Birthday Lunch: The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo

This year and last, Marlow has taken me out to this fantastic Italian restaurant in Nagoya Station's JR Towers, The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo. They have a great brunch special that offers an appetizer buffet, main dish, dessert and coffee for 2,800 yen. For our main dish, I went with whitefish atop a bed of spinach, and topped with a tomato garlic sauce. It was awesome. Marlow went with the steak topped with greens and a balsamic vinaigrette reduction. Now with that price, this isn't exactly the place you would go for a cheap meal, but if you've got the cash, or something to celebrate, this place is great. And for the price, the quality of food is outstanding, not to mention with the buffet, there's no way you'll leave hungry. The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo is located in the JR Towers in Nagoya Station on the 12th Floor.

Festival Food: Cream Filled Taiyaki

Here's a short video about taiyaki, one of my favorite foods that you can commonly find at festivals in Japan. They're awesome! Check it out:

Shonai Park BBQ

We had a nice BBQ at Shonai Ryokuchi Park (located on the Tsurumai subway line) last weekend with good friends and good food. Marlow and I have a small portable gas-canister powered grill we brought with us, and we barbecued all afternoon. Everyone pitched in and brought food, and we feasted on grilled salmon seasoned with a little oil onion and pepper, pork ribs sprinkled with seasoning salt, hot dogs on sticks and grilled proscuitto wrapped asparagus.

Chocolate Viennetta

Look what I found! Let's be frank, before I came to Japan, I thought Viennetta itself was dead. But now I see that not only is it alive and well, but there's actually a bit of a variety of them. Until now, I had no idea this existed, but low and behold there it was at a grocery store near Kachigawa station, about 20 minutes away from Nagoya. And yes, it was awesome. Just like the traditional but with chocolate ice cream amidst the crunchy layers of chocolate inside. Two thumbs way up.

Shrimpzilla

Marlow and I went to an izakaya (Japanese bar/restaurant) after work in Toyota where we came across this foot long deep-fried monstrosity that Marlow just had to try. Yes, that's a 30 cm long shrimp. Costing about 700 yen (about $7) for only one shrimp might seem steep, but when else will you have the opportunity, right? It was delicious, (as fried things usually are)a little scary, and totally worth it.

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

I tried this recipe by Chef John recently, and it came out great. Super easy, and you need only two ingredients. I tried them baked and and grilled, and I liked the grilled better--but both are pretty tasty. I emphasize Chef John's instructions--don't add any salt or oil to these and the prosciutto itself will be plenty. Try it!