foodie kind of weekend...and then some...

What a weekend we had....flurries, and lots of food. Well, there was lots of food before the weekend also...Like this croquette I bought from a sozai (prepared foods) shop. I like how they make this because there are slivers of onion in it.

There was wagyu steak served with chirmol. Look at all that marbling.

A macaron from Starbucks. This one was chocolate and reminded me of a chewy brownie.

I made some chocolate rice pudding and topped it with strawberries one evening. It was rich and a nice way to stay warm while watching television.

Saturday for lunch we went to Hibarigaoka-Hanayashiki, which is about 3 stations away.
There is a tiny coffee shop called Hanayashiki near the train tracks.

Run by the old man in the photo, he makes all the food and coffee (siphon-style). If you don't have a lot of time for lunch, don't go here. I had the katsu curry (pork cutlet curry) and Satoshi had the nameko oroshi pasta (nameko mushroom with grated daikon (white radish) pasta). The specialties of the house seems to be the curry and katsu, so if you go there, be sure to try it. The katsu is fried nicely, it is not oily or heavy tasting and the curry has just the right amount of spices.

Also in Hanayashiki, is an upscale chocolate shop produced by Factory Nakata, a local cake shop. We've tried the cakes in the past, so I was interested in trying the chocolate goodies. I got a dark mendiant, chocolate dacquoise and some dark chocolate bits. The mendiant and bits were delicious, but the dacquoise was a bit too sweet, the middle was filled with thick chocolate. I think it would have been better with something lighter. (UPDATE: this shop is out of business)


Our anniversary dinner was at a neighborhood French restaurant called Parisai. We've known about this restaurant, but had never ventured to try it. And boy, were we disappointed. Usually when we dine out, the food that is brought out is described to us. This restaurant didn't do this and all the food came out so fast that we were done eating within 40 minutes! They also advertised wagon-style desserts, but we didn't get to choose....oh well, we won't be back.

(update:2011 this restaurant is out of business)

Sunday predicted snow, but we were feeling a bit cooped up, so we got on the train and headed to Sakasegawa. This is 3 stations from Takarazuka and they have a large mall. I had heard about a place that makes curry, so we went to check it out. I had the Kobe beef curry and Satoshi had the shrimp curry. I added naan, so my rice portion was lessened and Satoshi had the omori (super size), so his rice portion was bigger as well as the portion of curry. This curry was delicious. The spiciness creeps up on you. Satoshi was perspiring by the end of lunch.

And after all that spiciness, jamoca almond fudge ice cream from Baskin-Robbins, or 31 as it is called here, hit the spot.

Whew...that was a lot of food. Hope your weekend was a good one. Have a nice week.