ootori

Tried a new to us izakaya called Ootori.

They took over the shop where Shake Chazuke used to be.

To start they bring out a tray with amuse bouche and let you choose...we chose yuzu konnyaku (citron devil's tongue jelly) and takenoko (bamboo shoots)

To order it is touch panel...

goma kanpachi (sesame amberjack)

shiso (perilla) , benishoga (red ginger) and negi (green onion) wrapped with pork skewers

tsukune (chicken minced meat skewer) with oroshi ponzu (grated daikon and ponzu (citrus soy))

yaki ramen, kind of like yakisoba kind of like ramen

Food takes awhile to come out, and is kind of on the pricey side.

We're not to sure if we'd come back, but we are glad we got to try this place.

sad

Shake Chazuke was one of the first izakaya spots we checked out in our neighborhood.

We had wanted to check them out several times after that first visit but they either had no tables available or were filled with reservations for the night

And then the pandemic hit.

When I passed by the other day, I saw that they will be closing after 10 years in business.

Nice that they are filled with reservations until their last day.

Bummed that we weren't able to check them out one last time though.

josui

Yesterday, Mother Nature threw us back into winter with cold rain all.day.long.

We tried a new (to us) bento shop, Josui.

They apparently sell okazu (pre-made foods) too, but when I went, they only had bento on their shelves.

I tried their yurinchi bento..540 yen (tax included)

The chicken was still crispy when I ate it and the leek sauce had ginger, was slightly sweet and was shoyu based.

There was a lot of veggie side dishes too.

Satoshi’s bento was salmon and 594 yen (tax included) he had lots of veggie side dishes also and he said the piece of salmon was quite big.

I’m glad we tried this place and look forward to trying other bento in the future.

Josui

7-18-1 Nishikamata

Ota, Tokyo

Closed Saturdays & Sundays

Hours: 10:00-22:00

everyone's chair

There is a tiny shop we pass by whenever we go to Kamata.

They started as a vegetable stand in 2008, but changed to a "soup kitchen" of sorts for children.

In Japanese they call this type of shop… "Kodomo Shokudo" (literally children's cafeteria)

Children can receive a hot meal at a super reasonable price.

It allows "latch key" kids to gather, do their homework together and eat dinner together.

They also allow the parents to have a hot meal at a reasonable price too.

I've noticed that there are benches around this area called "Minna no Isu" (literally everyone's chair)

There are signs in Japanese on the bench saying "instead of texting and walking, sit and do so" and "human battery charger".

There aren't many benches/chairs in the neighborhood yet, but they have been slowly getting popular.

If I find more of them, I'll post more photos here.

saturday

Saturday we walked down to the Tamagawa river, then back up to Hasunuma.

No photo but there were kids walking their rabbit!

On the way, we stumbled on some sights...Love how this person re-used their portable fan "cage" to hold their tangerines...

Love the outside of this chinese restaurant, hope to eat here soon.

We stumbled upon this puppet gallery.

And went past Tire park...cool how they turned these tires into a planter.

Lunch was at Columbia which has been in business since 1957.

From the outside, it is very hard to see how the shop looks or if they were open, so we've been hesitant to try them.

Inside though, the interior is retro and there is jazz playing.

Satoshi had their egg sandwich which came with some potato salad and coffee or tea (he chose coffee).

I chose their napolitan which came with a salad and coffee or tea (I chose coffee).

The napolitan was delicious, most other places use ketchup only so their version is cloying sweet, thankfully Columbia's version is not sweet.

Their coffee is good and strong.

I loved the atmosphere of this coffee shop and I'm glad we finally got the courage to try them out.

There are other items on their menu that we want to try…we’ll be back.

Columbia (2025: out of business)

7-16-1 Nishikamata

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3735.3051

Closed Sundays

Hours: 8:00-20:00

kirinkan

Kirinkan is a non-profit organization that provides work opportunities for people with disabilities.

One event that they have a few times a month is "pan no hi"...bread day.

I've often seen their flyers but have never been able to check them out until last Thursday.

We picked up a few of their baked items to try.

Chocolate walnut.

Earl Grey cream.

Filled with lots of tea flavored custard.

Filled with walnuts and dark chocolate cream.

We also tried their curry pan and chikuwa pan.

The curry pan had curry and cheese in it...delicious.

Their chikuwa pan was interesting, there was a 3 or 4 inch sized chikuwa filled with cheese running lengthwise and aonori worked into the dough...it was also glazed with some okonomiyaki sauce and bonito flakes...so ono!

I'm glad we got to try these and it was a nice way to support a local N.P.O.

We'll be back.

Kirinkan

3-19-1 Nishikamata, Hasunuma Fureai Center 2F

Ota, Tokyo

back to kakumei burger

Back in October, I tried Kakumei Burger. 

I had wanted Satoshi to try them too, but in November, they closed for renovations...

So, the other day, since Satoshi had the day off, I got a chance to pick up some lunch for us.

Satoshi had their bacon cheeseburger (no photo).

I ordered their ume shiso fish burger. 

This was so good! The fish is lightly fried in sesame oil and there is an ume shiso paste as well as myoga and other veggies in the sandwich.

Each burger comes with fries or obanzai, so I chose the obanzai which is 3 types of veggies.

Kinpira, yuzu daikon and mizuna with aburaage.

The veggies change depending on what the owner can get and the season.

This was definitely a nice alternative to fries.

Satoshi enjoyed his burger and I enjoyed my fish burger, we'll be back to take out other items from their menu. 

saturday

Yesterday, the weather was sunny and kind of warm...

Breakfast was at Donkey...they named the restaurant after the animal because of the way it works hard.

We pass this shop often but this was our first time trying them.

Apparently the shop has been in business for 30 years!

Bummer they allow smoking, but glad that the chain smoking man left while we were eating...

We'll be back to try their lunch menu (hopefully there won't be any smokers when we go)

Satoshi had to run an errand near our city office, so I took these photos of cherubs.

They are resting on rock stools that are nearby.

Bummer one had lots of bird poo on the stool (I tried to cut it out of the shot)...

Lunch was at a new (to us) place Marimo...a tiny shop.

Satoshi tried their gyoza and gomoku noodle...the gyoza snob didn't care for the gyoza...

I tried the yakisoba and liked it.

The noodles could have been "drier" but I loved that there was lots of veggies in it.

We'll be back to try other items on their menu.

Afterwards we walked up to the baien (ume orchard) where the flowers were 40% in bloom.

The temps have been flip flopping and are expected to go as high as 20C (68F) next week!

Have a nice week.

Donkey
7-12-10 Nishikamata
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3732.
Closed Sundays
Hours: Mondays-Fridays 8:30-20:30, Saturdays & Holidays 8:30-18:30

Marimo
5-16-8 Kugahara
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3755.3955
Hours: 11:00-15:00 (Lunch), 17:00-21:00 (Dinner)
Closed Holidays

bikkuri-tei

There is a tiny steak house near Hasunuma Station, Bikkuri-tei.

We've tried to eat here, but they were only taking people with reservations on that particular evening.

Luckily, they had a table open on Sunday.

We often choose the prix fixe (set menu) whenever we try a restaurant for the first time, so we can get a feel of their dishes.

We both chose the tako (octopus) carpaccio and salad. (They had 4 other choices and I should've chose something else so we could have shared)

I had their filet.

Satoshi chose their sirloin.

Both cooked to your liking.

Rice or bread, we both chose rice, but will choose bread next time (they serve toasted baguette).

After dinner, I chose their pear tarte while Satoshi had their raspberry sorbet.

Coffee to end.

Great service.

Our only peeve was their wine carafe, with less than 2 cups worth of wine in it and teeny wine glasses to pour it into (teeny glasses does not make it more wine)...3 times the price compared to a glass of wine...

As we saw by the customers around us, ordering wine by the glass (larger than the glasses we received) or by the bottle is the way to go.

Still, we'll be back when we are in the mood for steak.

Bikkuri-tei
7-12-12 Nishikamata
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3737.1576
Closed Tuesdays
Hours: 11:30-14:30, 17:00-21:00

tofuya gen-san

There is a small tofu shop on my way to Kamata station...Tofuya Gen-san.

Before going to Hawaii this summer, we tried their oboro tofu.

For 200 yen, this was huge!

At least 2 blocks worth and the texture seemed like firm tofu.

Then after coming back from Hawaii, we tried their yose tofu.

For 170 yen, this was smaller than the oboro, but it was creamy and almost like custard.

They don't always have the yose tofu, so I am glad we got to try this one.

Apparently there is no difference between oboro and yose tofu.

Hope to try their other items like aburaage (fried tofu) and yuba(bean curd skins).

Tofuya Gen-san (UPDATE: 2019 no longer in business)
7-14-3 Nishi-kamata
Ota, Tokyo
Closed Sundays
Hours: 7:30-19:30

hiroeya

We tried a soba shop near the Hasunuma station, Hiroeya.

While their soba was delicious, I think the place could be a little cleaner...eek!

Not sure if we'll be back, but I'm glad we tried them.

Hiroeya
1-17-14 Higashi Yaguchi
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3731.3097
Hours: 10:30-21:00

shake chazuke

The other night Satoshi wanted to check out an izakaya near Hasunuma Station called Shake Chazuke (salmon with tea and rice).

You would think chazuke was their specialty, but they have a disclaimer on the outside of their shop that they do not specialize in chazuke.

In fact, I don't think I saw chazuke of any kind on their menu.

We started with the obligatory otoshi/tsukidashi (amuse bouche)...edamame and nasu agebitashi (eggplant fried then soaked in a sauce).

The karaage corn was different but really good.

Simply seasoned with salt and fried in oil, maybe a little butter.

You eat the kernels off of the sliver of cob then throw the cob away.

Katsuo tataki (seared bonito) salad.

Delicious with ponzu, thinly sliced onion and thinly slice myoga (Japanese ginger).

Chilled Tomato with mayo.

This wasn't anything spectacular...

Assorted sashimi.

You could only order this if you got at least two orders worth.

Everything was super fresh.

Toro (fatty tuna) takuan (pickled daikon) roll...loved this combo.

Satoshi tried this Atago no Matsu, a sake from Miyagi Prefecture.

He said it was good.

We enjoyed the atmostphere and the food was good.

We'll be back.

Shake Chazuke
1-18-2 Higashiyaguchi
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3732.8088
Closed Mondays
Hours: Tuesdays-Fridays 17:00-23:30, Saturdays & Sundays 16:00-23:30

shanti

The other night, Satoshi didn't need dinner, so I bought some chicken dal curry from Shanti.

The spiciness can be changed, I think their range is 0-5?! I chose 1.

For 500 yen (tax included) you can choose from their the curry of the day, keema, dal, chicken, veg AND they also add 1 naan or some rice.

The chicken dal curry was their curry of the day.

The curry was a little too salty for my liking. The naan was so big that they folded it!

They also have a 750 yen (tax included) menu with exotic stuff like mutton, prawn and seafood that also come with 1 naan or some rice.

I am curious what their other curries taste like, so I'll be back.

Shanti
6-30-7 Nishi-Kamata
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6320.2027
Hours: Lunch 11:00-15:00 Dinner 17:00-23:00
Open Daily

boulangerie corse

I realized that the sandwich I tried earlier from Boulangerie Corse, was not their fish but their tatsuta chicken (a type of fried chicken).

THIS is their fish burger.

Sad that I couldn't tell the difference between chicken and fish, but it was still delicious and better than Ikegami Orient Bakery.

boulangerie corse

About 6 minutes from where we live is Boulangerie Corse, a tiny bakery that is open rather early in the morning until rather late at night.

The first time I tried their fish burger.

The bun was nice and fluffy and the fish nicely seasoned.

On my second visit, I had their lasagna pie...the outside was on the sweet side and the inside had lots of sauce and some veggies.

I liked the flakiness of the puff pastry.

And their curry cheese pan was a nice rich curry with lots of cheese.

Looking forward to trying other items.

I'll be back.

Boulangerie Corse
6-16-4 Nishi Kamata
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3735.0878
Hours: 9:00-20:00
Closed Wednesdays