this and that

belated Thanksgiving...poached chicken brest with cranberry chutney, wilted spinach with lemon dressing, roasted kabocha, maitake sauteed in butter and takoyaki sauce and really old purple cabbage pickles

dubai style chocolate pie from Vie de France...chocolate puff pastry filled with pistachio cream and crunchies...too sweet

who knew Toyota made sewing machines?! (seen near Think) if I understood the article correctly, they were apparently selling them until 2019?!

Tokyo University of Art...I think it might be a graduating student's project.

There were two other objet next to this one, but this one had the biggest impact on me

got the girls mammo'd....our city pays for the screening on even numbered birthdays (I think), so I had to pay 500 yen (very cheap)

recently been seeing this tuk tuk around our area

been following overall arts for some time now and noticed that they did a mural in a shopping arcade near the Keikyu Kamata station

when you don't lable the stuff you throw into the freezer, you reheat a chicken meatball instead of what you thought was a little ball of rice...ha!

hope you have a good week!

ueno

In order to get to Think, I walked through Ueno Park
 

I noticed this huge tree on the grounds of the Tokyo National Museum luckily it could be seen from between the slats of the outer fence 

Tokyo University of Arts

So stinky but so pretty

think

After Vaner went out of business, Think went into its space in 2023

The lines for this bakery are always long and krazy

Plus, they only allow 4 people in the store at a time, so be prepared to wait.

I saw on social media that they were selling stollen, so I reserved one online and went to pick it up yesterday.

The thing about "just picking up" is that you still need to wait in line, so I went early and was 2nd in line...whoo

I purchased their marron hazelnut financier...so buttery, a little chocolatey, with big pieces of chestnut here and there and lots of hazelnuts...love!

Had their cultured scone for breakfast...so buttery! the outer part got a little crisp after I heated it up in the fish grill…love

Cassoulet...a piece of baguette topped with tomato sauce and cassoulet beans and a snappy sausage

I ate this with a knife and fork...delicious!

 

Sangria Red...was looking for an explanation of this online, but couldn't find one...I think they use red wine in the dough or maybe to rehydrate the dried figs and fold in dried figs and nuts...I sliced this and put it in the freezer.

And their stollen...the ingredients are almond powder, butter, orange peel and raisins...look forward to trying this in the coming days.

I don't know that I'll be back here since it isn't nearby, but I'm glad I got to try these items

Think

2-15-6 Uenosakuragi

Taito, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays & Tuesdays

Hours: 10:30-17:00

thank you

Thank you A for sending us a box of apples.

These apples are called San Fuji. 

Crisp & sweet

If you are interested in the difference between Fuji and San Fuji apples, please look here.

We appreciate your kindness A!

yoroniku & ebisu gardens

V invited us to celebrate her birthday at Yoroniku in Ebisu.

She and A dined here last year and enjoyed it.

Unfortunately Satoshi had something so he missed out

This post is gonna be long and you will gain weight...you have been warned

Assorted kim chee and namul

shoyu based sauce a little sweet, lemon & ume shu soda

beef tartare

after mixing it up and putting it on the garlic toast…so ono

2 types of beef sashimi ichibo (sirloin cap) and uchimomo (top round)

thick tongue, outside skirt and loin

salad with salt dressing (kinda like vinaigrette but not puckery)

this salad had huge pieces of lettuce in it, so a lot of us used it to wrap our meats in it as we ate

outside skirt with green onion sauce

thick tongue with lemon

loin with special sauce

lean meat and tsuchinoko (near thigh?)

eat in slightly sweetened sauce...so melt in your mouth

osuimono (clear soup) with bits of tripe...type of palate cleanser

wagyu onigiri

chateaubriand and silky loin

chateaubriand was cooked on super low heat to keep the tenderness and flavor of the meat

silky loin was cooked on a higher heat but was still very tender

dip the chateaubriand in sauce then cover the teeny rice ball...enjoy!

sirloin

eat sirloin with oroshi daikon and sauce first bite...add wasabi to change things up second bite

zabuton (chuck) "sukiyaki" with truffle

the chuck is shabu shabu-ed in this sukiyaki style sauce 

and then they truffle it

really truffle it

and then they froth it up

the rice they will add after you eat the meat, so don't eat up all the truffle egg mixture

frothed up truffle egg and meat

after adding the rice to the truffle egg

awa somen is a thicker type of somen from shikoku

chewy similar to reimen

add condiments...nori tsukudani and wasabi to change up the flavors

dessert...matcha shaved ice to share...first round eat as is

second round add the kuromame and condensed milk

surprise shaved ice for the birthday girl (left)

this one was shirokuma style which means fruits are embedded in the shave ice then covered with condensed milk

the staff worked so hard to cook the meats and serve so that we had the best dining experience

after dinner we walked (rolled) a little to Ebisu Gardens to see the Baccarat chandelier "tree"

This tree is displayed every year at about this time.

The chandelier is 5 meters (16 feet) tall and 3 meters (9 feet) wide and has about 8500 crystals and 250 light bulbs made by 13 MOF (meilleur ouvrier de france) craftsmen and took about 15,000 hours to make

At the opposite end they have this 10 meter (32 feet) tall Christmas tree!

Thank you V for letting me celebrate your birthday with you this year!

We are thankful for your friendship and appreciate your kindness.

We hope you enjoyed your trip! Have a safe trip home.

Yoroniku

1-11-5 Ebisu, GEMS 8F

Shibuya, Tokyo

Hours: 17:00-00:00

*reservations recommended