Fashion designer Barney Cheng was on his way to Japan for the express purpose - aside from visiting a hot spring - of eating. Specifically, at a little-known restaurant in Tokyo that puts garlic in everything.
'I hear they have this wonderful garlic bread, a baguette cut in half smeared with a whole clove of garlic melted in butter. Yum,' said Cheng.
The subject arose over lunch with Cheng in Lan Kwai Fong. Cheng was soon to embark with six chums for a week or so in Japan for food, food, food - some melt-in-the-mouth Kobe beef, perhaps a bit of crunchy tempura and, as the ultimate gastronomic event, the aforementioned garlic-laden treat.
But today it was the user-friendly, quirky menu offered at a quiet corner table at Tokio Joe.
Apart from offerings such as the toro (prime tuna) sashimi ($420 for six pieces) much of the menu was surprisingly well priced.
We started with a couple of appetisers: yaki-nasu (baked eggplant, $50) and agedashi (deep-fried tofu in soy sauce, $55).
