Sayonara Tokyo :(

All good times come to an end...

...life is full of ups & downs...

...and sometimes we must heed the call...

...sayonara Tokyo, I'll miss you...

...but life goes on...

...and I will always have a piece of you in my heart.

Beniaka - by Coedo

Coedo - Beniaka (Premium Lager) - Saitama Prefecture - 7% - 333 ml bottle:
Taste: A sweet taste of raisins, other dried fruits, is medium bodied, not sharp- nor dry, but rather has a taste not too dissimilar to shochu (of the potato variant), and is crisp.
Smell: Aroma is sweet as well, whiffs of alcohol, grain and malt.
Look: A nice looking red/orange gives way to a small slightly stained head, leaves no lace nor hardly a bubble.
Verdict: This was a very enjoyable beer, one of the more unique tasting beers here, and had a lovely taste of potato alcohol, such as the shochu I mentioned. Definitely a great take on the premium lager style, and again, the use of potatoes in this brew is unique and delicious.

Bayern Meister - Edel Weisse

Bayern Meister - Edel Weisse - Shizuoka Prefecture - 5.5% - 330 ml bottle:
Taste: Getting wheat, citrus, banana, spices, cloves and hay; a medium to light-bodied affair, finishing doughy with rounded mouthfeel.
Smell: A sweet & spicy aroma albeit slightly musty - that is coriander & citrus, w/ cloves, yeast, and banana.
Look: Pours a cloudy dark yellow / opaque gold colour with a sticky white foam.
Verdict: In brief - a refreshing standrad weizen, nothing new going on here, but that's not a bad thing. Pleasant and enjoyable.

Instant Ramens

The following are instant-ramens I had on occasions when I was too lazy to go out but had that hankering for a good slurp (& clearly they are superior to the dehydrated nonsense we sell here in the States):

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Aso Farmland - Porter

Aso Farmland - Porter - Kumamoto Prefecture - 4.5% - 330 ml bottle:
Taste: Roasted grains, malt, cocoa, coffee, a hint of dark brown sugar, and some light woody smokiness; decently carbonated, a medium bodied beer that finishes dry.
Smell: Slightly sweet roasted malt aroma with a hint of fruitiness and hops.
Look: Dark brownish-black color, thick off-white head, and spots of lace.
Verdict: I don't have much to say about this one except that it met my expectations by being a balanced porter. Neither too smoky, sour or sweet - I guess you could offer this as a good entry-level porter -- me, however, I like my porters with a little more umph!

Morioka Weizen - by Baeren

Baeren - Morioka Wezien - Iwate Prefecture - 5.5% - 330 ml bottle:
Taste: Wheat, yeast and banana make up a light-to-medium body, citrus- orange provides a sharp finish, mildly spicy notes give this weizen just enough pazzaz to make it interesting.
Smell: Banana at the front, wheat & yeast.
Look: Cloudy- unfiltered with sediments in suspension, big frothy head, some patches of lace. Verdict: After having some delicious Baerens' and happily proclaiming them the best makers of German brews here in JP, I had this weizen. While it was good and very classic, there was nothing that really made this stand out from the pack. All-in-all a refreshing weizen, but would pick up a Coedo Shiro over this one if the choice was presented.

Shiga Kogen - Porter

Shiga Kogen - Porter - Nagano Prefecture - 5.5% - 330 ml bottle:
Taste: Medium-bodied and somewhat dry, flavors of nuts, watered-down coffee, cocoa-powder and a subtle smokiness. Nice lively mouthfeel which leans a tad more hoppy than creamy.
Smell: Deep aroma of roasted malts, mochaccino, traces of smoke and molasses.
Look: Pours out in a dark brown colour with a small beige head.
Verdict: While a good porter for sure- and probably tied with the best I've had here- this is shy of being an excellent beer. Porters to me are a very tricky beer, I like them to be a full-medium bodied experience and complex - which this light/medium bodied beer just misses out on being. Recommended none-the-less.

Kyara - by Coedo

Coedo - Kyara (Vienna Lager) - Saitama Prefecture - 5% - 333 ml bottle:
Taste: Nicely malty- sweet & roasted, caramel, biscuits and grains, hops provide a balanced bitterness to the rich malts.
Smell: Aroma holds roasted malts, grain and sweet grass accents, some hops.
Look: Pours a clear deep golden orange with a healthy white head.Verdict: Kyara is a nice vienna - providing the rich malt flavor with enough hops to balance while being unobtrusive. Coedo has a nice selection of lagers for sure, and none of them disappoint.

Yasubee (Shimokitazawa branch) - Ramen Shop

Sun Lager - by Hideji

Hideji - Sun Lager - Miyazaki Prefecture - 4.5% - 330 ml bottle:
Taste: Sweet malts, citrus- orange & lemon, sharp, apparently hoppy too.
Smell: Orange with slight whiffs of sourness.
Look: Hazy orange/yellow, poured with a small head, leaving no lace.Verdict: This is a refreshing and easy to swallow beer, as a good pilsner should be. Winner of the pilsner Gold medal in the Japan Asia Beer Cup 2009 -- I can't argue against that.

Aperitif De La Nuit Blanche - by Niigata

Niigata - Aperitif De La Nuit Blanche - Niigata Prefecture - 4.5% - 350 ml bottle:
Taste: This is a sharp somewhat acidic beer, notes of banana, peach, vanilla, malt, and not really hoppy at all.
Smell: Aroma of banana, faintly fruity in general.
Look: A semi-opaque yellow, poured with a nice head, nicely carbonated, no lace.
Verdict: Well this is definitely different, its almost in-between a lager and a weizen. But it's a rather mild, weak bodied beer - there is definitely "something" missing... hops for starters, but ultimately other things as well. Calling this one a dud.

Shiga Kogen - House IPA

Shiga Kogen - House IPA - Nagano Prefecture - 8% - 330 ml bottle:
Taste: Both sweet and hoppy to a balanced perfection, raisins, fruity- mandarin, floral, and pine are the big players here; medium bodied and resiny.
Smell: Sweet fruity aroma with pine.
Look: Hazy deep orange copper, small head and just a little lacing.Verdict: This is a great IPA, love the high ABV without ever realizing it! Another victory for Tamamura-Honten!

Shikkoku - by Coedo

Coedo - Shikkoku (Schwarzbier Lager) - Saitama Prefecture - 5% - 333 ml bottle:
Taste: It's all about the roasted malts here, the sour-level is held in-check - a very nice balance, hops are apparent and balanced as well, slightly smokey giving hints of wood, meat, coffee and chocolate.
Smell: Earth, hay, and a slight coffee scent.
Look: Dark brown to the point of looking like a porter, poured with head and leaving rings of lace.Verdict: This is a very good dark lager, providing a subtle but complex taste, very enjoyable, very German!

Ramen Jiro (Shinjuku branch)

I had one classic High School fight, you know the kind- "meet me at so-and-so @ such-and-such a time" -- I picked this fight for being called a "poser" (at that age you really can't be called anything worse! And yes, I won.) But now I've actually come full-circle, by having gone to Ramen Jiro this late in the game and after having read an endless amount of other people's reviews - I am officially a poser. But you know what, I don't care anymore, and you know what also, I'm f'n glad I went!
If you "claim" to know anything about ramen in Tokyo, well then, you claim you've been to Jiro... successive times and multiple locations. And if your not claiming this... well then let me rap a little and fill you in on what your missing out of. Garlic. Oh I'm sorry, were you expecting something more? Maybe like "this ramen is influenced by French culinary arts... blah blah blah." Nope, this most popular ramen chain has built up its empire of devoted followers based on one taste - garlic, and lots of it!
This is simple stuff to comprehend here and you can pretty much make a decision right now if your gonna love it or hate it (there is no in-between with Jiro). Well, as for me, I'm a huge garlic fan, I use it in almost all my recipes, so let me just say right now that this is the best ramen I have had thus far in my life and I can pretty much state without a second thought that I won't find something more satisfying to me.
This is not fancy or delicatessen in any way; they don't make their own noodles, there is no balancing act to be found, the joints are for the most part greasy, ingredients aren't the freshest out there -- but they make an intensely garlic flavored ramen; and I can't ask for anything else. Ya'wanna'fight'about'it!?