Dining Snippets in Asakusa: Kamiya x Funawa Pattiserie Marches x Ichiran
I loved the vibe of Asakusa; it’s an eclectic mix of temples, specialty stores and restaurants; that don't typically jive with each other; but oddly do. The place can get packed, especially as it houses popular tourist attractions such as the Sensoji Temple and the Nakamise Shopping Street.
KAMIYA
As Asakusa is known for its tempura, it felt sacrilegious not to pay homage to this dish when we visited it last December. I presume that it’s safe to say that most of us were introduced to Japanese cuisine through tempura. Its crisp batter and its distinctly sweet and savory ginger-topped sauce that marries well with rice is of course, an instant hit for us rice-eaters. Who doesn’t love tempura? My happy meal as a kid comprised of a bowl of Miso Soup filled with plain rice, and paired with perfectly cooked Kisu Tempura from Kimpura. I kept requesting for Kimpura lunches that my mom actually said that she grew tired of the classic restaurant because of me.
Choosing to dine inside Kamiya was an easy choice. As we began our search for the tempura restaurant to go to, one of its chefs popped outside of his restaurant to persuade us to dine inside. Talk about serendipitous timing! Noticing that we were foreigners, he hurriedly went back inside to get us English menus. He was so charming and friendly that it was impossible to resist him!
MIXED TEMPURA OVER RICE (¥1000)
There were limited dining slots inside so we had to wait to be seated. The wait wasn’t too long though as diners tended to simply dine-and-go. Its open kitchen setup is reminiscent to that of Mendokoro Ramenba’s Salcedo Branch, which afford diners front-row access to the lovely sights, smells, and sounds of the kitchen and its cheerful kitchen crew. Most of the crew were aged chefs who probably have perfected the art of tempura for the past decades. An added surprise though was that they were aided by a friendly Filipina who delighted at the fact that five hungry Pinoys were now chatting her up. and chowing down their food in front of her. They were a jolly bunch and their passion for what they do permeates through the food that they prepared for us.
I opted for a classic Mixed Tempura Over Rice and everything about it was perfect. From its clear warm seafood soup, its pickles, to its fragrant cup of Japanese rice tenderly coated in sweet tempura sauce. Fresh off the fryer, the tempura fritters came with just the right amount of batter, assuring a crunchy good bite every time. Each bite, a taste of perfection. I honestly wouldn’t mind going back to try out each dish from its menu (especially its udon)! Definitely, a must-try!
Kamiya
2 Chome-3-14 Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo
Date of Visit: December 30, 2019 with Wilson Chua, Lily Chua, Jared Chua and Jem Chua
FUNAWA PATISSERIE MARCHES
I’ve always had a soft spot for ice creams and gelato. Once I find a flavor I really like, I just stick to it for entirety: Manila Creamery’s Mangga’t Suman with Latik, a combination of Merry Moo’s Earl Grey and Honeycomb, Carmen’s Best’s Salted Caramel and Arce Dairy’s Quezo Real. That’s why I was particularly curious about the fuss stirred up by my sister to find a shop that sold Cremia, which until then, I've never heard of.
We had a couple of false alarms in Tsukiji, but finally, we found a Parisian dessert shop along Nakamise Shopping Street that sold this supposedly highly-coveted ice cream. Were we full? Heck, yeah, especially since we just stuffed ourselves with some tempura! However, we’re definitely not letting this opportunity pass so we still ordered a cone each for ourselves. I opted for the Chocolate-Caramel combination, but it’s the plain Hokkaido Milk(¥350) that’s the ultimate must-try.
CHOCOLAT AND CARAMEL (¥550)
Cheesy as it may sound, you really can’t help but close your eyes when savoring this indulgent treat! The flavor is subtle, while its texture is fluffy as it uses Hokkaido Milk (if you’re a fan of Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory’s ice cream, you would adore this) but since 25% of the mixture consists of cream, it does fill you up quite quickly. Cremia is also particular with its cone. It’s made of a cookie-like consistency which is able to maintain its crunchy exterior while holding up the extremely rich ice cream. No soggy cone-dilemmas, don't worry! The cone itself is reminiscent of the thin Japanese biscuits that come nicely packaged in tin boxes; making it a perfect snack on its own! We enjoyed it so much that we made sure that we snuck in a cone each right before flying back to Manila! Fasola Café in Narita International Airport also sells these heavenly treats!
Funawa Patisserie Marches
Funawa Nakamise No. 3, 1-20-1 Asakusa, Taito
Date of Visit: December 30, 2019 with Wilson Chua, Lily Chua, Jared Chua and Jem Chua
ICHIRAN
Dining in Ichiran would probably be what I was looking forward to the most in our Tokyo trip! Save for their instant noodle version, I have never tried Ichiran before (not even in its HK branches). I’m also a big Mike Chen fan so for it to be his favorite ramen place, it definitely heightened my anticipation for it.
I made sure to orient my parents about its ordering process and its peculiar individual booth setup; however, fortunately for them, the Asakusa branch opted to maintain the traditional communal dining setup so I was able to help them with their orders (such lucky spoiled parents)!
Unlike the ramen bowls I'm used to in Manila, Ichiran’s came in their lonesome as you would have to order the toppings separately. As I wanted the full Ichiran experience, I opted for the full works: nori, egg and chashu so my personal bowl amounted to ¥1580.
It took a while for me to assemble my ramen bowl as the egg still came shelled! However, after a few stressful minutes, my bowl was ready to be devoured. Finally, a taste of Ichiran!
One sip in and I felt underwhelmed.
I took another, and my excitement was immensely dropping.
It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that most of the ramen places here in Manila easily knocks it out the park in the taste department (Mendokoro Ramenba, Ramen Nagi, Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, Ippudo). Admittedly, I’m not a purist when it comes to ramen so its reliance on its classic broth ramen was definitely at a disadvantage. I do appreciate its firm noodles, and its juicy slices of chashu, but nothing about the noodles were mind-blowing.
Despite that though, my Ichiran visit was still eventful and memorable. On his way out, my dad unfortunately missed a step, fell down and hit his head; leaving him semi-paralyzed and semi-unconscious on the floor. The Ichiran crew immediately responded to my dad while the rest of us were still recovering from shock. They were beyond caring and sympathetic throughout the ordeal despite the language barrier and despite their busy dinner crowd. They hurriedly administered first-aid treatment to my dad and helped us call an ambulance.
My first taste of Ichiran didn't really live up to my expectations; but over time, that's something I'd eventually forget about. Genuine compassionate service though? That’s something that you’d remember for the rest of your life. Kudos to Ichiran Asakusa; my deepest gratitude to the all its staff!
Ichiran
1-1-16 B1 HK Asakusa Building, Asakusa, Taito
Date of Visit: December 30, 2019 with Wilson Chua, Lily Chua, Jared Chua and Jem Chua
