matsuya curry

Matsuya Curry has been around in Kamata since 1963

It closed in 1993 and then was reopened in 1996 as Kamata Matsuya Curry.

The kanji (chinese characters) were similar to the beef bowl Matsuya, so they changed their kanji.

Buy your ticket from the machine, I ordered the Matsuya curry which was a pork curry...600 yen (tax included)

Give your ticket to the waitstaff, they'll ask you how much rice you'd like.

I ordered my curry with less rice.  

If you choose less rice (200 grams), they will either give you soup, an egg or 50 yen back.  

I chose to receive 50 yen back.

The fukujinzuke that they use is from Shuetsu, you may or may not remember that Shuetsu was apparently the first to make fukujinzuke in Japan.

The other condiments, if you need to make your curry spicier

Each order is made after you buy your ticket, so be prepared to wait, they have lots of manga and magazines...

Satoshi ordered the katsu curry...900 yen (tax included)

He had the normal amount of rice (250 grams)

we enjoyed this and look forward to trying other items on their menu.

Matsuya Curry

7-5-4 Nishi Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-23:00 *earlier if they run out of rice

*cash or Suica only

changes

The crosswalk from the East exit of the JR Kamata station used to be more to the right.

Not sure when they moved it to the left but was surprised to see it this way yesterday.

The weather is November temps & rainy today...brr

maruyama shokudo

Finally got to try Maruyama Shokudo

The couple of times we went past they were either closed or the line was krazy 

Many shops in our area are known for their tonkatsu 

And many tonkatsu shops in our area do not have all you can eat cabbage or unlimited rice

The portions at Maruyama Shokudo are pretty massive in my opinion

I ordered the katsudon without miso soup...1500 yen (tax included)

Bummed that there was about 1 inch of fat on each piece of pork on the katsu and that the rice was super mushy but I managed to finish this (and left all the fat on my plate)

Satoshi ordered the rosu katsu (pork loin)...1500 yen 

He said he enjoyed this and finished his lunch way before I did

Dunno that we would go back but glad we got to try.

Maruyama Shokudo

5-2-7 Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 11:30-14:00 (lunch), 16:00-21:00 (dinner) 

*cash only

sakura walk (ikegami)

Last Monday, was forecast for rain, I had some things I needed to do, so instead of getting on a train to see some sakura, I went to check out the sakura in our neighborhood.

Nomi River

park nearby

The cherry blossoms have started to fall

someone is stealing this house's flowers (the paper posted in the background, says, "flower thief reported, let's all enjoy the flowers")...so pretty 

wish there were a huge sakura tree in front of our building, like this one, must be so cool to see from your lanai

got in a good walk, got my errands done and also got to see more sakura
 

sakura walk (kamata & ikegami)

Last Sunday started off overcast, Satoshi had an errand to run, so we met up afterwards.

I walked past Misono Shrine, the cherry blossoms have started to flutter here.

We went to check out the Hamazushi that I spotted from MOS, it is a smaller shop, but at the time that we went, we didn't have to wait for a table!

When we came out though, the line was krazy!

Still, we'll be back because this location is a little closer for us.

The weather was quite warm so after some grocery shopping, we had our first shave ice of the year...Tamaya is a shop from Imabari, Ehime and has been serving shave ice since 1903!

Satoshi had the milk seiki (sugar added to milk), I had the strawberry…1650 yen (tax included)

So delicious! the texture was similar to guri guri

Afterwards, we went home, put the groceries away then went up the street to Ikegami Honmonji

It was also Hanamatsuri, the Buddha's birthday, so we ladled some sweet tea over a tiny statue of the Buddha 

The sakura was in full bloom here and every one was out and about

It was supposed to be rainy, but turned out to be quite sunny, hot even 

Lots of walking and lots of eating.

patata dolce

Every Sunday we see this guy selling yakiimo (roasted sweet potatoes)

The name of his business is Patata Dolce (sweet potato)

Finally got up the courage to buy and wham! the sales pitch

Most times I buy yakiimo from Don Quijote because they are the cheapest…213 yen (tax included) a piece, not sure about the weight because Don Quijote sells them per piece not by weight

The way these yakiimo vendors sell is by weight.

This particular guy was selling two types (beniazuma & silk sweet) and they were 100 grams for 150 yen

His sign says that the yakiimo ranges from 350 grams to 600 grams.

And if I buy 3 he'll cut the price down from 1300 yen to 1000 yen for all 3.

These were huge, but they were so junk, like it wasn't cooked long enough.

I stuck 2 into the freezer, so we'll be eating these for the next couple of weeks.

the monkey chews kitchen

Ever since moving to Tokyo, I’ve had this restaurant on my “to try” list, and we finally got to 
 

Their course menu starts off with hitokuchi (one bite) tray

we both had a glass of this, medium body, I was disappointed they served this chilled though

gougere (savory puff) filled with a mushroom purée and I think a cheese disk on top

pate de campagne (foie gras pistachio & pork, topped with a fruit leather and fig compote sitting on a mochi mugi (pearl barley) sable (biscuit/cracker)

-presentation was nice but the uncooked pearl barley at the bottom of the tray got stuck to the pate…try not to break any teeth!

anno imo (type of sweet potato) and shallot? a la grecque (type of pickling) and olive

smoked butter waiting for freshly baked focaccia 

madai (red sea bream) with fermented strawberry sauce

raw oyster topped with yogurt pineapple and dill…super refreshing!

first time for me to have raw oyster

beet crepe filled with housemade smoked salmon and lots of different herbs & greens

Satoshi had a glass of this 

focaccia finally came out drizzled with olive oil..the crust was so crisp! and the butter was delicious too, we should have saved a piece for the upcoming dishes though

scallops with risotto fermented brussels sprouts, foam (not sure what it was made of) and some yuzu zest…warm “cozy” kind of dish

sawara (spanish mackerel) cooked poiret (spooning oil over while cooking) style, shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) tempura style, blanched nanohana (rapeseed greens) matcha dashi and parsley oil

a little bitter from the shungiku, but the fish was cooked perfectly

A5 wagyu sirloin, bordelaise sauce, with beet purée, mashed potato, kale and leeks…a little fatty and some gristle but tender, delicious

The name of the restaurant is after the chef’s music band days, The Monkey Chews, when he lived in England

He also trained at La Mere Poulard on Mont Saint Michel, so he makes the airy omelette…10 servings only at lunch time, the airy omelette can be chosen as your meat dish for the dinner course menu

From November 2023, they changed their dinner from a la carte to course only.

We were bummed we couldn’t choose different meat dishes, Kat wanted to try the duck.

The interior has an English pub feel on the 1st floor and French bistro feel in the 2nd floor where we were seated

Overall, this was a nice way to celebrate our anniversary, we want to try their lunch menu so we’ll be back…18,200 yen (tax included)

The Monkey Chews Kitchen

5-8-4 Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Closed Sundays

Hours 11:30-13:00 (lunch), 18:00-23:00 (dinner)

stand and eat nemuro hanamaru

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday we finally went to check out the Stand and Eat Nemuro Hanamaru sushi stand in Granduo Kamata.

(they have conveyor belt type shops too, Jenny’s BF, C said the wait in Ginza was over an hour?!)

We'd never tried this place because there was always a line.

well, we went early and were first in line! whoo

They ask you if you want tea, water or alcohol...

Write your order on the paper, give it to the sushi chefs (should've taken a photo to show you).

(After giving your order and you wish to order more, write your order on a new piece of paper and give it to the sushi chef...)

There are 3 or 4 sushi chefs to take care of 14 customers, so everything comes out pretty quickly...

The chef places a leaf and a mound of gari in front of you and you are ready to go...

Salmon and zukemaguro

loved the big mound of gari (pickled ginger)

torotaku hand roll style and nigiri style...love!

I did order all my sushi without wasabi...someone wasn't reading my order, because the hand roll had wasabi in it!

amaebi...4 on one nigiri!

tamago otsumami style, not too sweet and not ice cold either.

The fish is super fresh and your order comes out super fast.

Wasn’t able to see what Satoshi ordered, though he had 10 pieces.

We both had tea, and our total came out to just under 4000 yen (tax included)

I'm glad we tried this place.

They don't have an English menu, it did take me some time to read through all the sushi choices.

It is definitely a little more expensive than the conveyor belt type sushi places, but you can't go wrong with the service and quality.

We'll be back.

Stand and eat Nemuro Hanamaru

Granduo Kamata 1F

Hours: 11:00-22:00

Closed when Granduo Kamata is

14677

My aunty had told me about the Made in Hawaii Pop-up at Haneda Airport, so we went to check it out yesterday.

The line for Leonard's was krazy!

Apparently it started on 11/15, but there weren't too many things left.

From 11/25, they will move to Terminal 2 until 11/30.

Part of their sales will be given to help Maui.

Thanks Aunty for telling us about this.

Afterwards we went to check out Haneda Innovation City which just opened up, near Keikyu Tenkubashi Station.

(my photos uploaded wonky)

Lots of areas for meeting.

And lots of robots and other offices.

Lunch was at the food court, order with your smartphone and a robot brings out the food.

The kitchen wasn't too organized so Satoshi had finished his food before mine even came out.

I tried this spice curry from Shiva Curry Wara, super spicy with lots of chicken.

You can see Mount Fuji from deck facing Haneda Airport.

Not sure we'll be back here, but at least we checked it out.

Then we walked to Anamori Inari, thought I had wrote up on this shrine, but guess I didn't.

It is on the way to Haneda Airport on the Keikyu line.

I think this rock stairwell is new.

super long matsu (pine)

After grocery shopping, we stopped into Cafe Fuwari which opened up in our neighborhood this past summer?! (can't remember)

Dunno if that girl in the background was having a bad day, but she was the most unfriendliest person...shouldn't you at least be happy serving gelato?!

I tried their purple sweet potato gelato while Satoshi had their strawberry...900 yen (tax included) for the two.

Satoshi's tasted better, you could hardly tell mine was sweet potato.

Dunno if we'll be back but glad we got to try them.

Cafe Fuwari

7-17-3 Nishikamata

Ota, Tokyo

Closed Mondays

Hours: 11:30-22:30