Thursday, November 23, 2006

kinro kansha no hi

Today is a National holiday, Kinro kansha no hi (Appreciation for laborers and production), kind of like Labor Day and Thanksgiving all in one. The weather forecast was rain, fortunately it was overcast, although it was really cold and windy!

We went to our favorite neighborhood cafe for breakfast then made our way to Minoo Park. Walking in about 3 km, you come to an area with the Minoo Falls.

From the falls area, we walked above to see if we could catch a taxi to Katsuoji. Katsuoji is a temple that helps pray for good luck. We've visited this temple 3 times, it is quite out of the way, but the autumn leaves are usually very pretty and it is quite peaceful there.

We were lucky to also catch a glimpse at the Minoo monkeys--although I didn't get any photos.

Lunch was a bit late, but we stopped at a little restaurant that I had been wanting to try--Felice. This restaurant is near the Minoo station.

Satoshi had their special fried shrimp lunch.

I had their special "omurice" lunch. Omurice is rice, usually seasoned with ketchup and chicken, called chicken rice and enveloped in a fluffly omlette. The rice in this lunch was seasoned with a tomato based sauce, chicken and onions and also had a scoop of their special beef stew around it.

Here's the inside of the omurice--sorry it is a bit blurry.

Lunch was very leisurely and delicious!

Right across the street, there is a cute little confection shop called Epinard. I was first introduced to this shop by my host-sister, Tomoko, when we first moved to Minoo. They are known for their truffles called Truffle au chocolat. Coated with cocoa powder they go well with wine, whisky, milk or coffee--yum!

Have a great weekend!

Felice
6-1-32 Minoo, Minoo Residence Annex 1F
Phone: 072-720-3031
Closed: Wednesdays

Epinard
6-6-8 Minoo
Phone: 072-724-2248
Closed: Wednesdays

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd love to try some omurice. I was watching "lanchino zyoou" (Queen of lunch - a couple of years old Japanese TV drama) the other day, I had a huge craving for omurice then. It is hard to find a shop that serve omurice with demigra sauce as a topping sauce in Korea.
It looks really delicious. I am really hungry now. :)

K and S said...

Hi Sue,

I remember that soap opera, it made me crave omurice with demi-glace sauce too. Hopefully you can find demi-glace sauce (or maybe make your own), then you can re-create this dish :)

Enjoy the weekend!

Kat

Anonymous said...

Kat, I love the pictures of the autumn leaves! We don't get the seasons here in Singapore which is a real bummer for me. If I am in Japan and see the leaves' colors change, it will definitely put me in the mood, looking forward to winter! :)

K and S said...

Thanks Kurogoma.

I didn't have seasons either when I was in Hawaii. I hope you get accepted to the JET program, so you can experience the seasons here, they are really beautiful, well, except for summer...

Take care.

Kat

Unknown said...

Dear Kat and Satoshi,

My name is Meo, from Bangkok. I found yor blog when i searched for the word "demigra sauce". The only question i'd like to ask is do you know how to spell it correctly? I've heard about this sauce when i watched a tv show from Japan through cable tv but it's all in Thai. In the program, chef showed how to make japanese style hamburger and topped with demigra sauce. I'd like to search for its recipe but couldn't get the right word..

It's ok if you don't know. :-) Thank you for reading.. by the way, you seem to be a very adventurous couple. And the photos are soooo beautiful!! :-)

Regards,
Meo

K and S said...

Hi Meo,

The spelling is "Demi-glace sauce". I'm glad you are enjoying our adventures.

Take care.
Kat