Grand Kitchen at Palace Hotel Tokyo (Tokyo, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

It was a gorgeous day to kick off a fresh new year. The ladies would probably tell you there's no better place on earth to spend the first day of the year than Tokyo. Yes, but there's a catch - expect every shop in the city to be closed on New Year's day (malls, underground shopping streets etc.). If you're looking for a place to eat, your best bet would be hotel restaurants which are open 365 days a year. That was exactly our game plan when we took a slow trot towards 5-star Palace Hotel Tokyo.

I would love to sit at the terrace to soak up the sun while I enjoy the view of the Imperial Palace from across the street if not for the freezing temperature (about 3 degrees).

My little nugget was all smiles this morning. I guess he didn't know we would be catching a plane back to Hong Kong late this afternoon.

Once we figured out that it would be impossible to dine on the terrace, we quickly moved inside the main dining room of Grand Kitchen, the all-day dining restaurant located on the ground level of Palace Hotel Tokyo.

Grand Kitchen serves up an eclectic array of American, French, Spanish and Italian fare with a Japanese twist. 

Clam chowder with saffron foam (1,400 yen) - It's been a while since I last had clam chowder for lunch. This was such a soul warming dish to start off a chilly day. Love the creaminess of the chowder which was matched up perfectly with the sweetness of the clams and the extra kick from the saffron foam.



Bacon rolled scallops (3,600 yen) - Picture-perfect pan-seared scallops which have been wrapped with thin slices of bacon were served with Jerusalem artichoke chips.



A truffle flavored bouillon provided the finishing touch to this dish. Not bad.

Spaghetti Pescatora (2,400 yen) - Some homemade pasta for my little nugget. It was tossed in a light tomato and garlic sauce.

The parade of fresh seafood including shrimp, scallop, squid, clams and blue mussels was pretty nice but the pasta would be much tastier if the sauce was a little more soupy.

Chicken fricassee (3,600 yen) - I am a huge fan of Japanese chicken and this dish again reminded me why. The Japanese chicken fillet was absolutely mouthwatering thanks to the remarkably tender texture. Just a bit of butter cream sauce, maitake mushrooms and jasmine rice already made this dish very delicious.



It was the simple, relaxing meal we were looking for to start off the year. Nothing really fancy. Now, hopefully we would save ourselves enough time for a quick visit to the Imperial Palace.





Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: ￥￥￥
Address: 1/F Palace Hotel Tokyo, 1-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan
Closest Metro Station: Otemachi
Tel: +81 3-3211-5364
Website: en.palacehoteltokyo.com/restaurant/grand-kitchen
Opening Hours: 6:00am - 11:00pm daily

Sendai Gyutan Sumibiyaki Mori 仙台牛タン炭火焼 杜 (Tokyo, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

By the time we got back to Tokyo Station from Shibuya, it was already 8pm. Since it was New Year's Eve day, we figured not many restaurants around Tokyo Station especially those in the underground streets would be open this late but we were totally wrong!



In fact, many eateries were still open for business, including Sendai Gyutan Sumibiyaki Mori (仙台牛タン炭火焼 杜), a casual Japanese restaurant that specializes in charcoal-grilled beef tongue.



Sendai (仙台) is home to gyutan (牛タン), a special type of dish featuring pieces of thinly sliced or thick beef tongue, cooked over a charcoal grill. It was done using this type of metal mesh.



We were all looking forward to having their "Special Premium Beef Tongue" but disappointingly, they were all sold out.



Beef tongue curry (1,100 yen) - The diced beef tongue was done like a stew and served with a tangy Japanese-style curry sauce. Very nice. We rounded up getting a second order cuz it was just too addictive.



Standard Gyutan Teishoku, or "Beef tongue set meal" (2,400 yen) - This set came with two types of grilled gyutan, one that's been grilled with salt and the other marinated with miso before hitting the grill. The grilled beef tongue was served with steamed rice, scallion soup made with beef bones and a small salad.



I thought the ones grilled with salt (left) were by far the more delicious of the two. The charred exterior was nice and crusty with lovely smoky flavors, while also preserving the tenderness in the middle. The miso flavored one (right) had a more slippery and chewy texture, and it didn't have the charred crust which would make it much tastier. 



It was a nice, quick meal to wrap up 2019. Now we had to rush back to our hotel to get a quick shower so we could sit back and do our count down. I think this is my first New Year count-down with mom in nearly two decades.



Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: ￥￥￥
Address: First Avenue Tokyo Station B1F, 1-9-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 150-0002, Japan
Closest Metro Station: Tokyo Station
Tel: +81 3-3217-4111
Website: www.date-tokyo.jp/mori.html
Opening Hours: 10:00am - 11:00pm daily

Thierry Marx La Boulangerie (Tokyo, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

All the shops around Tokyo are closing early on New Year's Eve. The Shibuya Scramble Square including their popular depachika food hall is no exception. They are shutting things down at 6pm.



We were lucky enough to spend some time at this highly regarded depachika food hall before its closing time. As a "beef up" version of a typical basement food hall, it spread across 3 different floors (B2F, B1F and 1/F). On B2F, they have the first Japanese offshoot of two-Michelin-starred French chef Thierry Marx’s bakery, Thierry Marx La Boulangerie at the corner.



A lot of bread here were made with high-quality Japanese ingredients including wheat from Hokkaido.



One of their best sellers is their bread maki, a rolled sandwich inspired by the Japanese sushi rolls. Unfortunately, they were all sold out today.


    (Photo from Thierry Marx La Boulangerie's official website)

I ended up getting something more authentically French, Kouign amann which is a buttery sweet breton cake originated from Brittany France.



Kouign amann (280 yen) - Known for its buttery, flaky texture, caramel crust and layered deliciousness.



I had some of my best Kouign amann experience at Dominique Ansel and b. patisserie. This wasn't bad but the butter in between layers could have been more generous. It's flaky but not flaky enough and it's a little hollow in the middle (forgot to take a photo!).

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: ￥￥￥
Address: B2F Tokyu Food Show Edge, 2-24-12 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0002, Japan
Closest Metro Station: Shibuya
Tel: +81 3-6450-5641
Website: https://thierrymarxbakery.jp/
Opening Hours: 10:00am - 9:00pm daily