TOKYO: Tempura Kondo 2 stars Michelin

I haven't achieved much in my lifetime but, at least I can say, I've dined at the restaurant that rejected President Obama. 

So, the story goes that, Japanese prime Minister Shinzo Abe wanted to take Obama to Tempura Kondo but because the restaurant was already fully booked, the reservation request was turned down. Hence, PM Abe took Obama to Sukiyabashi Jiro instead. 

I remember Nick and I had a terrible time trying to find this place, but thankfully still made it in time for our dinner reservation ! 

We opted for the set menu. There's 3 option - 11000yen, 14000yen and 18000yen. 

11000 yen (FUJI)  

Tempura (Prawn x2, vegetable x4, fish x3)

Kakiage (mixture of bits of scallop and prawn friend in batter)

Fruits

14000yen (KAEDE)

Appetiser ( 2 japanese dishes, today's chef recommendation) 

Tempura (Prawn x2, vegetable x6, fish x3)

Kakiage (mixture of bits of scallop and prawn friend in batter)

Fruits

18000yen (YOMOGI)

Appetiser ( 2 japanese dishes, today's chef recommendation) 

Sashimi

Tempura (Prawn x3, vegetable x6, fish x4)

Kakiage (mixture of bits of scallop and prawn friend in batter)

Fruits

OF COURSE MY DARLINGS, always opt for the most expensive. 

So I've always believed, if you've painstakingly flown to another country, and with heaps of effort and some luck, manage to get a booking at a good restaurant, not going for the best is an insult to your core self. 

18000yen (YOMOGI) set:

Let the frying begin!

So the restaurant is divided into 2 sections - front and back. Front is where the main chef Fumio Kondo work his magic. The back is where his.. disciples slowly hone their skills. 

I've unfortunately only managed to sit at the back section, but I realised that those at the front section were all Japanese (must be his regulars hmm)

However, Nick on the other hand, who has been here couple of times, has managed to sit at the front section once. YESSSSSSSS. Will do another post on his experience another day.  

NUMBER 1 PRAWN HEAD. 

please everybody, rosuvastatin 20mg stat.

The above is some mountain flower that can only be found on snow mountain. So I asked the chef which snow mountain was it - FUJI?! 

I didn't know what mountain he said but it didnt sound like Fuji, meh ):

Don't know what happened to the rest of my fish pictures, I probably was so greedy I ate everything before getting a picture, ooops, soz. let's hope Nick does a better job haha.

Oh, Please definitely order an ala carte sweet potato at the start of your meal. This sweet potato was SO SWEET AND NICE. 

AMAZING KAKIEGE

Wish they served me musk melon instead, oh wells. 

I definitely definitely recommend everybody to try Kondo if you're after a good tempura meal. 

It's really a notch above the rest, the batter was crispy yet light. I have a really bad digestive system as I previously mentioned, and I get severe dyspepsia if things are too oily. And you would expect your stomach to be coated in oil after so much deep fried food, however, ZERO symptoms, not even an oily burp.

SUGOIIIIIII!

Sakaguchi Building 9F, 5-5-13, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Close every Sunday.

Lunch 12noon - 3pm

Dinner 5pm - 10 pm

TOKYO: Bird land @ Ginza

Dinner on our second night took us to BirdLand @ Ginza, which also happens to be diagonally across the Legendary Jiro. We weren't fortuanate enough to snag a booking at Jiro this trip because he just reaches his maximum capacity so quickly ?! So Nick and I spied on jiro thru the small glass entrance door.

Birdland is a 2 Michelin star restaurant and I was really curious how a restaurant serving just birds could be awarded 2 Michelin, I was really glad we managed to get a reservation. 

Apparently they use only top quality free range Shamo gamecock which I'll collectively refer to as chicken in all the this post

You have the option of ala carte or omakase. We opted for the ¥8400 Chef Omakase menu and Nick was recommended  the Hikomago dai ginkyo sake, the most expensive on the list but really easy to drink. 

Cute birdland cup for the sake. This cup is available for purchase at ¥1000. 

Our appetiser. Top left is seasoned bamboo shoots, top and bottom right are some vegetables. Bottom left was treated chicken skin

Lightly seared chicken. I was really worried eating this because all along my mom told me chicken should never be eaten raw. And as a medical professional, we know salmonella thrives on uncooked poultry :o ate it anyhow, was really tasty and mentally prepared myself for intense toilet activities the next few days. 

(There wasn't any diarrhoea thankfully. This goes to show that meat was really fresh !! ) 

Chicken pate. Tasted really yummy, except I do not eat any innards of any animals so I opted out of this dish and they gave me the yummiest capsicum I had in my life.

It was just lightly seasoned with salt and fri sales with olive oil but all japanese things are superior this capsicum has this wondrous natural sweetness to it. 

Chefs being hard at work. One thing I like about Japan, is that their exhaust system is fantastic. There's so much grilling going on but when I stepped out of the restaurant there weren't any traces of smoke left on my hair or clothes. 

Cooked chicken breast with fresh wasabi 

Chicken liver

cooked chicken breast with green peppers

Grilled Chicken breast with skin. 

Handmade tofu. Beats our singapore market tofu hands down. The tofu was smooth yet firm, and doesn't break apart under the force of the chopstick. And trust me, I'm no chopstick guru.

I love japanese gingko. They're really sweet. 

This piece of chicken is what they call the chicken oyster. Its a small part that sits on the chicken thigh such that it looks like the chicken has hips !

Organic salad with special dressing and fruit tomato. 

Chicken meatball ! I loved this item !! 

Teriyaki chicken 

Shiitake mushrooms 

Another chicken skewer 

Melted cheese

We had a choice of either chicken oyakodon or winter special duck rice. Nick really loves oyakodon, so I decided to go with the duck just so we get to try both and because I really love eating ducks. Sadly, I preferred the oyakodon. There wasnt a lot of duck meat in the rice and I guess it just didn't taste that special. 

The chicken essence that came with it was amazing 

I know this is a restauarant that specialises in bird dishes but this doesn't stop them from serving up the NICEST creme caramel I've ever had in my life.