Japanese Travelog Part Eight
Michael Taylor can't seem to get enough of Tokyo. So when the press trip ends, and everyone else goes home, he stays on. Today he reviews what is reputedly one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Japanese capital – China Blue at the Conrad Tokyo.
Chinese Food vs Japanese Food
Many, many, many years ago I spent six months in Japan teaching English. And this is one of the things I learned: Japanese people LOVE Chinese food.
And it's a mutual admiration society, I have since discovered. Because I now live in Hong Kong, and I can assure you of one thing: Chinese people love Japanese food every bit as much as Japanese people love Chinese food.
So when given the choice between dining at a Japanese restaurant that I dined at on my last trip to Tokyo (that I absolutely LOVED) and a Chinese restaurant that I hadn't dined at yet, it was a very tough choice.
I DO live in Hong Kong, and I DO travel frequently in China. So I COULD eat Chinese food every day if I wanted to.
However … I ALSO remember that the Chinese food that I had in Japan was VERY, VERY good! So I said, “Um, I think I'd like to try the Chinese restaurant!”
One Michelin Star
The fact that this particular Chinese restaurant had a Michelin star, one of just seven Chinese restaurants in Tokyo to be awarded a Michelin star – perhaps that influenced my decision. But there was another factor – curiosity!
A couple of years ago, I dined at the world's FIRST Chinese restaurant to be awarded THREE Michelin stars – Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. I didn't know it when I ate there.
It was only a coincidence. I found out the next day at the press conferencen that the restaurant had received three Michelin stars. So I called my buddy – it had been his wife's birthday, and I was one of the guests.
I asked, "That restaurant we ate at last night … do you think it's the best Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong?"
This is what my friend said: "I don't know if it's one of the best, but it's certainly one of the most expensive!"
So I really wanted to find out for myself how this ONE Michelin star restaurant in Tokyo would stack up against that THREE Michelin star restaurant in Hong Kong. One of the comments Michelin made about China Blue was that it was "exceptional value"!
To Be Continued
Click on the following link for Michael's verdict: How Does Tokyo's China Blue Compare to Hong Kong's Lung King Heen? This is the eighth in a series.
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Which do you like better – Chinese food or Japanese food?
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