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Salvatore Cuomo’s The Kitchen (Kyoto)

May 23, 2013 in Food, Japan, Reviews, Travel

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It was going to be our last meal in Kyoto, and we wanted a good one. Having already ticked off all Japanese delicacies off our list, we decided to wander Kyoto station and see if there was anything that jumped out at us.

In the end, we chose The Kitchen, an Italian joint headed by chef Salvatore Cuomo. It sits on top of Kyoto station at level 10 of the Isetan department store and offers great views over the city.

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I speak the truth

One of the main reasons we chose this place was because of its 1,800 yen buffet lunch (11am-3pm; 80 yen for children aged 3-10).  It’s awesome — you get to choose a main course each (pizza, pasta, fish or meat), all-you-can-eat dishes from the buffet bar, and a tea or coffee. Some of the courses require an additional charge, and desserts (which we did order) are separate. There is also a “special buffet lunch” at 2,800 yen for famished people who would like two main courses instead of the one.

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First, the buffet bar. The variety is pretty good — not huge, but everything is high quality. On this day, there was really excellent onion soup, DYI salad, bread, vegetables (pickled or otherwise) and an assortment of cold meats, fish, french fries, mashed potatoes, etc. The bar area is pretty small so during peak hours there might be a bit of a line, but everything I got was appetizing, especially the soup and the meats.

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Fresh salad and onion soup

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A selection from the buffet bar

The first main course we got was The Kitchen’s signature pizza, which, according to my shitty Japanese, won some type of award at a pizza competition. It’s simple — cherry tomato, mozzarella, and basil — but spectacular. One of the best pizzas I’ve had in Japan, or anywhere, for that matter. I mean, just look at this baby.

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The second main course was chicken with tomato relish and pan-fried risotto and rosemary potatoes. Yum as well. The chicken was tender and I loved the tangy tomato and the crispiness of the risotto. A match made in heaven.

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For dessert, we ordered a special Japanese green tea tiramisu and a sour lemon tart. The tiramisu probably was not quite as good as I expected but I enjoyed the lemon tart.  The dessert was probably one of the weaker elements of the restaurant.

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As for the coffee, I think this is the picture of a bear or a dog. What do you think?

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A dog? Bear? Alien?

Anyway, The Kitchen is a place I would definitely recommend if you are looking for exquisite Italian cuisine in Kyoto, especially its lunch special as dinner could be rather expensive. The ambience is classy, the buffet is delicate and the pizza is sensational. Try it.

8.5/10

Details

The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo (Kyoto)

Website (Japanese): http://www.ystable.co.jp/restaurant/thekitchen_kyoto/index.html

Address: Kyoto Station Isetan Department Store, level 10

Phone: 075-365-7765

Opening Hours: Lunch 11:00 – 16:00 (LO 15:00); Dinner 17:00 – 23:00 (LO 22:00)

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Movie Review: Trance (2013)

May 22, 2013 in Movie Reviews, Reviews

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I had heard lots of amazing things about Danny Boyle’s latest film, Trance, months before it hit my local cinema. Judging from the title, I suspected it was about hypnotism, a subject that feels strangely under-targeted by Hollywood, though I wasn’t sure that’s what it was about because I avoided the trailers religiously.

Well, I was right about the hypnotism slant, though I must admit I was a little disappointed in the end despite everything Trance had to offer, most probably because I had been expecting too much after just everyone called the film “amazing.”

James McAvoy plays a guy called Simon, who works as security at auctions for high-priced artworks. A robbery, naturally, takes place, and Simon is forced by the robbers (headed by Mr Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel) to work with a hypnotist played by Rosario Dawson to retrieve his memory. It sounds simple enough, but as you would expect, Trance is full of twists and turns that will keep the audience guessing. What is real? Who is manipulating? Who is being manipulated? Just what the heck is really going on?

The mystery is the driving force of the film and kept me fascinated for the perfect 101-minute running time, but the revelations that are slowly delivered to the viewer, piece by piece, didn’t “wow” me as much as I thought they would. It was clever but not that clever — at least not clever enough to the point that it would astonish most viewers (or at least I think).  There was ambiguity to allow interpretation but the room for the imagination to roam was more limited than films like say Inception or Shutter Island.

That said, the film was still exciting (especially the first half — it began to sag in the second act), intriguing because of its subject matter, and powered by excellent performances from a strong cast. I wouldn’t have paired McAvoy with Dawson myself, but the casting somehow worked. And Cassell is of course excellent as a sleazy criminal, the kind of role he could play with minimal effort. I would have liked to have cared more for the characters, especially McAvoy’s and Dawson’s, but I suppose that is more the fault of the script than the actors.

Danny Boyle’s stylish direction and a ripping soundtrack also elevate Trance above your average psychological (not to mention sexually charged) thriller, but it falls short of becoming a classic or even one of the more memorable films of the genre in recent years.

3.5 stars out of 5

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Movie Review: The Host (2013)

May 1, 2013 in Movie Reviews, Reviews

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There is only a handful of times in a life that one will see a movie that is so laughably pathetic that they don’t even know how to react to it. The Host is one such movie.

Based on a book written by the skilled pen of Stephenie Meyer, the author who bestowed upon us the Twilight Saga, The Host tells the story of how mankind has been mostly taken over by an alien race. These aliens, who look like big dandelions and are called “Souls” (convenient), inject themselves into human bodies and use them as hosts (hence the clever title). The consciousness of the original human owner is erased and replaced by the alien, who still retains the human’s memories and knowledge. One particular alien called Wanderer takes over the body of a young girl, Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan), whose consciousness refuses to subside and battles the alien for control of the body. The alien is moved by this wonderful love Melanie had as a human with Jeremy Iron’s son, Max Irons, but there’s also some other dude (Jake Abel from I Am Number Four – Kevin Bacon’s son?) that fancies her — cue patented Stephenie Meyer love triangle.

It’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Twilight. Shudder.

I can imagine this kind of story working as a novel, but as a film (especially one that is merely hoping to cash in on Twilight‘s popularity) it just had no chance. I tried to give The Host a genuine shot, but the plot had more holes than Prometheus and the love triangle made the one in Twilight seem like the greatest love triangle of all time. I found myself either shaking my head or bursting out in laughter from the unintentional hilarity for almost the entirety of the torturous 125-minute running time.

Technically, the visuals and the direction of Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, In Time) are fine. Even the performances from the all-star cast (which also includes William Hurt and Diane Kruger) are not too bad, considering the lines they had to spew out. But there is little anyone could do when the source material and the screenplay and dialogue are so awful. For starters, Saoirse Ronan has conversations with herself all throughout the movie because she is, um, trapped within herself. Trust me, it’s stupid.

Then there are the questions. Of all the relationships in the world, the alien is moved by one between a young girl and guy who have known each other for a couple of months? WTF? Why does Wanderer (“Wanda”) go from hated enemy one second to the most beloved and trusted ally the next? Why does Jake Abel go from wanting to kill Wanda one second to wanting to make out with her the next? Why does she have to make out with people for contrived reasons? (There is, I swear, one scene where the guys take turns making out with her). The list goes on.

And the ending, which I will not give away, is the icing on the cake. You have to see it to believe it.

What else can I say? The Host is dull, lacking in tension, excitement and heart, and just plain absurd. Avoid it if you dare.

0.5 out of 5…

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Taco Tora: the best takoyaki in Kyoto!

April 30, 2013 in Best Of, Food, Japan, Reviews, Travel

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Taco Tora (Shichijo store)

In my humble opinion, takoyaki is one of the greatest foods in the world. According to Wikipedia, it is a “ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan” and usually filled with octopus. I first fell in love with it while reading ろくでなしBLUES (translated in English as Rover Blues), possibly my favourite manga of all time.

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I have tried many takoyaki places in Japan (Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo) and in my opinion the best place to have this delectable dish, by far, is Taco Tora, which has, as far as I know, three stores in Kyoto.

Back in the day (2002), I always visited the store in Kyoto’s Kamishichiken district, on Imadegawa, which was a long bike ride but well worth it whenever I am craving for a post-dinner snack. Last month, however, I tried out the Shichijo store for the first time because it’s closer to the hotel I was staying at near Kyoto Station.

The two stores, amazingly, look almost identical, from the layout down to the decor. I felt right at home. Here is the wall poster with the phone number, address (in Japanese) and opening hours. For those who cannot see the fine print, they are open from 5pm to midnight.

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So what makes their takoyaki so good? See pictures below first.

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They don’t look particularly special, but they are. At 600 yen for 8 balls, that’s neither cheap nor expensive, but there are several things that do set the takoyaki from Taco Tora apart from other joints.

First of all, their takoyaki balls are huge. Twice as big as ones you will find at night market stalls in Taiwan and some of the stalls at Sydney’s Friday night Chinatown markets. Second, and most importantly, the outside is amazingly crispy. Incomparably crispy. So many takoyaki places, even in Osaka, where they are supposed to be famous, have outsides that are soft and soggy and not worthy of your money. Taco Tora is the real deal. Super crunchy on the outside, moist and flavoursome on the inside. The tako is not just some little piece you can barely get your teeth around — they are huge and chewy.

The sauce is also surprisingly good, even though it is plain. Most places top off takoyaki balls with some type of dark okonomiyaki-style sauce (which is similar to Worcestershire) and mayo, but Taco Tora just has the dark sauce without the mayo. Now I love mayo, but it is perfectly fine without it here. Their sauce just seems tangier. The dried bonito flakes are of course the cherry on top.

Just writing about this makes me hungry. Do yourself a favour and try it out if you are ever in Kyoto. The unfortunate thing is that none of the stores are particularly close to train or subway stations (though I believe there may be bus stops nearby). You might just have to catch a cab.

Details

Taco Tora

Shichijo store (open till midnight): 20-18, Nishikyogoku, Daimon town , Ukyo-ku, Kyoto (京都府京都市右京区西京極大門町20-18)

Main store (open till 2am): Intersection of Kitaooji and Takano, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto (京都府京都市左京区北大路高野交差点上ル西側)

Kamishichiken store (open till 1am): Imadegawadori Nanahonmatsu Nishi Iru Kamigyō-Ku, Kyoto (京都府京都市上京区今出川通七本松西入真盛町726-40)

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Movie Review: Iron Man 3 (2013) (3D)

April 29, 2013 in Best Of, Movie Reviews, Reviews

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The first Iron Man was an instant classic and one of the best superhero movies of all time. The sequel, Iron Man 2, bombed because it thought it could just take the successful template of the first film and make it bigger and louder (like what Michael Bay did for the Transformers franchise). So it’s great to see that the producers learned their lesson and turned Iron Man 3 into a home run. It’s everything fans could have asked for in a third installment – sufficient familiarity but also enough creativity and innovation to make it a completely different experience.

Iron Man 3 takes place after the events depicted in The Avengers (for those living under a rock, that’s the one with Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk) and has Iron Man’s alter ego, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), battling demons from that bizarre alien experience. Mysterious terrorist attacks are happening in the US thanks to the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), a new villain who may or may not be linked to someone from Stark’s past.

It seemed like a cookie-cutter premise from the start, and indeed, Iron Man 3 does take a little bit of time to take off. But once it does, director Shane Black (who also directed Downey Jr in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) takes the audience on a brand new adventure that has plenty of surprises and fresh thrills.

For starters, Iron Man is forced this time to spend a lot of screen time out of his suit, or in only parts of his suit, and must rely on his wit to get him out of dangerous situations. There are also several clever new inventions and ideas that show that the evolution of Iron Man is not just different looking suits, but actual functional improvements.

It’s also fantastic to see Gwyneth Paltrow, who has essentially played the damsel in distress in the first two films as love interest Pepper Pots, get to do some heavy lifting for once. Also taking on a physical, but different kind of role, was Don Cheadle, who provides the biggest laughs as sidekick War Machine, rebranded as the Iron Patriot. Unfortunately, every time I saw Cheadle’s face I was reminded of his dark turn as Captain Planet. Not his fault though.

Rounding out the stellar core cast are three excellent actors – the aforementioned Ben Kinsley, in a role I could imagine few others pulling off; Guy Pearce, also in a role few others could pull off (he plays a total freak geek who turns into a handsome devil; the last three films I saw him in were Lawless, where he plays a menacing eyebrow-less menace; Prometheus, where he plays a shriveled old man; and Lockout, where he plays a suave ex-con-turned-buffed-hero); and Rebecca Hall, in a role many others probably could have played (resurfaced ex-lover) but she excels here because she is so damn lovely.

The action in Iron Man 3 is also different and varied, so you don’t have to worry about seeing the same kind of sequences over and over. I can’t say much more without giving stuff away, but as usual, I urge those who want to see it to stay away from the trailers and gossipers because it will be a real shame to have some of the twists spoiled.

This is not a complaint, but I found it strange that after all that press about the film being co-produced by a Chinese company and that it will contain “Chinese elements”, there ended up being virtually no Chinese references. No scenes set in China. Maybe a Chinese actor in a cameo (can’t remember), but that’s it. Perhaps the “special” version released for Chinese audiences with bonus footage has something arbitrary thrown in for the sake of it.

Anyway, considering how difficult it is to inject freshness into a highly successful franchise, Iron Man 3 really is a very impressive effort all round.

4.25 out of 5

PS: Yes, there is a post-credits scene, though there is no reference to any of the other upcoming Marvel adaptations such as Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

PPS: I really didn’t want to see this film in 3D, but difficulties in acquiring a non-3D ticket on opening weekend forced me to fork out the extra dollars for the discomfort and added vision-obscuring tint. If I haven’t made myself clear, AVOID the 3D version at all costs! It adds absolutely nothing.

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