived “spring greens and sweet breads” I braced myself a bit as sweet breads is probably my least favorite luxury foods to eat.  Still, the meal had been excellent so far so I put my trust in the chef.  I’m glad I did as it turned out to be a fantastic course.  The sweet breads had been poached in a duck and apple sauce and then quickly grilled so it had a much needed texture that is a lot of times missing.  It was also a great call to place them on a perfect bed of creamy polenta, which somewhat disguised the very distinct (and to me not great) taste of sweet breads.

Chef Iliana presented this extra course herself, explaining that she had been on a hunt yesterday and had noticed some milk weed growing near some mushrooms.  She thought that would be an interesting pairing and added some Hen of the Woods mushrooms, baby bok choy and radishes from her garden to round out the dish.  She said the milk weed tasted like a combination of a green bean and an onion, and she was right.  After peeling away the fibers, the interior was indeed the mix of bean and onion.  Everything else was equally delicious and was a welcome respite from the very heavy previous course.

The last savory course was another highlight – “spring lamb and beets.”  Rather than a typical cut of lamb, the chef noted she went for lamb belly, which had been slow cooked for 7 days with a ras el hanout spiced braising liquid and then crisped up a bit on the grill.  Next to it was a beet and horseradish granita and ribbons of golden beets.  After never having lamb belly pretty much ever before, it was amusing to get it for the second time in two nights although this was quite different than Moto’s.  The flavor of the lamb belly was full of rich, deep flavor and the bracing granita next to it was the perfect complement.  Golden beets are one of my favorites and these crunch ribbons were fantastic.  A wonderful way to end the savory courses.

As a way to cleanse the palette once again, this very curious set up was placed in front of me.  Called “test tubes”, inside each tube was kombucha.  As I’m not really a fan, I took a couple of ceremonial sips with the long straw provided and was pretty much done with it.  Again, high points though on the creativity scale.

The next course though was a home run.  Called “fruit loops” it was in fact a crazy mix of porccini, thyme and strawberry (yep) fruit loops with a cashew infused dairy milk that together sure enough tasted like the best fruit loops ever.  On the side was an “egg” which was in reality a white custard with a sphere of encapsulated Meyer lemon, which exploded with lemony goodness when bitten into, and if that wasn’t enough, a fantastic buttermilk biscuit (the recipe of which was tweaked to create the fruit loops) and a sweet butter.  The mix of flavors, textures and overall just wackiness was off the charts good.  I called the chef over to tell her she was a mad genius for coming up with this.  Wowza.

Perhaps realizing nothing would really top that last brilliant dish, the last course downshifted a bit.  It even was named basically exactly what it was – “chocolate, chamomile and lily shoots.”  The chocolate was a quenelle of dark chocolate ice cream, the chamomile was both in the sauce as well as encapsulated into small spheres, and the lily shoots had been candied.  Oh and there was also a piece of shortbread and a lemon granita on the side.

After just over 3 hours, I waved the white flag and couldn’t even finish the small cookies given as a final bite.  I stood up to applaud the kitchen staff who smiled and bowed in my direction.  Easily one of my favorite meals of 2014 and way up there with all time meals.  There is no doubt whenever I’m back in Chicago, Elizabeth will be on my agenda once again.

I had long been wanting to visit Chicago but the stars had never seemed to aligned properly between getting time off and avoiding the cold blustery or sticky hot months.  Finally, a few weeks ago, thanks to the overwhelming generosity of an old friend, I was finally heading to the Windy City.  At my friend’s prompting, I decided to take the money I would have spent on lodging and basically go crazy with my dining options, of which Chicago boasts plenty.

I had soon lined up a murderer’s row of choices, starting with my first stop right after I got off the plane at O’Haire – Moto.  As it turned out, the restaurant, known for its clever mix of molecular gastronomy and classic preparations, was in the midst of celebrating its 10 year anniversary.  As part of the festivities, they had a special 8 course tasting menu server downstairs in the Lab, which is where they develop new techniques and have a small seating area for guests.

I had made my way to Moto after taking the blue line metra from the airport and then walking about a half mile (including over a bridge) in a fairly industrial part of town with my suitcase.  While that probably wasn’t the wisest of ideas, my temporary exhaustion melted away in the cool, pristine Lab room.  There was no menu as they wanted to keep things a surprise but the executive chef Ritchie explained that it would be a mix of new dishes and several Moto classics.

The first course was a buffalo tartare with several micro greens picked from the their in-house grow room and crispy shallot strings.  It was a fairly classic tartare, never a favorite of mine, although the dense buffalo meat made it have a bit more texture than a typical steak tartare.

This was soon followed by a truly spectacular presentation – Flavors of the Sea.  In the center was a huge, perfectly cooked diver’s scallop.  This was surrounded by four different types of seaweed, some pickled, some crisped.  It was a really stunning dish and made me excited to see what was next.

Richie presented this course personally, calling it “Chicken Wings”  The wings had been sous-vided for 48 hours and then the bones removed.  There was a blue cheese emulsion and tiny braised celery.  The chicken was very moist and mixing the other components made it very much taste like a traditional wings and dip dish.

Next up was “Breakfast Radish”, Richie’s play on the classic French side of radish and butter.  In this case, the radishes were sliced into ribbons and the butter was turned into a powder.  Similar to the chicken wings, once you combined the elements, it tasted like its much more simpler version.  Delicious.

My garlic allergy led to a special one-off course for me, which arrived at the table in a box laser-etched with Moto.  Once I opened the box, I was immediately hit by the distinct aromatics of thyme and rosemary, revealing the following:

Inside was a skewer of roasted potato and lamb belly, which had been slow cooked for days and then quickly grilled on the plancha to crisp it up.  The metal coils on either side kept the skewers warm and heated up the thyme and rosemary to impart those smells.  I had never had lamb belly and found it to be very tasty, especially with the crisp potatoes adding a nice crunchy element.

By this point I was starting to feel a bit full and asked for a breather.  This turned out to be a good call as the last savory dish, while small, was incredibly rich.  Called “sus scrofa” it was slow cooked wild boar surrounded by a Mexican mole sauce which had been turned into a powder.  The boar was dense with flavor and very tender.  The powdered mole liquified as I scooped up the hot boar meat, turning into a very rich and delicious sauce.  Having grown up in Texas, these flavors were very familiar to me, albeit in a much different presentation.

Richie laughed as he saw my reaction to the first dessert.  I had read about Moto’s creative approach to sweets but this even exceeded my expectations.  Called “hot dog” I was told to eat it like I would a typical hot dog.  However, it was, of course, not really a chili cheese dog.  In fact, the hot dog was a raspberry sorbet.  The cheese was a very flavorful orange sauce, with the chili bits actually coca nibs.  Finally, the bun was angel’s food cake to complete the illusion.  Eaten together, it was like having an ice cream cake made with sorbet – incredibly clever and very tasty.

Richie came out for the final course to make a blood orange sorbet table side using liquid nitrogen.  He explained that using this method allows him to create the sorbet in 30 seconds plus it looked cool, of course.  My table turned into a mass of foggy air as he quickly whisked the mixture.  This was to go on top of the chocolate mousse, which was both a powdered mouse and a creamy liquid.

While I’m not the biggest chocolate mousse fan, this was a very nice take on it, especially with the theatrical elements at the beginning.  After I finished, I was given a tour of their grow room, where they cultivate various micro greens, as well as the kitchen where I met the staff.  They only have 7 cooks and 1 dishwasher for what on a full night can equate to over 1600 individual dishes – very impressive.  I was left with an impression of a very smart, very hardworking team that loves what they do and how to keep pushing themselves.  A great night.

After waking with thankfully just a mild hangover from my whisky festivities the previous night, Chris and I decided to check out Ikeburkuro, an up and coming district a few metro stops away. I had also read that it was home to a very good ramen shop so that was first on the agenda. It was actually much warmer than yesterday but there was still a bit of breeze to make it more tolerable. Mutekiya was about a 15 minute walk from the station and when we got there around noon there was also a large line forming,

Mutekiya’s menu stated that they take 20 hours to create the broth for the ramen and use only the best roast pork. Typical with busy ramen shops like this one, we had our order taken in line and then waited for a seat to open up inside the cramped restaurant. We lucked out in that in only took about 15 minutes longer to get in and we sat down at the counter. I sighed as my legs didn’t come even close to fitting under, having to basically flex my feet and thighs into what felt like I was doing a leg exercise, not exactly comfortable.

Fortunately, the ramen made the pain worth it. There were massive chunks of melt in your mouth roasted pork, perfectly chewy noodles, two flavored eggs, vegetables all swimming in a fantastic broth. Now we knew why there was such a long line. We happily slurped away and kept our chats to mostly guttural noises in approval. I was freed from my leg torture, and we headed towards the center of the district.

Ikeburkuro is the center for female-based anime and magna. In order to check out this interesting sub-culture, we first went to the 9 story Animate! Store. Each level had a specific subject or type of media – DVD, comics, costumes/accessories. Not surprisingly, most of the people there were school age girls and a few boys. While it was interesting, we realized what we really wanted to see was in Akihabra – which was on the other end of the metro line.

In the meantime, we decided to finally check out one of the large Sega arcade centers, which we had seen all over town. This particular location seemed to be nicer than others we had seen while exploring Tokyo. The first level was mostly carnival type games and the upper levels were for arcade games. We saw a lot of blasts from the past, from Street Fighter to House of the Dead. However, there were also some very Japanese-specific games, including a horse racing game where mechanical model horses controlled by the gamers went around a large track. Chris got some footage of it here.

There was also a multi car Super Mario Kart so Chris and I took a turn at it. He won while I came in second. Still, the most unique touch came when I went to the bathroom. In front of the first urinal was a monitor with 2 characters in a typical fight game stance. As soon as I started to relieve myself, they sprung into action and started a fight. I looked down and sure enough there were instructions on where to aim. I was victorious!

It was pretty much impossible to top that bizarre experience so we headed back to the station to make the 30 minute train ride to Akihabara.

We exited the station and walked over to the main drag of Akihaba (as various signs called it) First up was their version of Animate!, which seemed to be geared more toward boys/guys. I didn’t recognize almost any of the titles on the various floors but it was still a fun way to experience such a critical part of Japanese pop culture. We also checked out a couple of arcades but they weren’t quite as good as the one in Ikeburkuro. Plus, we wanted to try and avoid the crush of rush hour so we made our way back to Shinjuku.

For our Last Supper, we thought it would be fun to check out this yakiniku centered around wagyu beef that was two doors down from our hotel. In a yakiniku, you cook your own food over a charcoal grill that is in the center of the table. They presented us with 2 different combination menus along with ala carte pricing. Our server also turned on the grill, which started to heat up very quickly. It was a no brainer to go with the wagyu special, which consisted of wagyu spare ribs, loin, tongue along with some spiced chicken, vegetables and some slab bacon.

The beef was sliced thin enough that it would be virtually impossible to mess it up. We started out with the spare ribs, which had been lightly pre-seasoned. The meat cooked fast and within a couple of minutes we had our first taste. It was unbelievably tender and enhanced greatly by that one of a kind Japanese charcoal. Next we tried the loin, which was also superb. However, the real winner was the tongue. I’m normally not a fan as it tends to be a bit tough or chewy. This though simply melted in my mouth with a deep flavor.

We next cooked both some mushrooms and the chicken thighs – both great but no wagyu. In a matter of minutes, we had gone through all of the wondrous beef. Chris wasn’t sated yet so he ordered the thick tongue since the thing one was so good. I only had a piece but it was superb. He asked for a final suggestion and our server at first recommended the rare loin cut but then came back to say it was sold out. Chris instead got another order of the other loin cut, and I enjoyed watching him ooh and ahh with pleasure with his meat paradise.

My sweet tooth needed attention and after asking our server for somewhere to go, we ended up at Baskin and Robins, which was a short walk from the hotel. I wanted to try something that you could only get in Japan but nothing was in English so played it say with some cherry burgundy. It was a nice capper to our last full day/night in Tokyo, and we complemented ourselves for going out in style.

The weather had finally turned for the better in Tokyo so it was time to go explore some more. Chris had headed over to Ebisu to get some designer jeans and the plan was to meet up in near-by Harajuku for lunch. I made the now routine trek to the metro station and boarded for the short trip. Unfortunately, I realized too late that this particular train wasn’t stopping in Harajuku so I had to go to Shibuya station and then schlep over to the other side of the station to catch the train going to Harajuku.

That put me a bit behind schedule by the time I got to the station but fortunately the restaurant wasn’t too far away. I had read about the pancake trend in Tokyo and while the hot spot was Eggs N Things that was actually a Hawaiian chain so I wanted something more Japanese. Enter Pancake Days.

I made my way down a series of cute alleyways that felt more European than Japanese and soon arrived at Pancake Days. As the name implies, the restaurant is all about pancakes – both savory and sweet. It was the former that had led me there as I had never had a savory pancake. Located on the second floor, there was a small line out the door but since Chris was running late, it wasn’t a big deal. Plus, in the meantime, I got to watch the chef make pancakes behind the glass.

One thing that was immediately clear was that I was a bit of an odd presence there. Not only was I the only gaijin. I was the only male and the oldest person by probably 20 years. Surrounded by girls in their school uniforms and slightly older teenage girls, I felt a bit like a perv but hey, guys like pancakes too! There was no English menu but the pictures were pretty clear. I had also read about a specific croque monsieur pancake so I knew what to look for on it, and hey, it came with smiley face potatoes.

Essentially a riff of the famous French sandwich, this version used the pancakes as the bread, with layers of ham between and then a Bechamel sauce poured over the top. It was delicious. The pancakes were light and fluffy, and devoid of the usual butter/syrup, worked perfectly as a savory vessel. It was good enough that I wanted to see what a sweet version tasted like. I saw what appeared to crème brulee and comically failed in my attempt to ask if that’s what it was. My server fetched someone who at least understood English and sure enough that’s what it was.

Chris soon after arrived and opted for the maple cream pancakes. A few minutes later my pancakes arrived. The top of the pancakes were indeed bruleed and had that great crunch on top. The pancakes had been sweetened with vanilla and there was a chantilly whipped cream on the side. Outstanding.

After lunch, we headed into Harajuku, which is one of the main shopping areas in Tokyo. There were two very distinct parts. The main street was lined with the usual high-end stores, including a very fancy indoor mall. On the outskirts of this were a series of smaller streets where the more hip and trendy boutiques were located. While not Sunday, which is the primary people watching day there, the mix of urbanites and hipsters was amusing.

The plan for that night was to finally hit the lovely named Piss Alley, which is basically the food equivalent of the Golden Gai, and then to go to a “shot bar” that specialized in Japanese whisky. Unfortunately, Chris was down for the count so I decided to fly solo. Piss Alley isn’t exactly easy to find as it turned out even with its proximity to Shinjuku. After a few failed attempts, I found a kind older man who was helping out another tourist who funny enough were looking for Robot Restaurant. After he was done with them, I asked him for directions. He said he would show me and walked me over to where the entrance was, exclaiming “I have to get home soon!” He had made a vow long ago to help any tourist who was lost but I was the last one for tonight.

The entrance was pretty much how I pictured it would be. The smell of the various grills made my mouth water and in a daze, I headed down one of the streets packed to the gills with people munching on meat and other things on sticks. With no real set location in mind, I ended up picking one that had an empty seat and was exposed to the open air since it was such a nice night. The youngish man in charge of the grill asked me if I can eat pork (Can I?!?) and I took a seat at the end of the counter.

I was right in front of the charcoal grill so I watched for awhile as he tended to various pork goodness on a stick, mesmerized by his skill at expertly turning them at just the right time. There was no menu but rather a large plate with all of the things they would cook – from pork loin to innards to vegetables wrapped in bacon. I started out with 2 sticks of pork, which were perfectly seasoned and fantastic.

Next I went with a bunch of enoki mushroom that were bundled together with a strip of bacon. For this one, he first dunked the mushrooms in a large cauldron of pork stock for a couple of minutes before adding them to the grill. At the last moment, he brushed some soy sauce on and then kissed it back on the grill.

With just a stick as my only utensil, it proved at first to be a bit challenging to eat as it was a ton of mushroom stems to chew threw. Eventually I figured out to treat it like it were ramen noodles, unwrapping the bacon and slurping them up. They may have been the single best thing I’ve had on my trip so far – incredible.

I ended with another veggie wrapped in bacon – green beans this time. No dunking required for this, just a quick grill followed by the soy and kiss back on the grill. The green beans were wonderfully crispy and the bacon added the right amount of salt to the smoky flavor overall. As a lover of yakitori, this was as good as it gets. A mere $13 for the whole thing to boot.

The next challenge was to figure out how to get to the whisky bar. I had a very crude map from their site but this turned out to be almost useless as none of the markers were in English. I wandered around for a good half hour before Google Maps finally started to play nice and tell me that I was a mere 92 feet away. Thankfully, I recongized the eye logo as there was nothing indicating it was called Zoetrope. I took the elevator to the fourth floor and walked through the ornate gold door.

The owner was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and welcomed me to sit down after informing of the cover charge and lack of credit cards. I had come with plenty of cash so this wasn’t a big deal. The bar had over 300 Japanese whisky by the shot as well as a few tasting options. I opted for the intriguingly named Suntory vs. Nikka Single Malt tasting. He began to set up the tasting and explained how Nikka was a relatively new distillery that had just started distribution in the US.

I was to start with the Suntory ones first, which included the familiar 12 year The Yamazaki along with 2 I had never had. The latter two were by far the most interesting, especially the last one which was a single grain whisky – basically their equivalent of a rye whisky. I then proceeded to the Nikka ones. The first one was similar to the last Suntory in that it was also a single grain except this one was a cofee grain. It had a very clean and potent taste, with more pronounced alcohol profile than the Suntory counterpart. The next two were the real winners though.

The first, called Miyagiko had a wonderful smoky flavor but not overpoweringly so. It was then that I realized the owner had purposefully made me try the Nikka ones last as he clearly preferred them. He smiled and admitted that was the case. The final one Yoichi had a slightly sweeter taste but was also excellent. I decided to get one full shot as a nightcap and since we had been discussing our mutual love for Kentucky single barrel bourbon, he suggested I try a bottle made specifically for his 3^rd anniversary, which was a whisky blend that had been finished in rum barrels. It did indeed taste a lot like a good Kentucky bourbon and was a great way to end the night. I said my goodbyes to the salary men in the corner and the French couple who I had insisted try Midori Sushi the next day. Tomorrow was the last hurrah in Tokyo and I intended to go out in style.

After the near religious of experience of Midori Sushi, now it was time for… something completely different – Robot Restaurant.  Kind of speaks for itself no?  Oh hell no!  Even the clips I had seen on Anthony Bourdain’s show and the blog articles I had read did not, nay could not, prepare Chris and I for the awesome power that is Robot Restaurant.

Even the walk towards it was surreal enough as we made the short walk through Kabukicho.  This was a mere block away from our hotel and yet it was our first time walking into the heart of this infamous part of Shinjuku.  We soon arrived at the entrance, which featured a woman riding around on a robot that looked like a giant woman, a terrible rock band dressed in robot gear and a bunch of confused tourists trying to make sense of it all.

We were then escorted to a waiting lounge as they finished preparing for the show.  The decor would have made Liberace blush but at least the chairs were comfortable.  Another unique aspect of this room was the mechanical baby dinosaur that was walking around on our table, with instructions on how to pet and play with it.

After about 20 minutes, we were told to head downstairs to the main floor.  Picking up our reserved bento box, we took our seats, which were on the 2nd row in the middle.  It seemed to be a good viewing location for the madness we expected to unfold.  This proved to be true but the madness was way more than could have been imagined.  Chris captured on video how it started:

After that impressive intro, there was a short break while they got the next segment together where a woman playing a flute was wheeled in with a robot backing band.

The video monitors that lined the walls started a story that had something to do with robots attacking a Japanese island from long ago… I think.  This involved first a group of native islanders in masks being defeated by robots and then Amazon warrior like princesses trying the same thing.  Both attempts sadly failed but then suddenly what appeared to be a rip off the Kung Fu Panda heroes burst through the gates on a giant animatronic cow – yes, I’m serious.

They too were vanquished so the gods of the sea summoned a giant shark, which was moving its jaws as it charged towards the robots.  The Big Bad of the robots was soon in its jaws and as the shark chomped down on it, firecrackers went off in its mouth to indicate the robot had been killed.  Yes, it was as awesome as it sounds but Chris and I were laughing too much to get any photographic or video evidence.  However, I found someone else’s clip on YouTube that basically captures it.

After another break with flute girl and her robot band, the girls of Robot Restaurant came back to theme from Dreamgirls, some with drums, some with cymbals and two on stripper poles that had giant robot legs to move them around the floor.  It only got stranger from there.  Behold, robots dancing to Gangman Style!

For the grand finale, the girls came back along with these 3 massive robots and a few other odd thing all crammed on the floor.  They had given us glowsticks and the leader of the dance troop in rapid Japanese and broken English implored us to wave them around like we just didn’t care.

Still trying to process what in the Hell we had just witnessed, they turned on the house lights and told us we could take a picture with one of the 3 giant robots.  When in Kabuchiko….

As we staggered out along with the other stunned patrons, we all realized we had just witnessed the most unique show we’ll probably ever attend.  And we loved every second of it.

After back to back long nights, it took a bit of motivation to get at it again.  Fortunately, the proverbial carrot on the stick was the promise of some mind-blowing sushi.  So, despite the lousy weather and our tiredness, we made the pilgrimage back to Shibuya Station to Sushi Midori.

We had been warned about the long lines but had been assured it moves pretty quickly.  Located on the 4th floor of a large mall in the middle of a food court, it was pretty obvious once we got there.  The line extended down a hallway where we joined up with the rest of the people waiting.

Fortunately as promised, the line did indeed start to move shortly thereafter.  There was apparently a time limit for customers so a steady flow of people were leaving on a fairly regular basis.  After about 45 minutes, we reached the front of the line and were escorted into the restaurant.  It turned out to be a lot larger than I thought, with a huge sushi counter and tables crammed together.  We lucked out and got 2 seats at the very end of the sushi counter and were presented with a menu.  While the pictures themselves looked amazing, the insanely cheap prices explained the long line.

I decided to get the chef’s special and Chris opted for the sushi special.  While we waited for the chef to prepare our dishes, we were given a small salad with a crab paste sauce and chunks of crab meat (delicious), a very tasty miso soup and best of all a superb charwanmushi, which is a savory egg custard with mushrooms. We also watched another chef prepare what seemed to be some ala carte selections for the people next to us.

Chris furtively captured our chef in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPr9G7iAK2Q

After about 10 agonizing minutes, the chef handed over this work of art to Chris

And then mine shortly followed.

Since there was no English explanation of each piece, in a couple of cases I’m not entirely sure of each fish I had but they included yellowtail, salmon roe, a tuna handroll, razor clam, halibut, prawn, egg and a huge slice of cooked eel.  It was far and away the best sushi I had ever tasted.  Each piece of fish essentially melted in my mouth with such a pure, clean flavor.  The rice was slightly warm with just the right amount of wasabi.  Pure heaven.

While I was fairly full, I knew I had to have at least a couple of pieces of the amazing looking salmon that I had seen our chef slicing.  As you can see from the photo, the amount of salmon per piece was absurd and of course turned out to be the best salmon nigir I had ever tasted.  After about 30 minutes, we called for the check and were dumbfounded that all of it added up to only $35 USD!  I left the restaurant gobsmacked and so grateful I got to experience such an amazing meal.

A combination of a late night and not great weather led to a late start to our 2nd day in Tokyo.  We once again took the short metro ride to Shibuya, this time to check it out in the day time and explore the area in more detail.  We once again marveled at the controlled chaos that is the main crosswalk into Shibuya.  Chris got some great video of the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlqC6K0pyCM

We started our crawl at the famous 109 Women’s store, which is considered the epicenter of young women’s fashion in Japan.  A massive cylindrical building that consists of 9 floors of various stores, it was quite the scene.  Soon though, we began to feel a bit…awkward about being two adult males wandering around stores clearly not for us.

Next, we walked over to the large DIY store called Tokyu Hands, which had been recommended to us by several people.  We had actually been to its Osaka location and didn’t quite get the hype.  Now though, with a much larger version, we saw its odd charm.  I read that it’s basically Home Depot if it was run by Japanese hipsters and that’s pretty accurate.  Each floor has a different focus – travel, home care, even trains/models.  Another amusing touch is that there is no escalator and on each step, it shows how many calories you’ve burned by that point.  Chris ended up getting a bunch of fun stickers that were being sold in a pop up store within the store.

After a couple of hours of wandering, we went back to the hotel to rest up for the big night ahead.  I had secured tickets for one of my favorite DJs, Francois K, who happened to be in town at a club called AIR, which had been recommended to check out.  First though, it was time to explore more of the Golden Gai.

One of the items on my Japanese food hit list was karaage – their version of fried chicken.  As luck turned out, the first bar we walked past in the Golden Gai seemed to specialize in it.  Even better, there was an open table.  Like the other bars in the area, it was quite eclectic.  For some reason, on an old flat screen TV which had a large crack in it, was showing what appeared to be a karaoke game show from the early 80s.  There were also many pictures of karaage, including a poster that proclaimed “Karaage will change the world.”  It was clear we had come to the right place.

The only slight downside is that it took quite a long time to get my precious karaage.  In the meantime, I opted to try a local beer called Hoppy in something the menu listed as a Black/White.  I assumed that meant it was similar to say a Black and Tan but when a large mug arrived with a white liquid in ice, that thought went out of the window.  It turned out the white was sake and I was to pour the beer over it.  Not exactly what I was expecting but quite tasty, especially when the karaage finally arrived.  It was well worth the wait with a delicious soy-based crispy crust and juicy boneless chicken inside.

I wanted to check it out at least one bar before heading over to the club so we walked two alleys over to Cambiere, whose theme was based on the Italian horror movie classic “Suspiria.”  After climbing a very steep, very small staircase, we opened the door to find a truly wonderful recreation of themes from the movie – from the deep red color to the specific wallpaper featured in it.  The drink menu was small so I selected the sangria, which was pretty lousy but potent.  We wanted to avoid the pending rain so we said our goodbyes and took off for Shibuya Station.

After getting to Shibuya Station, this time our route would be to the opposite end of the area.  The rain started to come down a bit harder so we hoped that we would reach the club soon.  We snaked down a long road filled with bars and restaurants and finally arrived at the club.  Interestingly though, the entrance was actually what seemed to be a pretty chill lounge, far from what we thought the club would look like.  This turned out though simply to be the lobby and after getting our names checked on the list, we were escorted down a set of stairs.  The club was essentially the inverse of Womb in that the main floor was at the bottom with two other rooms further up.

It was just after midnight and the club was already starting to fill up.  They were running a special 2 for 1 drinks before 12:30 so we got some pre-show cocktails and grabbed some seats as Francois K wouldn’t be going on until 2AM.  The main room DJ was kind of all over the place but played some good tracks.  The dancefloor looked to hold about 400 people or so and the sound system was fantastic.  As we were waiting, Chris ended up chatting with some very cool locals who were big Francois K fans.  One had seen him over 100 times because he used to work for his record label.

When Francois K finally came on, he did not disappoint, weaving his unique mix of styles from house to techno to a bit of everything else in between.  At one point early into his set, he played the instantly recognizable Frankie Knuckles remix of “Where Love Lives” to the screams of the crowd, acknowledging the recent passing of that icon house music figure.  Although his set was to last until 9AM, by 4AM my body started to rebel, making me into one sore pile of creaky bones.  It killed me to leave but we sprinted in the rain for the nearest cab and headed home.  World class sushi and women with giant robots lay ahead tomorrow so strength would be needed.