The hotel has a non-cleaning discount policy. 1,000 YEN voucher if you opt for the non-cleaning service, which basically means the bedsheets and towels will not be changed that day. Trash will still be cleared. You can't opt it for two consecutive days though.
The vouchers are spent on breakfast at the hotel's cafe and the mini-mart. I can't believe it, the bread is super tasty!
Well, back to mission proper. To further the beefy theme for this trip, we made another trip back to Kichijoji. I just had to taste Matsuzaka steak.
This time we were early. We loitered around and went up to the teppanyaki joint above Sato Steak house.
I thought the Kobe beef we had the first day at Mon Cher Ton Ton was slightly more tender. Even then, each savoury beef cube here still melts in your mouth!
CP ordered the lightweight version:
Afternoon was spent at Odaiba. Basically a man-made island with an amusement parks and shopping malls. We only visited the malls.
Shibuya
I know I had to visit Gonpachi for dinner. It's the yakitori restaurant that was recreated in the movie Kill Bill.
Soba. The pot in the 2nd pic contains a bland nutritious soup that you pour into the dipping sauce after finishing the soba. You would then drink it up.
Be sure to go early because it was packed at 7 p.m. With yakitori, your wait becomes longer when there are more people. I waited almost 30+ min for my final order of a tebasaki (chicken wing)!
Day 3, we headed towards the Tokyo Imperial Palace East Gardens. This is opened daily to the public, except for Mondays. The closest station is Otemachi on the Mita Subway line.
The weather is still fantastic.
At one end of the gardens is a sakura tree in full bloom. The flowers looks like little cotton balls! A beautiful sight!
Next, we headed over to Chidorigafuchi Koen, which is just across the road. You just can't get tired of the cherry blossoms and I think the locals have the same feelings!
Third stop of the day is Kichijoji, which is west of Shinjuku, accessible by the JR Chuo Line. Our destination is the Sato Steak house, which offer Matsuzaka beef, considered a grade above Kobe beef!
When we reached, after some wrong turns, there was already a long queue!
Not wanting to lose out, we joined in but not knowing what we are queuing for. Finally, we know ...
Croquette-like minced beef balls. 140 YEN each if you buy 5, else it's 180 YEN.
A little time left before our appointment with a friend, so off we go to Akihabara.
From the Maid Cafe:
Girl group promoting their music CDs:
Dinner is at a Korean BBQ restaurant in Shin-Marunouchi Building Tokyo.
I guess we didn't really manage to wake up very early. There's a Japanese-styled garden in our hotel. So that's our first stop but I guess the cherry blossoms haven't reached full bloom yet.
Next stop : Harajuku Maybe we'll catch some cosplay action.
It's already very crowded by the time we reached there at about 11:30 a.m.
Of course we had to try the crepes with ice-cream again. It's simply fantastic in the cold weather. The locals loved it too.
Cosplay in action:
Next : Omotesando It's just a stone throw away from Harajuku. Lot's of nice looking people along Omotesando.
Louis Vuitton
With our new purchases, we headed towards Shinjuku. The goal is to visit the Shinjuku Gyoen. However, due to a few wrong turns, we lost a lot of time. As the gardens closes at 4:30 p.m. , we decided to stay around the area. Dinner is supposed to be nearby at Mon Cher Ton Ton located at Sumitomo building.
So we helped ourselves to ice-cream while passing time off ... once again! Simply delicious. The few locals around us were all declaring the ice-cream "oiishi"!
Almost dinner time, we made our way to Tocho-mae station on the Oedo subway line. Yes, there are so many subway lines in Tokyo ... e.g. Hibiya, JR Yamanote, Chuo, etc.
Out of luck, dinner is fully booked till 8 p.m. I didn't want to wait for 2 hrs so off we went to Roppongi. We were thinking of going to Gonpachi. This is supposedly the yakitori restaurant that was recreated in the movie Kill Bill.
We took the wrong exit at Roppongi subway station. As luck would have it, we are actually quite closed to another Mon Cher Ton Ton right here in Roppongi.
This is truly Japanese fine dining. Someone took our coats and shopping bag at the entrance. We were then shown our seats and tied a apron-like napkin to our necks.
I ordered the Kobe Special set (20,000 YEN) and CP ordered the Seryna set (11,000 YEN).
The top slab is Japanese beef, the bottom slab is Kobe beef. It's the first time I tried Kobe beef and all the talk I had heard is true. It melts in your mouth. You couldn't really taste the fats, it's so well marbled.
The Japanese beef was just as good, which I suspect to be Wagyu. It has almost the same marbling as the Kobe beef but a little more chewy.
Seryna set: Appetiser and cold pumpkin soup.
Baked pasta, prawn and scallops.
Here comes the steak. We shared the two slabs.
Fried rice with dried fish for both finishes the meal.
Kobe Chef Special set:
Foie gras and sea bream carpaccio.
Abalone
Salad in sesame oil.
After we finish the main course, we adjourned to another cosy sofa setting for desserts and coffee.
The satisfied us.
It's a really delightful meal to end the day. Well worth the price!
