Thai Festival Tokyo 2006

Yoyogi Park May 13^th – 14^th 2006

Well the rain certainly didn’t keep the crowds away from this year’s Thai Festival.

We finally got motivated to leave the house today at around 11am.  By the time we arrived at Yoyogi-koen it was pretty wet and dismal, however the festival was in full swing and the crowds were eating drinking and having a wonderful time.As I wrote earlier, this festival is one of my favourite yearly foodie events.  I love my Thai food and this is a great way to eat some tried and true favourites from various restaurants around Tokyo.  There must have been nearly 40 restaurants represented there today and they all had something I had a hankering for! 

I should of course mention that the festival also showcases arts, crafts, Thai products and services etc.

So, what did I shove in my face today… fish cakes, satays, duck soup, fried dumpling, tapioca, singha beer, po pia thot, crispy chicken, garlic fried prawns, chicken with holy basil, mangosteen… well, to be honest… yes.  I went with a friend and between us we ate far too much.  We didn’t always pick well, as some stalls/restaurants are naturally better then others, and we didn’t always finish each dish, but we did sample a lot of Thai food.  Anyway, here is a list of some of the restaurants we tried and enjoyed: Pho Thai (always a fav), Chao-Thai, Baan Rim Pa, Thai Country (the only Thai I’ve had in Shinjuku) and Krung Siam (though I am sure there were many more that we excellent… these are just the one’s I can remember).  I can only strongly vouch for Pho Thai as an actual restaurant, as I have eaten in its actual restaurant often and always enjoyed my meals there (the quality one expects from a food stall and a restaurant differ considerably after all).

At the festival you can also stock up on Thai cooking goods (coconut milk, fresh herbs, Thai soy sauce) and imported tropical fruits.  We got a box of mangosteen and I doubt it’s going to last long!  I’m posting this on the Saturday, so for those of you who read this in time and still want to go, you have tomorrow to make your way there and enjoy all that the Tokyo Thai Festival has to offer!

 

Cafe Dance

Café Dance   7-8-4 Roppongi Minato-ku Tokyo  Ph: 03-3478-7177

We had long been looking at the wine list on Café Dance’s website and longing to go.  It’s funny how you can plan to go somewhere for so long and just never get there… luckily we made it to Café Dance last night.

Roppongi is a place I usually avoid at all costs.  It doesn’t feel like Tokyo and there are so many nicer places to spend time.  That being said, Café Dance was worth the trip. The wine list is excellent and varied.  They import a number of wines not available anywhere else and their prices are very reasonable.

Having already been the Australian Wine Tasting event prior, we were already pretty “socially lubricated” and so decided to stick with just wine by the glass.  The owner (who was so friendly and accommodating) allowed us to taste a couple of the glass wines before we made our selection, which was an added bonus.  I had a glass of Best’s Late Harvest Riesling which was subtle and not too sweet and then I followed this up with a delicious glass of Joseph Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot.  Joseph (Primo Estate) is only available at Café Dance. 

Food wise we mainly picked at Hors D'oeuvres: prawn and avocado salad, some cheese, prawn and basil wantons, pickles and then I had the veal in port vinegar sauce and my friend had the grilled scallops.  The food was simple and not overly priced, but clearly the wine is the main event.

Café Dance obviously has a lot of regular customers and we could see why.  The service is relaxed, attentive and friendly.  We’ll certainly be going back!

Wine Australia Tasting 2006

Radisson Miyako Hotel Tokyo (Friday May 12^th 2006)

Last night I attended an Australian wine tasting event at the Radisson Miyako Hotel.  It was a great event and amazing to see the amount of people interested in Australian wine.  There were a great number of wineries that already have distribution in Japan, but also a large number of wineries looking for distributors. 

Some of the highlights for me were; Sally’s Paddock, Skillogalee Wines, Bass Phillip Wine, King Island Cheese, Wild Duck Creek, Cullen, Leeuwin Estate and Wynns Coonawarra Estate.  I also lucked out at a stall serving Maggie Beer Quince Paste, I was telling some Japanese people what a wonderful product it was and the rep gave me a free Quince Paste for my “excellent sales pitch”.  Little bit of wine and I’m gushing I guess.

It was interesting for me to see the wines looking for representation and the number of people interested in (and aware of) Australian wine.  I have long been interested in starting an Australian wine shop (with tasting bar) or an Australian food purveyor here in Tokyo.  If I won the lottery tomorrow it would be my business of choice, so it was interesting to see that it could be quite successful.

If you missed this year’s event, then I suggest you keep an eye on the Australian Wine Office site and hope that they run the event next year too.  It was a great event and enjoyable for amateurs (like me) as well as connoisseurs.