izugiku

We tried Izugiku recently

This shokudo has been around for 100 years!

Bummer is that they allow smoking, so you have to take your chances when eating here.

Satoshi had their daily special, which was katsuo sashimi and fried shrimp...1000 yen (tax included)

He said he enjoyed this

Kat tried their taco rice...900 yen (tax included) and didn't know they served it with miso soup...

Anyway, I enjoyed this taco rice, it was spicy and also a little sweet

The egg had crispy edges! love!

Cash only and the service is fast but not too friendly

Dunno if we'll be back (because of the smoking) but we are glad we tried this place

Izugiku

1-6-17 Hatanodai

Shinagawa, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 11:30-14:30 (lunch), 17:30-20:00 (dinner), lunch only on Fridays & Saturdays

*cash only

nikudofu

saw this recipe on television and wanted to try

Serves 2: from “Sakurai Ariyoshi the Yakai Kitchen”

1 block momen tofu (hard), drain and cut into easy to eat pieces

100 grams beef belly, cut into bite sized pieces

50 grams onion, thinly sliced

10 grams ginger, grated

40 milliliters sake (rice wine)

40 milliliters mirin (sweet rice wine)

240 milliliters water

10 grams honey

16 grams sugar

20 milliliters shoyu

80 milliliters mentsuyu (sauce for noodles)

In a pan, bring the sake and mirin to a boil

Then add the water, sugar, honey, shoyu and mentsuyu

Add the beef, onion and ginger

cook on low for 3 minutes

Add the tofu and simmer until the sauce has permeated the tofu

Turn the heat off and let the tofu soak in the sauce

NOTES: this was delicious

easy to put together

I didn't read the directions and mixed all the ingredients for the sauce together brought it to a boil then simmered everything for a total of 10 minutes

I also added renkon (lotus root) and maitake

I have quite a bit of sauce leftover, so I'm thinking to make oyakodon with it

we're 21

another trip around the sun!

can't believe how long this blog has kept going

appreciate all the comments and messages

grateful for all the friendships made over the years

thank you for coming along with us on our adventures. 

mitas coffee

Wanted to try Mitas Coffee but wanted to have Satoshi along with me.

The reason is that this coffee shop is cashless, and I have a rule about using my credit card in Japan

I only use my credit card when my bill is 1000 yen or higher

So just to buy a coffee is a no go for me

I think they first started as a coffee truck...

Their menu says their coffees are pour over, but they actually had the ones we tried pre-made

Satoshi ordered the Mitas Blend 1 (Brazil and Costa Rica)...600 yen (tax included)

watch your step when going to the 2nd floor, there is a huge step down...

Kat tried the Mitas Blend 2 (Brazil, Costa Rica & Kenya)...600 yen (tax included)

They also have two expensive pour overs and two types of espresso drinks

Delicious coffee, free wifi and air conditioning on the 2nd floor!

I'll be back whenever Satoshi will be able to come along.

Mitas Coffee

1-2-18 Tamagawa

Ota, Tokyo

Hours: 7:00-17:00

*check their Instagram for days off

*cashless only

ps our weather has been so krazy, rainy ("cool") days, blazing days...maybe another typhoon on the way?!

as for Chiba, it looks like it will take a minimum of 3 months to get their train service and electricity restored?!

hope you have a safe weekend!

namara masara

Reconnected with Namara Masara.

We tried them during the pandemic, then they went out of business, not sure exactly when

And while I was walking around the neighborhood recently, I noticed they were now operating from a house.

So, Satoshi and I went to check them out

They share a space with a beauty salon 

This time around the owner explained what this spicy condiment was.

Satoshi said it wasn't too spicy and enjoyed the flavor of the katsuobushi that was also used

Satoshi didn't remember that he had tried their salmon ikura curry during the pandemic.

Lucky we have this blog to remember what we tried.

This time around he tried the pork nankotsu (cartilage) curry, he said he enjoyed this...1190 yen (tax included)

Kat tried the no water chicken curry, this is cooked with just veggies, spices and chicken and uses the liquid from the veggies....1145 yen (tax included)

Delicious

We're glad we reconnected with this shop and look forward to trying their keema curry...we'll be back

Namara Masara

1-14-7 Higashiyaguchi

Ota, Tokyo

Open daily: 11:00-22:00

on the lanai

repotted the cyclamen, we've had it for over 20 years and the plastic pot finally started to break

the ti leaf plant that was in the pot had died, I think it was too hot this summer for it

so I dug up the roots and took out some of the soil

and put cyclamen into the "new" pot

I wasn't able to "loosen" the dirt up because it was in that old pot for so long...

I hope it will thrive
 

typhoon 25

Typhoon 25 (Dujuan) finally passed 

We had been staying indoors since Sunday.

There were times when our tv antenna went out, but at least we didn't lose power and only had lots of rain

Chiba on the other hand had major flooding and power outages

I feel so bad for Chiba they had bands of rain last month which caused flooding and power outages and two weeks later it happened to them again and now the typhoon!

I cannot imagine!

Hoping the people in Chiba and the areas that had flooding and power outages can get back to their daily routines soon.