Unadon at NOBORITEI, SHINJUKU, TOKYO

Address:
〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿3-32-10
3-32-10 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022

Access:
2 min. walk from JR Shinjuku station South exit,
3 min. walk from Subway Marunouchi line Shinjuku Sanchome station,
10 min. walk from JR Yoyogi station

Phone: 03-3352-2484
Hours: 11:00～21:00 (L.O. 20:30)　

I’ve been researched for a good bowl of unagi on the net. The best that you can find in Tokyo is Unagi Kappo Izuei Honten in Ueno. All agrees they taste superb but they also charge you big price. So I and Tors agree to head for the second best which is far cheaper and easier to locate, Noboritei.


We arrive quite early for lunch so the restaurant isn’t packed and we don’t have to wait to eat. Without any hesitancy we order right away, one Unadon set (grilled eel bowl) and one Naju Nami set (grilled eel on rice box). While waiting and sipping nice hot ocha, we can’t help but noticing how this restaurant is filled with quite a number of elderly. We find it amusing to observe them, they seem to really enjoy eating their food, and so we begin to droolssss……

Luckily before a drop of water hits our table, the food arrives…


To be honest, I am not a fan of unagi back in Jakarta. Only once or twice I got to eat good unagi, but it didn’t blow me away. So, this ‘unadon experience’, I dedicate this for Tora, as he is fond of unagi. And well I am sure glad, because this particular unagi tastes sooooo good.

The eels are both broiled and grilled; meaning double the taste. I love it when a dish is done double-ways, especially broiled and grilled, because they usually have a perfect texture without drying the meat and you still can get the smoky/caramelized surface. Perfect. The sauce compliments the dish beautifully, it is sweet but not overpowering, somewhat like teriyaki sauce but more salty and less sweet; I imagine they brushed the sauce generously while grilling the eels :). As expected, the meat is lusciously tender you don’t have to chew, it melts. And also neither ‘fishy’ smell nor taste could be found. The level of freshness is good; as you can taste the natural sweetness of the meat (you all know fresh products are always sweeter, especially fish, fruits, and veggies).

All and all, I like unagi now :)

We found Atlantis!!!

Well well, I just read this interesting article on Jakarta Post about the lost Atlantis. And suddenly I remember that few years back I was reading an article about Professor Arysio Santos, mainly on his theory that we're all have been looking the lost Atlantis in the wrong place. That's why we will never find it. So, rather than looking for the lost Atlantis in Atlantic Ocean, we should see it in: INDONESIA.

Yes, you heard it right...the beautiful Indonesia.


For more than two millenniums, scholars and scientists have been searching, looking, and digging information to uncover this mystery about the lost superior civilization. The story of Atlantis was mentioned by Plato in his writings Timaeus and Critias. In those writings he described the people as geniuses, wealthy, wise, and powerful people. The mastered maritime culture, commerce, sports, dance, music, and other form of arts. So yes, basically it's a developed society. Now, Santos is trying to make a further connection based on Plato's description of Atlantis, pointing that it has a similar condition with Indonesia, where tropical climate, irrigation system, large population, megalithic construction, natural resources, and volcanoes exist.

The controversial theory further described that Atlantis was located in Sundaland, which includes Southern part of India, Srilanka, Sumatera, Borneo Island, and Java. He even quite sure that some of the west part of Indonesia was the capital of Atlantis. He added that Indonesia was the most perfect place at that time to grow crops and herd cattle when global temperatures were 15 degrees Celcius below today's level.

Plato did mention the island as being 'under the sun', and described it as an island where rain forests, palm trees, coconuts, pineapples, bananas exists. Santos believes 'under the sun' as an expression of an 'equatorial' that is lying directly under the path of the sun. Most part of the earth were covered by thick glaciers, so civilizations can only occur in Indonesia. It was around 11,600 years ago (9600 B.C), an earthquake shook the continent, create a great tsunami, and sunk the island.

However, geologists beginning to asked Santos and challenged him on several findings and facts that mismatched his theory. It surely a great challenge for all scholars and scientists to prove the real existence of Atlantis. As for me, I'm proud to be the descendants of Atlantians :).

Up up in the air..!!

Watched this movie about two weeks ago, and all I can think of is how to get an extensive frequent flyer mileage in your pocket? I'd definitely use it wisely as part of my retirement plan :).

The movie talks about Ryan Bingham's (Clooney) obsession to hit a certain number of his frequent flyer miles (later on we know it is 10 million miles). Yep...I know, it just sounded too much for an ordinary people. However, that didn't happen in the movie, as Bingham was likely to achieve that mileage due to his 'super mobile' job on Career Transition Counseling that requires him to fire people from one place to another. If I'm not mistaken, he travels approximately 320 days out of 365, which makes him a man who take s*** more often in the air, rather than sitting nicely on his apartment's toilet. However, on his way to achieve his target, Ryan's life may change when the company hires Natalie Keener, a Cornell graduates who recommends the company to change its nature of work by conducting the "firings" via remote computer access. This shortly means that Bingham is being grounded. Bingham believes that Natalie doesn't fully understand the nature of the business, so he rejects the proposal, although the main reason is that he isn't ready to leave all the joy of travelling and living out of a suitcase.

Trio

TRIO
Gondangdia Lama no.29B Cikini Jakarta Pusat
Tel: 021-31936295

Ok, ask your mom and dad about ‘Trio’, I bet they’d know. This restaurant has been hustling and bustling since 1957 and still running strong! And this eatery is one of my family’s favorite and holds lots of dear memories :)

Each of us has our own favorite here and believe it or not, the flavor of each food still remains the same, very consistent.


Tora’s staple is the fried frogs’ legs; he could empty one plate by himself (take notes that ‘he DOES NOT share fried frogs’ legs). Since I don’t eat frog I can’t speak much so I will quote what he says about this beloved menu of him “Once you take a bite of this darling leg you just can’t stop, it is sooo damn addictive. It is oily and crunchy on the surface but the meat is sooo tender yet the taste is so simple with salty soy sauce and buttery-like oil with a hint of squeezed lime. This type of food shouldn’t be bothered with any other food, just eat this alone with rice. Period”


The fried pigeon is also one of the favorites. Always classic.


Aaahhh, this one is my favorite! ‘Bistik Sampi’ or we can call it ‘beef bistik’. Please don’t imagine ‘sweety-semur', believe me this thing is far from those Javanese taste buds. For me, this feels like home back-in-colonial-time-with-a-Chinese-peranakan-maid. Get the point? Well let me go through with it. Like typical bistik, these dishes consist of beef bistik, simple fried potato wedges, and veggies like peas, carrots, string beans and tomatoes. The condiments are really just condiments. The main star of course is the beef. Unlike any other, the beef is crunchy and a bit crispy on the outside but with a very very smooth and tender meat, and the taste, ooh the taste! Buttery with a hint of ‘worcestershire’ sauce. Simple and perfect :)


Can a ‘phuyung hai’ be a star? Well I guess not. The taste is always the same with a ‘blah’ kind of tomato sauce.

But, can a ‘crab meat phuyung hai’ in trio be a star? Sure it can! This is, ladies and gents, my favorite phuyung hai.

When I first ate this, I didn’t expect anything at all, we just ordered any ‘phuyung hai’ out of casualties, but when the waitress asked ‘what kind of filling do you want? Chicken or crab’ I thought that these could be interesting. Well, sure it was. Damn, it is. First you’ll just love the texture of the omelet, it’s crispy and crunchy and a bit oily. And of course you’ll love the filling, generous share of crab meat, well who doesn’t love crab meat? (Those who’re allergic, duh!). But to my surprise, the sauce is also delicious (note that the sauce is more orange-ish rather than red-ish). It is unexpectedly tasty, unlike any other. Yeah, you can still taste a bit of tomato sauce, but only a hint, there’s also a nutty flavor that I can’t recall perfectly. All in all, what a winning combination!

What I love most about TRIO is that this place holds high its originality. It feels like we’re time travelling to those old days. With the same place, same layout, same walls, same menu (they still use words like ‘sampi’ and ‘ajam’), same song (we listen to rayuan pulau kelapa, widuri and those oldies frocks) and also the same cashier with the same thick glasses.