grateful

Friend Mayumi, sent us a box of veggies that she grew in her yard...

potatoes

shiso (perilla)

komatsuna (Japanese mustard cabbage)
 

huge radishes (the teeny perfectly round ones are the ones I had bought earlier in the week)

garlic

bags of shiitake

and green beans

with veggies kinda pricey these days, we really appreciate her kindness

Thank you M!

saturday

V said she was gonna check out the kawazu zakura at Chidorigafuchi and said if I had time I could tag along 

I wasn’t familiar with this type of sakura near Chidorigafuchi, so I looked online and found some located at the Imperial North Garden

So that’s where we went

There were several trees and very little people

It was nice bonding with nature

We stumbled upon a statue of Yoshida Shigeru, who (I looked up afterwards) was the Prime Minister of Japan after the war (I think I told V it was during the war, but it was after)

I bought some musubi for our lunch from Momochi, in the JR Shinagawa station

Ebiten

Iburigakko (smoked takuan)

Ume

And then we walked through the Imperial East Garden

There were some early blooming sakura

Then we went one station over to Yurakucho

Shopped at some antenna shops

After seeing V off to do some shopping, I went to other antenna shops

Hoping this tomato ume sauce from Wakayama will be tasty

And hoping this Trappist butter from Hokkaido will also be tasty

This chocolate ring cake from Godiva's Bakery was delicious. 

Dark chocolate cake and chocolate "frosting" and a chocolate square

V also let us try these coffee cookies from Hiyoko from Kyushu, if you’ve tried their chick shaped manju, this cookie is way better

Thanks for today V, I hope you enjoyed your trip and have a safe trip home

It was nice hanging out with you.

yoroniku

The other month, I told you that V was visiting, she said her friend J and her husband L wanted to eat at Yoroniku so if we could also join them because the last time Satoshi had to cancel last minute

We went yesterday and it was just as great as the first time

Satoshi didn’t want to eat raw beef sashimi, so his portion for the sashimi and yukke (tartare) were changed to kalbi and I don’t remember what other cut of meat, both were cooked for Satoshi 

He did have the beef nigiri sushi though

Everything was so tasty and every cut was melt in your mouth! you literally did not need teeth..ha!

If you're interested in what we had, please look at my original post on Yoroniku.

Thank you V we appreciate you treating us to dinner and for the beautiful bottle of umeshu

We enjoyed meeting your friends too

We are thankful for your friendship and hope you enjoyed your trip in Japan

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