back to kichijoji

I wanted to send something to my host mom for her birthday next week, so I went to Presqu'ile last Thursday.

Since they open at 11:00, and I was about 30 minutes early, I decided to buy something for lunch, and went back to Boulangerie Epee

The last time we visited this bakery was pre-pandemic

Their sausage danish was delicious! the sausage was meaty and had a nice snap, there was a slightly sweet glaze on it and the danish (puff pastry) was flaky...love

Their kouign amann was different from others I have tried, the caramel was on the harder side but the pastry was super flaky

I spotted their carrot cake as I was about to pay...glad I purchased this, it was moist with a lot of walnuts, the cream cheese frosting had some lemon zest in it...love!

After ordering something at Presqu'ile to be sent to my host mom, I walked back to the station 

And stumbled upon this area

And this cute french restaurant

It was a nice day but the air was icy.

Still I was glad to be out and about.

kichijoji

1st time back to Kichijoji since the pandemic (I think).

I wanted to send something to my host sister for her birthday, so I went to Presqu'ile
 

On the way, I stopped at Linde to pick up something for lunch, because I had it on my “to try” list

They are a German style bakery, so it was nice to see different items from most Japanese style bakeries.

Their muesli bread filled with a slice of sausage, apple and camembert cheese...so ono!

the nuss tarte reminded me of Kurumikko

They have a cafe above their bakery, I wouldn't mind eating here…1002 yen (tax included) for both items

For dinner, I wanted to try Satou's menchi katsu

Apparently they are the first one to make the round menchi katsu version.

If you are not familiar, menchi katsu are fried hamburger

Huge! 300 yen (tax included) each

Loved how juicy these menchi katsu were, lots of onion too

Their croquette 200 yen (tax included) each and filet katsu 320 yen (tax included)

Love how the coating does not fall off and stays crisp even after reheating.

Satoshi said the filet katsu was delicious too (I put my half into the freezer)

Haneru's butter baby castella...500 yen (tax included) for 15

So buttery!

Still so many places to explore in this area.

We'll be back to these places and the ones we still want to check out.

Linde

1-11-27 Kichijoji Honcho

Musashino, Tokyo

Open daily: 10:00-18:00

Satou

1-1-8 Kichijoji Honcho

Musashino, Tokyo

Open daily:10:00-19:00

*cash only

Haneru

Kirarina Kichijoji 2F

Musashino, Tokyo

Open daily: 10:00-21:00

presqui'le chocolaterie

Been wanting to try Presqui'le Chocolaterie's chocolates.

They are located in Kichijoji and is not somewhere we often find ourselves.

Luckily they were at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi for a pop-up.

I picked up their (clockwise) chocolat orange (chocolate cake with orange peel), maple financier (maple flavored cake), cardamom sable, tigre chuao and galette nantaises 

Everything was delicious.

My favorites were the cardamom sable (cardamom cookie covered with chocolate and topped with cacao nibs), tigre chuao (a moist cake with a dollop of chocolate in the middle and cacao nibs on the cake) and galette nantaises (buttery cookies).

Hope to get out to the shop to pick up some of their bon bons to try.

Presqui'le Chocolaterie

2-15-18 Kichijoji Honcho

Musashino, Tokyo

Closed: Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Hours: 11:00-19:00

things I'm liking

Some foods eaten but not blogged about...

There are times when Satoshi goes out after work with co-workers or baseball alumni...or times when he has two German classes (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), on these days, I usually go holo-holo (galavanting) and try places that probably Satoshi wouldn't enjoy.

It was my 1st time trying lamb biryani which to me was like Indian fried rice.

Super flavorful with lots of different spices, huge cubes of lamb that were tender.

This also came with a curry of your choice, which I chose palak paneer (a spicy spinach curry with fresh cheese cubes) and a yogurt sauce to cool your mouth down while eating.

This was quite filling but I'm glad I tried it and will be back.

Himmel's tuna sandwich...loved the sunflower seed bun! forgot to add this one when I did the last liking (disliking) post.

When I went to Inokashira Park, I tried Dans Dix Ans' cigar chocolat...a chocolate baguette filled with ice cold chocolate ganache to be eaten right away.

I sat on the bench outside their shop and enjoyed this.

They specialize in different types of breads using different yeasts and flours.

I wouldn't mind trying some of their loaves and will be back when I am in the area.

Stumbled upon Mijinco when we walked from Yushima Shrine to Kanda Myojin.

Their lunch menu are different sandwiches.

I tried their oil sardine sandwich...the oil sardine was mixed with red onion, nuts, cheese and some beans...so good!

I'll be back when I am in this area to try their desserts.

Tried Pandayaki which is at the entrance of the JR Okachimachi station.

They had sakura, red bean paste, caramel, chocolate, custard and plain.

Since their smallest size was a set of 14, I got one of each flavor and had them separate them into two bags with 7 each (one of each flavor), so that I could share with Satoshi.

The white panda was made from rice flour and filled with red bean paste, so it was similar to mochi (rice cake)...chewy.

The others had a nice amount of filling and was similar to baby castella but a little softer.

I went to check out the liquor floor of Takeya. They had a rosé for half price! I love this store.

I also got some fabric softener, pumpkin seeds & green tea.

What are you enjoying these days?

Sitaara Grove
Takashimaya Shinjuku 13F
Shibuya, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5361.2029
Hours: 11:00-23:00

Dans Dix Ans
2-28-2 Kichijoji Honmachi, B1
Musashino, Tokyo
Phone: 0422.23.2595
Closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays
Hours: 10:00-18:00

Mijinco
2-9-10 Yushima
Bunkyo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6240.1429
Hours: Weekdays 11:00-21:00, Weekends & Holidays 10:00-20:00

sakura walk (inokashira park)

Yesterday was one of the only days with a "sunny" mark in the weather forecast (other days started out sunny but was expected to get cloudy in the afternoon).

I got out and about early and went to Inokashira Park.

The amount of boats/swan paddle thingies in the pond was krazy!

The sun was out and it was warm but every so often there was a cool/cold breeze.

I bought a bacon avocado baguette and a pistachio bread filled with sakura flavored cream cheese from Boulangerie Epee and found a bench to sit on and have lunch.

The baguette was delicious with a decent amount of avocado and bacon.

The pistachio bread was soft and the sakura cream cheese was lightly flavored...nice.

I hope to go back to have lunch at the shop next time I'm in the area.

My lunch view.

Only a couple more days to enjoy this season...way too short but I'm glad I've been able to get out and about to explore different cherry blossom areas in Tokyo.

Boulangerie Epee
1-10-4 Kichijoji Minami-cho
Musashino, Tokyo
Phone: 0422.72.1030
Open daily: 9:30-23:00 (closes 22:00 on Saturdays & Sundays)

asagaya & kichijoji

Sunday, we went to visit Satoshi's friends at their cafe called Taizankan.

Lunch was their curry rice.

Just the right amount of spice and it was great catching up with them.

From Asagaya, we walked one station over to Koenji.

The area under the train tracks have been cleaned up and there are cool event spaces for everything anime (animation) related.

Another area we saw was the Koenji Apartment with hipster eateries and shops on the bottom (I want to go back to try the coffee shop and craft beer shops).

We caught the train to Kichijoji and walked through Inokashira Park to have crepes at Cafe de Lievre.

Lots of the leaves have fallen without even changing color...boo!

Though there was still some with color...hope to come across some reddish ones soon...

inokashira park

Last year, we said farewell to Satoshi's friend, Gen.

Since then, his family moved out of his company housing and back to Kichijoji, which is where his wife, Kinuko is actually from.

Ever since we moved to Tokyo, Kinuko and I have been trying to coordinate getting together and finally were able to last Thursday.

From the Keio Kichijoji station, Inokashira Park is about an 8 minute walk.

The park is huge!

This was the first time I've seen canned bread and cat purses in a vending machine.

And super spicy snacks.

We had crepes at Cafe de Lievre while we chatted and watched all the doggies out for walks and rides in their strollers.

Even though this was the first time Kinuko and I had actually sat down to chat, I'm glad we were able to find some things in common.

Hopefully we'll be able to get together again more often.

Satoshi also wants me to bring him here, so we'll be back.

Inokashira Park
1-18-31 Gotenyama
Musashino, Tokyo

Cafe de Lievre
1-19-43 Gotenyama
Musashino, Tokyo
Phone: 0422.43.0015
Hours: 10:30-19:00