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2010-03-15
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The title of "おふくろの弁当" above was chosen by me because that is how I felt eating my Bento Box lunch from JP's Deli, cooked by a Japanese Lady owner Tomoko-san. The term is derived from "おふくろの味", which loosely translates as what you remembered eating whilst a kid, the things cooked by your Mother. Its not restricted to Japanese cooking either, but virtually any cuisine! A few months ago, I was shocked to see 自然屋 plus other places becoming all the rage, they suddenly became inundated with peopl
A few months ago, I was shocked to see 自然屋 plus other places becoming all the rage, they suddenly became inundated with people. It took me weeks to work out why as I finally came across THAT mag during my due haircut. Blame it on the media trying to push the theme of 家庭料理 - something I felt was skewered and applied out of context within that article! That term is normally used to describe home-style cooking like 住家菜 in Chinese, but simultaneously it is suppose to indicate food that is not very professionally prepared, almost certainly using low cost ingredients and prepared at home. When the Mom or Restaurant chefs start using famous hometown ingredients or cooking techniques, its classifiable as 鄉土料理 - except when its being done exceptionally well, 鄉土料理 transforms into a PROFESSIONAL grade job - 花之家 for example does this pretty well. 自然屋 or 新大壽 or 小平津 might be approaching 家庭料理 in 'style', but still remain professionaly run. The meanings all overlap somewhat! 'おふくろの弁当' then is also related to the above adjectives, but its only my 'feeling', its not necessarily amateurish in execution. Tomoko-san has worked and trained in a professional bento shop in Fukuoka before - her cooking ability is certainly above your typical 家庭料理 quality. Encompassing the best of Both worlds.
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"南蛮 CHICKEN BENTO - $50"
This bento uses good quality 秋田小町 rice and this was cooked very well indeed, so don't complain about the high price tag! The 惣菜 supporting sides include some shredded carrots, with some Pickles of Daikon and Cucumber. The main 主食 of 南蛮雞 was done professionally well - tasty, super moist & crunchy. Most of all, it came with that Japanised tartare sauce which was house-made, I noticed real diced eggs, pickles and mustard seed with her unique dressing as well as sweetish vinegary sauce underneath being combined to make an exceptional quality 南蛮 sauce coating. I think I underestimated the bento too early from the unassuming looks! This chicken was better than the version at 元気一杯, minus the gingery juice flavour.
"POTATO CROQUETTE - $10"
On appearance this looked dark and it was also slightly oily, then again, so are the ones from every professional shop mentioned above! With a bit of mince inside, one can order this as original or curry flavoured. It tasted way better than it looks!
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THE FLUENT CANTONESE-SPEAKING GIRL AT THE COUNTER IS VERY FRIENDLY, HER PERFECT CHINESE FOOLED ME FOR A WHILE THAT SHE WASN'T A JAPANESE NATIVE - SHE IS. EXPLAINING A LOT OF THINGS TO ME IN DETAIL, SHE MENTIONED THAT AS EACH BENTO IS FRESHLY PREPARED, THERE IS AROUND 10 MINUTES WAIT. I WAS THEREFORE ENCOURAGED TO BETTER PHONE AHEAD AND PICK IT UP ONLY WHEN ITS READY, SINCE US HONG KONGER'S ARE ALWAYS IMPATIENT AND SHORT ON TIME!
I FEEL SOME OF JP DELI'S BENTO OFFERINGS SEEM SLIGHTLY BORING, A BIT LOW ON CHOICES EVEN. PERSONALLY - I WOULDN'T MIND HAVING A SUPER-MEGA BENTO THAT HAS A FEW MORE INTERESTING ITEMS ALL WITHIN THE 1 BOX: Eg. a BIT OF 出し巻き, BIT OF POTATO SALAD, BIT OF おから, BIT OF 太巻き, BIT OF 千切り牛蒡, SMALL WINE STEWED HAMBURG, 稲荷, 蒟蒻, 蒲鉾, 竹前煮, そぼろ, 錦糸卵, ETC, ETC!) $75-85 IS A REASONABLE PRICE FOR A BIGGER OFFERING TO SUIT THE MEN!!
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Ex - 弁当男子
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