These are my hidden spots in Azabu Juban
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I'm back with another food video,
this time I'm in Azabu Juban
and I'm showing you my favorite spots
and some of them are actually
hidden spots that I haven't shared before
If you guys have never been to Azabu Juban,
then it has kinda its own atmosphere
It kind of has this mix of
a Japanese and European Western vibe
Which is so unique on its own
and it's one of the first neighborhoods I discovered
when I came to Japan and I wanted to
share with you some of my favorite spots
I'm so excited to start this video,
but before I start,
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Without further ado, let's get our food on!
Azabu Juban is located right next to
Roppongi with Namboku and Oedo lines
running to the area,
making it fairly easy to access
An affluent area since the Edo period,
Azabu Juban is known for its high-end
residential spaces with a mixture of a retro and modern atmosphere
Of course, the main attraction here is
Azabu Juban shotenkai which has more than 300 shops
and I love how you can find shops with
over 100 years of history sitting next to a trendy international gourmet shop,
but don't sleep on the side streets!
I mean, yeah I guess don't sleep there,
but also you should visit the side streets
#1: New New York Club
this is the go-to custom bagel sandwich shop in the area
It got popular for its rainbow bagels,
but don't get blinded by the trendy flash
They make excellent bagel sandwiches
that will have you singing, "Hold me, hold me!"
And if you're not about that custom life
you can pick up from one of their set bagel configurations
from savory to sweet; they even got a vegan option!
I couldn't actually decide today,
so I got two of the bagels
First of all we're gonna start with the dessert because
that's how I like to roll
This one is their 'Oreo Monster',
you can see the cookie
It has some blueberry cream cheese,
it has some Oreo cookie,
and then I got the unicorn bagel
Let me just take a bite
I feel so guilty eating this
The bagel itself is super fresh
It's a little on the chewy side,
but has a nice kind of chewy texture to it
Cannot go wrong with this
What a stupendous meal,
look at that
That is some junk in your trunk
and let me show you the second dealio
This one is the 'Beef 'n' Cheese Brisket'
Look how thick that meat is right there
There's quite a lot of flavor coming
from that brisket paired with the cheese
the sauce itself is a little bit sweet,
but not too sweet
Cheese is just melty and melty,
just how I like it
This one is quite on the heavy side so
even just eating like just a few bites
you feel like this one will fill your stomach
I got the cheese bagel, I thought it'd go really well
with the brisket and the cheese
At the end of the day,
you can have whatever bagel combination
you want in this place, so have fun
If you want a little piece of the US
a little piece of New York,
come to this spot
#2: Tsukishimaya
With more than 70 years of history under its spell
this shop is beloved by locals for its 'Imagawayaki'
Oh okay! Has life started?
I don't even know what I'm saying,
but I feel like today is gonna be a good day
because I have these two pockets of joy in my hand
I've got cheese and I've got custard
First of all I personally like to start off with the cheese
because it feels more kind of like a real deal meal
It's like two flat biscuits smashed together
What's really nice about the outer shell
is that they added some black sugar to it
to give it that soft texture
It looks like it would be hard and crunchy,
but it has this nice kind of playful bouncy mochi texture
that a lot of other pastries like this don't have
And then when you take a bite it's not just cheese,
it almost tastes like
there's a mayonnaise flavor to it or a buttery flavor to it
More than a dessert, it feels like I'm having
kind of like pancakes with cheese and mayonnaise on top of it
And now for dessert we have the custard
Wow! Whoa! Don't lose the custard!
You can see it just steaming,
perfect for a fall day like this when it's a little bit chilly
leaves are turning brown, they're falling on the ground
you just need something to warm up and this is the perfect treat
the custard itself it has that kind of that eggy taste to it
I can see like this shop has been around for 70 years
and you know a shop to last that long it has to be good
But anyways, let's move on to the next spot
Let me show you one spot real quick
that beats the airport souvenir shops
Look at all these beans
I think they have more than 100 different beans here
It's kind of like the perfect place
if you wanna bring back some souvenirs for family
There's just so many different types that
I think you'll be able to find something for someone
3: Tonkatsu Miyako
This spot is one of those "if you know then you know" shops
Ultra popular amongst locals for its tonkatsu pork cutlets,
the meat is carefully selected every day
from Kanagawa and Gunma prefectures
guaranteeing superior quality and that fresh fresh
The meat is sliced only after you order
Just sitting at the counter it feels like I'm at a sushi restaurant
The meat itself is deep fried twice.
in a low heat and then a high heat rapeseed oil.
producing an extra crispy shell
My mouth is already watering
I got the tofu hidekatsu
Look at how crispy the outside is
I'm gonna dip it in the first house from this restaurant, like that
I mean just look at it, you know why this is this special dish
Oh that's one of the best pieces of meat I've ever tasted
that's golden crispy on the outside
And that meat is so tender and flavorful
Oh and that sauce, the sweet side
Adding a little sesame there adds a bit more texture to it
I am so happy coming to this spot!
They offer a special tonkatsu sauce,
dashi soy, two kinds of salt, sancho pepper, and wait for it
that good old Canadian maple syrup
And let me dip it in some Canadian maple syrup
Look at that dripping maple syrup
Surprisingly that pairs it really well together
There's no other place I know where
you can get maple syrup and katsu together
and then also you can throw some salt on it
Wow, the salt just itself with the katsu is it brilliant
Let me just throw some more maple syrup on here
and then go back to the Miyako special sauce
and then throw it back with some more salt
I love how you can taste all the different flavors here
This is their tonjiru right here and what I love about it is
if you kind of dig down deep, huge chunks of meat inside
None of the scraps go to waste here
Now if you're into a traditional tonkatsu with a thicker breading
I also gotta give a shout out to Muranaka
They serve a delicious Sangen buta pork from Hirata farm
and it's a mouth-watering pleasure that won't break the bank
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That said, let me take you to the next food spot
#4: Dalian
This is another little secret spot that
I wanted to share with all of y'all
If you're looking for a kind of like a beer and some gyoza spot
then this is where I would recommend to go
I mean if you just look around it is kind of like has that izakaya atmosphere
You come here to drink and eat, maybe just hang out with some friends
I've got my beer right here and I got these awesome dumplings
You can see the top of it, it's all kind of fried together
They call it like 'paripari' like "crunchy"
and you hear that crunch when you break it
Juices just dripping from the gyoza
First I gotta have a beer though
That's nice
For my little sauce here, vinegar, soy sauce, and some chili oil
Dip it in like that
Look at all the juice coming from that dumpling, it's just dripping
That is so crunchy
That pork is so flavorful
All of the oils and the meat juices are coming from that gyoza
It's amazing!
First thing is the crunch
and then the next thing is the explosion in your mouth
It's spritzing everywhere
You can see how juicy the insides are
you see the onions in there, you can see the pork
It has a little bit of a sweetness to it
just a little maybe coming from the onions
The gyoza is just amazing, but then to wash it down
with the beer is just job done
I'm so satisfied
So before we continue on, I wanted to show you this little spot
It's kind of like a little train station, let me show you
#5: Rakuman Korokke
Ever been like,
"Hey, I want to eat an award-winning korokke"?
Well, welcome to the next spot
This shop's fried goodies are
just like my bracelets in elementary school, all handmade
They use a kitakami potato from Hokkaido Niseko
which are known for their strong sweetness
Instead of sauce they recommend using their original rausu kombu salt
to brighten up the taste of its ingredients
I got the goodies!
Look at this!
This is a wagyu korokke
It should have some potatoes in there,
crispy panko golden fried sesame seeds on the top,
can't beat it!
And take the first bite
Wow! That is a piping hot
You can actually get the ones that they've already made
or if you wait five minutes they will freshly fry it for you,
and that's what we've done and that is ultra piping hot right there
and you have these really thick pieces of wagyu beef
they say 'tapuri' meaning there's a whole lot of wagyu in there
and they give you some white powder as well
It's actually salt
Throw some salt up in there like that
sprinkle a little bit on, just like so
Wow!
The potatoes itself gives off a nice sweetness
and the wagyu beef gives an umami just to round out the flavor
And I just love how crunchy this is
Let me just share with you how crunchy this is
And I'm all done I should probably have ordered more
Luckily I didn't just order the korokke
I ordered also their menchikatsu
Look at that, let me just take a quick bite
Dude, super hot just like the korokke
The meat juices are on point,
but I think you just need a little bit more flavor
and that's why they give you this salt
And then you gotta throw a little bit of the salt on
to accentuate that flavor and to kind of bring it all out
You got all the salt flakes on there, right there
And it's just so crispy, you can see it just flakes off
Getting all over my pants
Make sure to have your napkins ready
Probably have it all over my face, but it's just so good
Definitely another local spot I'm showing you today,
but that said let's move on to the next spot
#6: Amanoya
This Japanese style café goes all the way back to 1927 in Osaka
Originally gained its popularity
from serving egg sandwiches in bite-sized form
to mostly women entering the workforce,
who also appreciated being able to take
their food with them while working outside or visiting the theater
I got the baggies of goodies!
We got the boxes of all boxes
This is probably the happiest box I'll get today
The wrapping is just insane in Japan
It feels like Christmas where you have to just
get through all the wrapping to get your present
And bah-bam, look at this premium
Oh my god this is a lot of egg sandwich
Wow, this is for like a small family
Look at this, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6!
6 healthy egg sandwiches
if you split that in half, that is 12 full pieces
well if you split that in half I guess that's not a full piece
This is the real deal egg sandwich
Oh, you can smell the mayonnaise
Wow, that is amazing
That is an egg sandwich that will kick you in the junk
This is awesome,
you can see all of the moistness coming from that egg
The texture of the egg is quite solid,
like some of the eggs I've had are really really fluffy
where this one is quite dense
Wow you could really taste that
I think it has some mustard, but it almost tastes like wasabi
or like a mix of both
There's just so much flavor and that dashi is really really strong
Literally if I got this as a present,
wrapped in a box like this,
I would be happy
I would say "Thank you very much. Can I please have another one?"
I really just can't get enough
I am so happy, this puts a smile on my face
Winner, winner, egg dinner
So those are my top food spots in Azabu Juban
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I'll catch you guys in the next one