epinard

Friend Hiromi, sent me these sweets from Epinard for my birthday

When we lived in Osaka, Epinard was in our area, Minoo

 

It was nice to reconnect with their sweets

And I look forward to sharing these truffles with Satoshi

Thank you Hiromi! I appreciate our friendship and your kindness

last sakura walk

This year's sakura was way too quick.

I took a break from packing on Monday, and shot this video (click on the photo).

The weeping cherry trees were beautiful!

Am gonna miss this neighborhood...

By Wednesday, most of the petals had fallen.

The weeping trees were still nice though.

The little pond in Suigetsu Park was filled with pink petals!

Spring is way too short...

jinx

Friday, it was forecast for some snow.

Me, I just wanted to see some falling snow...but "someone" in our household said that "if it is gonna snow, it should stay frozen"...

How is this poor electrician...at least he had a tarp to block the falling snow. (click on the photo to see the video)

Apparently 7 years back there was another electrician during a snow storm too...

Saturday when we awoke...at least a couple of inches had fallen.

(click on the photo to see the video)

At least it wasn't a lot, where we needed to shovel (not that we have a snow shovel).

It also made for walking to the train station interesting, at least it wasn't slippery and the snow melted by the time we came back.

saikoji

Went to Saikoji today to check out the fall colors.

Only the leaves that the sunlight hit turned reddish.

The wind was strong and icy.

We're supposed to have year end temps tomorrow through the weekend...brr.

minoo candle road

Saturday night we checked out the Minoo Candle Road event.

Candles lit the way to the Minoo Falls.

So many people out and about.

The walkway through the shopping arcade was packed with vendors and people!

Of course, the humidity was killer.

Ramune, a drink seen a lot during Summer in Japan and Yuzu Cider were definitely needed...

(Even though both were labelled with Minoo's logos, both were not made in Minoo (bummer), though the Yuzu Cider did use yuzu (citron) from Minoo.)

My archives do not show this event so I think this was a rare time that we were able to check this event out.

(I think most times we are in Hawaii or remember after the event is over)

Even though it was super grossly humid (and we didn't go all the way up to the Falls), I'm glad we checked it out.

saturday

We met up with Michelle and her family on Saturday since they are visiting.

They wanted to see the Minoo Falls, so that is what we did.

(if you click on the photo you should be able to view the short video of the Falls).

It was nice chatting along the 3.8 kilometer (2.3 mile) trail.

Along the way there was a monkey in the trees...I told her kids to hide their snacks so that the monkeys wouldn't attack them...eep!

Dinner was at a chain izakaya near the Hankyu Minoo station...what crappy service!

Our "waitress" only took orders for drinks...if we wanted to order food, we had to "talk" to the touch panel menu...even if she (the waitress) was right in front of us...

Satoshi said that a lot of places are like this these days...no wonder we don't eat at these types of places...

Still it was nice to meet up and catch up with them.

Thanks for a great day, Michelle & family, enjoy the rest of your trip!

lunch with a view

Today, I went to Square for lunch because someone posted on social media that the cherry blossoms were in bloom in their area. (click on the photo to view the video)

From the second floor (their cafe space), you can see this.

I had their taco rice & iced coffee...1300 yen (tax included).

It was quite filling but I liked how they put the cheese under the broiler and the egg was nice and oozy.

At the mall too, everything was in full bloom.

I forgot to share this video of Sakuranomiya with you yesterday... (click on the photo)

Hopefully the weather will hold up over the weekend, so we can check out more blooms.

sakura walks

Wednesday was forecast for clouds and the weather dude was spot on..

I had to use some filters to "pretty" these photos up...

On a street that is near the Hankyu Minoo Station, they have replaced some of the older tree with new ones, so the cherry blossom tunnel is a bit smaller, but it was nice to see these new trees blooming.

Unfortunately, most of the trees have only started to bloom, so the "tunnel" wasn't quite ready.

On the other hand, a weeping cherry tree in front of a school was in full bloom, so pretty despite the skies.

Looking up at all the blooms.

Hope you have a nice weekend!

sakura walks

It's that time of year again...the cherry blossoms have started blooming and I've started to get out and about more.

I'm glad I got a glimpse of this weeping cherry.

And this one.

And this one.

The temps should hit 20C (68F) over the next couple of days so it should help the blossoms bloom a bit more, BUT there is rain forecast from Thursday through the weekend, so hopefully winds won't blow everything away...

Hope to show you more...

merci kitchen

Love social media, so much info out there on new places to try!

I went to check out Merci Kitchen recently.

Got there just as they were opening up and the waitress asked how many were in my party.

I said "just me".

Boy, was she disappointed and sour after I said that...

She said take a seat in the far corner of the restaurant...but I went for a table away from the direct sunlight.

"That" didn't sit with her too well either as she said, "if you aren't planning to take too long, you can sit there"...

And then she added..."when it gets busy, we'll have to breakup your table for the other party"...

GADS!

They have two types of lunches...two or three entrees...

I chose two from their 7 or so entrees...pork cutlet with raclette cheese and hamburger.

Juicy juicy hamburger and the pork cutlet was cooked perfectly with raclette cheese in the middle.

The salad was a nice portion, there was also a tiny dollop of potato salad and some carrot salad.

Lunch also comes with their soup of the day which was a minestrone.

To end you can also order tea or coffee, I had coffee.

So was there hordes of people just waiting to get in? Nope, in fact, I had the place all to myself.

Not sure if I would return, especially with that snarkiness.

But the food was delicious.

Merci Kitchen
2-21-16 Nishijuku
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.727.2032
Closed Tuesdays
Hours: 11:30-15:00, 17:30-21:30

square furniture stand

This past weekend was supposed to be snowy or rainy and it was neither, so we headed out.

We went back to Square Furniture Stand for lunch.

This time around Satoshi had their BLET (bacon lettuce egg tomato) sandwich...650 yen.

And I had their Salad Dutch Baby...650 yen.

We also ordered coffees so our total came out to 2000 yen (tax included).

Look at Satoshi's sandwich...huge!

Even though it was super messy eats, he thoroughly enjoyed this eating it with a knife and fork.

It was my first time having a dutch baby and a savory one at that.

I loved the poofy pancake topped with bacon, lettuce and tomato.

We'll definitely have these again and be back!

menu

It's that time of year when I get together with my host-mom & my host-brother's wife for lunch.

Today, we went to Menu, the tiny restaurant nearby that Satoshi and I love.

The food is always delicious (that pork ragout was so tender!) and it was nice to spend some time with them.

Thanks for a great day!

so fast

Hard to believe that there is only a month left for this year.

We're supposed to get more rain tomorrow.

Was nice seeing some of the yellow gingko leaves today.

Hope your November was a nice one.

coffee uta

There is a tiny cafe we stumbled upon...Coffee Uta.

From the outside, it looks like someone's house, but if you look carefully, you'll see a sign and realize they are a cafe.

It was a nice space with lots of natural light coming in from a skylight.

I had their orange toast plate with coffee 1050 yen...this came with a small salad and some orange pieces.

I loved their toast, speckled with orange peel and slathered with butter.

Satoshi had their sandwich plate with coffee 1150 yen...his plate also came with salad and lots of fruit (apple and persimmon).

A bit pricey but we loved the different pottery items they had displayed (I think most are for sale) and they also don't allow smoking!

We'll be back.

Coffee Uta
1-8-28 Minoo
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.721.8033
Hours: 11:00-17:00
Closed Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays

menu

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving.

It isn't a holiday here, but Black Friday is slowly catching on here.

Since Satoshi went out on a drinking thingy on Tuesday, which was Ii Fufu no Hi (literally good couple day), we went out for dinner at Menu the next day which was a national holiday (Kinro Kansha no Hi, like a combination of Labor Day and Thanksgiving).

Dinner started out with a plate each of their appetizers...salad, proscuitto, dragon fruit, purple sweet potato terrine, sweet potato frittata, clam rice croquette (arancino), tako (octopus) with a broccoli puree.

Soup: Daikon potage topped with cacao nibs

Pasta: mushroom pepperoncino and gingko nut ras el hanout chicken cream pasta (both to share)

Main: sea bream stuffed with mushroom puree wrapped with bacon, cooked saltimbocca style and chicken piccata

Dessert: dark cherry brownie

Coffee or Tea

Satoshi also had a glass of wine with dinner.

We love this place because their servings are just right, their food is delicious too, they serve reasonable servings of wine and their prices are quite reasonable too.

7050 yen for our dinner.

We'll definitely be back.

square furniture coffee stand

I've been wanting to check out Square for some time, we finally got to this past Saturday.

The 1st floor is a furniture shop and the 2nd floor is their cafe and work area. They also have some furniture for sale there too.

Most of their furniture is 2nd hand stuff but they also make tables from large pieces taken from trees too.

Fill out the order form and bring it to the counter.

Pay and then wait to be called.

I ordered the spare rib curry, this came with a "Fred Flintstone" sized sparerib, more like huge pork rib (I think it was pork).

Too bad this wasn't "fall off the bone tender".

The saffron rice that came with this was bland and the curry was more like beef stew....1600 yen (tax included)

This also came with a beverage (I chose iced coffee).

Satoshi chose the veggie curry, this was the same base as the curry I had, but his meal came with a frozen orange gelatin & beverage (he chose coffee)...1600 yen.

He also ordered his meal with a large serving of rice (no extra charge), but regretted doing so because it was so bland.

We both agreed that their curry was way too "heavy" and "rich" for our liking. In fact, we ate salad for dinner because we were still full from lunch!

Still, we like the atmosphere of this place, so we'll be back.

Square Furniture Coffee Stand
1-8-58 Senba Higashi
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.737.9234
Closed Thursdays
Hours: 11:00-16:30 (Weekdays), 11:00-17:00 (Weekends/Holidays)

sunday

Sunday, we thought hanging out by the Minoo Falls would be a nice way to keep cool...

We walked in 3.8 kilometers (2.3 miles) to the falls...

We thought ahead and bought some sandwiches to eat once we reached the falls.

There were tons of people...

Before reaching the falls though, we came across this funky beetle. First time for me to see a blingy reddish one (usually they are blingy bluish-green).

I shot a short video of the falls here, if you are interested, please take a look.

Then this guy came out to look for unattended bento...Of course, Satoshi went up close to it to take its photo...

Apparently he has not learned his lesson when it comes to monkeys....sigh.

The monkey crossed over to where others were eating, it was a good thing no one got hurt, but I was shocked that no one warned those people, they were more intent on filming the whole thing on their phones...

Since the falls did not relieve any heat or humidity, we decided to hang out at Yamamoto Coffee which is located at the middle of the park.

Satoshi ordered a melon cream soda while I ordered a coffee float.

In the afternoon, there was a freak rainstorm that lasted an hour or so, with lightning and thunder.

Lots of excitement, yeah?! How was your Sunday?

kamizono

This past Sunday, we went to Kamizono for lunch.

Satoshi loves the food there, especially the fried shrimp.

We love that they serve all sorts of different veggie side dishes.

They gave each of us different ones so we could share.

Satoshi ordered the fried shrimp, while I ordered the gobo wrapped beef.

I was intrigued by the tomatoes, they were soaked in a pickle sauce and when I asked the wife of the owner, she mentioned that she made a dashi vinegar sauce and put the tomatoes in, it was so fruity it kind of reminded me of an umeboshi (pickled apricot)...gotta try to re-create this.

Satoshi's favorite veggie dish was a rakkyo salad, sliced rakkyo, parboiled then mixed with some mayo, salt and pepper.

It was nice to re-connect with this restaurant.

We'll be back.

kaneko unagi

Yesterday, I walked twenty minutes to Sakurai intending to shop at Daiei.

I didn't realize (until I got there) they were renovating and were closed...boo!

This was the perfect chance to try Kaneko Unagi, a tiny shop that sells unagi kabayaki (grilled eel with a sweet-salty sauce).

While I appreciated that they only sell unagi raised/caught in Japan, they are pricey.

For the one unagi that I bought, it was 2470 yen (tax included), and that was the most inexpensive one...

Satoshi and I shared it for dinner.

It was good, the flesh of the unagi was very moist, the skin quite crispy.

I may be back, but not too often.

Kaneko Unagi
2-1-14 Sakurai
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.721.4057
Closed Sundays
Hours: n/a

pâtisserie cri de coq

Yesterday, I checked out Pâtisserie Cri de Coq, a tiny sweets shop in Minoo.

Since I wasn't going straight home, I picked up their croque-coco, a crisp coconut cookie.

So good!

They also have chocolate bon-bons & canelé as well as cakes.

Hope to get back to try other items.

Pâtisserie Cri de Coq
3-7-2 Hakushima, La Garellia 1F
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.729.0285
Hours: 10:00-19:30
Closed Wednesdays