Evening in the Mind of a Chef

After months of anticipation and planning I am finally in Tokyo! I admit that although I prepared for my trip with the knowledge that Japan is a difficult place to navigate with my elementary Japanese skills, I was still very nervous as I got on to the plane in Vancouver. I know that I had psyched myself out thinking about how challenging Japan was, so as I flew the long flight over, looking at all of the “foreigners” on the plane, I summoned my courage because if others could do it with no Japanese skills, I knew I would be able to fumble my way along with my remedial skills.

Landing in Narita, I was quickly comforted by Japanese speed and efficiency and within 35 minutes of my arrival, I had retrieved my bags, gone through customs, picked up my pocket wifi device delivered to me at the Post Office at the airport and I was speeding away on the express train into the city. It’s a true sign of my Japanese-ness that speed and efficiency settles me…

I booked myself into the Park Hotel, which is attached to a train station and walking distance to Ginza. I chose a hotel which had a reputable concierge because I knew this was going to be the easiest way for me to score the tough reservations I was looking to get. Bonus for me, a nice hotel means that I also get to enjoy the comforts of a reasonably sized room in a city where “tiny” is most often used to describe accommodations.

As an added bonus, I have this great view of the city which is turning out to be a great backdrop to write this post.

I have a must eat list for Japan, and when I started researching where I could have the “best” of each category, I found the PBS series “The Mind of a Chef” with David Chang, (and narrated by Anthony Bourdain). I was particularly drawn to the segments throughout the series that he did in Japan. So on my first night in Tokyo, I planned out a night going to 2 places Chang visited on his show.

One thing I love about Japan is that restaurants usually do 1 thing and because they concentrate their efforts on that 1 thing, they do it very well. There are not a lot of 15 page menus (like the Cheesecake Factory) where the 2 main descriptors of why people like it are “the portions are big” and “there’s so much to choose from that everyone is happy”. In Japan, you go to a ramen restaurant to have ramen, and a tempura restaurant to have tempura. So on my first night in Tokyo, still jittery from a lack of sleep, I chose yakitori and had the concierge book me into Bird Land in Ginza.

Bird Land was the first yakitori restaurant to earn Michelin 1*. I found it a bit hard to believe that a yakitori restaurant can  have 1*, but then I remembered my experience at Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong and that Michelin stars are awarded for food that is exemplary in its category and not just for being high-end.

Map and address in hand, I took a taxi to Bird Land even though it was within walking distance, because I didn’t feel like getting lost on my first night. Funny enough, I think that taking the taxi was more confusing. The address on the map did not match the googlemap pin point and after some time “guruguru mawatte” (driving around in circles), the cab driver let me off to try to find the restaurant on my own. Luckily, I knew the restaurant was down in a train stop, so when I got close enough on the googlemap pinpoint, I chose the first train station entrance I could find and happened to find myself looking at the right sign.

It bears mentioning that next door to Bird Land is Sukiyabashi Jiro (from Jiro Dreams of Sushi). And if you’re wondering, although I really enjoyed the movie, I did not try to get a reservation there.

Inside Bird Land, I was seated at the counter and because I didn’t want to have to put any thought into my food, I ordered the ¥6,000 set. Most of what I knew of this restaurant was from a segment from Mind of a Chef where Chang sits at the counter and eats the same meal as I order. As I sat and watched Chef Wada-san work over his small charcoal grill, I knew I was in for a treat and was sad that I didn’t have anyone to share it with.

Halfway into my meal at Bird Land, I fully embraced the fact that I was in Japan on my own. Although it’s nice to share meals with others, Japan is probably one of the easiest places to be a solo diner. I am fully prepared for the culinary awesomeness that I know that I’ll experience here in Japan.

To end my night, I stopped off at Bar High Five (Chang also visited it on the show), where I was hoping the “legendary” bartender Ueno-san would be crafting his amazing cocktails. Unfortunately Ueno-san was not there, but of course I couldn’t say no to a few drinks. This little bar which seats maybe 14 people is really my kind of place.

Tokyo is going to be epic.

Bird Land – 東京都中央区銀座4-2-15, 塚本素山ビルB1F

Bar High Five – 東京都中央区銀座７－２－１４　第２６ポールスタービル４Ｆ