Anyone serving Japanese breakfast?

Once upon a time, not all that terribly long ago, there was a restaurant in Andersonville, on Clark Street, by the name of Akutagawa. One of the wonderful things about this place was that they served Japanese breakfast. I am aware of nowhere else in town that serves Japanese breakfast. But I'd love to be proved wrong. Akutagawa had a wonderful, homey feel, like Sunshine Cafe or even Renga-Tei. And something like that is exactly what I'm after. But I wonder whether any Japanese places serve breakfast. Can anyone help?

I believe the place you're referencing was North Shore Grill. Akutagawa was one of the dishes they served. There's a Charlie's Ale House where North Shore used to be. It was unfortunate that they closed, as they were always an easily accessible weekend morning meal.

However, before North Shore Grill closed, the owners bought Hamburger King by Wrigley Field. Akutagawa was created at Hamburger King, which is why it also became part of the North Shore menu. You'll find most of the North Shore menu either began or is now at Hamburger King.

I can't speak for the homey feel. Hamburger King is a diner, much like Patty's. Here's a link to the thread for Hamburger King: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9164. They're open from 7am to 5pm Monday-Saturday, and 7am to 3pm on Sunday. (I'm pretty sure that's correct, but I'm not positive.)

The only good thing about the parking meter fiasco is that you can now park in front of Hamburger King pretty much any time of day. I'd also recommend the beef bi bim bop, the excellent beef teriyaki sandwich, and the always spectacular yet ca mein. Get some rice and gravy while you're at it.

Hamburger King
3435 N Sheffield Ave.
(773) 281-4452

Hmmm. Maybe. That location seems just about right but my (admittedly hazy) recollection was that that was the name of the place. I may well be wrong. I've never heard of a dish called akutagawa and according to the Lovely Dining Companion (whose mom was born and raised in Japan and who also lived in Japan for a year), neither has she. And the photo and description in the thread (which we checked out before I posted--always use the search function, right?) is unknown to her, as well.

As tp Hamburger King, sounds like we've got a little trip in the near weekend morning future. On the off chance that the "real thing" exists though, I'll continue to hope that--although jaybo nailed the original recollection--someone can find me a Japanese breakfast joint.

There was a sign that said "Akutagawa" in the window, but the name of the place was North Shore Grill. As far as akutagawa goes, you can read about its origin (it's not a traditional Japanese dish) in the linked thread.

It's likely inauthentic, but Blind Faith in Evanston serves a "Japanese Breakfast". From what I can recall, it involves miso soup, brown rice, tofu, greens, a fried egg.... probably a few other items.

Gypsy Boy wrote:someone can find me a Japanese breakfast joint.

You talking rice, pickle, grilled fish, miso, nori etc? If so a few of the hotels used to have them, nowhere I know of currently.

A vagrant thought just happened by: I wonder if this "akutagawa" is the owners' take on okonomiyaki, a pancake-like dish usually of cabbage and other veggies, sometimes with a gravy and sometimes even with sukiyaki meat....

And the name Akutagawa in the window may explain my confusion. Blue neon, right?

G Wiv wrote:

Gypsy Boy wrote:someone can find me a Japanese breakfast joint.

You talking rice, pickle, grilled fish, miso, nori etc? If so a few of the hotels used to have them, nowhere I know of currently.

Yes, I am. Like the now defunct Hotel Nikko? More's the pity. That was quite the joint.

It's funny you should bring this up, GB - Sparky had asked me a while back to make him a Japanese breakfast, and I've had the devil of a time figuring out what that is, exactly. If you do find it, pictures, please!

Gypsy Boy wrote:

G Wiv wrote:

Gypsy Boy wrote:someone can find me a Japanese breakfast joint.

You talking rice, pickle, grilled fish, miso, nori etc? If so a few of the hotels used to have them, nowhere I know of currently.

Yes, I am. Like the now defunct Hotel Nikko? More's the pity. That was quite the joint.

The Cafe at the Four Seasons and at the Ritz serve a Japanese breakfast.

Mhays wrote:It's funny you should bring this up, GB - Sparky had asked me a while back to make him a Japanese breakfast, and I've had the devil of a time figuring out what that is, exactly.

Until we get there and have it, I offer this: probably the two most common items are steamed rice and miso soup. They’re rarely eaten alone but the accompaniments can vary. Most common are broiled (or grilled) fish (often salted salmon), tamagoyaki (a rolled omelet), onsen tamago, tsukemono (pickles), seasoned nori, and natto.

The pickles are often cucumber (green), radish (yellow), and eggplant (purple). The point is the color as much as the texture and the sour.

Onsen tamago means hot spring eggs, referring to where/how the eggs were cooked. For you and me, it means basically an egg simmered in its shell for, say, thirty minutes. Then soaked in cold water, cracked into a small bowl, and doused with a combination of dashi and shoyu (that would be about ¼ cup dashi to 1 teaspoon shoyu).

Natto is fermented soybeans and it’s still surprisingly a popular item—surprisingly because of its, um, acquired taste.

Questions?

Made homemade tamagoyaki sushi-style for Sparky's school lunch the other day ("didn't taste right" meaning he's only had the factory-produced type, I'm guessing)

Thirty minutes? So a seriously hard-boiled egg? I'm not sure I can muster up the energy to grill fish in the morning, but I might try that...

No, not hard-boiled. At least that's the theory. The water should be lightly simmering at best. And the result should be a non-hard-boiled egg. I don't know if that's possible; I've never tried it, but at a very low simmer, it might be. (And, to be honest, I don't think anyone will tell on you if you simply serve a poached egg! )

Gypsy Boy wrote:

G Wiv wrote:

Gypsy Boy wrote:someone can find me a Japanese breakfast joint.

You talking rice, pickle, grilled fish, miso, nori etc? If so a few of the hotels used to have them, nowhere I know of currently.

Yes, I am. Like the now defunct Hotel Nikko? More's the pity. That was quite the joint.

The hotel isn't defunct. It's now a Westin. I stayed there recently and the sushi bar is still in operation in the lobby (not that great) and the Japanese breakfast is still on the room service menu. It may also be served in one of the restaurants, but I'm not sure about that.

Interesting article and recipe for onsen tamago. Nice thing about this approach for a dinner party is it's easy to do a large batch and warm at the last minute.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/19/dinin ... .html?_r=1
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/19/dining/191crex.html

Only really trick part is to get the water temperature right. If your stove allows that, then it's pretty straightforward. You can test eggs as they get close, especially if you do a lot of them.

Hao wrote:Interesting article and recipe for onsen tamago. Nice thing about this approach for a dinner party is it's easy to do a large batch and warm at the last minute.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/19/dinin ... .html?_r=1
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/19/dining/191crex.html

Only really trick part is to get the water temperature right. If your stove allows that, then it's pretty straightforward. You can test eggs as they get close, especially if you do a lot of them.

Nice find. And exactly right. Sort of the Platonic ideal of a poached egg.

Thank you both! I do recall seeing the real thing on a Travel show (don't remember which one) where they were rolling the eggs into actual hot springs. Hmmm....

Gypsy Boy: are you looking for the akutegawa dish that was served on Clark Street back in the day or a traditional Japanese breakfast? We adored the North Shore Grill when we moved to the hood a decade ago but the menu always struck me as Korean meets American meets Greek diner. I don't recall any miso or fish on the breakfast menu, I do recall they served be bim bop.

As has been mentioned upthread, the owners moved south on Clark very close to Wrigley field and have an almost identical sign in the window offering up Akutegawa. If you try it please let us know, my husband misses it so, but you know how hard it is to get from Andersonville to Wrigley Field.

bjt