saturday

Saturday, Satoshi went on a field trip with his travel guide school.

Since it had been about 2 years (pre-pandemic), I went to Yurakucho to check out my favorite antenna shops…first stop, Kochi.

I bought things I’ve bought before, some okazu ginger & tomato miso paste.

Next door…Okinawa.

They had portuguese sausage! Bummer I was so excited I didn’t read the label because…sorbitol! why you gotta put ‘um in the sausage?!

I also bought zebra bread…peanut butter, brown sugar & margarine (boo!)…730 calories if you eat the whole thing…Satoshi and I shared this (still 365!), it was ono toasted!

Down the street…Hiroshima.

More stuff I have bought in the past neko mame & furikake.

Up the street, a cute police box.

A replica of the first gas street lamps.

Teal..a new chocolate & ice cream shop on the grounds where Shibusawa Eiichi once lived.

Chocolate bar…bummer this had sorbitol (what is it with artificial sweeteners?) in it…it was boozy & fruity…but boo for sorbitol.

Caramel bar…caramel cookie, dried cranberries & caramel, like twix bar but better! no sorbitol, yeah!

Dinner from Kitade Tacos…pork carnitas taco rice.

The pork was tender, smoky, kinda like kalua pig.

The avocado jalapeño sauce & salsa were spicy and delicious.

I’m glad I tried them and will be back whenever I am nearby.

12128…it was nice to be outside.

Oh, and I also loved the different art on the construction wall in front of Tokyo Station.

Teal

1-10 Nihonbashikabutocho

Chuo, Tokyo

Phone: 03.6661.7568

Closed Wednesdays

Hours: 11:00-18:00

Kitade Tacos

Grandsta Tokyo (inside of JR Tokyo Station wickets) B1

Hours: 11:30-22:00 open daily*

*cashless transactions only

miharado

Miharado has been in business since 1877.

They have several shops around Tokyo but their main shop is near Ningyocho.

Satoshi met up with his classmate to catch up the other day and was given these dorayaki and manju. (Thank you!)

Love the packaging which has their store name in kanji(chinese characters)

We tried the mont blanc dorayaki and original dorayaki.

The mont blanc one had white bean paste that was flavored with rum and studded with chestnuts.

The original dorayaki had a chunky sweet bean paste in it.

Both were delicious.

We'll try the manju another day and look forward to buying more of their items when we are in the area.

Miharado

1-14-10 Nihonbashi Ningyocho

Chuo, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3666.3333

Closed New Years Day

Hours: 9:30-19:30 (weekdays), 9:30-18:00 (Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays)

orimine bakers

I had Orimine Bakers bookemarked for some time now.

Their main shop is on the outskirts of Tsukiji.

With the pandemic, we haven't been going holo-holo (galavanting), so I've never been able to check them out.

Luckily, when we were roaming around Nihonbashi, I stumbled upon one of their shops.

It is a tiny shop with the width being only the size of someone walking sideways while looking at their display of baked items.

Perfect for pandemic shopping... going in one door...picking up all the baked goods as you side step towards the register.

Paying and then exiting out another door.

I purchased half a mini loaf of their raisin bread, a currant & nut roll, curry pan and satsumaimo danish.

I put the raisin bread and currant roll into the freezer for us to try later.

We shared the curry pan and satsumaimo danish for breakfast.

The curry pan was baked and filled with chunks of beef and potato, the outer bread was similar to a baguette...mmm!

The satsumaimo danish was so flaky! there was a little custard to hold the sweet potato onto the danish...love!

Hope to go back to one of their shops to pick up more things to try.

Orimine Bakers

1-9-6 Nihonbashiningyo-cho

Chuo, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3527.3110

Open Daily 10:30-19:00

nihonbashi

Yesterday we walked around the Nihonbashi area.

We've visited this area 10 years ago.

After having a hard time finding our bearings, we finally found the spot where the 1st post office in Japan was started. 

On the outside wall of the building, there is a plaque noting this and the building is still used as a post office.

We also found Tamahide...they have been in business since 1760!

They are well known for their oyakodon but also serve course menus too.

We thought they would be closed since we thought their website said so, but they were open and we didn't have to wait too long for a table...whoo!

The last time we ate out was back in July.

We both ordered the aburidon, broiled chicken thighs are used...the oyakodon is so huge! 1800 yen (tax included)

The chicken is cooked perfectly and the custardy egg has dashi and other seasonings mixed in it.

I couldn't eat all of it and Satoshi finished it for me.

I'm glad we got to try this place!

After lunch we walked up the street to Yanagiya, which has been in business since 1916!

Satoshi had their azuki ice monaka. 160 yen (tax included)

I had their taiyaki. 170 yen (tax included)

The weather was so blazing, that eating something piping hot was krazy (plus I was still super full from lunch), so I took a few bites then put it into my bag to eat later.

The outer part of the taiyaki was so thin and it was filled to the gills with sweet bean paste! 

I'm glad we got to try this too.

Afterwards we checked out Suitengu, a shrine where a lot of families go to get their newborn children blessed.

On our way back to Tokyo station, I was intrigued by this building...from this angle the slats are pink and green.

But from this angle it is blue and purple...cool yeah?!

16560...totally out of shape from “staying at home” plus the weather was so miserably hot.

Tokyo's state of emergency ended on Thursday and we hope to get out more often in the days to come.

p.s. Tokyo's case rate yesterday was 87!

Tamahide

1-17-10 Nihonbashiningyo-cho

Chuo, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3668.7651

Lunch :11:30-14:30, Dinner 17:00-20:00

*they aren't open everyday, so call before going

**cash only

Yanagiya

2-11-3 Nihonbashiningyo-cho

Chuo, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3666.9901

Closed Sundays

Hours: 12:30-18:00