Nami Nami, Mountain View, California

"Karoshi" is apparently the Japanese term for death by overwork. I wish I knew the Japanese word for death by overeating.

One of many memorable meals during last week's 9-day visit to D Guy's San Francisco turf was at Nami Nami, a three-month old restaurant on the very hip Castro Street in Mountain View, California.

I have never heard of Kappo Dining but apparently it is casual-style dining from Kyoto. This little restaurant has a very authentic vibe and it feels almost like dining in Tokyo especially since the waitstaff seem to only speak Japanese. A loud "Sumimasen" should get their attention.

To start off the meal, I would recommend the Chinmi - little dishes to accompany sake or beer. The tatami iwashi (flattened crispy whitebait) is always a personal favorite but they also have a few other interesting dishes with strange descriptions you should to try. If you like a good bottle of sake, we had a Kikusui Junmai Daiginjo from Niigata which was very nice and best when serve chilled (I hear only cheap sake is served hot).

Due to my recent education on the terrible plight of the global tuna stock (see National Geographic March issue), I find myself now more partial to interestingly prepared non-fish Japanese dishes and Nami Nami did not disappoint.

The kobe beef sashimi (pictured above) was delicious and is similar to beef carpaccio but lightly seared and garnished with cilantro and sesame seeds.

The other two definite must-trys are the grilled eggplant and the fragrant deep-fried black pork, recommended, of course, by D Guy. The grilled eggplant was served in its skin but the meat had been dug out and cubed, mixed with sauces and then returned to the skin for final grilling. The outcome was a delicious visual delight.

The pork (pictured on right) was lightly floured and still succulent. It was like the sweeter and juicer version of Chinese roast pork marinated in teriyaki sauce. Eating it with the spring onions gave it a kick with none of the overly porky taste. Both the eggplant and pork were wonderful with a bowl of steaming Japanese rice.

240 Castro St, Mountain View, CA 94041
650.964.6990

Tsukiji Sushi Oishii!!!

When given the choice between breakfast and more sleep, I ALWAYS pick more sleep. The one exception is when I am in Tokyo.

Tsukiji Fish Market is located right on the edge of Tokyo Bay where ships can pull up right alongside and deliver their precious loads of Tuna daily. This starts a frenzied chain reaction from an early morning Tuna auction (circa 5am), to the slicing and dicing of the fish (nothing goes to waste) and ending with a satisfying sushi breakfast (burp). Apparently 90% of the fish eaten in Tokyo comes through this market.

My first visit to this fabled market was with D Guy (of course) a few years ago during our first pilgrimage to the Tokyo Motor Show. We made our way to the Tsukijishijo Station on the Oedo Line in the wee hours of the morning when the early rays of dawn were just breaking. The station is right outside the market and if you don't know which exit to use, just follow the guys in the rubber boots. Don't be fooled by the Tsukiji Station on the Hibiya Line, it is somewhat of a longer distance away.

This time around (my fifth to be exact), I took P Girl (who has not been to Japan since World Expo '85) to sample some daybreak sushi. This morning was particularly busy as the little one-man trucks with bumper car agility sped around the narrow alleys at breakneck speeds. The resulting rush of adrenaline kept us on our toes building up our appetite for the feast to follow.

Visitors to Tsukiji should take their time exploring this fan-shaped market. The narrower lanes are less hectic sans the motorized trucks and offer a fascinating array of seafood that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Amazing varieties of prawns, shellfish, crabs waving from sawdust-filled boxes, eels, and anything else you can name can be found here.

The rows of sushi stalls are just outside the fish market and the most famous, (by virtue of their place in popular guide books) sport long waiting lines. No prizes for guessing which ones.

I believe there is a trade-off between food quality and time. No matter how good a sushi place is, if you are situated outside Tsukiji, you can be 99.9% sure that the fish is FRESH! Therefore, we chose a place two rows away and were seated immediately. Consuming significant amounts of raw fish at an early hour can be a shock to anyone's system. I recommend helping your body cope by ordering "Nama-biru". This will set you right instantly. Saying "Nama-Biru Hitotsu" brought me a glass of the coldest and best draft beer I have ever had at 8am in the morning. P Girl wisely (for both of us) decided to share my glass.

If you are still standing after this feast (the food pictured above is for one), the neighbouring stores offer opportunities to purchase all the equipment you ever needed to set up your own sushi bar. From sushi knives, to tableware, to Chef's "happy coats", to those little curtains that make your patrons bow when entering your establishment. The world is your oyster if you can pack it all in your bag without getting arrested.

P Girl (now named Old Tokyu Hand) did show me a new perspective on Tsukiji. After our little tour, we took a 15-minute walk to Carretta Shiodome, a newly created city district, to try to work off the rice and the alcohol. If you take the lift up to the "Sky Restaurants", there is a great aerial view of Tsukiji Market plus HamaRikyu Gardens, Odaiba and Tokyo Bay. You can even see the Rainbow Bridge in the distance and planes heading for Haneda Airport.

If you are a foodie, a trip to this market is a must. No one can claim to have suffered for their passion until they have dined on early morning sushi at Tsukiji. Btw, the market is apparently closed on Sundays. Take note to avoid disappointment.

Delectable Dishes @ Da Marco

He Ate, She Hasn't Been Eating. I'm on an eating binge of late while I'm in Shanghai. Another night, another restaurant.

Da Marco is where the Shanghai locals go for homestyle Italian fare. That's what my friend Yut told me. So we made table bookings for this Italian bistro located on 103 Dongzhu An Bang Road, Golden Bridge Garden. The location is a little odd, set in the main building of a serviced apartment near Zhenning and Jiangsu Roads. We didn't really have a lot of trouble finding the place as some people did, and as we walked into the bustling restaurant we were immediately shown to our table by the window. Mind you, this is not your fancy five-star hotel trattoria, but the warm and friendly ambience made us all feel very much at home. The menu items looked very conventional, with the usual antipasti sampler, carpaccio, mussels and clam and caprese salads. There was also a good selection of meat dishes as well as a dozen or so pizza selections. Nothing bizarre or unpronounceable, just good old-fashioned Italian classics. We ordered beef carpaccio, air-dried beef and steamed mussels and clams. What stood out about Da Marco was the size of the servings, very big by local standards, and yet so reasonably priced.

For our entrees, we ordered spagetti aglio olio, seabass stuffed ravioli in a tomato sauce and shrimp capellini, and again, the generous portions were very delicious and well prepared. They were actually the size my Italian friend's mom would serve her dinners, always fearing that her guests would go hungry. Needless to say, none of us could finish our meals.

We were too stuffed to even attempt to share a dessert, so we asked for the bill, which came to a reasonable RMB700 for three persons, including a glass of prosecco and several rounds of tonic water. Not bad at all. In fact, it reminded me a lot of Cantina, another homestyle Italian bistro in a quiet neighborhood of Singapore with reasonably priced Italian dishes. I'm glad I discovered Da Marco, just like the many Italian expats in Shanghai who have become regular patrons at this popular eatery. This will come in handy when I have a craving for a late night carpaccio snack. I'm not Italian, but I know a good carpaccio or ravioli when I taste one.