le petit mec

I thought I posted about Le Petit Mec before but I guess I didn't

I first learned about this bakery when we lived in Osaka and I would visit Tamakikat in Kyoto.

They mostly have shops in Kyoto and in some areas of Osaka.

Back in 2019, when I went to see a movie in Hibiya, I had lunch at Le Petit Mec at Hibiya Chanter (their only shop in east Japan).

Fast forward to yesterday, I bought some items from them for lunch and dinner.

This saba (mackerel) sandwich...the bread which I think was supposed to be foccacia was too chewy/sticky, I probably should've toasted it also, but eating it as is, the texture wasn't too nice.

The fish though was perfectly cooked and seasoned simply with salt…delicious

The marron glace with coffee filling was delicious in this hard style baguette.

The base of the filling was coffee flavored cream, with bits of marron glace and walnuts here and there

And their currywurst...it got koge (burnt) because I had it in the fish grill on a timer and was doing something else...

Aunty Marialani style cooking...ha!

But I loved the snap! the curry was a little spicy and the ketchup a little sweet

It was nice to reconnect with this bakery and I'll be back whenever I am in the area.

Le Petit Mec

Hibiya Chanter 1F

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Hours: 8:00-20:00

Closed when Hibiya Chanter is

ginza hibiya yurakucho

Ginza, Hibiya and Yurakucho are relatively in the same area.

I had an errand to run in Ginza, so I also checked out Hibiya and Yurakucho

This tree was in front of Ginza Six
 

3 meter (9 foot) cat in the Nissan showroom

pocket park in Ginza

Hibiya Park's ginkgo trees were beautiful

And these other types of trees too

Near Matsumotoro, a restaurant inside Hibiya Park

The pond that Satoshi used to eat his lunch at when he worked near Hibiya

another angle

Glad I was able to see some Autumn colors

reconnect

Been reconnecting with places since it is way cooler these days...

One place is Alice, a small bakery in our area.

Their donut is a brioche type filled with blueberry cream.

I loved how this wasn't too sweet and had lots of blueberry preserves mixed in their whipped cream filling.

Their pain au chocolat had lots of chocolate...not too flaky but still delicious

Their tuna tartine has gotten smaller but at least they kinda adjusted their price to match...at one point it was nearing 400 yen! now at least it is under 300 yen...

Hope to try other new (to me) items soon

super big choco

The other day, I was out looking for these Sanrio Ziploc containers

We have many drug stores, supermarkets, DIY shops in our neighborhood, so it is sometimes easy to find things like this

After checking several places, I finally found them at one of the two Don Quixotes (Donki) that we have in our neighborhood.

Can you believe one Donki was selling them at 100 yen more?!

Anyway, when I was just about to enter Donki, a guy was outside eating this huge chocolate bar...

I couldn't find it inside the Donki I was at, so when I was at a different location, I managed to pick one up

Satoshi and I shared this...it was huge! like 10 inches long

The inside is like an airy a little salty corn snack...it reminded me of ka-ru (cheese puff minus the cheese) covered in milk chocolate

Dunno that I would buy this again, but I'm glad we got to try this

reconnect

Reconnected with Sachifukuya

When we lived in Osaka, we used to eat lunch here sometimes.

I think the menu has changed over the years

As well as they now have a robot that distributes your food...

Satoshi ordered their salmon chazuke

Kat ordered their chirimen sansho hime (princess) donburi

This came with mentaiko (pollack roe) and tororo (grated chinese yam)

Not realizing that my meal came with these two items, I gave them to Satoshi because they are not my favorite

Will order chazuke next time I'm here instead of this hime donburi...

We're glad we reconnected with this restaurant...we'll be back.

Sachifukuya

Kawasaki Azalea, B1

Kawasaki, Kanagawa

Hours: 11:00-23:00

Closed when Kawasaki Azalea is

this and that

Peanut Butter Brookie from City Bakery...peanut butter cookie on top of a brownie, love this version too
 

Satoshi received this from a co-worker...Whittard's Mango & Bergamot is a green tea base with mango and bergamot flavors...love

I spy soondubu (tofu soup) canned soup in the vending machine

MOS' avocado burger & chicken nuggets...delicious!

Marugame Udon is coming to our neighborhood...probably in January or February-ish...

been quite gloomy and cloudy, so I got a dahlia from the neighborhood flower shop

Another tea that Satoshi received from a co-worker...Whittard's Piccadilly Blend...black tea base with fruits & floral flavors...this was similar to the tea Satoshi brought back from Azerbaijan.

i‘m donut

After lunch I went in search of i'm donut

They have several locations around Japan even one in New York?! and other overseas shops

Their brioche type doughnuts are all the rage

I'd heard that some times the wait in line is hours...

Since Satoshi didn't need dinner, and I had a late lunch, I decided to get some doughnuts to try...

The line wasn't too krazy...

Fill out the order form

Pay when you get inside...cashless only

I tried their grilled tomato keema curry which is an exclusive "flavor" at this shop.

The filling is the tomato keema curry which is a little spicy 

I was surprised that even with the sugar on the outside it wasn't overly sweet

The thing holding the tomato on top was cheese (I think)

I also tried the i'm donut chocolate...this was just a fried chocolate brioche covered with powdered sugar...still good, but I should've chose one with cream in it.

Everything was so light and airy I think I could've easily eaten a couple more...

I can see what the hype is about...I'll be back.

i'm donut

1-17-4 Higashi Ikebukuro

Hours: 10:00-20:00

*cashless only

komeraku

Friend Greg‘s sisters are in Japan and invited me to meet up for lunch

Before meeting them, I explored Ikebukuro a bit.

Points if you see Mount Fuji...taken from the 15F of Tobu Department Store

also loved the rounded windows on the 15F of the Tobu Department Store..

On the 6th floor of the Tobu Department Store is the largest Daiso.

So big that you need a map!

This area combines Daiso with its other brands Threeepy & Standard Products, apparently it opened this past February.

I also recently learned that Daiso is now a Korean company! so be prepared to find more Korean snacks and stuff here...

H & J wanted to eat ochazuke, so we met up at Lumine's Komeraku

Choose your side dish...I chose chicken with black vinegar sauce

And choose two toppings for your chazuke...I chose ume & shio kombu.

The other topping choices were mentaiko (spicy pollack roe), salmon flakes, shirasu (whitebait)

They actually have more toppings to choose from but they will cost extra

When you are ready to make your chazuke, add the rice to the bowl, your topping, add the dashi...

On the table, are wooden boxes with nori, katsuobushi, ceramic containers with bubu arare & spicy green togarashi paste

Bummed I forgot to photograph my first round of chazuke...ume, bubu arare & nori

Cute note thanking you for ordering your lunch and tells you the health benefits of it.

I should've asked for a little less rice, it was too much for me to finish...

I hope they had enough to eat and it was nice catching up with both of them 

and we appreciate the omiyage! 

I am planning to share this with my friend in Tokushima who sent us the shine muscat a few months ago as well as other friends we plan to see soon.

Thanks for today H & J, I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip!

Komeraku (Tappuri Yasai & Ochazuke)

Lumine Ikebukuro 8F

Hours: 11:00-22:00

Closed when Lumine Ikebukuro is

meat yazawa

Jenny & Chan are in Japan and they were nice to make some time to meet up

We checked out Meat Yazawa which has been on my “to try” list for some time

They are known for their hamburg and steaks

They are popular so there is almost always a line

At first we thought we should reserve a table, but they have an unusual system and we would have to order a certain set menu

So instead we decided to go early, so that we could order what we wanted to.

Since their dinner service starts at 17:00, we met up at 17:30.

I had Satoshi work at home, so that we could make it time...

We were lucky that there was no line

Jenny ordered the single demi glace with fried egg

I ordered the single demi glace with cheese. 

Chan ordered the double with fried egg

He got to choose a different sauce for his second hamburg, he chose demi glace

And Satoshi had the single with fried egg

I think the hamburg with fried egg came with the house sauce which looked shoyu based

Jenny, Chan & Satoshi added the garlic rice, wagyu soup and mini salad

Kat added the rice, wagyu soup and mini salad

You should’ve seen the juices jump out when we cut into the hamburg!

All are cooked medium rare because it sits on the hot plate as you eat

The guys had beer while the girls had iced tea (jasmine & oolong)

Afterwards, I thought that the rice, soup & salad might not be necessary for some because the hamburg does come with mashed potato and some veggies.

We hope they had enough to eat and enjoy the rest of their trip.

It was nice spending some time with them and we are also thankful for all the omiyage they gave us

Thanks for today Jenny & Chan! 

Meat Yazawa

2-15-13 Nishi Gotanda

Shinagawa, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-15:30 (lunch), 17:00-22:30 (dinner)

kaen

We tried a "new" Chinese restaurant in our neighborhood, Kaen.

Actually they have several locations in our area and we ate at one awhile back.

Satoshi ordered their black sesame tan tan men set, which came with half an order of fried rice.

He also ordered their gyoza.

He said he enjoyed everything

I tasted the gyoza and it had a weird smell...I didn't care for it.

I ordered their mabo men

This seemed like it was tomato based? dunno but the flavors seemed unlike most mabo things I've eaten at other places

Also...red = spicy...mouth.on.fire...

Dunno that I'd go back here, but glad we reconnected with this place.

Kaen

6-31-6 Nishi Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-24:00

antenna shops

When we went to Ginza, we also stumbled several antenna shops.

These shops are closer to the JR Shinbashi station

The Nara antenna shop has all sorts of food items, especially the kaki (persimmon) sweets that we purchased recently.

Around the corner is the Kagawa & Ehime Setouchi antenna shop, which had all sorts of food items from Kagawa and Ehime.

I want to go back to buy some dried yuzu peel from here.

Nara Mahorobakan

1-8-4 Shinbashi

Minato, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-20:00

Kagawa Ehime Setouchi Shunsaikan

2-19-10 Shinbashi

Minato, Tokyo

Hours: 10:00-20:00