vizio virtu, max brenner & nagatechoeido

This past Wednesday since I had some time on my hands, I went to check out the Valentine's chocolate fair.

The thing I like about Umeda is that there are 3 department stores within walking distance of each other.

I went to Hanshin department store and picked up these orangette by Nagatechoeido....1050 yen (about US$10.50)

This shop is located on Awaji Island and uses their local Naruto oranges. They candy their peels, then cover them with Belgian dark chocolate.

The peel is on the soft and bitter side but matches the dark chocolate perfectly.

At Daimaru, I picked up a gianduja bon-bon by Vizio Virtu. This chocolatier is from Venice....483 yen (about US$4.83)

It was a little bloomed but still creamy and delicious. They also let me taste their tiramisu bon-bon, made with marscapone cheese, coffee and milk chocolate.

I was surprised that they gave me the whole bon-bon to try, since most places cut their bon-bons up to give as samples.

I also bought some dark chocolate covered waffles from Max Brenner....1890 yen (about US$18.90)

When Satoshi used to go for business to Australia, he would often pick up Australian food magazines for me.

I heard about Max Brenner from one of those magazines and was jealous when I found out that they have shops on the mainland (US).

The waffle is actually a crispy cookie covered with what seemed more like a semi-sweet chocolate rather than dark chocolate.

I'm glad I was able to try these, I hope when I share, Satoshi will like the waffles and orangettes too.

Nagatechoeido (in Japanese only)
1-4-8 Honmachi
Sumoto, Hyogo (Awaji Island)
Phone: 0120.24.1050

Max Brenner
Many locations--check out his site to find a location close to you.

Vizio Virtu Cioccolateria
Sestiere San Polo 2898/A
30125 Venezia, Italy