akihabara & nezu

Satoshi went to sell some of his "treasures" at Akihabara, while we were waiting for them to figure out how much they were worth, we had lunch at Joto Curry

We've eaten at their shops in Osaka

Their curry starts off a little sweet and then the spices start to creep up on you

It was nice to reconnect with this curry chain

How cute are these coin purses?!

After Satoshi received a little pocket money for his "treasures" we walked to Nezu Shrine to check out the azaleas.

Going through Aki-Oka, which Satoshi had not been through before, but I had had lunch at one of the shops there before

When we arrived near Nezu Shrine, the line to get into see the azaleas was way, way, way, outside!

So instead we admired the azaleas from the outside 

It was still nice to see, even though there were tons of people

I had been wanting to try this cream puff by Le Coussinet

And luckily we walked past just as the batch had come out of their brick oven

Apparently it takes 90 minutes to bake up

The last 10 minutes is when the outside crisps up

The custard cream is rich, vanilla-y and not too sweet

The "best before" time limit is 1 minute! (I had thought it was 10)

So you'll see everyone enjoying their cream puff around the outside area of the shop...

They won't allow you to buy them to take home, they must be eaten right there.

I'm glad we passed by when we did and would like to try their other sweets

It was nice exploring the tiny alleyways of Nezu

Seeing all the different flowers in bloom

It was a beautiful day, though I felt a little "crispy" again, the wind is still a little chilly especially in the shade, but it is only a matter of time before the "h" word starts and all we'll be talking about is the heat and “h”

Le Coussinet

2-34-24 Nezu

Bunkyo, Tokyo

*days closed and hours, check their social media sites

credit card accepted for purchases over 3000 yen

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

prism lab

Recently, my host sister sent me some sweets from Prism Lab, a shop located in Tokushima, Shikoku, for my birthday
 

The chocolate brownie was a little hard, but filled with walnuts, chunks of chocolate and covered with chocolate

Yuzuyuki was a cookie that had mac nuts, kitou yuzu and a sugar glaze

Chocolat financier had a huge chunk of dark chocolate on top

Almond financier was super buttery

Kitou yuzu madeleine had lots of yuzu flavor

Bon-bons...top left: kitou yuzu + hazelnut praline + dry yuzu peel

top right: Sunburst: won an international award and is a two layer bon bon with a yuzu caramel and ganache

bottom left: wasanbon + black sugar syrup + vanilla : tokushima made wasanbon (type of sugar) + black sugar syrup and tahitian vanilla

bottom right: infusion : uses a generous amount of kitou yuzu peel and its juice

Kitou yuzu is a variety unique to Tokushima.

I'm glad I got to try these and appreciate my host sister remembering my birthday.

Everything was so delicious!

Thank you T!

Prism Lab

5-71-6 Bandaicho

Tokushima City, Tokushima

Hours: 11:00-18:00

chikaramochiya

Chikaramochiya has been in business since 1690!

Their most well known item is the Gongoro Chikaramochi

Oblong shaped mochi is topped with oblong sweet bean paste

I read something online that if you purchase this, it needs to be eaten that day.

Unfortunately they do not sell this version individually or in small amounts.

We instead tried their Gyuhi Chikaramochi...120 yen each

This version has gyuhi (soft mochi) wrapped with sweet bean paste

This is bite sized and perfect for trying.

I'm glad we tried this and would get this version again.

Several things in this area of Kamakura that I had been wanting to see...

Gokurakuji station...which has been used in many J-dramas

Gokurakuji...very peaceful temple

And Goryo Shrine...there is a train crossing right in front, so you can see the train up close...short video here.

We were surprised to learn that Goryo Shrine is right around the corner from Hasedera!

Chikaramochiya

18-18 Sakanoshita

Kamakura, Kanagawa

Closed Wednesdays

Hours: 9:00-18:00

*cash only

suehiro

Been wanting to try Suehiro's ice manju after seeing it on several television shows

This shop is teeny and these ice manju are made by a couple

Most of the locals in Mie prefecture know of these and when it was shown on a television show they had to try to keep up with orders

There was even talk about closing up shop because they just couldn't keep up with the orders

These are made from scratch, the azuki is boiled and sweetened 

Then they make the milk layer and put these together to freeze

Since 1950 they've been making this version...unique shape too!

Nowadays they have other flavors...matcha, dainagon (a type of premium azuki), ichigo (strawberry) and kokuto (black sugar)

The set I purchased had 4 of the 5 flavors x 2...1800 yen (tax included) plus shipping

The website said that the earliest I would be able to receive my order was September 1st.

Knowing that we wouldn't be home on Friday and Saturday, I thought it would be okay to order this...

Well, guess when the delivery guy showed up?! on Friday (August 29) and tried again on Saturday (August 30)

There was even a phone call from the shop saying that he had sent out my order...and a phone call from the delivery people 

When we got back late Saturday night, I scheduled re-delivery for Sunday

Take them out 10 minutes before eating and enjoy!

The original is delicious, not too sweet and that whole milk layer has azuki in it!

I'm glad we tried this and look forward to trying the other flavors.

patisserie akane

Up the street from Granza is Patisserie Akane.

A tiny shop that not only serves cakes, but also serves kakigori (shaved ice)

Since we were full from lunch, instead of eating their shaved ice, we decided to just takeout a few treats from here to try later.

Satoshi chose the natsu mikan gelatin...but was given this mango pina colada...

A passion fruit, pineapple mousse,  mango gelatin  topped with coconut cream, lemon guimauve (marshmallow), orange pate de fruit and coconut roche

When the staff reconfirmed if these were the two we ordered, I didn't pay attention and just said "yes"...

Unfortunately, they charged us for the natsu mikan gelatin...this mango one was more expensive...oopsa!

When I took them out of the box for us to try, it was then I realized they had packed the wrong item for Satoshi.

He was bummed that they gave him the wrong item but he said it was still delicious

Kat ordered the coconut annindofu (almond float)

Instead of the gelatin being almond flavored it is coconut flavored.

It was topped with melon, candied lemon and a melon gelatin.

I really enjoyed this one.

I hope to go back before summer ends to try their kakigori.

Patisserie Akane

2-31-11 Kamiikedai

Ota, Tokyo

Hours: 11:00-15:00 (Mondays), 11:00-18:30 (Tuesdays-Sundays) 

ikumi mama's doughnuts

At the JR Kawasaki station, they have an area for pop up stores.

Ikumi Mama's Doughnuts was there this past week.

I've often seen them at JR Shinagawa station, and thought we tried her doughnuts, but I guess I never wrote up about them.

Satoshi said he saw this on his way home and had to get it...Neko monaka 

How cute is Japan's packaging...

Inside are 2 cat shaped wafers (neko monaka) and sweet bean paste to fill the two…oh and a wooden spoon

How cute is the monaka (wafers)....

There is more than enough sweet bean paste for the two

The monaka is so fresh! crisp and light

I'm glad we got to try this and these are perfect for gifts.

ps today’s the day they install the door phone, supposed to take 4 hours…hope they’ll finish early, please send good mojo

kyoto suzunariya

On one of my news feeds, I saw this...

mog mog (mow-goo mow-goo) catcher...baby castella made to look like those crane/claw games
 

And "had to" order it....

Kyoto Suzunariya makes these cute baby castella.

The mog mog catcher comes with the bag and a "crane game" claw looking pick

mog mog is the onomatopoeia sound when you are munching/snacking

There are 7 types...bear, rabbit, cat, dog, chick, irritated bear and if you are lucky, dog lifting up rabbit

They come vacuum packed and are frozen

Take them out of the bag and zap for 30 seconds

so cute!

These were delicious! and perfectly made.

We also ordered their matcha baby castella

So much matcha flavor...

We are saving the plain ones for another day.

They also have other flavors like hojicha and custard filled.

I'm glad we tried these, a little pricey from the baby castella we sometimes see at matsuri (festivals) but they are well made, taste great and they sent them to us super fast!

3410 yen (tax included) for baby castella & shipping

Kyoto Suzunariya

many shops & franchises around Kyoto as well in other prefectures like Okayama and Tochigi