Curry and Cafe Critique, and Daily Thoughts: I explore curry restaurants and cafes nearby Kanda and Abiko, and share with you my thoughts on Japanese society.
by rusj1002
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2008年 02月 22日
February 22, 2008
Access: 5 min from JR Yurakucho Station
Capacity: Approx.40 persons
No dinner set available.
This is a well-known Indian restaurant in Ginza The restaurant was quite packed for weekend, though customers came and went. This is my second time here, and I saw parties of Indians each time of my visit. It indicates an authenticity of the restaurant, does not it?
Lassy, Assorted appetizers (Samosa, Chat, Pakola, Spring Roll), Naan, Basmati Rice (half), Saag Panir (Spinatch & Cheese) Curry, Herb and Lamb Curry, and Chai.
I paid 5,560 yen in total and split it with my friend
Wow, they have Basmati Rice, long grain type rice, which I love. This rice really goes with Indian curry. Also, assorted appetizers were great, especially samosa and chat were genuine! And as each piece is small, you don’t get stuffed too much before you eat curries.
Herb and lamb curry was very spicy as it was indicated in the menu. You don’t know it at your first bite, but the more you eat, the more spice you feel…If you do not like very spicy stuff, you better not order curry with more than 2 spice marks. Anyway, Lamb was nice and juicy though.
What surprised me was that the color of Saag Panir curry was red (You know, Saag, spinatch, is always green)! Anyway, it was good. Ah, don’t forget, Naan was hot, soft and crispy.
Though I did not order, they have Afghanistan style naan too. I want to try it next time.
The restaurant is a square-shaped and spacious. But as it is really a busy restaurant due to its popularity, you cannot relax much and feel pressured to leave once you empty your plate. On top of that, waiters are all Japanese, so, it is as businesslike as usual restaurants. (You know, most of Indian restaurants are quite friendly as waiters are from South Asia.)
I love the interior of the restaurant, which features a nice wall painting and decoration pieces. In addition, in-direct lighting produces a mellow mood. During the daytime, it must be very nice, as floor to ceiling size windows allow soft in-direct sunshine from outside.
If you are looking for authentic Indian curry: ★★★
If you want to relax: ★
If you want to come by yourself:★
2008年 02月 10日
February 10, 2008
At a grocery store nearby my apartment, I saw a decoration for Hina-matsuri. Hina-matsuri, a day for girl-children, is March 3, almost a month away. I thought everyone is crazy about Valentine’s day now.
I quite often feel rushed when I am in Japan. Department stores start decorating for Christmas early November. On 25th of December, those decorations are replaced with Japanese style new-year preparation goods. Then, starting from early January, people start talking about Valentine’s day, so on and so forth. It looks like that Japanese people are all looking ahead, not looking at now.
Everyone seems rushed not only about business, but also about life. When I was a high school student, all talked about preparation for university entrance exams. When I was a junior at college, everyone talked about job-hunting. When I got a job, many people started talking about changing the job, and getting married. Well, when you are married (well, I am not married yet), everyone asks you when you are going to have a baby.
As I am not married yet, I kind of feel pressured from my parents, relatives, friends, co-workers and the society. After 2 years of my work in Pakistan, I got a small but nice job that I love. I wonder why everyone does not let me enjoy my job at this moment. I wonder why many people ask me when I will quit the office for another chance overseas. I wonder why everyone asks me when I will be moving to the next stage. Before moving to the next stage, I want to taste this stage to my fullest content.
I guess that many people are quite forward looking, which is not bad. But without concentrating on “now”, I start believing there will be no splendid moment in the future.
2008年 02月 03日
February 3, 2008
South Asians easily get close to others. When I was in Pakistan, one of my co-workers, Lubna, used to offer me lunch every single day. When she took a leave, she arranged that her sisters delivered lunch to me. And she did not ask for any return. Not only this Lubna, but also many other Pakistanis showed unlimited generosity and kindness to me. Many Pakistanis invited me for tea, lunch, and/or dinner, although I casually met them. They never asked me for return.
Even in Japan, waiters and owners of South Asian restaurants, are very close to customers. I was impressed with an owner of an Indian restaurant in Kashiwa, when he showed warm and personal care to a new customer. Well, if you show some interests in South Asian culture, many of them show you great smile and call you a friend.
In contrast, Japanese never get close to others like that. We keep certain distance from others, until we make good friends with. Japanese are said to be very polite and nice, but we do not let others to break into our sphere. I guess that we are a little afraid of getting involved with others. Likewise, we are also afraid of involving or disturbing others.
Keeping distance from others and not getting involved in others are very easy, because there are less disturbances in life than otherwise. Many Japanese live in own small cozy world where unexpected events are less likely to take place. 予定調和We are defending ourselves by keeping distance from others.
Well, it looks like that we are pushing ourselves into solitude. This maybe why the number of suicide cases is greater than the death toll of traffic accident in Japan. I guess that we had better get involved in others more so that each of us is not lonely too much and we build a little more merrier society. We probably have to practice how to be involved in others and how to involve others. In this point, we have a lot to learn from South Asians.
2008年 02月 01日
February 1, 2008
Access: 1 min from JR Kanda Station (East Exit)
Capacity: 15 people
Lunch time set: 800 yen up
Dinnertime set: 1,080 yen up
This is my favorite Indian restaurant nearby JR Kanda Station. They have variety of food, all of which I tried were very tasty. I had been to this restaurant by myself too, but in order to enjoy Indian food and my nightlife better, I came here with my friend today. There were some repeat customers tonight.
We ate:
Lassy, Samosa (2pcs), Lamb curry, Butter Prawn Curry (Spinach), Butter Prawn Curry (Red), Plain Naan, and Garlic Naan.
First of all, samosa was great! I missed eating a samosa (an Indian fried snack staffed with potato, chili, beans, etc.). Wrapper was slightly different from what I ate in Pakistan (it was little bit thicker than what I know), but staffed potato was genuine filling. As a samosa is a heavy snack, you had better come with friends so that you can share it
Naans are freshly tandoored in the kitchen. I know that what I seek for Indian restaurants is a fresh naan! They have special naan such as cheese naan and potato naan. I have not tried them, but they must go with beer!
Curries are also spicy but creamy. I have never eaten prawn curry, but prawns go with curry very well. As I love spinach curry, I fell in love with the combination.
Also, Nepali waiters are very friendly. As my friend speak Nepali, the waiters gave us a lot of discount too. Since the restaurant is small, they have lot of discretion. (Probably, it won’t be a case in a big franchised restaurant.) So, in a small Indian restaurant, please try to make friends with them, as most of South Asians enjoy talking with customers.
As they have reasonable dinnertime set menu, you can enjoy an Indian curry by yourself. For example;
Vegetarian dinner set (1,080 yen) includes: Daar (bean) curry, vegetable curry, fresh tandoored naan, and salad. It is perfect to add a glass of lassy to this dinner set menu (420 yen).
The restaurant space is so narrow that the swing door to kitchen hits the nearest seat! I realized that you cannot relax much in a narrow space. Is it their strategy not to have customer sit long?
If you are looking for an authentic Indian curry: ★★★
If you want to relax and space out: ★
2008年 01月 27日
January 27, 2008
I talked over beer and dinner with my friends the other day. You know, 95 % of girls’ talk‘ are about relationships and rumors. Normally, I am fond of this kind of talks, of course, but, to be honest, I was a little tired of hearing of “someone is hooked up with someone” stuff on that night. Well, I was quite overwhelmed by power, energy, desire or whatever it is called, that everyone possesses. Looking at myself, I just cannot imagine myself running for a guy or having two boyfriends, or try to date with a guy with a serious girlfriend or wife…anymore.
Presumably, I have grown old and have lost a lot of energy even to crave for something. When I was younger, I had many dreams. Fortunately, I was able to realize many of them. Probably, I looked very energetic in pursuing my dreams in everyone’s eyes. But at the same time, some of my friends may have been a little sick of me because of the energy I presented.
I am always impressed by people’s great energy and dreams. But at the same time, I feel a little shame about myself and urged to pursue something, if I don’t have such energy.
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