豆腐やうかい

Tofuya Ukai - pne of the restaurants that we tried going before we left Tokyo in August, but this restaurant is always fully booked for some strange reason! So we tried our luck this time round! We got our concierge to help get us the reservations! kekeke

I woke up bright and early in the morning to go have my hair cut, whilst B went shopping at MidTown! We then went over to Tofuya Ukai near the Tokyo Tower! The Ukai chain of restaurants always boast beautiful gardens and traditional Japanese food.

The restaurant was huge! It looked like it could seat up to a hundred people! But I didn't quite understand why it was fully booked almost every night and every afternoon! 'Food better be good' I thought!

We were shown into a private little room that overlooked a pristine and peaceful Japanese Garden.

The 'Show-offs'! Me showing off my new haircut. B showing off his new purchase (if you can spot it!)
Our 9-course set lunch menu now begins!! It's always a grand affair eating in Tokyo. The food is always served attractively. One can tell that lots of attention has been paid in order to whet one's appetite!

(L-R): Grilled chicken and deep-fried rice cake. Great way to start the meal. I love fried mochi cakes, its gooey but yummy. Followed by deep fried beancurd with sweet miso sauce and egg custard. I liked the crispy beancurd skin minus the sushi rice! It was well complemented with the sweetness from the miso. Next up, assorted sashimi.

Fourth on the list was Komatsuna and meat ball. Mmm, the yuzu garnishing was the highlight for this dish! I loved almost anything yuzu! I even wanted to get Yuzu hand lotion.. okie am digressing. Next up, we had an assorted platter of more small dishes. Nothing really that great! I didnt liked the grated yam.. it was slimey! Ooh, the highlight of the lunch set is this Tofu in seasoned soy milk! It's kinda like soya beancurd but its more salty and the tofu was a little firmer! That was one huge pot! I can't manage seconds by now.

No 7 on the list was the yellowtail topped with grated yam. I don't like this grated yam. Its gooey and slimey!! So I didn't polish this off! The last of our savoury dish was rice with broiled salmon. This would be made better if I had it the green tea poured over the rice!! I am so in love with Chazuke! And the last dish for the day was this wine-simmered apple. Great palette cleanser in my opinion! Lunch was almost 2 hours! The thing I like dining in Japan is that the people really take time to enjoy their food. Food is served dish by dish. Everything is timed perfectly. We enjoy having meals like that, long, but we really get to relish each dish. Unlike in Singapore, its chop chop curry pok. Into the food court or restaurant, and we are usually out by 30 mins tops. We do chew our food of course, but I guess, we don't take the time to enjoy it whilst in Singapore.

After this delicious and lengthy lunch affair, B went back to drop off his shopping, whilst I headed to Shinjuku for more shopping with Cat!