idobata

Been wanting to try Idobata’s pour over coffee for some time now

In his family's garage, this grandpa works out of a teeny truck and makes delicious cups of coffee

Choose your coffee

Choose hot or iced

Prepare to wait 

It was nice to sit and talk story with him while he made our cups of coffee

He is super knowledgable about coffee

Satoshi had their Costa Rica served hot...500 yen (tax included)

Kat chose his iced Kenya…600 yen (tax included) so smooth!

Will come back next time I am here

Idobata

2-14-13 Hase

Kamakura, Kanagawa

Closed Thursdays

Hours: 9:00-17:00

*cash only

shamoji

Saturday Satoshi wanted to go to Kamakura to check out some things for an upcoming tour

I don’t remember paying admission (pre-pandemic) to see the Great Buddha (maybe I forgot) but apparently now they charge admission

I waited outside while Satoshi checked out the things he needed to

We then went down to Hasedera, again I waited outside while he went to check out the things he needed to

Lunch was at Shamoji which I had bookmarked

It is a small restaurant serving teishoku (set) style meals

Satoshi chose the 3 local fish sashimi teishoku 2100 yen (tax included)

He said he enjoyed this

Kat chose the fried aji teishoku 1500 yen (tax included)

loved the citrus dressing on the salad under the fish

and the hijiki was delicious too

I’m glad we got to try this place and would come back again

Shamoji

1-15-2 Hase

Kamakura, Kanagawa

Closed Tuesdays

Hours: 11:30-15:00 (lunch), 17:00-21:00 (dinner)

we’re 20

so much has happened in 20 years

some bad

mostly good

lots of travels

lots of delicious 

if you’ve been with us from the beginning…thank you

or joined us mid-way…thank you

with so much uncertainty these days 

not sure how long our tiny blog will continue but we are glad you are here with us

be well 

be kind

 

this and that

tokyo furry people: huge!
 

tokyo furry people

cooler weather = plants waking up...cyclamen

and freesia

probably the most I've paid for these pizzutelle bianco grapes...1599 yen (plus tax)

still crisp and sweet

my "on this day" in IG told me it was pizzutelle bianco season...I had gone to the market but didn't see it...then I saw a woman pick up something...it was the pizzutelle bianco and there were only two bunches left!

then she put back the bunch she was holding...which is when I swooped in...since both were the same price, I bought the bigger of the two.

did you hear about the paper clip? I learned about the resistance message that the people of Norway used back in the 1940s

People of Norway wore a paperclip on their clothing as a way to silently show unity and solidarity against the Nazi occupation 

The paper clip symbolized "being bound together"...interesting and courageous!

reconnected with oomasari this variety is still huge! and delicious

it was a short week because of the holiday on tuesday (the 1st day of Autumn) 

the temperature has been flip flopping between warm and cool.

have a safe weekend!

yurakucho & ginza

Tuesday was a holiday (the 1st day of Autumn) and Satoshi wanted to check out the Yurakucho/Ginza area for an upcoming tour
 

We also went to Ginza Six to check out the new Laderach and back to Kimuraya for anpan

Lunch was at Royal...which has been in business since 1965

Kat had their napolitan while Satoshi had their takana pilaf...1000 yen each (tax included)

I would've liked some veggies in there, but at least it wasn't sickly sweet like some napolitan can be.

Their lunch also comes with a small salad and your choice of coffee or tea...Satoshi had hot coffee while Kat had iced

there are other items on their menu that we want to try...we'll be back

After lunch we went upstairs to the Hokkaido Antenna shop for soft serve...

Kat had their milk "flavor" while Satoshi had milk mixed with yubari melon...500 yen each

We then walked around Ginza Inz and Nishi Ginza

Papabubble was giving out samples...this was grape flavored and the picture was of Hokusai's wave

Hokusai's Mount Fuji was cherry

we also watched them make more candy

and walked through the Okuroji area of Hibiya, this area is filled with eateries and shops and uses the space under the train tracks.

It was my first time here but reminded me of the one in Akihabara

Not too much walking but at least it wasn't krazy hot

Royal

Kotsukaikan B1F

Chuo, Tokyo

Hours: 8:00-19:30 (weekdays) 11:00-19:00 (weekends & holidays)

Closed when Kotsukaikan is

*cash only

kimuraya

We recently tried some of Kimuraya's autumn an pan

These  are Satoshi's choices...the one on the left is their original tsubuan pan

The one on the right is their an pan filled with sweet potato

These are my choices...the one on the left is their original tsubuan pan

The one on the right is their an pan filled with fig paste
 

loved this one!

We hope to try their restaurant soon!

laderach

Apparently they had a shop at Ginza Mitsukoshi in the past, but I saw on social media that Laderach is back in Japan

I first heard about them from my Aunty and then from V

They sell bon bon type of chocolates

some packaged items

and by weight items

we purchased their mini dark frisch schoggi...3672 yen (tax included)

we look forward to trying this in the coming days

Laderach

Ginza Six B2F

Hours: 10:30-20:30

*closed when Ginza Six is

yakiniku king

We've been trying to eat at Yakiniku King for awhile now.

I first heard about it maybe during the pandemic? but the closest shop then was quite far from where we lived and it was a really popular place at the time so you needed to wait (hours) for a table

Then last year I found out there was a shop near Kawasaki, which we tried to eat at for dinner, but because we went at peak dinner time, the wait was 30 or 40 minutes for a table...and since we were hangry, we decided to try another day...

Then recently I found out they had a shop in Oomori, so yesterday, we went before they opened at 11:00 and were 1st in line. 

They have several all you can eat menus but since we usually don't eat enough to get our monies worth, we decided to just order a la carte off the menu.

King kalbi (boneless ribs) 759 yen (tax included)...this was delicious but super fatty

assorted kim chee 429 yen (tax included) nothing out of the ordinary, though it did taste a little sweet to me

Tsubozuke Harami (skirt steak marinated in a pot) 869 yen (tax included) this was super tender that we ordered another portion

Atsugiri Rosu (thickly cut loin) with garlic butter shoyu...979 yen (tax included)

we weren't too sure when to add the garlic butter shoyu, so after cooking the meat a little we put the butter and garlic on as we cooked it 

so tender!

Afterwards I looked online and you are supposed to put the foil pan with the sauce onto the grill to heat it up then dip the cooked meat into it…now we know!

we also ordered 1 small rice 209 yen (tax included) and 1 medium sized rice 319 yen (tax included)

Everything comes out like conveyor belt type sushi.

We want to try other things on their menu...we'll be back.

Yakiniku King 

Atre Oomori 2, 4F

Hours: 11:00-23:00

Closed when Atre is

*they have many shops around Japan

25 C

Are you a mosquito magnet?

Apparently I am

I recently learned that the temperature that mosquitos start to look for me is 25C (77F)

Which means they apparently don't during the major heat of summer here...

good to know...

Since the temps have dropped a bit, I've started to spray myself with repellent...

Hoping I will stay bite free...

this and that

reconnected with the MOS yakiniku rice burger...so teeny! and the meat had so much stringy fat...meh!

FYI they don't sell the kinds of magazines that I like to read at the HNL airport anymore, found this out the trip before...this issue had many articles on Hawaii food culture.

Maiko's caramel nut tarte was delicious! caramel, chocolate, nuts...

fig tarte was delicious too. this one used violette de sollies variety...love the red insides!

dean and deluca's fig and kyoho (grape) muffin...there was one huge grape in the middle...meh

would be better to leave out the grape...loved the fig part, reminded me of fig newtons

zucchini carrot muffin from dean and deluca...had more nuts than either zucchini and carrots...the glaze was citrusy

tried cooking kanno's gyoza straight out of the freezer but I think my pan might have been too hot...

thought this salaryman's invention to hold his suit jacket was genius..and way better than just having to carrying it on his arm