("A taste of Chile in Casa de Eduardo"... ya, I speak Spanish. HAHA no I don't)
Sebastian has been able to experience a good amount of Filipino culture and food in his couple visits in Manila, while I have never been and don't know so much about Chile. So when I found out that there was Casa de Eduardo, a Chilean restaurant in Tokyo (apparently the only one that exists!), I couldn't wait to try it.
Disclaimer: I didn't get to take a lot of photos because I was SHY.. Also, the photos I did take were sneak photos so they're super shitty quality. Damn it, Sabina!!! This might be a shitty post.
It was actually two years ago when Sebastian still studied in Tokyo when he suggested we try out Casa de Eduardo with our group of friends one random day after school. At the time, Eduardo borrowed his friend's restaurant in Akasaka when it closed at night, so it was a British sandwich shop by day and a Chilean restaurant after 6pm; the problem was that Casa de Eduardo had no sign of its own. So much to our disappointment, after going up and down the same street for about an hour trying to find the restaurant, we found out it was closed.
I tried going again the next year, but it was closed again. But I guess third time (and a venue change)'s the charm because after Eduardo moved Casa to Nakano, I finally got a taste of Chilean home cooking.
Eduardo and I! He put the sombrero on me, ok... Also excuse my face it was a bad angle!!!
Since it was a Sunday night, I decided to message Eduardo through Facebook before heading there to make sure I wasn't setting myself up for disappointment yet again (a lot of restaurants in Tokyo close on Sundays or other random days of the week). He replied and said it was open so I made my way to Nakano, ready for some Chilean cookin'!
Typical Chilean salad? I sent Sebastian photos and he said that it was
True to its name, Casa de Eduardo looked like a home-turned-restaurant. It had an izakaya-style L-shaped Japanese counter that faced the kitchen but there was also a big table with different kinds of chairs kind of wedged in between the biggest space of the restaurant right by the entrance. This table can fit a lot of people, probably around 10 or so. Are my descriptions making sense?
TL;DR, it felt like I was in a home as opposed to a restaurant; it almost felt like I was invited over for dinner. He even put on a classic Chilean comedy and explained to me what was happening in each scene!
I stole this photo from Eduardo's Facebook... Yea we're friends and yea I really should have taken more photos
Since it was my first time and I was terribly shy, Eduardo just asked if I wanted him to cook me stuff I could try, so I said yes didn't get to see his menu.
One of his regulars (who's Chilean too) came in and he made us a salad while he cooked us up a steak and salmon.
But the main star of the show was Eduardo's empanadas. I love me a good empanada, and these were GREAT.
As you can see, there wasn't much presentation, but I really didn't mind because it added to the homey feel.
Eduardo made everything from scratch, down to the dough; inside there was minced meat, some egg, and an olive (which I took out). They were freshly fried so we had to wait a little bit when they got to our table.
When you bit into it, the dough was crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside and the filling burst with flavour. The juice from the filling rolled down from my fingers and down my forearm and at that point I stopped trying to be neat and polite and breathed the empanada in.
They came with this sort of salsa-like sauce, the name of which I forgot but I just googled and I got "pebre." Hopefully that's correct? Anyway, before each bite of your empanada, you're apparently supposed to put on some of this sauce. From what Eduardo and eventually what Sebastian told me, this is used for many Chilean dishes.
Eduardo also served us a yummy potato salad that I didn't take a photo of.
Sorry this is a pretty shitty blog post I just wanted to talk about my first taste of Chile. Hopefully there's more to come; 2k16 is my year! :)
- Price: I honestly forgot. Haha. Roughly 2000 - 3000 yen for 1 person?
- Fullness: Really full, but not guiltily-hobble-back-home full. But I also didn't come hungry
- Vibe: Super casual
- Sabeezy recommends: Empanadas! I really want to try the empanadas with cheese. Also I recommend to message Eduardo first to see if his place is open.
- Good for: A group of friends or if you don't mind talking a lot, alone is fine too. If you come in a large group, Eduardo said he could cook up a big dinner with paella and stuff!
- Plus points: It's not too far from Shinjuku and Eduardo is super friendly and accommodating
- Minus points: Because I'm a super shy person I was pretty damn nervous walking in alone and making conversation with strangers. While Eduardo was really nice and friendly, I was super drained after a long night of socialising. But that's just me :P
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