izugiku

We tried Izugiku recently

This shokudo has been around for 100 years!

Bummer is that they allow smoking, so you have to take your chances when eating here.

Satoshi had their daily special, which was katsuo sashimi and fried shrimp...1000 yen (tax included)

He said he enjoyed this

Kat tried their taco rice...900 yen (tax included) and didn't know they served it with miso soup...

Anyway, I enjoyed this taco rice, it was spicy and also a little sweet

The egg had crispy edges! love!

Cash only and the service is fast but not too friendly

Dunno if we'll be back (because of the smoking) but we are glad we tried this place

Izugiku

1-6-17 Hatanodai

Shinagawa, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 11:30-14:30 (lunch), 17:30-20:00 (dinner), lunch only on Fridays & Saturdays

*cash only

nikudofu

saw this recipe on television and wanted to try

Serves 2: from “Sakurai Ariyoshi the Yakai Kitchen”

1 block momen tofu (hard), drain and cut into easy to eat pieces

100 grams beef belly, cut into bite sized pieces

50 grams onion, thinly sliced

10 grams ginger, grated

40 milliliters sake (rice wine)

40 milliliters mirin (sweet rice wine)

240 milliliters water

10 grams honey

16 grams sugar

20 milliliters shoyu

80 milliliters mentsuyu (sauce for noodles)

In a pan, bring the sake and mirin to a boil

Then add the water, sugar, honey, shoyu and mentsuyu

Add the beef, onion and ginger

cook on low for 3 minutes

Add the tofu and simmer until the sauce has permeated the tofu

Turn the heat off and let the tofu soak in the sauce

NOTES: this was delicious

easy to put together

I didn't read the directions and mixed all the ingredients for the sauce together brought it to a boil then simmered everything for a total of 10 minutes

I also added renkon (lotus root) and maitake

I have quite a bit of sauce leftover, so I'm thinking to make oyakodon with it

we're 21

another trip around the sun!

can't believe how long this blog has kept going

appreciate all the comments and messages

grateful for all the friendships made over the years

thank you for coming along with us on our adventures. 

mitas coffee

Wanted to try Mitas Coffee but wanted to have Satoshi along with me.

The reason is that this coffee shop is cashless, and I have a rule about using my credit card in Japan

I only use my credit card when my bill is 1000 yen or higher

So just to buy a coffee is a no go for me

I think they first started as a coffee truck...

Their menu says their coffees are pour over, but they actually had the ones we tried pre-made

Satoshi ordered the Mitas Blend 1 (Brazil and Costa Rica)...600 yen (tax included)

watch your step when going to the 2nd floor, there is a huge step down...

Kat tried the Mitas Blend 2 (Brazil, Costa Rica & Kenya)...600 yen (tax included)

They also have two expensive pour overs and two types of espresso drinks

Delicious coffee, free wifi and air conditioning on the 2nd floor!

I'll be back whenever Satoshi will be able to come along.

Mitas Coffee

1-2-18 Tamagawa

Ota, Tokyo

Hours: 7:00-17:00

*check their Instagram for days off

*cashless only

ps our weather has been so krazy, rainy ("cool") days, blazing days...maybe another typhoon on the way?!

as for Chiba, it looks like it will take a minimum of 3 months to get their train service and electricity restored?!

hope you have a safe weekend!

namara masara

Reconnected with Namara Masara.

We tried them during the pandemic, then they went out of business, not sure exactly when

And while I was walking around the neighborhood recently, I noticed they were now operating from a house.

So, Satoshi and I went to check them out

They share a space with a beauty salon 

This time around the owner explained what this spicy condiment was.

Satoshi said it wasn't too spicy and enjoyed the flavor of the katsuobushi that was also used

Satoshi didn't remember that he had tried their salmon ikura curry during the pandemic.

Lucky we have this blog to remember what we tried.

This time around he tried the pork nankotsu (cartilage) curry, he said he enjoyed this...1190 yen (tax included)

Kat tried the no water chicken curry, this is cooked with just veggies, spices and chicken and uses the liquid from the veggies....1145 yen (tax included)

Delicious

We're glad we reconnected with this shop and look forward to trying their keema curry...we'll be back

Namara Masara

1-14-7 Higashiyaguchi

Ota, Tokyo

Open daily: 11:00-22:00

on the lanai

repotted the cyclamen, we've had it for over 20 years and the plastic pot finally started to break

the ti leaf plant that was in the pot had died, I think it was too hot this summer for it

so I dug up the roots and took out some of the soil

and put cyclamen into the "new" pot

I wasn't able to "loosen" the dirt up because it was in that old pot for so long...

I hope it will thrive
 

typhoon 25

Typhoon 25 (Dujuan) finally passed 

We had been staying indoors since Sunday.

There were times when our tv antenna went out, but at least we didn't lose power and only had lots of rain

Chiba on the other hand had major flooding and power outages

I feel so bad for Chiba they had bands of rain last month which caused flooding and power outages and two weeks later it happened to them again and now the typhoon!

I cannot imagine!

Hoping the people in Chiba and the areas that had flooding and power outages can get back to their daily routines soon. 

nazo no chicken (mysterious chicken)

I was watching a television program and was intrigued by this recipe by Kobori Kiyomi

Luckily, I found a version online to try

Nazo no Chicken (Mysterious Chicken) by Kobori Kiyomi

600 grams chicken thighs

160 grams mayo

160 grams sour cream

30 grams curry powder

20 grams lemon juice

80 grams chutney

Mix all the ingredients except the chicken

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and put in the "sauce"

Bake in a 200 C (400 F) oven for 15 to 20 minutes

NOTES: super easy and tasty

I cut the sauce recipe to 1/4

I didn't have sour cream so I used plain yogurt

I also put some garam masala in even though the recipe doesn’t call for it because I always put some when making curry

I used boneless chicken and removed the skin

I greased a ceramic dish and baked it for 15 minutes but it could have been cooked for a little longer

The chicken stays quite tender

And the sauce is good with rice

I'm glad I tried this and want to make this again

p.s. we're still waiting for Typhoon 25 (Dujuan) to pass, we're staying indoors and laying low 

sakanaya iki

Friday, we found ourselves in Hatanodai at dinner time, so we looked for somewhere to eat...it was our first time at Sakanaya Iki

Since we didn't have reservations, we were seated at the counter

ootoshi (amuse bouche)...daikon oroshi and shirasu (whitebait)...500 yen (plus tax) per person

bell pepper and eggplant agebitashi...380 yen (plus tax)

so soft! and flavorful

tako karaage...780 yen (plus tax)

fried perfectly but not as tender as the tako we had here

interior

3 types of sashimi but more than 3 types...980 yen (plus tax) for two people

The owner said that he adds another 3 types because it looks more "impressive"

if you order the 4 type, he'll add 4 more types, 5 types = 5 more types

the fish was super fresh and delicious! don't remember what every type was...

Jyozan sake from Fukui...700 yen (plus tax) 

Satoshi said this was delicious

toro taku hand roll...480 yen (plus tax)

huge! and so ono!

hojicha to end

we enjoyed this place, the prices are fair and the owner is friendly

they have a curry rice chawanmushi that sounded interesting, we'll be back

Sakanaya Iki

3-13-5 Hatanodai

Shinagawa, Tokyo

Hours: 17:00-26:00 

*check social media for days closed

fyi

just got an email from blogger that some of my videos, 23 of them that are on my blog will be deleted because they are non-playable...whatever

so instead of me hunting down the 23 of those videos, I'm just gonna let them pull them out

I requested for an export of said 23 videos, so we'll see if they actually send something for me to look at

Anyway, just a heads up.

UPDATE: it was just a download of my whole blog...boo! what a p.i.t.a....just gonna let them pull the non-playable videos...sigh!

this and that

tried a new (to me) sandwich from Dean & Deluca, honey curry chicken

I like that it had lots of veggies in it

pumpkin chocolate bread/cake?! from Dean & Deluca was kinda dry, and could've been more chocolatey

the price of white rice has come down! well, at the place I buy our brown rice from anyway...

I bought this 2 kilo bag for 1450 yen (plus tax)

I'm all for lower prices as long as the lowered price is fair to the farmers, if it has to be higher, as long as the farmers get their fair share, I'm willing to pay more

hydrogen roasted coffee by UCC.

Satoshi's workplace were giving these out at the recent Smart Energy Week show that was held at Makuhari Messe

He said the coffee didn't taste different from the coffee we normally drink

t-a-l-l sunflower...hello!

I love that I found this bus stop near our apartment it makes buying rice not so hard to transport...wish I had found this many moons ago! would've saved me so many long haul trips from the train station...

myoga from Satoshi's tour guide friend...they grew it! (thank you!)

huge asian pear! so sweet

huge sweet potato, I think this variety was called Beni Kirishima

Went to the dentist on Monday to check on the gum that had laser surgery

The hygienist and doctor said that it healed nicely, so my visit was less than 5 minutes!

gotta love the medical here, I think the total for surgery and 2 visits were less than 2000 yen (tax included)

lunch was at Shake Shack...was the first one in and had the whole restaurant to myself.

The fries were so crisp on the outside and kinda "creamy" on the inside

Silver Week starts today, as well as Typhoon 25 (Dujuan), we have something planned, but might have to change because of the typhoon

have a safe weekend

reconnect

Reconnected with my secret weapon

Was happy to come across shimadofu, a type of tofu that is made in Okinawa.

It is firmer than the firm (momen) tofu that we have on Honshu  

I made a shoyu poke and a tofu poke using one of the NOH poke packets

Satoshi enjoyed this and said it was like he was in Hawaii

grateful

Yesterday we received these beautiful shine muscat grapes from Satoshi's friend, A, who lives in Nagano

We tried some last night and the orbs are huge, and sweet

Thank you A!

1.5 days

According to the weather dude we had 3 weeks of rain!

Sunday afternoon was the first time we've seen the sun!
 

Monday was the first full day in a long time of sun...of course it was blazing! 

We're back to rain today, and maybe a typhoon is coming?!

so gloomy and humid...

Hope the weather is better where you are!

oimachi tracks

After breakfast at Mr Hippo Coffee, we wanted to go to the DIY store but they didn't open for another hour or so, so instead of going home to wait, we walked around the neighborhood

And stopped to check on the sumotori (Japanese wrestlers) of Onoue Stable (photo by hubs)

They seemed to have more people training than in the past

After returning from the DIY store, the work on the road in front of our apartment had begun, so it was quite noisy

I checked the memo that they had given us and their work was supposed to continue until 18:00!

So we decided to get out of the house

And checked out Oimachi Tracks, which I think opened earlier this year. 

After walking the many floors to see what types of restaurants there were, we decided on Togoshiya

Their main shop is in Togoshi-Ginza and their onigiri is similar to Bongo's

I ordered the tuna mayo takuan and a tenmusu (tempura musubi)...840 yen (tax included)

They made a mistake and gave me a tuna mayo shio kombu takuan onigiri, still, this was delicious

Loved how crisp the tempura shrimp was in the tenmusu 

Satoshi ordered the 2 onigiri set 1580 yen (tax included) he tried their monthly special which was a shirasu wakame mentaiko oroshi and the other onigiri he tried was the nozawana wasabi konbu

His set also came with karaage, tamagoyaki, kinpira and miso soup

He enjoyed these, though he said he probably could've ordered the komusubi (smaller) versions

Satoshi also gave me a piece of his karaage (since it was cut into 4 pieces) and the outside was so crunchy and the chicken so moist!

Afterwards we walked around to check out the various areas of the complex

There is a park

a huge Starbucks at one end of the park

Before catching the bus back home, we decided to have some coffee at Woodberry Coffee

Loved all the interesting plants they had

Satoshi ordered the raspberry, coconut water with espresso cold foam...850 yen (tax included)

After his first sip, he said it tasted like mayo...eew!

But after mixing it better, he said he enjoyed it...I tried a sip but it was kinda weird tasting

I am kinda thinking that I really don't care for coconut water because when I tried something with coconut water in it before, I didn't really like it

I ordered their kokuto (black sugar) coffee jelly (gelatin) latte with soy milk...900 yen (tax included)

This was delicious

I let Satoshi taste this and he said my drink was better

can I just say that QR code ordering is the pits! especially when you don't have wifi...at least this shop had wifi...Togoshiya did not

 

Oimachi Tracks is named after the JR railways (I think) when I first heard the name, I thought it might be named after the horse racing tracks that are also nearby

We are glad we checked out this place and have more places we'd like to have meals at

we'll be back

These guys did not finish until 19:00!

I was amazed that the grandpa across the street stayed at home, I would've taken my car and gone somewhere...

Togoshiya

Oimachi Tracks 2F

Shinagawa, Tokyo

Hours: 8:00-22:30 (weekdays), 9:00-22:30 (weekends & holidays)

Woodberry Coffee

Oimachi Tracks 3F

Shinagawa, Tokyo

Hours: 8:00-21:00