Crazy Tokyo nights / Mediocre Tokyo Brunches @ Trump Room / On The Corner, Shibuya

With great sadness I said goodbye to my partner in crime as he departed on the remainder of his overseas trip and realised I was once again being left to my own devices in this great city. On previous jaunts overseas I was always worried about time alone and not having anyone to call to go out with on a night out. However, this time I am more often than not relishing the opportunity to go out and do my own thing.

So it was Friday evening and I had finished another week in the office, and had a great night lined up. My usual co-conspirator was stuck in the office crunching a deal and after a quick meal I had to make the call. Do I go out by myself or just take it easy at home? I know back home what my answer would have been, but this is Tokyo and you only get opportunities like this so often in your life. So I showered, put on my Friday night best, polished off a couple of eye-opening Asahis, rugged up, picked up my Google maps print out and jumped on the subway to Shibuya.

I got off the subway and trekked through the biting cold in search of the Trump Room. I remembered from the last time I went how difficult this place was to find and my map was proving to be little use. So I tucked it away in my pocket, surveyed the street and told myself: "You are just going to have to do this the old fashioned way." After scoping a vaguely familiar landmark and a hill, I realised I was close and shortly thereafter noticed a small sign in a darkened alley which said 'Trump.' You enter by just a tiny door in a basement of what looks like a run-down office building, pay your cover charge, walk up a flight of stairs to be greeted by an unassuming door. But once you open the door (Alice in Wonderland style), you see that this is no ordinary office building. The room is decked out with chandeliers and a DJ booth/stage at the front, with low ceilings so you feel packed in. The floor above has an almost identical setup and the floor above that is the same but all white.

So I picked up a drink at the bar, and sat alone, thinking: "Was this a good idea?" No longer had that thought crossed my mind that someone asked me for a lighter, and then I sat down with a group of local Japanese crew. They told me I had big eyes!! (which was not the case 4 drinks later). I bought a round of drinks, chatted a bit more, then went to the bar and noticed another Gaijin and got chatting. He happened to be the DJ who was playing (Dangerous Dan - or Dan Single of Ksubi fame). I told him I had 5 pairs of their jeans in my closet at home (probably not the best given their financial difficulties) and wished him luck for his set.

By now the place was jumping with people going crazy - bottles of Jose Cuervo Tequila were being passed around and Dan started his set. The crowd got up and pushed forward like a mosh and I hit the dancefloor and let loose. There was also a famous Japanese MC called Verbal playing on the floor above so I took a break to check him out - the guy was wearing a Fez and sunnies and had the crowd in a rapture. But leaving aside patriotic bias, I thought Dan had the points so I walked the single file back down the stairs through the door and got back into it. 3am came and I thought it best to leave it there and jumped a cab back to my apartment, congratulating myself for going it alone and thinking what I would have missed had I decided to stay home.

After sleeping in on Saturday morning, I really felt like a solid coffee and brunch. Unfortunately, the one thing Tokyo does not do well is just that. For a nation of heavy coffee drinkers, finding a good strong well brewed cup is next to impossible. I ventured back to Shibuya to a cafe called On The Corner which, from my research had a barista out the front from a renowned sister cafe in Shimokitazawa called Bear Pond. The place looked promising but alas the coffee was disappointing. There is just no such thing as a Long Black in this country and its sickly American cousin, the "Americano" is a watery grave.

I had been told that On The Corner does a solid brekky but a woeful lunch. Aesthetically the placed looked no different to a well fitted out Melbourne establishment. I sat down and the first thing I realised was that brekky had finished at 11:30am - most people don't come to work till 10:30am on a weekday so you can imagine how many people are having brekky at 1130 on a Saturday. None.

I ordered the least offensive item on the menu - a sandwich. Beyond average - the bread was filled with this omletty number with cheese and chicken (or probably pork) drenched in a tomato sauce and was making me regret the Tequila from the night before. The side of shoestring fries was manageable but the little tub of yoghurt with honey was a bad mix with all of the above.

Anyway that is how it seems to go here in Tokyo so make the most of your poached eggs with avocado/fetta mash in the leafy streets of Melbourne because you certainly can't get it here!! Note anyone who has the financial ability and interest in funding a good brunch spot in Tokyo, I reckon you would make a mint!

Great Burger @ Great Burger, Harajuku, Tokyo

This entry begins from the night before when we celebrated the imminent departure of a good mate of mine following a quick-fire week of hijinks in Tokyo. We had some epic nights out over the course of his stay, including seeing bands at a tiny rock venue called Fever in Shindaita to dancing to electro till 5 am at a bar in Aoyama. But this particular night happened to be a Wednesday night. We started with a very traditional Katsu dinner (which is basically schnitzel) served with fresh cabbage, steamed rice and miso, then headed to a local Akasaka pub for some beers and then hit what is starting to become a Wednesday night regular called A-life in Nishi Azabu. I would never even consider going to a place like this in Melbourne and most certainly not on a Wednesday night. But this is Tokyo and we must adapt and change to our environment. So we rocked up to the club sometime after midnight, were set up up brilliantly at a table next to the dancefloor by one of our other partners in crime on the night, and ordered some drinks.

By about 12:30 the place was out of control, the dancefloor was packed and the young Japanese crowd were screaming along with the music - think 500+ Japanese clubbers in their 20's screaming Lady Gaga's "Poker Face". My good mate and I didn't need more than that so we jumped up out of our seats and pushed through to front and centre on the dancefloor and spent most of the night there making friends with the locals and dancing like fools! We kept that going till about 4 am when I realised that I needed to be at work in about 5 hours' time (unlike the other guys I was partying with!). So we jumped in a cab and took it directly home. Thursday was a tough one at work and I got through it thanks to a solid bowl of Ramen for lunch and a big bottle of water. But throughout the day, all I could think about was eating a big greasy hamburger. Not your fast-food variety, but more your uber-gourmet variety.

So I had a look on the Tokyo blogs and forums and found a very highly recommended burger place only a few stops away from Akasaka in Harajuku, and with a name called "Great Burger" how could we go wrong? On another blisteringly cold Tokyo night, we jumped onto the subway and after the standard Tokyo destination search we found it in a small street which was 3 streets off a main road. The place looked like a replica rustic American diner filled with ubiquitous Americana items like boxes of Oreos, pictures of Colonel Sanders, etc. The menus were presented to us by a friendly waitress and the choice of burgers was immense - chilli, avocado, mozzarella paprika, traditional cheese, gorgonzola, hickory, teriyaki egg, and so on. We hurriedly ordered - for me it was the double cheeseburger with bacon and egg. I wasn't holding back. My cohort ordered the straight-up double cheeseburger. The place was deserted apart from two older Japanese women who must have been giggling at the sorry state the two of us were in.

After a short wait, the burgers arrived and I felt like my prayers has been answered - see photo. The bun is called a "natural yeast" bun and it was just right, the meat not too heavy, rich and well cooked, tomato, relish, mayonnaise, chopped onion, cheese, lettuce and bacon all fresh and complementing the other as the ingredients in any good burger do. We both looked at each other wondering how the hell we were going to eat the damn thing due to its size. No chopsticks on the table and the knife and fork were clearly never going to work. Of course the Japanese have come up with a very logical solution - they give you a kitchen-paper pocket that you drop the burger into so that the juices drip into the bottom of the pocket, rather than all over you. I asked my friend if he would be using the pocket method but he had already dug in and said it was too late. The giggling from the next table continued whilst he devoured his pocketless burger with his bare hands. Oh, and when I said devour, I meant inhale. Granted the burgers were outstanding and we were starving, but I have never seen anyone finish a burger that quickly. I estimate somewhere between 7-9 minutes for the burger, and the meagre serving of chips, to be gone. To put this into perspective, the other diners sitting next to us had been served their burgers shortly before us and by the end we both had finished our meals and desert (chocolate brownie and apple pie each with vanilla ice cream) by the time they were done with their burgers! The giggling continued unabated.

I've tried to stay away from eating too much Western food as what I have generally had so far has been average - a caesar salad which only contained cos lettuce and parmesan, a bland margherita pizza and a mediocre burger were enough for me to avoid it all costs. But the Great Burger may be the turning of the tide!

For those of you who are in Melbourne and are looking for some good burgers, I recommend the following:

1. Cafe Vue (430 Little Collins Street, Melbourne)

2. Barney Allens (14 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda)

3. Rockpool (Crown Casino, Melbourne)

4. Trunk Diner (275-285 Exhibition Street, Melbourne)

5. I am leaving number 5 as a tribute to Greasy Joes in Acland St, St Kilda. Last time I walked past it looked like it had shut down, the time before I went there it was terrible. But for a very long, long time, Greasy Joe's was the absolute hands-down best burger place going around ole Melbourne town and was packed full with an eclectic mix of St Kilda locals. The servings were US style health risks but the burgers were incredible. No, they were not the refined wagyu beef burgers that pervade my recommendations above, but they were juicy, tasty and you never left hungry. So, from Tokyo, Vale Greasy Joes - gone but not forgotten.

Breakfast Sashimi @ Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo

I awoke at about 4:45am and laid out my full Winter attire. Thermal pants, top, woollen cardigan, jacket, beanie, scarf, gloves - the works. I thought this was going to be the worst of all. I left my apartment in the dark of pre-dawn early morning and to my surprise the cold was not that bad. So I walked the ten minutes down the street in Akasaka, picked up a cheap cup of black coffee, and waited at the spot where I was to be shortly picked up in a taxi by my companions. We then drove to the Tsukiji Fish Market, Japan's largest seafood market.

As we arrived at about 5am the place was buzzing with a flourish of activity. Men driving scooter-like delivery vehicles like crazy, people shouting at each other and the pungent smell of seafood hanging thick in the air.

We stepped into the inner sanctum of the market and the seafood was from another world - like an episode of National Geographic where they are doing a special on species that inhabit the bottom of the sea. Most of the seafood is unrecognisable to what you would see in Australia being sold at Claringbolds at Prahran Market (obviously!).

We spent a solid hour or so running around checking out the massive tuna being auctioned off, bright coloured octopus and general madness that was the markets. For those thinking of coming here, it may be advisable to get an official tour because we were hurried out of some areas and it was a bit unclear exactly where the best places to go were. On that note, after a short period, we were escorted out of the market by an official looking officer of some sort, who pointed in the general direction of anywhere but in the market.

The next mission was Breakfast Sashimi, which is a tradition at the market. It is common for the fish traders to come to the rows of restaurants adjacent to the market for a post-work sashimi meal and maybe even an Asahi or three. Given that this was a Thursday morning, and therefore needing to attend work in a couple of hours, we thought it best to conservatively avoid the beer but were happy to indulge in some of the local produce. I didn't want to mess around with distractions so just went for the straight tuna sashimi. After drinking some warm tea and a great tasting miso, the tuna sashimi was presented to me at the table. I don't think I've ever seen the colour of the tuna look such a deep dark red and the fish is just beyond fresh - if a good steak can melt in your mouth, then fresh sashimi can dissolve in the same way. The texture of the fish is so smooth and soft, it's almost as if you don't need to chew. The presentation is of the dish is magnificent (as was my friend's sushi platter).

Overall a great way to start the day. I don't know if I would eat sashimi for breakfast every day, but if the sashimi was this good I probably would. Looks like it might be time to throw out the muesli and invest in that sushi knife!