PART III to Ciki's Birthday Week
Of course Daikanyama is not a swear word! Aoyama, Omotesando and Daikanyama all share things in common- they are in central Tokyo and have small shopping centers and restaurants, as well as a relaxed atmosphere.
Daikanyama... we saw it walking by Changkat BB the other day en route 21. I also recently read about it on
Sean's blog. No wonder it is named as such, because walking into the establishment, one is immediately aware of how relaxed and trendy the place is.
Anyway, I had been badgering Cumi to check this place out for a week now, and so it was with great surprise when we walked in and saw Bari aka Barricudda! and Edwin, who are both our friends.. what a small world!
Cumi knows Bari from his adventure activities (Bari is an accomplished diver and daredevil.. amongst other things ahem..) and I know Edwin from Hajime. You can see and feel the upbeat tempo and deco of the place from the moment you look at the menu, drawn out to look like the Tokyo subway, to the 'green-lung' in the centre of that cozy bar.
I should call it the 'un-green lung' rather, because that's where the smoking corner is!
Looking at the menu , we feel rather perplexed as the menu is rather brief. Then Bari informs us that Daikanyama is positioned not as a restaurant but rather as a bar with quick and easy food! It is not a place to bring families and have a long and extended dinner session. It is more a place for a drink to unwind after a hard day's work and for some fuss free, quick, Japanese. On the menu are, Sashimi, Yakitori, Japanese Rolls, Japanese Noodles (cold/hot) and an interesting variety of Japanese fried rice. To get this point across, Daikanyama does not serve Ocha... that's right.. we are not a restaurant.. goddit? :P
Well, if you've been following my birthday week, you will see this was the perfect place for us for dinner that night, because after eating that humongous lunch only hours ago and birthday cake courtesy of fbb, we were still stuffed. (well, cumi was.. me .. i was ready for dinner!)
The first carafe of Sake was the Toku Toku Non-Bei and the last was the Kasen Ginkan Ozeki. Don't ask me what came in between:P
The Umeshu which Edwin gave us on the house (sweetie!) was the 'Taru' Umeshu which was a premium Umeshu(plum wine) that's stored in Oak barrels for a premium finish. Not too sweet like some other brand of Umeshu for sure.
I love the Maki here. No complaints all these dishes go really well with Sake.
Reading about the battered soft bone (Chicken) on
"Eat Drink KL", I just had to have it. Good is not the word! I use to 'whack' all the soft bone out of my Grandma's boiling pot, before she could give it to the dogs. That's why, till today, I have such good enamel. Kids, eat your bones.
Sardine with a not dissimilar feel to that of beef jerky(I call this fish jerky), dipped in the Japanese mayo, also a winner. Don't let my description of the texture put you off - the flavour is smoky and grows on you the more you eat it.
Chicken gizzard.. tres tres yum!
There's me fighting tooth and nail with my food. My, my .. what strong jaws u have ciki. All mine - cumi would have none of this :P
Many rolls later, we were finally satiated.
We really like this place. It's as cosy as the bars you find in Tokyo proper. We will definitely be back to kick back and unwind to a nice, chilled, shot of sake, knowing that there will be no screaming kids to disturb our Zen.
Thanks Bari and Edwin for a smashing night:)
Add:
Daikanyama,
42, Changkat Bukit Bintang,
50200 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel:603 2141 0323
