this and that

glad we got to have this dessert again this year

the peach was a little stringy but still very sweet

the price has gone up since the last time we tried this...885 yen (tax included)!

still worth it though. 

went back to Single O to try their carrot cake...880 yen (tax included)

they call it "the almost famous carrot cake"

I think their cake could be a little bit more moist though but I like the big pieces of nuts and that you can see the shredded carrots

Their Firecracker Blend is a limited seasonal blend...the cold brew was delicious & fruity, hints of caramel

Been seeing this espresso base on television lately

 

after looking in several markets, I searched online and found out they sold it at a market we used to walk to during the pandemic

1 bottle makes about 15 cups of espresso…299 yen (plus tax)

I used this to make espresso & carbonated water

And then I used it to dilute part of this really old Choc Tease Buzzballz 1/4 cup + 1 serving espresso base + some carbonated water

 I plan to freeze the rest of the Buzzballz

This was more of a dessert type drink, so it matches with sweet things more than savory 

I noticed that while they are taking down the buildings, they also take down the walls that they have around them

Found some of those packages that were turned black and white due to the War with Iran

Calbee says that they will go back to printing "at least" the front sides of the packages with "color" (I think sales must be down! with the black and white bags)

Our weather has turned blazing and humid...eep!

We were spoiled with the cooler weather

Nectarine season!

Hope you have a good week!

 

20 years

It's been 20 years since we did the climb!

So many good and bad things happened since then

To climb Mount Fuji, there are many rules in place these days

Summer is here!

miyagi

Been wanting to try Miyagi for some time

(The first time we tried eating here, it was packed and everyone was waiting for their food, so we ended up eating here instead)

This shop has 5 counter seats, 3 tables for 4 and is run by 1 

when we arrived we were told that he is cooking to order so it will take some time for the food to come out

since we got seats at the counter, we decided to wait 

I ordered the omurice...1140 yen (tax included) plus oolong tea...390 yen (tax included)

This was delicious...just the right amount of ketchup and the egg was cooked perfectly too

Satoshi had their meat with chives, half rice, an order of gyoza and a beer...2450 (tax included)

He said he enjoyed these items including the gyoza

This shop's shoyu ramen was featured on Bananaman's Sekkaku Gourmet tv show

And the restaurant was used in J-pop boy band, Snowman's music video as well as J-drama ""Trillion Game"

I was happy to learn that I was sitting on the same seat as Meguro Ren! one of the actor’s in the drama

Even if our food took some time to come out and prices were kinda high, it was delicious

We are glad we finally got to try this place and will be back whenever we can be seated!

Miyagi

2-29-9 Nakaikegami

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Wednesdays

Hours: 11:00-14:30 (lunch), 17:00-21:00 (dinner)

*cash only

toyokawa inari betsuin

Diagonal from Toraya is Toyokawa Inari Betsuin, a branch of the Toyokawa Inari that is in Toyokawa, Aichi

The temple houses lots of kitsune (fox) and the shichifukujin (7 lucky gods)
 

I was amazed at how many tiny shrines there were on this property!

While waiting for Satoshi, I noticed this huge root?! coming down from the branch of a tree

I'm glad we got to check out this temple and will be back to try their inarizushi, which I had marked but hadn’t realized it until afterwards!

Toyokawa Inari Betsuin

1-4-7 Moto Akasaka

Minato, Tokyo

Hours: 7:00-20:00

*no admission

toraya akasaka

Toraya started in Kyoto in the 16th century! and their head offices are now in Tokyo

The tea salon in Akasaka was rebuilt in 2018 and made with lots of hinoki (cypress) by Hiroshi Naito
 

The interior is beautiful with large windows

Pretty flower arrangement

After waiting for seats we were seated near the window...where we could watch the cars whizz past

I think all the greenery that we could see from our seats is part of the property that the State Guest House sits on

I had the half sized apricot shaved ice...1870 yen (tax included)

apricot puree, amaretto syrup and marinated apricots

this was delicious

While eating, I had eaten all the puree and marinated apricots and was sad that there wasn't any more apricots to finish the rest of the shaved ice with 

And then, I was pleasantly surprised to find more apricot puree at the bottom of the dish!

I'm glad I tried this.

Satoshi had the half sized chilled oshiruko....1320 yen (tax included)

He could choose between koshian (smooth) or tsubuan (chunky), he chose tsubuan

He said this was the perfect size

shopping on the 2nd floor

rawr

then go down to the basement to see their art gallery

during this visit, they had an ukiyoe display

beautiful building and desserts. they also have some light savory items...I'll be back whenever I am in the area

Toraya Akasaka

4-9-22 Akasaka

Minato, Tokyo

Closed: every 6th of the month

Hours: 9:00-18:00 (shop), 11:00-17:30 (cafe, lunch until 14:00), 10:00-17:30 (gallery)

hie shrine

One place that Satoshi wanted to check out was Hie Shrine, since he has a tour soon, which is dedicated to the deity of Mount Hiei in Kyoto

it is also known as Hiyoshi Taisha, and is one of the oldest and most revered Shinto shrine in Tokyo

The shrine houses three deities that are believed to protect people from disasters, especially fires

Satoshi had thought I had visited before but I had not

I was surprised but thankful for the escalators that take you up and down, to and from the shrine

There was also an area with many red torii (this area is all steps)

I noticed on their website that they had a wisteria tree, but did not see it when we visited, I hope they didn't cut it down.

I’m glad I got to visit this shrine

Hie Shrine

2-10-5 Nagatacho

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Hours: 6:00-18:00

*no admission

osaka madras curry

Not sure how I found out about Osaka Madras Curry but I had it bookmarked to try

Apparently this is owned by actor, Kitamura Kazuki

This shop is teeny, only 8 seats

The character in the turban resembles the actor
 

Buy your ticket...EXCEPT it doesn't take new bills! so we needed to ask the guy working there to change it for us

He mentioned that they plan to change the machine soon since the older bills are harder to come by these days

Kat ordered the small curry (200 grams rice) with cheese 1120 yen (tax included)

Each serving comes with a raw egg, this reminded me of a curry I had in Osaka at Namba Jiyuken, with blog friend Dennis, many moons ago.

The curry starts of a little sweet and then the spices creep up on you.

It reminded me of the curry we had at Joto Curry

The cheese had lots of pull! love!

Satoshi went with the small curry with katsu 1340 yen (tax included)

He said he enjoyed this

If you need to make your curry spicier, use their can of spices on the table (with the yellow label)

This shop is run by one person, so be prepared to wait

I'm glad we got to try this place and will be back whenever I am in the area

Osaka Madras Curry

3-14-8 Akasaka

Minato, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 11:00-14:45 (lunch), 16:00-20:45 (dinner)

*cash only