11115

Saw this on social media and made reservations for us to go.

On the grounds of the Tsukiji Hongwanji is a cafe called Tsumugi (which is a chain type).

The 18 item breakfast from 8:00...2200 yen (tax included)

13 toppings, 3 "dessert" items, okayu (rice porridge) & miso soup. (some items are from Tsukiji Outer Market vendors)

The okayu is all you can eat, I didn't have more than what I was served but Satoshi had seconds.

You can also choose hot or cold tea, we chose hot.

Unlike Shojin ryori meals which are vegan, this breakfast has some vegan and non-vegan items.

The reason this is 18 items is it is based on the 18th vow of Buddhism (there are a total of 48 vows)

If you want to try this breakfast, you should definitely make reservations because they serve the people with reservations this breakfast first.

This was different and delicious, I'm glad we got to try this.

I'd never visited the Tsukiji Hongwanji, so we went to pay our respects.

Loved the stained glass above the door!

Across the street in the Tsukiji Outer market, we stopped at Sanokiya which makes maguroyaki.

You can choose from different fillings, we shared this honmaguro which was filled with sweet bean paste...280 yen (tax included)

We needed some coffee so we stopped at Mejicafe...I ordered their "gin & tonic"(colombian anaerobic lime cold brew with tonic water)...650 yen (tax included) delicious!

Satoshi had their Vietnam Whiskey Barrel Aged...680 yen (tax included)

*be patient it is one man operated shop and pour over style

Namiyoke Shrine, this was my first time here.

The tomb of the egg, there is also the tomb of the shrimp, sushi and fish.

Huge lion heads (male), the red one is (female)

And then we saw this line in front of Le Pain and had to try their different croissants...chestnut paste and sweet bean paste...300 yen (tax included) each.

Still warm and so buttery!

We found one of the shops that sold the bettarazuke that was part of our breakfast...Yoshiokaya...480 yen (tax included)

The woman was so happy that we mentioned the breakfast and that we enjoyed their tsukemono.

No walking and eating! I didn't know that was a rule around Tsukiji Outer Market.

It was a beautiful day, lots of eating, and walking, we were happy to be out and about.

Tsumugi

3-15 Tsukiji

Chuo, Tokyo

Open daily 8:00-18:00 (Breakfast until 11:00)

Sanokiya

4-11-9 Tsukiji

Chuo, Tokyo

Closed Sundays & Wednesdays

Hours: 8:00-15:00

Mejicafe

4-11-7 Tsukiji

Chuo, Tokyo

Closed Holidays

Hours: 8:00-15:00

Le Pain

4-16-7 Tsukiji

Chuo, Tokyo

Closed Sundays, Holidays, whenever the outer market is closed

Hours: 9:00-14:30

Yoshiokaya

6-27-5 Tsukiji

Chuo, Tokyo

Closed Sundays, Wednesdays

Hours: 4:30-11:00

ps more photos here

foodie family saturday

Aunty M1, cousin P & D have been here since the 2nd of January roaming around Japan.

It is cousin D's first visit to Japan and she is loving it.

They finally came back towards Tokyo so we were lucky that they made some time for us.

We first went through the outer market of Tsukiji.

Lots of "window shopping".

And then we went to check out the "new Tsukiji" called Toyosu and on the way stopped into Kanda Daruma for a snack.

Taiyaki (fish shaped pancake outside filled with either sweet bean paste or custard)...Satoshi and I shared a sweet bean paste filled one.)

Loved the crispy edges!

At Toyosu...the property is HUGE! At least 5 or 6 times the size of Tsukiji.

We were too late to see the auctions, but it was still cool to see the market areas.

Lunch was at Toritoh where everything is chicken based...and because there was no line (everyone was standing in lines for sushi)...

This shop has been in business since 1907 (and still has their main shop at Tsukiji).

I tried the oyako curry which was basically an oyakodon with curry on it.

The curry was spicy, the egg oozy, the chicken tender.

I loved how they put the shoyu based oyakodon sauce onto the rice before putting the curry on...sweet salty (and spicy)!

And then we went across Tokyo to Shinjuku and Shimokitazawa to do some shopping.

It was our first time to Toyosu and Shimokitazawa...I can't wait to go back to Shimokitazawa to explore some more.

Dinner was at Anna Miller's which is the same restaurant in Hawaii (but with a different menu) because they are staying in Shinagawa and we wanted to chat and have something simple.

I tried their reuben which was super cheesy, loved it.

It was nice catching up with family and exploring new areas of Tokyo.

Kanda Daruma
2-12-9 Tsukiji
Chuo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6264.2406
Hours: Mondays-Saturdays 10:00-22:00, Sundays & Holidays 11:00-19:00

Toritoh
6-5-1 Toyosu, Area 6 Intermediate Fish Wholesale, 3F
Koto, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3542.7016
Closed Sundays, Holidays
Hours: 7:00-14:00
*cash only

Anna Miller's (UPDATE: closing 8/31/2022)
Wing Takanawa 2F
Minato, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3443.3385
Hours: 8:00-23:00

thursday with v & k

Thursday, I spent most of the day with blog reader V and her husband K.

We started out early, "fighting" the salarymen (businessmen) "ocean" at Shinagawa Station, then finding our way to Tsukiji.

Since we moved to Tokyo in April, we have not been around here, so it was hard for me to remember what everything was like before.

It seemed to me that a lot has changed.

After going row by row in the market, I'm glad we found the furikake that V wanted to get.

We then walked to Ginza/Yurakucho to have unagi for lunch.

On a previous trip V tried the Osaka shop and wanted to have unagi again at their Tokyo shop.

I liked how "crispy" the unagi was...thank you for lunch!

We then went to Kyu-Shibarikyu Garden and walked around.

Not too much fall colors, but at least they were able to experience a Japanese garden.

V gave us lots of snacks.

I'm glad we were able to meet up and it was nice to meet K too.

It was overcast and a bit drizzly, still I hope they had fun and enjoy the rest of their trip.

Thank you V & K!

Hitsumabushi Nagoya Bincho
2-2-14 Ginza, Marronier Gate 12F
Chuo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5159.0231
Lunch: 11:00-15:30, Dinner: 17:00-23:00
Closed when Marronier Gate is

tsukiji no ra-yu

Back in October, I wrote about Takewaka.

I also wanted to tell you about their gu-iri ra-yu. As you know, I've also tried making gu-iri ra-yu from scratch, I should also tell you that it is also called "taberu ra-yu". "Taberu" means to eat.

I'm not so sure why they call it this, I mean, isn't all ra-yu edible?! I think it could be because it is "chunky" so you need to chew it...

The green label is a blend of maguro (tuna) and takana (Japanese mustard cabbage), the blue label is their "plain" and their red label is a blend with a lot of shoga (ginger).

The green label is perfect for fried rice.

Just saute your veggies and rice in some oil add a scrambled egg, then add the ra-yu to your liking.

The red label is nice on tofu, lots of ginger flavor. I think this may be nice on fish too.

We've had the blue label as a "mabo tofu" but I really like it on crispy gyoza.

None of these are really spicy, but they are all still very delicious.

foodie friday

Friday, Satoshi had the day off, so we checked out Hanshin Department store.

They were having a food fair of the top selling items from Rakuten, a popular online shop.

Lunch was this kaisendon from Takewaka a shop in Tsukiji...1450 yen.

Totally worth the wait.

As we walked around after lunch, this huge katsu sandwich caught my attention...1050 yen, luckily (or unfortunately) we were too full to try this one...

Needless to say, dinner was just a salad.

tokyo

On Saturday, Satoshi had a party to attend to in Tokyo. His university baseball team turned 100.

I wasn't invited to the party, only alumni were, but Satoshi thought it would be nice for me to go with him to Tokyo.

Since he had some time before his party, he tagged along with me.

We stopped at an area near Meiji-Jingu called Gaienmae. This one street has a row of icho (gingko biloba).

The weather was beautiful, and many, many people had come out to see the leaves.

Before checking out the leaves, we had lunch at Cafe de F.O.B. (F.O.B. stands for "free on board", apparently a trading term). I ordered the salad plate and Satoshi ordered the croque madame plate.

Rarely do you find salad as an entree around Japan. The salad was HUGE (by Japanese standards)--roast chicken, lettuce, hard boiled egg, green beans, some raisins & nuts, a creamy curry dressing...yum.

Satoshi also enjoyed his sandwich and helped me eat the salad.

After lunch, we checked out the leaves and then went to Shibuya.

I wanted to check out some things at Tokyu Hands and then Satoshi went off to his party.

Since it was about tea time, I went to check out the Fiat Caffe near Aoyama. When they opened last year, they invited us to the opening party, but since we live in Osaka, we didn't attend.

I intended to have coffee and something sweet, but the waitress, told me if I only have something to drink I could have a seat.

I was kinda turned off by this, but ordered a cappuccino anyway and rested my feet.

I was also quite shocked when my cappuccino arrived in a paper cup.

Oh well, I went, saw the new Abarth Scorpion...no need to go back there again.

Since it was almost 3, I checked in at the Tokyo Green Palace and then took a little nap.

Then at about 4-ish, I went back out to Marunouchi to buy something for dinner.

I went back to Boulangerie Viron and bought a Coppa, this was proscuitto, cheese and lots of mushrooms, eggplant and red, yellow bell peppers...delicious.

Most items had already sold out by then, so I couldn't get the Kouign Amann that I wanted to try, and instead tried their Bostock de la Pistache...a brioche topped with raspberry jam, lots of chopped pistachios, covered with a sugar glaze and topped with almonds...the liqueur that they use is really strong but this isn't too sweet.

The shopping area was all lit up too, beautiful.

From Marunouchi, I went to check out Tokyo Tower, it is pretty amazing to see during the day but is beautiful when it is all lit up.

I then went back to eat my dinner and wait for Satoshi to come back...which ended up being "early in the morning"...sigh.

Being a morning person, I woke up pretty easily despite the lack of sleep the night before. At about 8, I went down to have breakfast in their restaurant.

It was buffet-style so I had some Western and some Japanese items.

Satoshi woke up 5 minutes before the buffet ended (at 9:30) and went down for breakfast.

We checked out at about 11 and went to Tsukiji, where Satoshi wanted to eat lunch at.

There was an area that we had never been to, it is an area outside of the auction area called Tsukijijogai-shijo.

It is an arcade filled with teeny hole in the wall places to eat...seafood! buy seafood...look at seafood.

We didn't really want to stand in long lines, and Satoshi didn't really want to eat at a chain sushi shop. In the end, we stood in a short line and had some seafood bowls at Taneichi.

Pay for your meal before sitting and within 5 minutes (give or take)...everything comes out.

I ordered the Kaisendon 1000 yen (about US$10), this had kanpachi (amberjack), tako (octopus), ikura (salmon roe), salmon, maguro (tuna) & uni (sea urchin) and some tamogoyaki (sweet omlette).

Satoshi ordered the Negitoroikuradon 1000 yen (about US$10), this had negitoro (which is minced fatty tuna mixed with green onion), ikura (salmon roe) & some tamagoyaki (sweet omlette).

He also had some miso soup...100 yen (about US$1)

Everything was really fresh and delicious. You knew everyone was enjoying their food because no one was talking, just eating.

I noticed that there weren't many foreigners too, just Japanese...I guess most of the foreigners eat near the auction area.

The weather was beautiful, and it was a fun two days, even if Satoshi and I did a lot of things on our own.

Have a nice week.

Tokyo Green Palace
Nibancho, Nibancho
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5210.4600

Cafe de F.O.B.
2-3-1 Kita-Aoyama
Minato, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5770.4826
Open: 11:30-20:00

Fiat Caffe (UPDATE: 2016 no longer in business)
1-4-5 Kita-Aoyama, Loge Aoyama 1 & 2 F
Minato, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5771.7662
Open 11:30-23:00 (later on weekends)

Taneichi
4-9-5 Tsukiji
Chuo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3248.5517
Hours: 6:30-16:00
Closed when Tsukiji market is

tokyo

Friday was a rainy day. It brought back memories of a rainy trip to Tokyo 2 years ago. There were many places that I wanted to check out while Satoshi was visiting his university's new baseball field.

My first stop was Daimaru in Marunouchi. They have the only Boissier in Japan, I went to the counter and was a bit shocked at the prices. I wanted to buy their caramel tea, but didn't want to pay $40 for a tin. I wanted to buy their petal chocolates, but didn't want to pay $30 for a tiny package. So I settled for their chocolate pearls for 1980 yen (about US$20), I hope they are good. (UPDATE: delicious, high quality)

I got back onto the train and went to Ginza to check out their Laduree. It is the only one in Japan and I think the only one outside of France. The shop and cafe are quite small but very elegant. It was lunch time but I didn't want to pay $42 for their lunch, so I had 4 macaron (1200 yen about US$12) and coffee (1000 yen about $10) instead for "lunch". The macaron flavors I chose were cedrat (citron), fleur d' oranger (orange flower), petale de rose (rose petal) and fruits rouges (red fruits). Each was flavored nicely, delicately. It was a nice way to get out of the rain.

After "lunch", I went back into the rain and jumped onto the train and headed for Roppongi to check out Tokyo Midtown. This is a new office complex with lots of eateries and cafes. I wanted to see Belberry, a Belgian confiture (jams & jelly) maker. I was about to buy some marmalade when this caught my eye...purple fig chocolate...I immediately picked this up. Can't wait to try it on baguette and ice cream. (UPDATE: sweet but delicious on toasted baguette)

The rain was still coming down but I still had a few more places on my list and I still had a couple of hours before I had to meet Satoshi. I jumped on the train to Jiyugaoka. When I first got on, I thought I made a mistake but didn't (whew!). The train/subway system in Tokyo is massive, you can easily jump or transfer onto the wrong train. Signage is really bad too.

My first stop in Jiyugaoka was Le Palais du The. I first knew of them when I visited a cafe in Biei, Hokkaido. The owner was serving their tea and I was immediately hooked on the sweet aroma. When we returned to Osaka, I looked on the internet to find that the only store in Japan is in Jiyugaoka.

When I checked their site before this trip, it just so happened that they were having a sale. I noted down the teas that were on sale that I was interested in. It is a good thing that I did this too as when I got to the store, you have to tell them what teas you want and then they weigh everything out for you.

I bought several Earl Grey varieties (Earl Grey Fleurs Bleu, Earl Grey Imperial, The de Lords). The thing that was good about this sale was that you could purchase small amounts starting from 20 grams for a really low price. (When I try something new, I've come to like buying small amounts...just in case I don't like it.) I bought about 7 different teas at 20 grams each. I can't wait to try them. (UPDATE: all are great, my favorites are The de Lords & Earl Grey Fleurs Bleu)

On the other side of the Jiyugaoka station, is a spice shop called L'epice et Epice. They have so many different spices that it was hard to decide what to get. I ended up purchasing a little flask of masala chai for 525 yen (about US$5.25)...mmm chai season is here!!

Since I didn't have a real lunch (again!), I stopped into Paul Bassett for something to eat. I got their quiche plate, but was very disappointed. It was really watery and the crust was burnt, definitely not like the quiche I had in Kyoto. I guess the highlight of the meal was the latte art.

After re-fueling, I went to meet Satoshi at Shinjuku Isetan. I wanted to pick up some things from their gourmet shop. I picked up this French salted caramel chocolate sauce, Italian chestnuts in syrup & some rose petal jam by Christine Ferber. (UPDATE: this rose petal jam is really delicious, a light rose aroma, very nice, texture similar to honey)

It was a long day with lots of walking, but I was happy that I was able to check out everything that I had on my list.


Saturday started out early...we went to check out Tsukiji Fish market. This place is crazy. People rushing around trying to get their fresh fish out as fast as possible. I couldn't help but feel like I was in the way.

After walking around the market, we had sushi for breakfast at Yamazaki. Luckily, we didn't have to wait in a long line. (hint: don't try the place in your guide book--you'll just have to stand in a long line, anywhere that is serving sushi at Tsukiji is worth it!) I had the 7 piece (2100 yen about US$21) and Satoshi had the 8 piece (3150 yen about $31.50)....delicious.

After breakfast, we caught the subway to Tsukishima, Satoshi was interested in seeing this man-made island from a recent television drama. The Tokyo area is known for monja, similar to okonomiyaki but very wet and mushy. Satoshi doesn't care for monja, so we didn't try it.

From Tsukishima we went to Jingu Stadium to check out his university team. The Tokyo Big 6 is similar to America's Ivy League. Satoshi's university, Meiji, is part of the Big 6. The oendan (cheering team) for both sides cheer all through the game. Talk about noisy! Though Satoshi's team lost, it was an interesting experience.

From Jingu Stadium, we went to check out Tokyo Tower. The last time I visited Tokyo Tower, the tour only took us to the bottom area, unfortunately the lines were so long that we didn't get to check out the observatory deck.

Again, I didn't get to eat "lunch", but saw a crepe stand...Marion crepes. I remembered Lori's post(her blog is no longer up). And got the chocolate banana crepe (300 yen (about US$3)....ooey gooey chocolate and banana with a slightly crisp edged crepe....delicious.

From Tokyo Tower, we went to see Satoshi's friend in Asagaya. This area has a huge shopping arcade. They were having a jazz festival and it was quite lively.

On Sunday, our last day in Tokyo, we went to check out Shibamata. This area was a location for many "Otoko wa Tsurai" movies. The shopping arcade is quite tiny, but there are many retro looking shops. I am not too familiar with the movies but since Satoshi wanted to see this area, I went along to check it out.

There is a very old temple called Taishakuten, for 400 yen (about US$4) you can see the intricate carvings on the sides of the building as well as the beautiful Japanese gardens.

There is a Tora-san (the main character in the "Otoko wa Tsurai" movies) museum as well as many Japanese sweet shops.

One interesting sweet shop, Ishii, was selling shio dorayaki (salt dorayaki). They filled the inside of the dorayaki with buttercream and sweet bean paste....addicting.

Our schedule in Tokyo was packed, we didn't get to visit many friends (sorry!) but we did get to see a lot!

Hope you have a great week.

Boissier (UPDATE: no longer at this location)
Tokyo Daimaru-B1

Laduree
Ginza Mitsukoshi 2F

Belberry
Tokyo Mid-town B1
Roppongi UPDATE: as of 9/2010 seems to have closed

Le Palais du The UPDATE: they moved to Akihabara in 2012?!
5-24-2 Okusawa
Setagaya
Phone: 03.5701.8750

L'epice et Epice
2-2-1 Jiyugaoka (UPDATE: 2019 moved to 2-9-6 Jiyugaoka)
Phone: 03.5726.1144

Paul Bassett (UPDATE: no longer at this location)
2-3-12 Jiyugaoka
Phone: 03.5731.5820

Isetan Shinjuku Gourmet Shop B1

Yamazaki sushi (UPDATE: no longer at this location)
inside Tsukijimarket
Phone: 03.3541.1105
Open 5:30-14:00

Taizankan (UPDATE: no longer in business)
Asagaya Shopping Arcade
Phone: 03.3314.1286

Ishii sweets
Shibamata 7-6-20
Phone: 03.3657.1749

Takagiya sweets
Shibamata 7-7-4
Phone: 03.3657.3136

Yabuchu soba
Shibamata 7-7-8
Phone: 03.5668.6658