foodie wednesday in kobe

Wednesday I was supposed to meet up with a friend, but had to change plans because she had a bout of anemia.

So, instead I went to Kobe to pick up my sample of Mariage Frères' summer tea, Violetta.

It is a very floral tea and has a violet fragrance, (the guy at the counter let me smell it), I think as an iced tea, it is going to have a refreshing taste.

In order to get the sample, I had to buy something, so I'm trying their Yunnan.

I hope both are good.

I then walked up Tor Road to Kitano Groceries, which I found the last time I was in Kobe.

They sell all sorts of foods especially spices.

I picked up 200 grams of ground cumin, some whole cumin seeds and cardamom pods...870 yen. I don't think we get spices this cheap in Hawaii, do we?!

It was funny though, as I was paying for them, the owner, who is also a foreigner says to me in Japanese, "are you going to make curry?"

I told him, "how can you tell?"

"Because most people making curry buy these items", he said.

We then had a nice chat in Japanese about how he makes his curry.

I was pretty hungry after that conversation, and ate at a restaurant that my host-family took us to earlier this year called Kokaen.

They serve Vietnamese-Chinese food.

I had their sweet sour fried won ton set...700 yen.

Crispy won ton is covered with a sweet sour sauce and some veggies. On a humid hot day like it was, this really hit the spot.

There was also a nice daikon salad, some zasai (szechuan pickles) & egg drop soup.

On the way home, no one wanted to sit by me on the train...the cumin I bought made me smell like I had b.o. There were even guys, thinking that they smelled and sprayed themselves with cologne...funny yeah?!

It was crazy hot & humid, but it was still nice to get out and about.

What have you been doing lately?

Mariage Frères
BAL Kobe 2F
Kobe, Hyogo
Phone: 078.391.6969

Kitano Groceries
3-3-3 Yamamoto-dori (In front of the Mosque)
Kobe, Hyogo
Phone: 078.230.6860

Kokaen
2-21-12 Nakayamate-dori
Kobe, Hyogo
Phone: 078.231.7079
Closed Tuesdays : Lunch 11:30-13:30, Dinner 17:00-21:00 (Sundays: Lunch 11:30-13:30, Dinner 17:00-20:00)