beep

Monday, as I was walking home from the market, I was passing in front of the police box

it is nearby a 4-way stop

The car made a hollywood stop and turned right

And just as he did that, the police, flew out from his police box, blowing his whistle, running out into the street, making me freeze from the sound of the whistle (also made me a little deaf for a bit!), and also because he (the police) almost ran into me!

Amazing how slow motion it all was, scared the "beep" out of me too.

Another reason for me to have a camera in my eye...a friend on IG told me about these (ray ban meta) instead

Glad no one got hurt, and I hope the hollywood stop dude got a ticket (didn't stick around to see what happened)

omma foods

We've tried all sorts of items from Omma Foods and recently got to try their Kalbi Jjim, which is beef or pork short ribs that are braised

This was beef but not short ribs and sadly it was salty and not too tender.

The kalbi jjim was actually a bento, so I froze the rice and we ate the hijiki and kiriboshi daikon kim chee with their kimbap

The kimbap, on this day was filled it with gobo (burdock), egg and other veggies..1566 yen (tax included) for everything

It was also Kat's first time trying makgeolli.

This was a probiotic one from Kaldi...298 yen (tax included)

It tasted kind of like a sweetened yogurt with a little kick from the alcohol, dunno if I would get this again, but I'm glad I tried it.

With the start of the new year, have you tried something new to you? Tell me about it in the comments 

16919

Saturday Satoshi had a dental appointment, afterwards we walked to Nishikoyama.

The last time we were here was in 2022

Our first choice for lunch was out so we had to look for “plan b”

On the way we stopped in at Cuisson Lucca since I had them on my “to try” list

We picked up their cake aux fruits, madeleine, orangette and galette bretonne...1166 yen (tax included)

We had these with wine and they were delicious. 

The cakes were buttery, galette was flaky and the candied orange was a little tart.

I want to try other items, so I'll be back.

Lunch was at Sugiyamatei, a tiny shop serving Western style foods since 1977.

I ordered the Omurice, this came with a mini salad..1150 yen (tax included)

This was blazing hot burning my mouth even after me blowing on it...still, it was delicious!

Satoshi ordered the beef cutlet topped with cheese…1950 yen (tax included)

He also ordered the “set” which comes with rice or bread, a mini salad and coffee or tea…750 yen (tax included)

He said he enjoyed this. 

I was eyeing his dollop of mashed potatoes...

There are other items we want to try, we'll be back

After lunch we decided to walk around, and stumbled on Mayadera

Beautiful wooden carving of a dragon

Near Ebaramachi station, loved the mosaic!

And these cute flowery light posts

interesting store shutter

and an interesting mascot character

The weather has been fahreezing, but at least has been sunny.

Hope you have a good week!

Cuisson Lucca

5-25-10 Koyama

Shinagawa, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays & Mondays

Hours: 10:00-20:00

Sugiyamatei

6-1-3 Koyama

Shinagawa, Tokyo

Hours: 11:30-14:00 (lunch: Mondays-Fridays), 18:00-21:00 (dinner: Mondays-Fridays)

11:00-14:00 (lunch: Saturdays & Sundays), 17:00-21:00 (dinner: Saturdays & Sundays)

this and that

(furry) Tokyo People, I think this was a pekingese 

Tokyo People, one on patrol

Tokyo People, this reminded me of rubber stamping with embossing powder, they were sweeping off the access powder, before heating it
 

Hangry, this furry one was looking for food

so teeny

so teeny

surprised to find 12 eggs! most cartons in Japan only have 10

Thank you to H, Greg's sister, who sent us this care package for fulfilling her bucket list to eat anime style crepes.

We appreciate her kindness, thank you!

beautiful ume tree

tried the Opera Frappuccino...it was similar to the MOS burger shake, a little too sweet for my liking…700 plus something yen (don’t remember).

It was also made with almond milk and had almond bits in it which made it a little hard to drink…meh

super teeny radish

relatively decent sized radishes from the lanai

Tokyo People...delivering bento

The temps dropped to -2C (29F) yesterday...brr!

Have a safe weekend.

tsukemen gonokami seisakusho

Met up with friend M.A. who is visiting from Hawaii

His friend recommended Tsukemen Gonokami Seisakusho, which was nearby where he was staying, so we went to check it out.

 

While standing in line, they have you go into the shop to purchase your ticket

choose your ramen, toppings, and get your tickets.

I chose the tomato shrimp, with 180 grams of noodles...1000 yen (tax included)

By choosing less noodles they offered me more meat or an egg, but I declined 

The shrimp tomato soup has pork, menma and some cherry tomatoes.

The noodles come with pesto and a baguette slice.

I was a little disappointed that the noodles were served cold

On this fahreezing day, I would have appreciated the noodles at least warm.

The shrimp broth, tomato and pesto had an Italian vibe.

The noodles are thick to pick up the broth.

M.A. had their miso version, he doesn't eat meat, so he gave me his char siu...1000 yen (tax included)

He chose 270 grams of noodles.

It was his first time having tsukemen, I think he enjoyed his bowl.

It was nice catching up with him and I hope he enjoys the rest of his trip.

There are only 14 seats, so be prepared to wait

I'm glad we got to try this, I think Satoshi would enjoy this too.

Thanks for today M.A.

Tsukemen Gonokami Seisakusho

5-33-16 Sendagaya

Shibuya, Tokyo

Open daily 11:00-21:30

*cash only

mimosa & deli

Had Mimosa & Deli on my "to try" list for awhile, finally got to try them yesterday when I happened to walk past and they were open!

buy your tickets from the machine and give them to the chef/owner

I was looking for the pudding (flan) button, but accidently bought a different ticket..oops!
 

I purchased the chicken nanban bento 790 yen (tax included)

By the time I walked home, the chicken had soaked up the sweet sour sauce, so it wasn't too crisp, but this had really good flavor.

The tartar sauce was a bit "dry" 

The pudding (flan) 300 yen (tax included) each

So rich and creamy! and the caramel sauce was a little bitter (and a little hard at the bottom) we enjoyed this.

I wouldn't mind trying other items on his takeout menu, I'll be back.

Mimosa & Deli

1-28-9 Nakarokugo

Ota, Tokyo

Closed Sundays and Mondays

Hours: 11:30-14:00 (lunch takeout), 17:00-19:00 (dinner takeout Tuesdays & Wednesdays), 18:00-22:00 (dinner service Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays)

*cash only

thank you

Host sister, T, sent me these chocolates and other sweets made by Yvan Chevalier.

I haven't been in the loop lately with Salon du Chocolat especially since they changed the way you can purchase the items during the pandemic.

When I unwrapped these cookies from the bubble wrap, I had a feeling some were missing and joked with Satoshi that someone ate some..

Well, my (foodie) host sister must’ve heard me because she fessed up. 

It was a new item that she hadn’t tried before, the container wasn’t sealed like they usually are, so she tasted one of each flavor of the cookies...aiyah!

Still, thankful she remembered my birthday (even if these arrived earlier than she requested).

Thank you T!

*the light blue box was milk chocolate with popcorn, the red box was dark chocolate with raspberry purée, the long white box was square cookies covered with milk and dark chocolates.

the monkey chews kitchen

Ever since moving to Tokyo, I’ve had this restaurant on my “to try” list, and we finally got to 
 

Their course menu starts off with hitokuchi (one bite) tray

we both had a glass of this, medium body, I was disappointed they served this chilled though

gougere (savory puff) filled with a mushroom purée and I think a cheese disk on top

pate de campagne (foie gras pistachio & pork, topped with a fruit leather and fig compote sitting on a mochi mugi (pearl barley) sable (biscuit/cracker)

-presentation was nice but the uncooked pearl barley at the bottom of the tray got stuck to the pate…try not to break any teeth!

anno imo (type of sweet potato) and shallot? a la grecque (type of pickling) and olive

smoked butter waiting for freshly baked focaccia 

madai (red sea bream) with fermented strawberry sauce

raw oyster topped with yogurt pineapple and dill…super refreshing!

first time for me to have raw oyster

beet crepe filled with housemade smoked salmon and lots of different herbs & greens

Satoshi had a glass of this 

focaccia finally came out drizzled with olive oil..the crust was so crisp! and the butter was delicious too, we should have saved a piece for the upcoming dishes though

scallops with risotto fermented brussels sprouts, foam (not sure what it was made of) and some yuzu zest…warm “cozy” kind of dish

sawara (spanish mackerel) cooked poiret (spooning oil over while cooking) style, shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) tempura style, blanched nanohana (rapeseed greens) matcha dashi and parsley oil

a little bitter from the shungiku, but the fish was cooked perfectly

A5 wagyu sirloin, bordelaise sauce, with beet purée, mashed potato, kale and leeks…a little fatty and some gristle but tender, delicious

The name of the restaurant is after the chef’s music band days, The Monkey Chews, when he lived in England

He also trained at La Mere Poulard on Mont Saint Michel, so he makes the airy omelette…10 servings only at lunch time, the airy omelette can be chosen as your meat dish for the dinner course menu

From November 2023, they changed their dinner from a la carte to course only.

We were bummed we couldn’t choose different meat dishes, Kat wanted to try the duck.

The interior has an English pub feel on the 1st floor and French bistro feel in the 2nd floor where we were seated

Overall, this was a nice way to celebrate our anniversary, we want to try their lunch menu so we’ll be back…18,200 yen (tax included)

The Monkey Chews Kitchen

5-8-4 Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Closed Sundays

Hours 11:30-13:00 (lunch), 18:00-23:00 (dinner)