Com Pho (Shimokitazawa | Tokyo)

The search for a perfect or a near perfect Pho in Tokyo is unfortunately not yet completed. Com Pho, located not too far from the Shimokitazawa station (the Keio-Inokashira line from Shibuya will take you there within two stops only -or one stop with the express line), offers a clean and modern interior with dark brown furniture in a long clean line of vision from the entrance to the back of the restaurant. About 2/3 of the way the space was broken by a see-through divider made of stained wood slats, which made me think that there was a smoking and non-smoking section, but I was mistaken.

The menu offers six entrées, three appetizer, desserts, and several drinks. Out of the six entrées, the last one was a combination of two of the previous entrées; I chose that one: Pho Ga and Vietnamese rice. My exposure to Vietnamese restaurants has always confronted me with a long list of entrées, appetizer, desserts, and drinks, but this place not only has limited entrée selection but also not the one that is the most representative of all Phos: the one with beef. Maybe this was just the lunch menu, and maybe they rotated the items. There might be some days that they would serve Pho Bo Vien, as one could clearly see in the website.

(Vietnamese, not unlike Japanese restaurateur, usually name their business according to what they serve or what they mainly feature. Japanese, for example, would focus on a tonkatsu or a curry; Japanese pasta or okonomiyaki; sushi and sashimi only and so on. Only in some restaurants can you find all kinds of Japanese food offered [this seems to be more common in California or outside of Japan, where the survival of the restaurant may hang on the restaurant serving many different types of food to satisfy the customers' different wants]. Thus, in California, a restaurant that has the name "Pho" in it will no doubt offers an endless list of Phos, and then it may offer other things, but the dominating feature will still be the variety of Pho.)

The key to a good Pho lies in the broth, but unfortunately, that was not to be found in my Pho. My partner ordered a full bowl, while my bowl was half of his because mine was a combo with the Vietnamese rice. Neither of our Pho Ga came with the traditional serving of basil leaves, fresh bean sprouts, and sliced green chili peppers, although it did come with a small slice of lemon and one slice of red chili pepper. The Vietnamese rice was good. The tiny slices of barbecued meat that came with it tasted like any BBQ meat I have ever had in other Vietnamese restaurants. I would not mind returning to Com Pho for this entrée, but not for the Pho.

Too bad we did not have the space in our tummy to try out the desserts, but perhaps I will do an updated review when I will finally get to order the dessert, if I return to this restaurant. There is actually two branches of the restaurant: one in Toranomon and another inside the Maru-biru in the Marunouchi district. For more information, go to their website (see the URL down below).


Com Pho
Vietnamese Canteen
2-13-4 Kitazawa
Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 155-0031, Japan
Tel & Fax: (03) 5481-0564


M-Su: 12:00-16:30 and 17:00-24:00
Closed on Tuesdays

(Accompanying photograph was taken from the Com Pho website)

Al Fresco Dining at the Hanezawa Garden

The Last Shabu-Shabu
Originally uploaded by bloompy.

While my compatriots in the United States are frantically finishing their income tax reports and filings, I took a casual stroll today to a favorite, nearby complex of restaurants that was the Hanezawa Garden.

I recently realized that during the warmer weather of Spring, Summer and early Fall (from April until October), the outdoor dining at the Hanezawa Garden offered Korean BBQ, but once the colder breeze reached the city, the main and only attraction at this al-fresco dining became the shabu-shabu. Today becomes the last day to have a taste of that traditional winter fare, as tomorrow, the restaurant will be closed for a wedding. Next week, the Korean BBQ will once again reign as the sole performer at this part of the restaurant. The word shabu-shabu is a Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound that the meat makes as it is being moved through the water. It is the English equivalent of "swish-swish."

A small appetizers: a trio of mini bite-size fish, tiny slice of a rolled crepe and greens with miso, accompanied by a small bowl of fish in hot broth started the dining experience.

For the main course, there are only two choices in the shabu-shabu menu: pork or beef. Unlike other traditional shabu-shabu places that offer different grades of the beef, Hanezawa offers only one simple kind, but judging by the taste, it seems that the restaurant serves only the best. Oscar Wilde would have approved.

The vegetable plate was rather a pared down version of the same plate at other shabu-shabu places, but for just one person dining, it was enough for me. The presentation was rather lacking as compared to that of the complex's main dining room's.

Although I was provided with the means to clear the broth, it would have been nice to have that extra touch of service when someone from the restaurant would come by and clear it for you, as is the case at the Shabu Zen restaurant. Also, the udon at the end of the meal was presented for myself to mix with the broth instead of someone (again, at Shabu Zen) coming to prepare it for you at the table. It seems to me that there is more attention paid when one dines at the main dining hall.

Without asking, I can safely assume that the beef was domestic top premium grade. Sliced very thinly, the beef took just less than 3 seconds to become medium rare, and a full 7 seconds to reach well-done.

I am glad to have caught this menu before it goes into a seasonal hibernation. Until it wakes up again late next Fall, I can always review my pictures to remind me of how good a lunch it has been today.

(For another version of the trip to this restaurant, please consult http://bloompy.blogspot.com)

[UPDATED NEWS: December 20, 2005]
Sadly, the Hanezawa Garden has recently closed (December 17, 2005) due to aging facility. The architecture has been in existence since 1915. I have decided to keep this review here for sentimental reasons.

Plates (Hiroo | Tokyo)

Kelly restaurant may be gone, but thank goodness the mural work stays. In its place now stands Plates, a pizza and grill restaurant. The ground floor still retains a bar-like atmosphere with original limited prints by David Lance Goynes, the Berkeley graphic designer responsible for illustrating the Chez Panise and Alice Water's recipe books.

On the first try, on February 20, 2005, a brunch fare on a Sunday presents us with a menu with four options: plates A, B, C, or D, which consists of either a sandwich, a pasta, an omelet or another entree (I forget what the fourth one is) plus salad and a cold-cut appetizer in the form of a medium-sliced salami, and a drink. The price is very reasonable and the amount is definitely generous, but as far as taste is concerned, there is nothing that jumps out from the plate.

The second floor still has the same layout, but one side of the room has different furniture: they used smaller tables to accommodate more tables into that space (there used to be only three tables placed at a diagonal angle to the wall; now there are four). (The accompanying picture dated from the Kelly time.) For the grand opening, they have a 10% discount, available only with the flyer that they had put around Hiroo.

On subsequent visits (2 of them) during a Sunday brunch and a weekday lunch, I discover that the food was just slightly above average. This is never to be compared with the more exciting, daring, and experimental Kelly's entrées. The food at Plates is no doubt very safe: Japanese pasta dishes that are very popular throughout Tokyo. It is because of this reason that this restaurant may survive in this neighborhood.

Plates
5-3-15 Hiroo
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0012
Tel: (03) 6408-2481
info@plates.jp
www.plates.jp

M-F: 08:00-23:00 (LO 22:30)
Sa & Su: 10:00-22:00

Original photograph taken from the Kelly Restaurant website. © All Rights Reserved.