fbc, koln & furoindo

It had been ten years (or more) since I had been back to Rokko Island.

Before that, I had been to Rokko Island when I studied in Japan (many many moons ago).

Back when I studied in Japan, Rokko Island was still undeveloped and when Satoshi and I had visited 10 (or more years ago) it was still pretty undeveloped.

So, I was shocked to see it looking like a concrete jungle now...

Finding Foreign Buyer's Club was a bit of a hunt, but I'm glad I had brought my pocket wifi.

I could've easily ordered online from them, but I wanted to see their brick & mortar shop.

I'm glad I went because now I know that they don't have a lot of items there and have more items listed on their website.

I was able to get some deodorant...and a can of cream of mushroom soup (I wanna make scalloped potatoes).

At least I have some deodorant to tide me over for the summer...

In Okamoto, I had originally thought to buy some items from Furoindo, a bakery that has been around since 1932.

You know I wasn't a foodie back when I studied in Japan, because I only found out about them when we moved to Japan back in 2001.

Anyway, when I went to the shop, I was too early and all their shelves were empty...boo!

So I bought all kinds of stuff from Koln...that tuna sandwich (bottom of the photo) was awesome, it had fried onions in it and I want to re-create it.

And that smiley face was a chocolate melon pan filled with chocolate cream...mmm!

I went to FBC and then just before getting on the train back to Osaka, I went to check out Furoindo again...and they had curry pan & an donuts...whoo!

Usually when you bite into curry pan, there is a huge air pocket where the bread separates from the filling.

I loved that both were filled to the gills with curry and sweet bean paste respectively.

The curry had a nice amount of spice and the an donut was covered with cinnamon.

The donut part was thicker and chewier than what I am used to but I think it needs to be that thick to hold all that filling.

I'll be back to both bakeries and buy from FBC online (thanks for telling us about this place Jo!).

Have a nice weekend!

Foreign Buyer's Club (2020 no longer in business)
5-15 Koyochonaka, 3F
Rokko Island, Hyogo
Phone: 078.857.9001
Closed Sundays
Hours: 10:00-18:00

Koln
1-5-13 Okamoto
Kobe, Hyogo
Phone: 078.451.0064
Hours: 8:30-20:30

Furoindo
1-11-23 Okamoto
Kobe, Hyogo
Phone: 078.411.6686
Closed Sundays
Hours: 9:00-19:00