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V Rating: VV Today my lovely boss A. suggested we go out for lunch. I directed her to Asuka, then coyly confessed that I’d left my purse at home. Oops! Asuka is tucked away in a small mall behind the Shelbourne (but don’t hold that against it). The roof slopes, the pipes are exposed, and patrons cram in. The staff are Japanese and the menu is displayed in Japanese and English on the walls. So, y’know, it’s authentic in a Tokyo street kind of way. Like most Japanese restaurants, many of Asuka’s dishes are based on meat and seafood. However, there are some vegetarian bento boxes (agedashi tofu box and potato croquette bento box), and interesting noodle dishes. I was hopeful that the soy ramen noodles in a soy based sauce would be vegetarian. Apparently they weren’t, although I’m still not sure if the waiter and I just misunderstood each other. He did confirm that the baby buk choy, vegetarian tempura and wild grass udon were all safe for vegetarians. Faced with a choice like that, who wouldn’t have the wild grass for lunch. I’m not sure what the ‘grass’ was. It was like a combination between snake beans and morning glory. But it tasted good! I enjoyed the noodles. The broth was light and not too oily and there were lots of tasty ingredients like sliced garlic, seaweed, shallots, ginger and other shoots. To wash it down I had a calpis (insert giggle) water. A. and I agreed it was like lemonade creaming soda. Officially it’s a mix of water, non fat dry milk, and lactic acid. That tastes like vanilla yoghurt. And has health properties. All good. Asuka is a good, cheap choice for lunch in the city - but go early because it fills up real quick.
Comments:
2 Comments posted on "Asuka - Japanese, City, VV"
Helen on August 10th, 2006 at 1:14 pm #
I’ve often wondered what this place would be like. The fact that it is so well-hidden only adds to my curiosity and gives it extra credibility points. lol. The wild grass ramen sounds intriguing. I wonder if the soy ramen used a pork or chicken stock which made it non-vego?
kpounder on August 10th, 2006 at 6:42 pm #
I used to work close by to Asuka and it was always a popular lunch spot in my office - provided there was just a small group and you got in early. Assumed that the soy ramen noodles had a meat stock. The waiter actually pointed to a picture of something white floating in the noodles so I assumed that it came with a fish cake… never really got to the bottom of that one. Congrats on hosting DMBLGiT. Running was really professional and yummy looking entries. Post a comment
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