sakura walk (zojoji, hibiya park, chidorigafuchi)

Last Wednesday, Satoshi had the day off, so we got out to check out the sakura (cherry blossoms)

We started off at Zojoji...

Then walked up to Heigoro...this tiny shop was featured on an New Years special drama of "Kodoku no Gurume".

This was totally out of my pandemic comfort zone and it was my first time since last year to eat in a restaurant with non-family members.

The "good" thing about this was that no one spoke, just ate.

Satoshi had their daily special which was beef cutlet.

It came with daikon oroshi (grated daikon) and ponzu (citrus soy).

All lunches come with miso soup and rice (not pictured large bowls of all-you-can-eat tsukemono (pickles)..had to stop "someone" from eating more tsukemono that he should be...ahem!

I chose the Wafu (Japanese style) steak...this was served with a garlic shoyu sauce.

The meat was cooked rare and it had lots of black pepper on it.

Bummer there was some gristle and you had to eat it with chopsticks.

I would have appreciated a knife and fork instead of trying to tear through some of the gristle-y meat.

After lunch we walked to Hibiya Park.

And then up the slight hill to Chidorigafuchi...we were amazed at how close these parks were to each other.

The last time we were here (2 years prior) it was overcast, so it was nice to see this area with the sun out.

Short video here

And then we walked across the street to the National Theatre to look at their sakura...short video here.

We walked back to Hibiya Park and walked the other half of the park...

Where we saw some nemophila...so pretty in the sunlight.

We also checked out Okano Eisen which has been around since 1912?!

We felt they were very cold and unhelpful, especially since it was our first time here.

Bummer that mostly everything was sold out too since it was near the end of the day...they are actually known for their mame daifuku...

I tried their kuri joyo manju (steamed manju filled with a whole kuri (chestnut))...Satoshi tried their "plain" joyo manju (steamed manju with kuri bits)

Not sure we'll be back, but still glad we got to try them.

We found a tiny pocket park nearby in the middle of the city to eat our manju.

Beautiful shakunage (rhododendron) blooming.

Before hopping back on the train to go home, Satoshi and I shared this mixed fruit juice from Fruit Ozawa.

It was a beautiful day, our legs were screaming from walking so much (26151 steps)...it was nice to check out the sakura.

Heigoro

1-11-14 Toranomon

Minato, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3500.5385

Closed Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays

Lunch: 11:00-14:00, Dinner 17:30-21:30

*cash only

Okano Eisen

3-8-24 Toranomon

Minato, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3433.5550

Closed Sundays and Holidays

Hours: Mondays-Fridays 9:00-17:00, Saturdays 9:00-12:00

*cash only

Fruit Ozawa

2-16-1 Shinbashi (inside New Shinbashi 1F)

Minato, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3501.3704

Closed Sundays & Holidays

Hours: Mondays-Fridays 8:00-20:00, Saturdays 9:00-18:00

*cash only