Tokyo DisneySea Magellan's restaurant

There is a fine dining restaurant at Tokyo DisneySea. It is called Magellan's (after the explorer of course), located in the Mediterranean Harbor section of the park. From the outside, it seems like any other restaurant, but once you step in and look it become quickly apparent that is it not the usual Disney park dining options.

It is decorated like a club for Age of Exploration explorers with a few light Disney touches. The waitstaff are wearing costumes, and it is a well decorated and impressive space. We sat under the huge spinning globe which was awesome. This is themed dining combined with fine dining without going overboard and you get to enjoy it without being stuffy. 

You should get a reservation ahead of time or go outside of the usual meal times. Very much worth it.

We had the Pacific course which had a choice of starters, soup, entree, dessert and coffee and tea. 

There was an option to get the souvenir Frozen Queen Elsa Coronation fork and spoon set with the meal as well.

If you are visiting Tokyo DisneySea, definitely eat here once. For in park restaurants, it is second only to Monsieur Paul at EPCOT and tied with Tiffins at Animal Kingdom. 

View of the main dining room as you walk in

We sat right under the spinning globe and dome

Seafood selection starter

Hors d'Oeuvres selection starter

Soup

Iberian Pork Loin with Mustard Foyot and Red Wine Sauce

Fish course entree

Praline Chocolate Cake with Orange Compote and Lemon Sherbet

Cremet d'Anjou

Tokyo DisneySea SS Columbia Teddy Roosevelt Lounge

The SS Columbia is ship on the American Waterfront section of Toyko DisneySea. It is sort of a cross between the Queen Mary, the Titanic and echoes of that era's fast ocean steam liners. 

We ended up having a quick snack and drink break at in the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge on a hot and humid summer day. Approaching the ship, it seems like no one was going there that day and almost seemed like it was closed. It wasn't. 

There are 2 areas, the Dining Room for complete meals and the more informal Teddy Roosevelt Lounge. Also the boat itself is open and great to do a quick tour for a view of the park. It had much less foot traffic compared to the rest of the park.

It was a welcomed oasis worth a stop if you want to get away from the crowd and recharge.

View of SS Columbia

View of the park from the bow of SS Columbia

View of the ship from the bow

The Teddy Roosevelt Lounge menu, hosted by Kirin

Entrance to the TR Lounge

Carved bears hold up the bar

The appetizers plate

The dessert plate

Sumida Aquarium themed afternoon tea at Hyatt Centric Namiki667 Ginza

The 3rd and final afternoon tea we had on this trip was the least formal and fancy, but had the cutest food. This was at Namiki667 which is on the 3rd floor of the Hyatt Centric over looking the Omega and A Lange Sohne watch boutiques below.

We just missed an afternoon tea with a themed collab with watch maker Franck Muller but got a much cuter themed collab with Sumida Aquarium. 

The place had a pretty casual vibe, folks coming in from shopping in Ginza, or a group of old friends getting together. Started with a savory salad and then a big plate of very cute themed animals.

Would recommend if they have an interesting collab theme you are interested in. 

The cutest afternoon tea experience

The menu has more about the aquarium and what the items are

Was less a fan of the salad

Afternoon tea at Peninsula Hotel Tokyo Ginza

One of the fanciest afternoon teas in Tokyo is at the Peninsula Hotel's The Lobby. You can enter the hotel directly from the subway, as you come up to the ground floor, you pass an Aston Martin dealership that is in the building. Setting the tone for the rest of the experience.

On the way in from the subway station side, you will see the kitchen at work through windows into the kitchen and the chefs making what you are about to eat. There is also a shop with foods, teas, and gift from the hotel. The lobby is really a lobby, and there is a 3 piece piano jazz band up in an alcove playing the whole time you are there.

The "After Moon Tea" menu when we went already switched to autumn and reflected seasonal foods eaten during that time in Asia. Our waiter spoke English and and everything was very professional and almost old school. As you can see in the pictures, each piece of food was really well made, maybe overly intricate to a point where you don't want to eat it. And there was a lot of it. We only had room for a light dinner later that evening.

Would go again, the best afternoon tea we had on the trip, maybe ever including the ones we had in the UK.

The After Moon Tea set

A live jazz band play as you eat tiny cute foods

The After Moon Tea menu

The scones

Niku Tatsu Ginza Wagyu Omi Beef Yakiniku lunch

Always been a fan of Yakiniku, korean BBQ, or really any form of grill meats at your own table. We were able to have lunch at Niku Tatsu in Ginza that specialized in Omi beef from Shinga prefecture. One of the top 3 wagyu (Japanese beef) along with Kobe and Matsusaka. 

We had had Kobe and Matsusaka on our previous trips to Japan, so we really wanted to try Omi this time. Niku Tatsu is on the 15th floor of a mix use building in Ginza very close to the subway station. We ended up with a lunch time reservation, they gave us a private room with our own waiter and a view of Ginza from above.

The amount of food in the 11,000 yen (~$80) menu for 2 was plenty. The dinner menu has even more food, but would very much doubt we'd have the stomach space. We had 90 minute for the meal, and it was great experience and well worth the price. 

Would go again for sure.

The main meat course platter

The menu we tried is on the lower right corner of their English menu.

Beef to be eaten raw, our waiter told us through Google translate to eat quickly for best taste.

The view of from our private room window overlooking Ginza and that giant Richard Mille ad.

Afternoon tea at Tokyo Edition Toranomon

Been a while since my last post and wanted to use this blog to share travel and food experiences and recommendations with friends. We traveled to Tokyo again in late Fall and will be sharing recommendations to friends as I have a moment to adjust time zones again.

First off is afternoon tea. It seems like many of the more upscale hotels in Tokyo have been doing English Afternoon Tea since we last visited pre-pandemic.  In general like many things in Japan, they have given it their own spin and touch on things. Having done afternoon tea in the UK at the Savoy et al, the experience is a must try in Japan.

We did the Tokyo Edition, Toranomon afternoon tea on our last trip. The competition for afternoon tea dollars is fierce in Tokyo and the menu and theme changes with the seasons or even monthly or bi-monthly.

The afternoon is in the lobby bar, but the lobby is actually quite a few floors up in the building itself. It has a lot of plants, and a great view. However, you have to pay more for the window seats. We didn't know and didn't get a window seat unfortunately.

The theme when we went was mango, and in mid September will be updated to a more Autumn focused menu.

The space is quite fancy, fashionable, but contemporary, we went on a very hot and humid weekday and it had a almost full seating, but wasn't crowded.

Enjoyed it, and definitely worth doing once.

The 3 tiered afternoon tea stand at the Lobby Bar in Tokyo Edition Toranomon

The lobby bar area

The summer mango menu

Eating Vancouver Part 4 Shanghainese and more

Richmond near Vancouver is the place to go for Chinese food. Probably best I’ve had outside of Asia. Highest concentration of quality and variety. Over the summer, we have gone back a couple of times and discovered some new places.
Now as it turns out Shanghainese cuisine is pretty trendy now, and popular in Vancouver. Most authentic Shanghainese foods I have had outside of Shanghai / Asia has been here. That includes NY, SF, and LA. Two places that I particularly liked are Top Shanghai (Yelp), and Yuan’s Shanghai Serendipity Cuisine (Yelp). Don’t trust the Yelp ratings. Top Shanghai is more like a mid range Shanghai Applebees. Crowded, long lines for a reason, the food is as close to Shanghai comfort / traditional dishes as they come. 36 Page menu is a extensive tour of Shanghainese cuisine. Their Shanghai breakfast / dimsum menu is page 27 and on. Of particular note is their duck seasoned with soy sauce, exactly like Grandma’s. With her passing, no one else in the family can make it, but Top Shanghai nailed it. Their glutinous rice ball with pork filling is authentic but out of this world ginormous (that’s a regular sized rice bowl in the picture!). Their Shanghai noodles and braised pork are also excellent in an unassuming authentic kinda way.

Yuan’s is a slightly more upscale restaurant with an interior attempting to echo 1930’s French Concession Shanghai. Food is overall good across the board, some dishes better than Top Shanghai, others a different take, but to me not as good. However, the best Shengjian mantou (panfried mini buns) this side of the Pacific is here.

As for dimsum of the cart variety, we decided that Chef Tony is the best overall. We didn’t have a great experience at Fisherman’s Terrace last couple of times. Don’t get me wrong, better than anything Seattle has by miles, but have fallen behind Chef Tony’s for sure. I mean look at the egg yolk custard bun (official English menu item name: Steamed bun filled with salty egg yolk lava) that is worthy of a James Bond villain! Squid ink black, perfectly fluffy, gooey creamy slightly savory inside.

Of course there’s the night market, much has been written on the interwebs on it, and YouTube videos everywhere. The fried chicken that’s flattened and fried like a weinerschnitzel size of your head, and the rather expensive stinky tofu.

As for Taiwanese food, and really there for the flavored Taiwan Beers (see previous post on beers of Taiwan) and casual food there’s Maji (Yelp). Also the slushy topped beer we had in Japan now exists at Guu, looked like Richmond location is now closed. Hopefully the beer slushy machine survived and got moved to another location…