“Chikuha” and the great view of Tokyo Skytree in Asakusa

Good evening!
Thank you very much for visiting this blog.

Today I’d like to introduce an organic food restaurant, “Happy Spice Cafe”, in Asakusa.

* This restaurant had been closed.

Contents

The town of shoes, Asakusa

The day I visited this restaurant was last week, the day when Tokyo had “the strongest cold wave ever”.
Why did I go out on such a cold day?

1. I thought that there should have been less people because it was so cold, and also it was the day before the payment day for general people.
2. I had an inspection with an endoscope to take 3 days later, so I wanted to go to research restaurants before the test just in case that a polyp would be found and I would have to be packed in the hospital for a surgery.

These were the reasons.

Fortunately, there was a polyp but it was very small (I believe that it appeared in short time, and it should be because of too much working in April and May last year), so I didn’t have to be packed in the hospital and I could write this blog. There’s nothing better than good health. Please take care of your selves.

This restaurant locates on the 6th floor of a building which has a famous shoe shop in Asakusa called “Maruzen”, and this building is just in front of the 5 exit of Asakusa Station.

When I moved to Asakusa, I knew for the first time that Asakusa has many companies which make, wholesale, and retail leather shoes. Such leather shoes-related companies are gathering in the northern area of Maruzen.

According to <a href=”http://www.tokyo-shoemakers.jp/”>the website of “Tokyo Shoe Maker” cooperative association</a>, this comes from such a history; There was a man in the early Meiji period, Naoki Dan, who was a member of the family who was in charge of managing leather goods’ production in Asakusa since the Edo period. He thought that there would be more demand for military shoes, and it would mean the more demand for leather goods industry. He spent much of his fortune on a new big factory in the northern Asakusa, Imado area (there is Imado Shrine which is famous for En-Musubi (matchmaking), the history of Soji Okita’s (a famous samurai in the end of Edo period) last place, and Manekineko (welcoming cat)), and he raised many shoemakers. This led Asakusa to be the place of shoemakers.

As many shoe-related companies are gathered there, you can buy shoes with lower prices in Asakusa.

“Happy Spice Cafe” near Asakusa Station

Now, today’s restaurant is on the 6th floor of the most famous shoe shop of the shoes’ town. The reason why I was interested in this restaurant was that I saw this board every time I came out from the 5 exit of the station to go home.

I found a word of “SAKE” on the board, so I though that they would have Nihonshu menu. Also, I thought that Tokyo Skytree and the famous object on Asahi Beer’s building should be seen, so it would be a nice topic for this blog.
I imagined that a restaurant with such a nice location must be popular and a difficult place for a lonely visitor like me to try. Therefore, I chose a very cold day before the payment day.

I went up to the 6th floor of Maruzen Building.

It might be difficult to tell from the photo, but there was a pharmacy at the front when I arrived at the 6th floor, and there was the restaurant at the back.

Inside the restaurant, there were table seats like I showed you in the first photo, and at the window side,

There were Zashiki seats (seats on tatami floor which is Japanese traditional floor).
As I imagined, the other visitors were only 2 ladies.

Now, the view was like this.

Tokyo Skytree and the Asahi Beer’s object were there as I expected! The wires in the glass were getting in the way, though^^;

The menu of “Happy Spice Cafe”

Taking photos not ordering is annoying for the restaurant. I checked the menu to make some orders.

Curry was their main menu, and tacos, vegetable dishes and meat dishes followed. There were limited number of food menus.

Many food menus have more possibility to satisfy the visitors’ demand and it’s easier to increase the sales, but at the same time, it costs a lot for buying the ingredients, storing the ingredients, and disposing the remaining ingredients. The more important thing is that the restaurant’s characteristic become unclear if they have too many menus.

This restaurant is new, and the building itself was also new which was built in May of last year.
It should take time to know what is needed in the location, and to establish the business base at the place. Therefore, to limit the number of food menus and to make the restaurant’s characteristics clear can be a good way as the management strategy.

Nihonshu at “Happy Spice Cafe”, “Chikuha Junmaishu”

The drink was,

“Suntory The Premium Malt’s”.
Choosing Suntory’s “Malt’s” in front of the head office of Asahi Beer (Suntory and Asahi are competitors in beer industry) is my good sense of humor.
I like it this kind of humor^^

I’m actually collecting the data of beer as well as sake. I check what kind of beer the restaurant has, and seeing the restaurants in Asakusa, most of the 40 had “Asahi Superdry” probably because Asakusa has the head office of Asahi Beer.
If a staff of Asahi sees this blog, he or she might come to “Happy Spice Cafe” to change their beer menu…… or not.

Let’s get back to sake. Their sake was,

“Chikuha Junamishu” made by Kazuma Shuzo in Ishikawa Prefecture.

I usually order beer for the first drink, but I had an inspection soon so I ordered sake from the first not to take too much time there (I noticed later that it would be a good joke if I drunk Malt’s viewing Asahi’s building).
It was hard to decide which to take from the food menu, and I finally ordered a salad, and curry later.

After I ordered, “Chikuha” arrived first.
I tried it.

！！
!!
Surprisingly good!
It was sweet like white wine.
It had deep flavor, and it also had clear after taste. The flavor remained on my tongue moderately and it went through smoothly.

The food of “Happy Spice Cafe”

While I was sipping the sake viewing Skytree and Asahi’s golden object (“flamme d’or” in French, “golden flame”), the salad came.

On some big leaves of red-leaf lettuce (I thought), there were other vegetables which I didn’t know their names and pieces of Tandoori chicken, and pink and yellow flowers on the top.
It was very “Insta-Bae (“Instagrammable”)”, and also “Blog-Bae”, good appearance for blogs!
I started it after I took out one serve on a small plate.

It was delicious!
The lettuce’s taste was thick, and slight and natural bitterness was a good accent.
The dressing tasted of lemon, garlic, and other things which I couldn’t tell.

And Tandoori chicken.

It was nicely moistened and soft. The spice for the seasoning was not so hot, and I thought that something like cinnamon tasted stronger.
This Tandoori chicken’s taste was not so strong, but it indeed had flavor of spices. However,

This Chikuha didn’t disappear when I had it with the chicken, and it rather mixed with the chicken’s flavor nicely. What an amazing sake!

“KINOBI Kyoto Dry Gin”

I finished Chikuha on the half way of the salad, so I looked for the next drink.

I found “KINOBI Kyoto Dry Gin” in “Organic SAKE” menu.

“Gin is not SAKE…?” I looked it up on the internet and I found that this “Gin” is a gin called “Kinobi” made by Kyoto Joryusho. This gin is made with Japanese unique ingredients such as rice, Gyokuro tea leaves, Yuzu citrus, white cedar, and Sansho pepper.
I couldn’t find other Nihonshu, so I ordered this “Kinobi”.

The smell was of gin.
The taste was……, too complex and deep to describe, I must say.

The base of the taste was gin, but maybe because I was eating spicy food like Tandoori chicken with, I felt some spicy-like flavor in the gin.
I thought that it matched the restaurant’s concept, “Spice” and “Organic”.

This is “Organic” – My first Vegan Curry

I finished my salad, and I ordered a curry for the main and the conclusion.
The choices were “keema curry” and “vegan curry”.
What’s “vegan curry”? I searched it on the internet, and I found that it was curry which is for the people who don’t eat any animal products.
I’d never had it, so I chose this “vegan curry”.

There were options for curry, “Simple” and “Forest”. I read the explanation.

It said, “Forest: Many vegetables as a forest♡”.
I wanted to see how much the vegetable would be, so I chose “Forest”.

The menu book also said, “Forest curry takes as long time as paella as we start cooking vegetables after your order”. Another message, “The cushions in this room are made by autistic children and filled up with their love and cotton. Each of them is the only one in the world♡” followed.

I noticed that there were many cushions in the Zashiki room then.

This cat cushion was staffed by those children.

I had sips of “Kinobi” seeing Japanese houseboats going up and down on Sumida River,

And (something like) “Hotaruna (a tourist boat)” which was designed by a famous comic artist, Reiji Matsumoto, who created “Uchu Senkan Yamato (‘Star Blazers’)” and “Ginga Tetsudo 999 (‘Galaxy Express 999’)”.

I noticed that it would be a season of cherry blossoms in 2 months.
This Sumida River became famous for its beautiful scenery of cherry trees lining up along the river since the 8th Tokugawa Shogun, Yoshimune Tokugawa (also known as “Abarembo Shogun” from a famous TV history drama), planted cherry trees along the both side of the river in the Edo period. Its view in spring is full of pink flowers and just beautiful.
People have enjoyed the beautiful river from boats since the Edo period, and now we have the houseboats and Hotaruna to do it. It must be romantic.

While I was thinking about such things, my curry arrived.
Now, what does “Forest” curry look like?!

Indeed, the curry was hiding beneath “forest of vegetables” ^^;

Carrot, sweet potato, broccoli, burdock, and mushrooms …… there were also other vegetables and pickled vegetables which I can’t tell the names.
If I had known how it was, I didn’t need to order a salad^^; I broke into the forest and reached the curry.

It was bean curry, and not so hot at first. However, I felt the hot spice stronger later.
I don’t know a lot about spice so I can’t describe the flavor exactly, but I could feel the taste and smell of herbs other than spice, and it made it even better.

The vegetables had mild and natural good tastes maybe because they were organic. It looked a big volume, but I didn’t feel tired of it at all.
I don’t like whole-roasted vegetables and the astringent/bitter taste of vegetables, so I usually eat only vegetables which are cut into fine pieces. However, I liked their vegetables so much!

When I was to check out, the manager of the restaurant asked me, “You like vegan curry, don’t you?” I had a chat with the manager about their vegetables for a little while since then.

Their vegetables are grown around the downstream of Shimanto River in Kochi Prefecture (I remember). The manager said that vegetables which are grown with the water from Shimanto River which is said to be Japan’s best clear river are great, and indeed, they were great.
I thought that if the vegetables around us are good like theirs, people who dislike vegetables should decrease.

This time I could meet an interesting sake which goes well with spicy food.
By the way, an Indian food restaurant opened near my home last year, and they also had Nihonshu.
Seeing various articles on the internet, I knew that more people around the world are enjoying Nihonshu with their own countries’ foods.

I’d like to introduce such “globalizing” sake on this blog from now on. I said that I would visit again to the restaurant’s manager, and left for home.