matsuya curry

Matsuya Curry has been around in Kamata since 1963

It closed in 1993 and then was reopened in 1996 as Kamata Matsuya Curry.

The kanji (chinese characters) were similar to the beef bowl Matsuya, so they changed their kanji.

Buy your ticket from the machine, I ordered the Matsuya curry which was a pork curry...600 yen (tax included)

Give your ticket to the waitstaff, they'll ask you how much rice you'd like.

I ordered my curry with less rice.  

If you choose less rice (200 grams), they will either give you soup, an egg or 50 yen back.  

I chose to receive 50 yen back.

The fukujinzuke that they use is from Shuetsu, you may or may not remember that Shuetsu was apparently the first to make fukujinzuke in Japan.

The other condiments, if you need to make your curry spicier

Each order is made after you buy your ticket, so be prepared to wait, they have lots of manga and magazines...

Satoshi ordered the katsu curry...900 yen (tax included)

He had the normal amount of rice (250 grams)

we enjoyed this and look forward to trying other items on their menu.

Matsuya Curry

7-5-4 Nishi Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-23:00 *earlier if they run out of rice

*cash or Suica only

boulangerie sudo

Boulangerie Sudo has been on my “to try” list from back when we lived in Osaka.

Since moving to Tokyo, we've passed by this bakery several times and it always had a line, especially on weekends.

And then the pandemic hit, now they don’t have enough workers, so they had to cut back the days they open.

Which means they now have lines all the time.

Recently they posted on IG that they would start taking orders for their stollen.
 

You could order online, but there would be additional costs.

So I decided to go stand in line… I got there a little before opening time and there was at least 40 people in front of me!

They only allow 7 people in at one time, little did I know that it would take me almost two hours to get into the shop!

By the time it was my turn, pickings were slim.

I chose their potato grilled chicken tartine, chestnut financier, coconut sable & curry cube...1425 yen (tax included)

FYI this was the line outside the bakery as I was waiting for the train, hope everyone still had something left to buy.

The chicken tartine was delicious!

Large slices of potato and grilled chicken with bechamel sauce and cheese on a crisp toasted baguette...love!

side view

Chestnut financier, this had a whole chestnut in it.

Curry cube was super savory and coconut sable had lots of coconut in it

Would definitely try to go early to be able to try other items.

Looking forward to trying their stollen which I’ll go pick up in a couple of weeks.

Boulangerie Sudo

4-3-14 Setagaya

Setagaya, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-19:00

*only open Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays

*cash only

nicolas seiyodo

Nicolas Seiyodo is a tiny bakery that has been in business since 1912.

They not only sell cakes, pastries and baked goods, but they also sell bento!

As I was about to enter the shop, a grandma stood next to me asking if the daily bento was already sold out.

It was not.

So, she was able to get some for her lunch. 

They had so many baked items on their shelves and cakes in their showcase, it was hard to make a decision.

After circling several times, I bought a curry pan and kuromame cream cheese bread...330 yen (tax included) for both!

So reasonable!

When I got home, I "refreshed" these in the toaster.

The curry pan was filled with spicy curry and was not greasy and the kuromame cream cheese bread was filled with cream cheese and several kuromame (sweetened black beans)...delicious!

Would definitely like to check out other items, I'll be back.

Nicolas Seiyodo

3-19-4 Wakabayashi

Setagaya, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 8:00-18:00

*cash only

back to biwako

It had been 3 years since I'd been back to Biwako

This time I ordered what Satoshi had tried on that visit, the Napolitan...980 yen (tax included)

It came with a salad

The napolitan was delicious, they use their own sauce so it wasn't overly sweet, I would get this again.

lunch also comes with a choice of drink...on this day, iced coffee was needed.

I'm glad I went back and hope to go again soon.

Kissa Biwako

2-4-7 Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Wednesdays

Hours: 8:30-19:00

*cash only

this and that

This salad from RF1, loved the fresh kaki in there and the cream cheese mixed with almonds and more kaki.

Would like to recreate that cheese mixture to eat with crackers.

The dressing was also delicious, almonds and a white balsamic vinegar

blingy car

Tokyo People: this furry one wasn't interested in what his human was gonna buy at the butcher

 

I voted, will you?

we spotted this shop with its shutter broken into.

I went to look for the policeman that is usually stationed at the nearby police box, but he wasn't there, so Satoshi told me "let's just go home"

I told him we should say something, but he told me not to get involved...sigh

The next day, I saw this...I'm glad the policeman noticed the opened shutter.

unfortunately this shop is unoccupied, so hopefully its management company will check on it soon.

Hopefully nothing was taken.

Seems like crime is on the rise here these days...

Tokyo (furry) People: this one waiting for the vet...this vet is so popular there are always many furry ones in the waiting room and also many out waiting outside...

The sunrise the other morning...

Have a safe weekend.

gotanda jp building

Many moons ago, there was a huge hotel in Gotanda, the building was apparently old so they tore it down.

Earlier this year the Gotanda JP Building was finished and sits where the huge hotel used to be.

FYI: JP stands for Japan Post

It has a hotel on the upper floors, office space and and I just found out that there is a food court on the ground floor.

One of the vendors in the food court is Amameria Espresso, I tried their espresso tonic...690 yen (tax included)

This was delicious, but I wish it was served colder since it was quite humid on this day...

Still, it was nice to be able to sit and drink coffee in peace (no one chatting loudly or many people walking around).

One of the eateries in the food court is Kitade Tacos

We've tried them in the past and enjoyed their taco rice, so I picked some up for our dinner.

It moved around in the box, so it looked smooshed...wish they had put the sauce on the side instead of directly on the taco rice...

Satoshi wants to check out this area, so we'll be back.

Gotanda Dining

inside the Gotanda JP Building 1F

8-4-13 Nishigotanda

Shinagawa, Tokyo

*each vendor has their own business hours, so check before going

teppan no spaghetti

Teppan no spaghetti is a chain that serves different pasta (spaghetti) dishes on teppan (sizzling plates)

I chose the bolognese and ordered it (small) with 200 grams of pasta.

This was delicious, but I wished it had a little more tomato flavor.

Satoshi chose the tarako (pollack roe) shoyu butter, he ordered this (regular) with 300 grams of pasta.

This restaurant was tablets to order and cash machine to pay.

The only thing the "people" working there do is greet you and bring out the food

Not sure we'll be back here but it was nice to try.

Teppan no Spaghetti

7-2-3 Nishi Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Open daily: 11:00-22:00 

imoya kinjiro

Since I like to add grains to our rice, I wanted to try Imoya Kinjiro’s multi grains.

They are the same shop that V & I bought imo kenpi from.

You add this to 2 cups of white rice and cook it in your rice cooker.

I love that they not only have 16 different grains in this mix but also bits of dried sweet potato. 

They also give you a little book of recipes, hope to try some of them out.

presqui'le chocolaterie

Been wanting to try Presqui'le Chocolaterie's chocolates.

They are located in Kichijoji and is not somewhere we often find ourselves.

Luckily they were at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi for a pop-up.

I picked up their (clockwise) chocolat orange (chocolate cake with orange peel), maple financier (maple flavored cake), cardamom sable, tigre chuao and galette nantaises 

Everything was delicious.

My favorites were the cardamom sable (cardamom cookie covered with chocolate and topped with cacao nibs), tigre chuao (a moist cake with a dollop of chocolate in the middle and cacao nibs on the cake) and galette nantaises (buttery cookies).

Hope to get out to the shop to pick up some of their bon bons to try.

Presqui'le Chocolaterie

2-15-18 Kichijoji Honcho

Musashino, Tokyo

Closed: Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Hours: 11:00-19:00

obusedo

Obusedo is a tiny Japanese confection maker specializing in chestnuts sweets in Nagano.

They have been in business since 1923.

I am not sure how I learned about them, but wanted to try their mont blanc...650 yen (plus tax)

This was light and delicious.

There is a light sponge cake on the bottom, lots of whipped cream and the whole this is covered with chestnut paste...love!

If ever I get to this area of Nagano, I hope to try more of their chestnut sweets.

For now, I'm just glad that we got to try these.

Obusedo

Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi B1F

1-4-1 Nihonbashi Muromachi

Chuo, Tokyo

Hours: 10:00-19:00, closed when Mitsukoshi is

yagicho honten

Had Yagicho Honten on my "to try" list.

They have been in business since 1737 and have been selling items to make "dashi" like katsuo bushi (shaved bonito), kelp, dried shiitake and other items.
 

I tried their hitokuchi (one bite) onigiri...270 yen (tax included) each.

When I asked the guy working there which one would he recommend, he said “all”

I chose these three:

Orange: hari hari zuke (daikon pickles) and sesame seeds

Blue: konbu tsukudani (simmered kelp) and sesame seeds

Red: homemade ume boshi (pickled plum)

Each onigiri is covered with katsuo bushi (shaved bonito).

Bummer that the katsuo bushi overpowered the ume (pickled plum) and hari hari zuke (daikon pickles)

Dunno if I'll be back, but I'm glad I got to try these.

Yagicho Honten

1-7-2 Nihonbashi Muromachi

Chuo, Tokyo

Open daily: 10:00-18:00

this and that

Haagen Dazs is celebrating 40 years in Japan...and came out with these Hanamochi ice cream.

Usually they have "Japanese" flavors for this series but this time have chosen caramel and chocolate.

The caramel was a little gritty, overall we were disappointed with these.

Domino's Pizza came out with these pizza bento.

Since I needed dinner one night (and Satoshi didn't) I ordered this to try.

The pizza was "so teeny" (5-ish inches?!) but actually was just enough for me for dinner (I also had salad).

I ordered the kalbi pizza with a side order of fries...1190 yen (tax included)

Glad I tried this, would order it again. 

Tried the nori bento from Komeraku...1190 yen (tax included) for dinner

This was hefty! Wafu (Japanese style) steak, chikuwa, hamburger, under the nori was kinpira, yukari and soboro (minced meat).

 there was also pickles, the omelette was thick and there were bits of pickled ginger in it.

Tasty but way too much food.

Reconnected with Frou Frou's pork and beans

Photos uploaded wonky...was waiting for the chestnut paste filled taiyaki at Naruto Taiyaki Honpo

Put 2 in the freezer

Demi glace hamburg from Frou Frou...so ono! and meaty

Tokyo People: all the people you see while waiting for the train...this was a man!

not sure if you can see it in this photo, but I think this was the comet everyone was talking about (Tsuchinshan-atlas).

the super moon

Mother Nature has been slapping us around between summer and autumn, hope the weather is better where you are.

Hope you have a safe weekend.

life hack

How many zip ties have you cut?! I have cut quite a lot.

I learned that if you squeeze the top with a flat nose plier you should be able to release the end of the zip tie and use it again.

Cool yeah?!
 

reminiscing

One year ago we were trying 7 eleven's smoothies

Four years ago we were trying to save a junk yakiimo

Seven years ago we were having a foodie adventure with V in Osaka

Ten years ago we were having culture shock with tatami

Fourteen years ago we were showing you what was on our lanai

Eighteen years ago we were participating in a World Bread Day event.