Butadon, or simply pork bowl, is a Japanese bowl of rice topped with sweet and savoury simmered pork. Popular in Japan, the name comes from the words buta and don, meaning “pork” and “bowl.”
The creation of the dish is credited to Mr Abe who introduced it at his restaurant, Pancho, in 1993, with the intent of encouraging Japanese diners to eat more pork. Still, in operation, his restaurant serves only this dish, in several portion sizes, along with green tea, beer, pickled daikon radish and miso soup. A simple dish but a real gem, its savoury sweet sauce and mildly fatty pork meat is the perfect topping for freshly steamed rice.
Tonkatsu and pork cutlet is extremely popular in Japan, and variations abound. Some people will say thicker cuts of pork are used for tonkatsu. Others say tonkatsu is served with Worcestershire sauce, while pork cutlet is served with demi-glace sauce. Regardless, all tonkatsu and pork cutlet offered in Japan trace their origins to Rengatei, a well-established yōshoku (Japanese-style Western food) restaurant founded as a French restaurant in 1895. In 1899, Motojiro Kida, second-generation proprietor of Rengatei, created the first pork cutlet based on the idea of Italian cotoletta, breadcrumb-coated and deep-fried veal. To create his pork cutlet, Kida cut the pork into thin slices and deep fried them in vegetable oil. When the Russo-Japanese War broke out, Rengatei’s short-staffed chefs garnished the pork cutlets with finely shredded cabbage, which was easy to prepare and paired well with the deep-fried pork. Since then, finely shredded cabbage has been a standard garnish for pork cutlet and tonkatsu. The first pork cutlets were accompanied by breads. Responding to customer demands, Kida began offering cooked rice on a plate for the convenience of diners using a knife and fork. Thus, today’s typical combination of pork cutlet and rice was also born at Rengatei. Rengatei also created other standards of Yōshoku cuisine, such as ebi-furai (fried prawns) and omu-rice (rice-stuffed omelet), loved nationwide.
Housed in a building well more than 200 years old, J. Timothy’s serves a full menu, but you’ll find most tables have chicken bones piled on it. Constantly rated the best in the state, J. Timothy’s serves more than 200 tons of wings a year and invented what’s called the "Dirt Style" wing, where they are fried, dipped in sauce, then fried and sauced again. The process caramelizes the sauce and adds another layer of flavour. As restaurant legend goes, the dirt wings get their moniker from a guest who played on the restaurant’s softball team in the 1990s. His nickname was Dirt, as in “older than dirt,” and his wings would get cold as he spent time socializing around the bar. He’d ask the cooks to throw the wings into the fryer again, which created the now-renowned crispy, caramelized texture. Usually a recipe for an acrid, burnt-tasting wing, these guys have mastered the art form. The result is a depth of flavour that just doesn’t exist elsewhere.
Ozaki Kenichi, owner of Rai Rai Ken, a ramen shop that opened in 1910 in Tokyo’s Asakusa district, began serving diners a soup base that wasn't the ordinary 19th-century version. He incorporated a soy sauce-based seasoning with “menma” (bamboo shoots), “charshu” (sliced roast pork) and sliced green onion. The combination was such a hit with customers, these ingredients became the standard blend for ramen for Tokyo.
Chicago’s Sun Wah BBQ is famous for its Beijing duck feast that celebrates the bird three ways. The off-menu course begins with a roasted Beijing Duck expertly carved tableside and served with a plate of steamed bao buns, pickled daikon radish, carrot garnish and hoisin sauce. The carcass and remaining meat is returned to the kitchen and made into a duck soup with chunks of winter melon. Finally, fried rice arrives with duck morsels. The restaurant recommends ordering the duck feast at least 24 hours in advance, especially now that the James Beard Foundation has awarded Sun Wah one of its American Classics awards for 2018. Fortuitously, Sun Wah moved to a larger space two years ago. Now, there’s exposed brick, local beer on tap and their famous, multicourse Beijing duck special: $45 and serves four to six. There also is a greater selection of traditional Cantonese dishes. Reservations are taken by phone or walk-in. Corkage fee is $10, wine only.
Mochi Mochi no Ki, nestled in a basement a short walk from Shinjuku station, is a low-key gem of a ramen shop originally from Shiraoka, Saitama. The speciality of the house is a scalding hot bowl of noodle soup heavily infused with katsuobushi dried bonito flavour. A rich layer of oil traps heat in the broth and prevents it from escaping; the shop's signature menma, bamboo shoots, are split from the tip of the plant using bamboo skewers. Portions are generous here, the small ramen is the size of a normal order elsewhere, and the large could be a baby's bathtub.
Annam is next level Vietnamese cuisine from talented chef Jerry Mai a Vietnamese-born refugee raised in Australia who has worked under world renown chefs like David Thompson. The menu reflects what Jerry Mai would likely serve at a dinner party. Sumptuous dishes include the Sarsaparilla Braised Oxtail Dumplings - the oxtail is braised in fish sauce and syrupy thick jus-like sarsaparilla (a drink popular in years past) until it melts.
These dumplings are generous bursting with sarsaparilla infused oxtail yet they are also delicate and well-formed.
Annam has a playful yet brilliant menu with many signatures and Jerry Mai’s mantra is to “chow down in Chinatown”. The restaurant is well designed and modern.
Also, check out the subtler northern Vietnamese speciality of crab banh cuon open dumpling.
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In the 1970s, there were 11 Holly Inns in Colorado and three in other states. But the chain, owned by George Pappas, slowly faded. Rejoice, cheese fans. George and Marina Andrianakos have reopened the Holly Inn at 2223 S. Monaco Parkway in Denver, Colorado.More good news: They have brought back the world-famous Tacorito, a chubby burrito stuffed with ground beef, diced onion, shredded cheddar and chopped lettuce, smothered with more oven-melted cheddar cheese and swimming in Holly Inn's own special enchilada sauce. They also brought back Eddie Vassilakos, the chef who created the Tacorito and cooked it for Pappas for 20 years. To cap it off, they brought back the restaurant's award-winning margaritas.Pro tip: The Holly Inn also serves several Greek specialities, including Greek-style lamb ribs, marinated in oregano, garlic and olive oil.
Puerto Nuevo-style lobster was created in 1954 when Rosa Maria Plascencia fried the crustaceans in lard to feed the fishing village’s lobstermen after they returned to shore with their daily catch. The dish is served with refried beans, rice, butter and huge, just-made flour tortillas. The tiny town’s handful of restaurants usually serve frozen product from the Caribbean or nearby Guerrero Negro — as diminishing amounts of fresh, local lobster are shipped to Asia. Still, it’s worth the visit to enjoy this Baja California classic and views of the vast Pacific. La Casa de Langosta, once owned by Plascencia’s family, is one of the better restaurants in which to sample this requisite dish.
Hali‘imaile General Store, founded in 1988 in the middle of a pineapple plantation, is Chef Bev Gannon’s original and most acclaimed restaurant.Gannon was one of the original 12 founding members of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine Movement, and her restaurant is considered a Maui destination for diners who appreciate the island’s fresh local ingredients. Featuring eclectic American food with Asian overtones, “The Store” features such unique signature dishes as Kahlua Pork Enchiladas, Crab Pizza and a dreamy Hali’imaile Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, pictured, with caramelized Maui gold pineapple and buttery vanilla pound cake served warm with whipped cream.