Friday, December 03, 2010

odds & ends

Odds and ends...a coffee drink by Mt. Rainier coffee, I love that they used 70% chocolate, made the drink a little sweet but not sickly sweet.

Starbucks has a new coffee drink in convenience stores...chocolate eclair latte.

This one is sweet but actually does taste like an eclair.

Pafonte's cream bread...in the shape of Hello Kitty, cute and delicious.

The cream was a chocolate custard, even better. The flower was unfortunately a soggy cookie with a maraschino cherry.

Eyes and nose were sweetened black beans.

Lawson's rolled cake filled with an earl grey tea cream.

The earl grey tea is made by Ahmad.

Dinner at Chaina, we tried their ebi-mayo (fried shrimp coated with a mayonnaise sauce).

Delicious.

Anchor's Humming Ale.

I loved the fruitiness.

Katharine Hepburn brownies, recipe by Lori Longbotham.

I think my pan doesn't heat nicely or the batter wasn't mixed good because the middle rose up really high and after it came out of the oven it looked like a mound.

Even though it didn't look nice, it tasted good--rich and chocolatey.

Lawson's char siu-man...like char siu bao (or what we call manapua in Hawaii).

This one was tasty though there wasn't much meat in there, more sauce.

Maisen's mini burgers. Maisen is a katsu (cutlet) shop in Tokyo. They sell their katsu sandwiches in many department stores.

I tried their mini burgers for lunch one day--shrimp katsu, menchi katsu (hamburger) & filet katsu...All were delicious and no skimping on the fillings.

Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Flax Olive oil muffins....nice and chocolatey.

Dunno if your Starbucks has this but at the bottom of the receipts here, whenever you order regular coffee, you can get another cup for 100 yen (about US$1).

I've seen people buy a cup and use the receipt to get another one (not as a refill).

I think you should have to re-use the cup that you received the first cup in, it would be better for the environment.

Gokan's Lemon-san...a delicious moist lemon cake with a light lemon glaze.

Perfect with tea.

Paulaner's Salvator...meh, dark colored fizzy water.

Starbuck's chocolate loaf cake...this is tiny but I love that it is a chocolate spice cake filled with figs and glazed with a dark chocolate ganache.

And after all that eating...we need a nap.

This guy was totally snoozing in McD's...

It is Friday here, hope you have a nice weekend!

15 comments:

  1. I sure hope to see that Starbucks Chocolate Eclair drink in the US!!!

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  2. What a bunch of yummy bites! A shame about the cookie flower, but Hello Kitty takes the cake - so cute.

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  3. I'm totally fixated on the manapua! And the lemon-san! Both would pretty much hit the spot right now (well, they'd probably hit the spot anytime :)).

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  4. Yum, everything looks delicious! Love that Hello Kitty Cream pan :o)

    I've seen something similar at Starbucks in the US- except it's for a $2 drink after 2pm the same day with receipt.

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  5. That Hello Kitty bread reminds my of my final project in baking class at ABC Cooking School. Except mine wasn't nearly that cute!

    I used to pick up Lawson's char siu man on the way to work sometimes. It wasn't as good as "real" char siu man, but it was the only char siu man I could find! I don't know why it's so hard to find in Japan.

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  6. Hey Kat - Good thing there weren't any flies around; that guy would have caught a bunch! ;o)

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  7. I hope so too SoS!

    Thanks Rowena, I was debating at the bakery..HK or a cinnamon roll...HK won :)

    I'm obsessed with finding the kind of manapua we know and love here Jude.

    I guess it might be the same thing K, though JPN's is a bit cheaper :)

    Have you tried Heichinrou's char siu man Rona? Or the char siu man in Hanshin's Ou-Lou? Pretty good.

    For sure Kirk :)

    Take care everyone.
    Kat

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  8. Yum--lots of good stuff you have been enjoying. I have been meaning to make the Katherine Hepburn brownies for a while--I have heard they are excellent. ;-)

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  9. I hope you try them Debinhawaii, would like to know what you think about them :)

    Take care.
    Kat

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  10. I haven't tried Heichinrou's, and I don't think I've tried Ou-Lou's unless they also have a shop at the Nishinomiya Hankyu. There was a place at Nishinomiya Hankyu that had nikuman and other dim sum-type foods, and they had char siu man once (it was good!) but I never found it there again. I made my own several times, so that's how I got my fix!

    I think I'm going to have to cancel my trip this month, or I would try all those places and more! Maybe in the spring. . . :-(

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  11. Was wondering about your trip Rona, hope all is well. Heichinrou is actually a Yokohama restaurant but has a shop in Umeda and they sell their buns in Hankyu's food hall. Ou-Lou also has a char siu men which I like too :) Hope to see you in Spring.

    Take care and may the rest of 2010 be good to you.

    Kat

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  12. I am so impressed that in Japan you can take a nap with all your possessions (including laptop) out in the open!

    That Hello Kitty bread looks adorable.

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  13. I guess Japan is still a relatively safe country Jenster :)

    Take care.
    Kat

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  14. Hey, Kate Hepburn's brownies have been my standard brownie recipe for about 12 years! Best when made with Belgian dark chocolate, but I used to use Lindt 70% before we moved near to a Trader Joe's (where you can get a 1lb block of Belgian dark chocolate for baking for under $5).

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  15. man, I wish we lived near a TJ, Manju, though at the rate Hawaii is going, I think Japan will get one before they (Hawaii) do.

    Take care.
    Kat

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