mad chefs

Heard about this eatery, Mad Chefs, from a local account that I follow on IG

Apparently they serve all sorts of “ethnic” cuisines

If I’m not mistaken, Japan uses the word “ethnic” to mean South East Asia

Anyway, this restaurant serves Indian curries, and foods like Nasi Goreng as well as pasta with curries on it

loved the lamps that they have throughout their interior

Choose from their 7? curries, I tried their mutton curry, level 1 

Choose naan or rice, I chose naan

Choose 3 toppings from their 7…I chose salad, kachumber & achaar

The salad was topped with a dressing made from squid ink, luckily it didn’t taste fishy but it sure was spicy!

The kachumber was daikon, carrot, bell pepper & cucumber with a paprika sauce

Achaar was potatoes with black sesame seeds

Choose a drink…I chose their thick lassi, it was so thick that I could not drink it through that straw!…1080 yen (tax included)

Satoshi chose their weekly curry which was a Thai green curry, level 1 (no photo)

He also chose naan

And his 3 toppings were salad, boiled egg and achaar

His drink was a mango lassi (add 50 yen)

Total was 1350 yen (tax included) for his lunch

The mutton curry was delicious and I loved the naan, it had a super crispy bottom

Satoshi enjoyed his food too

Service is friendly, the music is loud rap/hip hop, and everyone is dressed in basketball like uniforms

They also have shops in Ikebukuro and Shinjuku

I notice that they also have a monthly 42 yen day during a weekday which they serve 42 yen curry (100 plates) and 42 yen drinks!

I’m glad we tried this place, and will be back when we don’t know where to eat

Mad Chefs

5-18-6 Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-24:00

niki no kashi

stumbled upon Niki no Kashi on social media

several huge buildings selling all sorts of snacks, candies

Kinda similar to Takeya 

Marishiten Tokudaiji Shrine is surrounded by the various Niki buildings, you can see this shrine from the JR Okachimachi station platform

I am pretty sure they have products repeating in each building but it was still something to see

Since I was with Satoshi, I want to go back so that I can take my time and look at each aisle...I'll be back

Niki no Kashi

4-1-8 Ueno

Taito, Tokyo

Open daily: 10:00-20:00

research

Satoshi has a tour coming up and wanted to check out some things in Asakusa

So while he did that, I went to check out some shops that are on “my list”

 

Karinto Kozakura has been in business since 1870

Karinto are pieces of dough that are fried then coated with a sweet/savory flavor

Excited to try the 7 different flavors that Kozakura has, especially their yuzu…1188 yen (tax included)

A couple blocks away is Tokutaro, a Japanese confectionery shop that has been in business since 1903

I purchased their dorayaki to try but want to go back to try their steamed chestnut yokan

The dorayaki was super moist with an even amount of sweet bean paste…480 yen (tax included) for 2

I'm glad we tried this.

Nearby is Animal Hamaguchi's Training Gym.

Animal Hamaguchi is a famous pro wrestler, his daughter Kyoko competed in many wrestling tournaments, even the Olympics

loved the area above Sensoji, not many tourists!

so teeny!

Asakusa Dosendo is a teeny wafer shop that has been in business for over 50 years

The wafers are grilled over coals by hand in iron molds

love the packaging

the wafers are firm, a little salty, definitely should be eaten with tea

they have many different flavors...we tried black sesame, coconut and peanut...coconut was super faint but the other two were really tasty…680 yen (tax included) for 4 wafers

I'm glad I got to try new places and that Satoshi got to research things for his tour

Kozakura

4-14-10 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 10:00-17:30

Tokutaro

3-36-2 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 10:00-17:00

Dosendo

2-35-14 Asakusa

Taito, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays

Hours: 10:00-19:00

*cash only

grateful

Friend Mayumi, sent us a box of veggies that she grew in her yard...

potatoes

shiso (perilla)

komatsuna (Japanese mustard cabbage)
 

huge radishes (the teeny perfectly round ones are the ones I had bought earlier in the week)

garlic

bags of shiitake

and green beans

with veggies kinda pricey these days, we really appreciate her kindness

Thank you M!

danshari

Lately we’ve been danshari-ing (purging)

We are lucky because in Japan there are a lot of places that will buy the purged things 

Not all places pay you a lot of money for the purged items but it is better than “just throwing it in the trash” or paying for seals so that the city will pick them up...

I recently took my beading stash in as well as some jewelry

We also found out they will also take our old smartphones, so I was trying to erase all our info from the phones

Since I forgot how to use the old models, I was glad that You Tube had tutorials on how to use them

Top photo: my very first iphone…3GS?! so teeny

And my second iphone 5S, this was teeny too

We still have a lot more stuff to purge but since the shop we go to only gives 30 minute appointments, we’ll just keep doing a little at a time

Hope you have a safe weekend

finally

I’m probably way behind the times, but I just found out that google maps (GM) has icons for your saved lists.

I don't know about you, but I have so many lists on GM, so this is kinda helpful

When I’m out and about I try not to use cell data, so now that I can put an icon to represent the list, hopefully I’ll be able to remember what the icon means when I see it 

ice cream weather

So the temps have gone krazy...I think the weather dude said we've been in July temps?!

Ice cream weather!

I thought I wrote up about this one but didn't Is'more's texture is similar to melty marshmallow like you find in s'mores

Different but delicious...we tried this one back in 2025
 

This year, Is'more came out with the chocolate mint version...just as delicious

Godiva's melty fondant chocolat bar was rich...love!

I bought the milk ice bar for Satoshi since he's not a chocolate mint fan

Haagen Dazs recently came out with a chocolat mint extra mini cup...will try this soon

Hope the weather is cooler where you are