regario

tried a new (to us) restaurant, Regario

Their menu is mostly Spanish and Italian cuisine

we ordered the Galician octopus...950 yen (plus tax)

The octopus was so tender! and the potatoes were perfectly cooked

The garlicky sauce was super tasty

I also like how “fancy” they made drinking water look

we ordered baguette so that we (Satoshi) could mop up the sauce from the octopus...400 yen (plus tax)

an order of their spicy seafood arrabiatta...lots of seafood in it and lots of kick! 1800 yen (plus tax)

bolognese...super peppery and meaty 1500 yen (plus tax)

We're glad we tried this place and want to come back for dinner...we'll be back

Regario

8-1-10 Nishikamata 2F

Ota, Tokyo

Hours: 11:30-14:30 (lunch), 17:00-23:00 (dinner)

stefano anna

When I went to Kichijoji, I also checked out Stefano Anna, a tiny shop that sells homemade Italian baked goods.

The owner learned about different sweets in Italy then opened up her shop when she returned to Japan

There are all sorts of cookies!

And desserts in the refrigerated case 

I tried the sbolorona and coconut biscotti

It was my first time trying sbrisolona which is apparently from the Lombardy area of Italy.

It was a thick cookie topped with lots of chocolate chips, a little sweeter than Japanese cookies but I loved the crunchy texture of this 

The biscotti was surprisingly light! too delicate to dip into coffee, very crisp, and coconutty! love!

They have an assorted cookie set and cannoli that I'd like to try...I’ll be back.

Stefano Anna

2-36-4 Kichijoji

Musashino, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays

Hours: 10:00-18:00

catania ristorante italiano

Met up with friend Gaye and tried Catania Ristorante Italiano

Apparently this restaurant has another shop in town and opened one in Waimalu in 2022

Gaye tried their Chicken Casino: chicken breast, onion, bacon, garlic with a butter white wine sauce

I tried their Chicken Puttanesca after seeing Jalna post: chicken breast, onion, anchovies, capers, black olives and fresh tomatoes with their marinara sauce

Their portions are huge!

The owner’s wife said "better too much than too little!”..so true

Gaye gave us these snacks and a cute jade bracelet

I appreciated her picking me up too

It was nice catching up

Thanks for today Gaye

Catania Ristorante Italiano

98-020 Kamehameha Highway

Aiea, Hawaii

Lunch: closed Mondays & Tuesdays, Wednesdays-Fridays 10:30-14:30, Saturdays & Sundays 11:00-14:30

Dinner: Sundays & Mondays 16:30-20:00, closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays-Saturdays 16:30-20:00

chicken anchovy olio

Made Jalna's sister's recipe for Chicken Anchovy Olio.

We ate it with veggies instead of pasta.

I cooked the veggies first, then the chicken, made the sauce then tossed everything in it.

Was ono.

Thanks for sharing this recipe Jalna!

assagio's

Got together with reader Ryan, his wife, S and Jalna!

Ryan and S were nice to pick me up on their way to Assagio's in Ala Moana Shopping Center where we met up with Jalna.

Lunch started off with caesar salad

I ordered chicken assagio...potatoes, chicken, capers, garlic, red bell peppers and anchovies...delicious

S' father paints and used to sell at the zoo fence...so pretty, yeah?!
 

We also received homemade chili sauce and our favorite coffee from Ryan!

It was nice to catch up with Ryan, S and to see Jalna again!

Thanks for today!

stivale

Satoshi's implants went as scheduled.

He was done by about 4:30-ish.

Before "picking him up", I bought us dinner from Stivale so we could just jump on the train to go back home.

Lasagna and hamburger with cheese and demiglace sauce.

1530 yen (tax included) for both.

Delicious.

He had some pain but was able to eat AND had wine...

Have a good week.

ps we didn’t have snow, at least I didn’t see any 

antica osteria gondoletta

We finally got a chance to try Gondoletta, a tiny Italian restaurant nearby.

(I would recommend making reservations because both times we tried to eat here they were packed!)

We started off with this half portion of mussels and clams cooked in a light broth.

Delicious with some bread to mop up the broth...Japan needs to learn more about bread mopping up broth/gravy...

1 roll cut into 4 pieces definitely wasn't enough (we ended up ordering another order of the roll)...

We also ordered their warm vegetables which on this day was asparagus.

After the asparagus is cooked, they slice it and put cheese shavings on it.

While it tasted good, we were bummed by the teeny portion (two "sticks" of asparagus) of this dish.

Another dish we ordered was the filet.

This was grilled and sliced...so tender!

It was served with a oozy truffle egg (top left), pepper oil (bottom left) and red wine butter (bottoms right).

Each topping was delicious with the grilled beef.

The amuse bouche (things you pay for but do not order) was a teeny bottle of mineral water...

Everything was delicious, though the portions were kind of on the small side.

We want to try their lunch menu, we'll be back.

Antica Osteria Gondoletta
7-50-4 Nishi Kamata
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 050.5869.3747
Hours: 11:30-14:00 (lunch), 17:00-24:00 (dinner)

trattoria m's

Well, we've started rainy season.

In fact, we started before Kansai (west Japan), how is that for weird weather?!

Saturday, we had an errand to run in Kamata, so we had lunch at Trattoria M's.

They are located in the basement of the Keikyu EX Inn.

Satoshi had their natto pasta, which he said he enjoyed...I'm glad it wasn't too stinky.

I had their salsiccia arrabiata (spicy sausage)...half size.

Too bad they don't serve bread with this, it would've been nice to mop up the garlicky sauce.

Service was pretty quick and we enjoyed the food.

We'll be back.

Trattoria M's
5-28-18 Kamata, Keikyu EX Inn B1
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3735.8405
Closed Sundays
Lunch 11:30-14:30, Dinner 17:00-23:00

burrata

1st time trying burrata...where have we been?

This cheese is creamy, buttery...so so good!

Recently I saw some at Kaldi (an import food store) and at the time didn't buy it, but when I went on Saturday, I picked one up.

It was frozen, so I thawed it out.

Since it is a fresh cheese, it has to be frozen to make the trip overseas...

I sliced it and put it onto some tomatoes.

Drizzled it with olive oil.

Put some basil.

And ground a little pepper.

I'm glad we tried this and have heard that some Japanese cheese makers are making burrata, so I will keep my eye to try their version.

Have you tried burrata? What is your favorite way to enjoy this?

playing tourist in ueno

Friend Val was visiting from Hawaii...she wanted to see the pandas at Ueno Zoo.

It was my first time to the zoo...and even on a weekday, there was a long line to see the pandas.

Before turning the corner to see them, there was a sign that said, "you have 1 minute to view the pandas...do not stop to take photos..blah blah blah" (WT!)

Well, when we turned the corner this is what we saw...the panda with its butt facing us.

How disappointing yeah?

We were like..."we stood in line for this?!"

The next two display areas were empty and we were feeling gypped.

Luckily, the panda in the next display area wasn't camera shy...

If you are interesting in seeing a really short video of the panda moving, click the link here.

Luckily, there were kanhizakura (a type of early blooming cherry blossom) just outside of the zoo.

Loved the dark pink color!

Lunch was at a place called Bal Pinolo...the pizza sauce was a bit watery but overall it was a nice lunch.

And since we were near Okachimachi, I took Val to Takeya.

They had everything she wanted and we were glad to be able to find everything in one place. (Thanks again V for telling me about this place! It is now Val's favorite place too!)

It was a beautiful day and it was nice to spend some time with a friend from Hawaii.

Ueno Zoo
9-83 Uenokoen
Taito, Tokyo
Closed Mondays
Hours: 9:30-17:00

Bal Pinolo
7-1-1 Higashiueno, Atre 1F
Taito, Tokyo
Hours: 11:00-23:30

osteria senti

Whenever I'm riding the trains, I usually look at the scenery.

Most times while looking out the window of the train, I come across restaurants and cafes to bookmark to try.

One restaurant that I bookmarked was Osteria Senti.

We got there a little after they opened for dinner and tried their seafood salad...It reminded us of the salad we used to eat whenever we ate at Capricciosa...marinated seafood served over greens coated with a vinaigrette.

Senti's version could have been marinated a bit more but it was still delicious and the salad portions were HUGE!

Iwashi (sardine) pasta had some almonds in the sauce.

Different but delicious! the pasta was a fresh pasta and was cooked nicely and it had a little chew.

The margherita pizza was simple and delicious.

Dinner with two glasses of wine was 4200 yen (tax included)...delicious and definitely reasonable.

The restaurant is very teeny so get there early, or make reservations.

We'll be back!

Osteria Senti
1-3 Chidori
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6410.3374
Closed Tuesdays
Lunch 11:30-14:00, Dinner 17:30-23:30

stivale

Walking to the Nagahara station after buying the dried fruit yokan, I stumbled upon Stivale, a tiny shop that makes Italian style foods.

I picked up their marinated eringi (oyster mushrooms) in a balsamic vinaigrette.

There were also some sun dried tomatoes in there too.

Delicious.

I used it to top some steamed broccoli.

I hope to go back to try their pannetone.

And on their website, I also noticed they have a restaurant, so I hope to go back and try them soon.

Stivale
1-8-9 Kamiikedai
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3727.7343
Hours: 11:00-22:00

another year & ristorante raffinato

If you were paying attention to some of the comments on yesterday's post, you might have figured out it was my birthday.

Very low key day.

For dinner, I bought some herbed chicken avocado salad and fried shrimp from the department store food floor.

We also had some wine and cheese.

Berry cheesecake from Antenor.

Didn't like the way the guy packed these cakes into the box...they were kinda squooshed in...boo!

(I actually wanted to buy some cake from Rocket or Patisserie a Terre, but they were closed yesterday, will try to get something from them next week...)

Flowers from Satoshi.

Lunch today with my host mom and host brother's wife at Ristorante Raffinato.

Carrot mousse with uni(sea urchin) gelee...so good!

Kanburi (a type of amberjack) salad....loved all the different veggies in there!

Crepe filled with spinach, cheese sitting on top of housemade tomato sauce...simple and delicious!

Hokkigai (type of mollusk) and broccoli risotto sprinkled with bottarga...scorching hot! but super delicious!

Kinoko (mushroom) pasta...earthy!

Wagyu so tender that it melted in my mouth!

Gorgonzola pannecotta and raspberry gelato.

Espresso to end.

There was also a sudachi (type of citrus) palate cleanser between the main dish and dessert.

Everything was delicious and nicely portioned, still, I was so full afterwards!

Appreciate my host-family always treating me like part of their family.

Also thankful for being able to celebrate another year....hope your week is going well!

Ristorante Raffinato
13-15 Shinozuka-cho
Ashiya, Hyogo
Phone: 0797.35.3444
Closed Tuesdays
Lunch: 11:00-13:00, Dinner: 18:00-20:30

papocchio

Saturday, after Satoshi's German class, I wanted to try a Chinese shop, but the line was krazy, so we decided to look for somewhere else to lunch and stumbled upon Papocchio.

The owner is from Rome and much of the staff working is (I think) part of his family...

We ordered the pair lunch...3000 yen (plus tax).

This started with a HUGE appetizer plate.

Fried sardines, roasted veggies, many other goodies and a generous seafood salad...we enjoyed this.

The foccacia and a fried round something were also so good!

The pizza we chose was their "napoletana"...with anchovy, garlic & fresh tomato sauce.

I liked that this was without cheese...the sauce was so good with the saltiness from the anchovies and tartness from the tomatoes!

We chose the hotaru ika (literally firefly squid) tomato pasta.

This was also tasty!

Dessert was a delicious cherry tarte but I spied another table with a piece of chocolate cake...

Delicious coffee to end.

We want to come back to try other items on their menu.

We went to check out the fuji (wisteria) in the Noda area after lunch, but it was a bust, not much blooming and the strands were so teeny.

Still, it was a nice day to be out and about on Earth Day!

Papocchio
2-1-1 Oyodominami
Kita-ku, Osaka
Phone: 06.6442.7582
Lunch: 11:30-14:00, Dinner 18:00-21:30
Closed Mondays