Saturday, May 10, 2008

foodie friday

This morning I put together my bottle to make vanilla. Awhile back, I read this post on Melissa's blog. It took me awhile to gather the vanilla pods, which I bought via Jaden's & Melissa's recommendation, and the vodka. I hope it works...I'll keep you posted.

With vanilla in gear, I went to Umeda to meet Tamakikat.

She had also heard about Kuidaore closing down and was interested in checking it out before it did.










But before we did anything, we stopped in for some lunch. I wanted to take her to this yoshoku-ya(western food restaurant), Nishimoto, but I got kind of lost. Then with some luck, we stumbled upon it. My friend, Aya had taken me here awhile back and I liked the food and atmosphere. Since Tamakikat wasn't too hungry, we both decided on the daily bento.

This came with your choice of main dish, an omlette, spaghetti, tsukemono, salad, soup and rice--all for 800 yen (about US $8). She chose the hamburger, I chose the teriyaki chicken.

After chatting and full stomachs, we decided to check out Kuidaore.

This little guy is "the symbol" of Osaka. Kuidaore means "eat until you drop"--the motto of Osaka.

The restaurant that owns this guy (his name is Kuidaore Taro) has decided to close after many, many years in business. People have offered money to buy him, he's THAT popular. There were so many people standing around him taking photos with him, you would have thought he was a real Hollywood star or something.

After getting our photos of him we walked to Doguyasuji to check out the plastic food samples. (Those plastic food samples are expensive!)

From Namba, we walked all the way back to Umeda--a good hour's walk, but the time passed nicely, the weather was quite overcast, as we chatted the whole way.

We stopped in at Comme Ca Ism's cafe and had some pie and coffee (sorry the photo was a blur). It was a great day (Thanks Tamakikat!)

I came home and was stuffed, but since I don't like to skip meals. I put together a tuna salad. I whizzed some carrots in the food processor, added some tuna salad, then topped it with some of my mom's bread & butter pickles.

If you notice on the bottle, there is a sign that says "don't eat this". If I didn't put this there, Satoshi would have eaten the whole bottle, in ONE sitting. Once, my grandma made some pickled veggies for him, gave him a bottle, like the one in the picture and the next day, he gave the bottle back to me, empty!

Hope your weekend is going well.

UPDATE:Comme Ca Cafe is now closed as of 11/2011

9 comments:

OkiHwn said...

Yeh, nice bento box! Worth reusing or do you have to return it?

Kathy YL Chan said...

Ooo wow, I look foward to hearing the results on the vanilla - it sounds so fascinating!!

I'm making a trip home to Hawai'i in a few weeks, first thing on the agenda: a proper bento...and then, andagi from Marukai!!!

K and S said...

you just eat from it at the restaurant and they take it after you're done, Nate. :(

can't wait to see your posts from Hawaii, Kathy! and I'll keep you posted on the vanilla :)

Anonymous said...

I went back through your link for Doguyasuji. Sounds like a really fun place to go shopping!

K and S said...

Actually there is a place called Kappabashi in Tokyo that is bigger than Doguyasuji, Lori :) I want to check that place out one day.

Take care.
Kat

Anonymous said...

Hi kat, I think you will be very happy with the results from your homemade vanilla extract.I was given some 8 years ago and all you do is refill the vodka as it runs low...I have a large bottle that is filled with beans...the flavor is excellent. I made my own in a small glass bottle of vodka and loved to see the color of the liq change as it matures..

K and S said...

Thanks Shar! I'm looking forward to the vanilla extract! :)

Take care.
Kat

Rowena said...

After what you said about his level of popularity, my first thought was that he is the equivalent to America's Ronald McDonald! Eh, although I'm certain that it does NOT include Ron's food. :-P

Rare to see someone say that they don't like to skip meals. I usually see people complaining about losing weight!

K and S said...

I do need to lose some weight, Rowena, but I love to eat much more!

Take care.
Kat