granza

Have had Granza on my "to try" list ever since we moved to Tokyo and then the pandemic hit and we finally got to try them yesterday..

A tiny shop that specializes in Napolitan pizza.

This shop has also won International contests with their pizzas 

We both ordered the A lunch...1600 yen (tax included)

It comes with a salad, the vinaigrette was tangy and a little puckery.

You can choose a pasta or a pizza..for one of our lunches we chose a pasta...they had 4 to choose from, this is their tomato sauce...it also had sliced sausage and peppers...delicious and garlicky 

for our other lunch we chose a pizza...they have 12 to choose from, I wanted to try one of their award winning pizzas

This is their STG.

STG stands for Specialita Tradizionale Garantita (Traditional Guaranteed Speciality) which means that the pizza is made from specific ingredients, made with specific techniques and uses specific ingredients

To add this pizza to our lunch we had to add an extra 750 yen (tax included)

The cheese was so buttery! simple and delicious.

(The other award winning pizza had crab on it and they also give you shoyu to eat with it...to add it to a lunch set you would need to add an extra 1450 yen (tax included)! the table near us ordered it and it smelled wonderful...will need to try it next time.)

We enjoyed our lunch here and look forward to trying other items on their menu...we'll be back.

Granza

2-37-6 Kamiikedai

Ota, Tokyo

Open daily 11:30-14:30 (lunch), 17:30-22:00 (dinner)

*Saturdays & Sundays dinner starts at 17:00

**cash only

cpk

Met up with Ms V for lunch at CPK

it had been moons since I’ve eaten here

We both ordered the Neapolitan burrata pizza and added spicy pepperoni 

This was loaded with burrata! love!

Ms V should’ve ordered just a pepperoni pizza because she took off all the burrata and basil…ha!

Don’t worry though she brought home half of her pizza as well as all the cheese she took off

She also had dessert, it looked wonderful

Ms V gave us all sorts of things from Daiso (she works there)

I didn’t know they sold T-shirts

oh em gee and this lego like block thingy that she gave me also from Daiso was so hard!

my first try this owl was super wonky, I redid it and it came out nicer.

I also appreciated Ms V taking me home after lunch

Thanks for today Ms V

my domino

Domino Pizza here has something called "my Domino".

You can choose a pizza, rice bowl (rice with pizza toppings) or pasta bowl (penne with pizza toppings) and two sides (grilled chicken, karaage (Japanese style fried chicken), cheese sticks, mini pancakes, steak fries, fried chicken, egg tarts (30 yen more)) 

The price would depend on what you choose.

I chose the teriyaki chicken pizza with steak fries and egg tarts.

The egg tarts were 30 yen more for the two pieces.

I thought the whole thing was pretty reasonable for 1190 yen (tax included).

I usually have them deliver whenever I order but took out since I was passing by as I was walking home.

(The price for taking out is supposed to be cheaper than if you have them deliver.)

I would have preferred the egg tarts be more firm in the middle, but the puff pastry was nice and flaky.

The steak fries were crispy and delicious.

I wouldn't mind trying the pasta bowl, I'll be back.

Tokyo People: cat lovers..these guys were also talking about cats while waiting for their order

Does the Domino Pizza have something to "my Domino" where you are?

love technology

We tried ordering from Dominos the other night.

Not used to the app, I ended up trying 3 times before I could actually order what we wanted.

It was cool watching it go through the stages.

And then our food was out for delivery.

Talk about nail biting…at first we saw it arrive and be delivered somewhere else!

“enjoy your meal” the app said.

Then a message saying “wi-fi connection is bad”

“Your food will arrive shortly.”

Since the floors in our building are confusing, we figured the guy was lost in our building.

And then it arrived.

Since the delivery was later than promised, he gave us a coupon for a free liter of soda.

Not sure when we will order again but it was an interesting experience.

FYI: large pizza…half seafood special half tropical, ultra crispy crust

this and that

Found this assorted peanut snack, some peanuts are covered with a rice cracker shell, there are also some peas in there too, love it. 

Supermarket wood oven style pizza...loved the crust! and that this quattro formaggi (4 cheese) came with a little container of honey to drizzle on the pizza after heating up.

I do think they need to note that there is that container of honey included AND they need to put instructions on how to warm up the pizza...

The fence at nearby Kumano shrine is metal! it looks like a woven cloth, yeah?!

Bummed that I had to throw out 1 blood orange...

saw this interesting objet...the title of the piece is "toraboruta"

if you look carefully at it...it is a tora (tiger) that is bolted (chained up).

"toraboruta" is also the pronunciation of travolta, as in John Travolta...ha! 
 

The sunrises have been pretty spectacular...

I found taiyaki filled with sakura filling...stashed a couple in the freezer.

There are 2 more weeks for the State of emergency, but it seems that Tokyo has plateaued at 300 cases a day...hopefully we can get our number down even lower.

Japan has finally started to vaccinate but at the pace they are going the experts say it will take a couple of years?! 

Hopefully they will be able to get things moving...

Hope you are doing well, have a safe weekend.

saturday

Saturday was the start of a 3-day weekend for us, I went to Shinjuku to do some shopping, in the corner of my eye I spotted Takibi Bakery's stollen (love their packaging)

We've tried Takibi Bakery's stollen a couple of times in the past and enjoyed them.

This version had lots of spices. There is no tea in this, but it was similar to the spices used in chai.

I look forward to trying more stollen in the coming weeks.

From Shinjuku I walked to Shibuya.

It was interesting seeing neighborhoods that aren't visible from the train.

Like this cool building that is split in half and connected by their wallkways.

I also stumbled upon a day of the dead procession...which reminded me of the movie "Coco".

I met Satoshi after his German class for dinner at Jiyugaoka.

He said he wanted to try Devil Craft.

I tried their Imperial Stout, a kick-a 11.8% chocolatey brew...delicious!

Also appreciate them filling their 200 milliliter serving to the 200 milliliter line on the cup.

We shared this caesar salad while waiting for the deep dish pizza to cook.

We also watched the World Rugby Finals between England and South Africa (South Africa won).

Satoshi enjoyed the pizza and also ordered several pints.

I'm glad he enjoyed this place, and I'm sure we'll be back.

Wanted to share with you this "interesting" suit I saw while waiting for Satoshi...it says "F*ck off" in full lettering over and over on the stripes...amazing what you see in Japan, yeah?!

Have a good week!

devil craft & some good news

Saturday, I met up with a friend from Hawaii, Kurt.

He actually lives in Tokyo, and we've met up before.

I thought I wrote about it, but guess I didn't.

Anyway, this time around, we met up at Devil Craft, a craft beer and pizza shop in Jiyugaoka.

We ordered the chili fries (with jalapenos)...I had envisioned "stick" type of fries, these were waffle cut.

The chili had a nice kick...Kurt ate the jalapenos...

I ordered Devil Craft's Berry Bang Bang which was super fruity, a little sour...I enjoyed this.

I also thought it was cool that they filled the glass "above" the 200 mililiter line!

Devil Craft is also known for their Chicago-style pizzas...this one was the Devil Works...a deep dish with all sorts of toppings.

This had lots of tomatoes, olives, spinach and Italian sausage...delicious.

I also tried the Graham Cracker Porter by Denver Beer.

This was super chocolatey...love!

They have several locations with different items on tap, I wouldn't mind trying other beers...Thanks for meeting up Kurt!

As for some good news...the scaffolding has come off "that condo"...

And from the very far end of our lanai...we could see Mount Fuji!

Not a full view like we had before, but better than nothing!

It was kind of eerie seeing someone on the lanai on "that condo"...probably looking at Mount Fuji too.

Mount Fuji doesn't have any snow on the peak...yet...

Hopefully the weather will cool down soon!

Have a good week!

Devil Craft
2-12-18 Jiyugaoka
Meguro, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5726.9072
Closed Mondays-Tuesdays
Hours: Wednesdays-Fridays 17:00-19:00 (Happy Hour), 20:00-22:30
Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays 14:00-17:00 (Happy Hour), 18:00-22:30

reconnect

Reconnected with J on Thursday.

When we first moved to Japan back in 2001 (pre-blog), J and her family also lived in the same company housing complex as we did.

Over the years, we've kept in touch through new years cards.

There was lots to catch up on since we hadn't seen each other since 2001.

Lunch was pepperoni pizza, bolognese pasta and house green salad at CPK and dessert at Eggs'n Things...my first time eating at these places in Japan.

Monster whipped cream topping on the pancakes! (and very lightly sweetened!)

The memory I have of eating at Eggs'n Things at their very first location (and at the time only location) on Kalakaua one Sunday morning has no whipped cream whatsoever...

(I think Japan has 10+ locations in various prefectures.)

Chocolate sauce on the side to drizzle and a little coconut syrup (there was also maple syrup & guava syrup that you could use too)...so good!

It was nice catching up and reconnecting, I hope we can do it again soon.

CPK (California Pizza Kitchen)
Lazona Kawasaki 4F
Kawasaki, Kanagawa

Eggs'n Things
Lazona Kawasaki 4F
Kawasaki, Kanagawa

p.s. Golden Week (GW) starts today, we'll be off the grid for the most part (though I may update on Instagram)...I'll update here after GW ends on May 7...be well everyone!

pizza olive

A new kiosk opened up in the JR Kamata Station recently called Pizza Olive.

Since Satoshi didn't need dinner on Friday, I tried their seafood pizza...750 yen (tax included)

I like that they sell their pizzas in half sizes.

The thin crust was a little too hard for my liking.

But, there was various seafood (squid, shrimp, clams) and some veggies (bell pepper, mushroom) on the pizza.

I want to try their regular crust to compare...I'll be back.

Pizza Olive
JR Kamata Station, 2F
Ota, Tokyo

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

foodie july (first half)

Some of the new things I tried in the first half of July...

Stumptown Cold Brew with Coconut Cream & Sugar...I used half the carton (serving size is the whole carton) and diluted with more iced coffee...this was delicious.

Juicy and ice cold mountain apple...delicious!

1st time at Pieology.

You can put any amount of toppings and the pizzas are all the same size and price.

Fun, fast and good.

Firestone Walker's Nitro Merlin Milk Stout...chocolatey, a little smokey.

Would've been nice(r) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it...

Moena Cafe in Kapolei serves dinner and we went there while my Dad's sister was in town...

The braised short ribs were tender.

The okinawan sweet potato mash was a little too sweet and a little too coconut-y.

Restaurant Kuni's catering menu...great service and perfect for the memorial service we had for my Dad.

Zippy's Dream Cake...Dream cake was one of my Dad's faves...this version was kinda meh...

My brother thought the chocolate was kinda too oily...

Gina's Fish Jun...the sauce was sweet and sour which was different from other fish jun I've had.

The taegu was overly soft and sweet too.

Will try some other sides next time.

7-eleven has a 7-eleven day on July 11, in which they give away free small slurpees.

I had never had one, so I went to check them out...I didn't know how to operate the machine (sad, yeah?!), so I needed coaching from the masses standing in line behind me (Thank you!)

Li hing mui slurpee was super sour but tasted more like cherry...meh, but at least I got to try.

Li hing mui is a Chinese preserved plum which is similar to dried Japanese umeboshi...if you salivate when hearing either, you probably grew up in Hawaii.

Japan's 7-elevens need slurpees though...

Meat Jun Bento from Paalaa Kai Mini Mart...only $6 and the meat is tender and flavorful.

My Aunty M1 commented that BFF W and I have gone here quite often this trip home...I told her that "it is closer to get to from Pearl City"...

The malasadas from Paalaa Kai Bakery, called Sada's Malassadas...are super poofy and stay that way the next day.

The sugar melts (the next day) but the malasadas stay intact and doesn't smoosh like others (you know which ones), nor are they oily....love!

While others go to this bakery for their snow puffies, I have only been buying this malasada.

Black Sheep Cream Co.'s "Rub some bacon on it"....Peanut Butter Cream and their Homemade Maple Bacon Toffee...so so good!

That is their single scoop (HUGE) and only $4.50 (tax included).

This place is hard to find...it's between SuperCuts and Subway near the Waipio Costco...no signage outside and the interior is dark, so they don't look like they are open...

Have a good week.

Restaurant Kuni
94-210 Leokane Street
Waipahu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.671.1100
Hours: Lunch 11:00-14:00, Dinner 17:00-21:00

Pieology
Pearlridge Uptown
Aiea, Hawaii
Phone: 808.200.5085
Hours: Mondays-Saturdays 10:30-21:30, Sundays 10:30-20:00
Closed when the mall is

Black Sheep Cream Co
94-1235 Ka Uka Boulevard
Waipio, Hawaii
Phone: 808.620.7904
Hours: 10:00-21:00