rainy thursday

Yesterday was cold and rainy.

Met up with V for shopping and lunch.

Lucky for us we could get around with the subway so we didn't have to walk too much.

We started off at Tsukiji, then headed back to Yurakucho...unfortunately getting lost several times trying to get in and out of the stations (sorry!)

Then to Kanda and Okachimachi...V showed me a huge shopping area for food stuffs and other things that I'll need to go back to roam the aisles...Takeya! (Look for the purple buildings near Okachimachi station...)

Lunch was yakisoba...one okonomiyaki style and the other topped with kim chee at Ginchan.

Since moving to Tokyo, I haven't found "favorite spots" to take friends visiting from Hawaii (yet), so I'm glad this place turned out to be delicious...plus, it was nice and warm, perfect place to get out of the cold rain...

This place was small, but the food comes out pretty quick.

Can you believe this was their smallest serving? and it was quite filling...I hope V enjoyed this, I'll be back.

After lunch, we walked up to Yushima Tenjin (also called Yushima Tenmangu) to check out the ume blossoms.

I'm glad they were in full bloom.

The last time we were there, there weren't many trees blooming yet.

Check out the amount of ema ((eh-mah) good luck amulets)...it's entrance exam time in Japan, so everyone is praying to pass their exams...

This was the first time for me to see so many ema flowing all the way down to the ground.

Since meeting up with V last week, she went to Sogabessho (Odawara, Kanagawa), Kyoto and Kairakuen (Mito, Ibaraki) and spoiled us with all these goodies! (thank you!)

Despite the bad weather, I'm glad we got to do all that V wanted to.

Have a safe trip back and thank you for everything!

Shitamachi Yakisoba Ginchan
3-28-7 Ueno
Taito, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5812.8015
Closed Tuesdays
Hours: 11:00-21:00

Takeya
4-33-2 Taito
Taito, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3835.7777
Hours: 10:00-20:00

reconnecting

Back in January, I got an email from cousin E.

The last time we saw this cousin was back in 2012.

Before that, was way way back when I was in high school (I think)...

Anyway, his email was to let us know that he and his family were coming to Japan in June.

After emailing a couple of times, we decided to meet yesterday.

Even if we met up in 2012, it was actually our first time to "hang out" with them.

Instead of eating at the shopping mall we met up at, we bought some bento and other items from a supermarket in the complex and had a makeshift picnic near the Osaka Castle.

I think they enjoyed checking out the pre-made food section at the supermarket too.

Then after walking through the castle, we walked around Dotombori and had an early dinner at Honke Ootako.

Takoyaki, yakisoba, okonomiyaki and other nibbles.

I think everyone had a nice time and I hope everyone had enough to eat.

side note: If you just want to eat takoyaki, Honke Ootako has a stand called Ootako around the corner from their shop. (as we left, we saw wait staff running orders of takoyaki from the stand to the shop)

I don't really care too much for takoyaki as the "innards" are always kinda undercooked for my liking, but this shop's takoyaki was delicious with huge pieces of tako (octopus) inside.

It was a blazing day, but I'm glad we got to spend some time reconnecting with them and I hope they enjoyed their visit to Osaka.

Thanks for a great day, E & Family!

Honke Ootako
1-1-6 Namba
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6213.1888
Hours: 11:30-23:00

double date

We were invited by Satoshi's co-worker, Y, to join he and his wife at Ninna-ji to see late blooming sakura (cherry blossoms).

Unfortunately, Sunday was forecast for rain (again)...

It had been over 10 years since the last time we visited Ninna-ji, so it would be a nice chance to re-connect with it.

Luckily, the rain had cleared up by the time we headed out and it was actually...sunny and hot!

Before going to Ninna-ji though, we stopped at Matsuo Taisha near Arashiyama.

The yamabuki (Japanese rose) was in full bloom...the yellow was so pretty!

Our next stop, Otagi Nembutsuji...a peaceful oasis with 1200 rakan (stone statues representing the disciples of Buddha), made by many people from various areas of Japan, during the reconstruction of the temple between 1981 and 1991, some are humorous, it was nice to look at each face.

Down the hill from Otagi Nembutsuji, is Adashino Nembutsuji. I thought I had written about this spot, but it was probably pre-blog.

Adashino is the name of the area and is also the area where the dead were buried in ancient times.

The temple was founded by Kukai (Kobo Daishi), and it is here that the dead were buried in the 9th century.

Apparently, only higher class people received gravestones back then. Throughout the property there are about 8000 gravestones.

Every August 23 and 24 at twilight, they light more than 1000 candles as offering to the gravestones and the ceremony is called "Sento-kuyo".

Another peaceful area.

From Arashiyama, we then made our way to Ninna-ji.

The grounds were lit and there was also a 4 piece string ensemble playing some melodies.

There were some trees here and there with blooms.

Unfortunately though, most of the sakura had already bloomed and the tree's leaves were coming in.

Still, it was nice to view some sakura.

Dinner was at Jumbo.

And if you look at the picture carefully, you'll notice that the okonomiyaki is "overflowing" on the griddle.

This place has been in business for over 20 years and is popular with families and college students.

When we got there the line was out the door!

And the prices were so cheap!

For 2 okonomiyaki, yakisoba and 3 large bottles of beer, it was only 3780 yen (tax included).

The scary part was watching the staff put mayo and sauce on the okonomiyaki, they don't skimp, I swear the guy put half a bottle of mayo and sauce on...eep!

With all the broadcasts of the recent Kumamoto earthquake, getting out and about was a nice change of pace.

Thanks Y and his wife for a great day.

Matsuo Taisha
3 Arashiyama Miya-machi
Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto

Otagi Nembutsuji
2-5 Fukatani-cho,Saga Toriimoto
Ukyo-ku, Kyoto

Adashino Nembutsuji
17 Adashino-cho, Toriimoto
Ukyo-ku, Kyoto

Ninna-ji
33 Omuro-ouchi
Ukyo-ku, Kyoto

Jumbo
35 Tojiin-minami-machi
Kita, Kyoto
Phone: 075.462.2934
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays
Hours: 11:00-14:00, 16:30-23:00

okonomiyaki hiro

I think it has been over ten years since I've eaten at Okonomiyaki Hiro.

This tiny shop is one of the first places Satoshi brought me to, to have okonomiyaki when we moved to Japan. (I'm glad they are still in business!)

My friend, Greg is visiting Japan with his mom. I'm glad he had some time to meet up.

Since Satoshi also knows Greg, we all had dinner together last night.

Gyoza, yakisoba, okonomiyaki and lots of beer.

Hope they had enough to eat. It was nice meeting Greg's mom and I hope they enjoy the rest of their stay.

Okonomiyaki Hiro
11-10 Toganocho Swiss Building 1F
Kita, Osaka
Phone: 06.6314.2328
Hours: 17:30-3:00
Mondays to Saturdays, closed Sundays

zanmaiya

A couple of weeks ago we tried Zanmaiya.

Zanmai means "extravagant" or "luxurious"...the place isn't luxurious at all. (-ya means shop or store)

In fact, it is an okonomiyaki and noodle shop, so it has a kind of rustic feel to it.

After ordering, the food takes awhile to come out because okonomiyaki does take some time to cook.

I enjoyed killing time watching the kitchen especially their amazing gadget, a machine that take care of the noodles.

They throw in a bundle of noodles and the basket, lowers itself into the boiling water, then when it is time, the basket comes back up.

The cook grabs the black handle then shakes out the excess water...neat, yeah?

Oh and the guy in the background is chopping green onions...those blue baskets are filled to the brim with them!

They have many different okonomiyaki sauces mainly from around Osaka and the Kansai area, but they also have some from other areas of Japan too.

I never realized there were so many brands!

We ordered the gyu-suji (beef muscle) yakisoba.

Gyu-suji is simmered for many hours until it is tender...this was melt in your mouth tender.

We also ordered the Kimura-kun okonomiyaki. Kimura is a play on someone's name and the ingredients used in the okonomiyaki.

Kimu is for kim chee, ra is for ra-yu (chili oil) and kun is the informal for mister.

This okonomiyaki was topped with kim chee, ra-yu and some veggies (okra & tomatoes).

I was hoping to try the different sauces they had but this particular okonomiyaki had its own sauce.

I loved the spicy mixed with the fresh veggies and the sweetness of the sauce.

Other than having to wait awhile for the food, we loved this place...we'll be back.

Zanmaiya
Umeda Ichibangai
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.6314.2023

tsuruhashi fugetsu

We usually eat okonomiyaki at home, so it had been awhile since we'd eaten it at a restaurant.

We ordered the negi goma shoyu yakisoba, fried noodles coated with a sesame oil shoyu sauce then topped with lots of green onions....850 yen (about US$8.50)

This was good. There was also some squid and pork in there also.

We also ordered the fugetsu yaki, an okonomiyaki with pork, beef, shrimp, and squid....1130 yen (about US$11.30)

I should have taken a video of how they made the okonomiyaki.

Before they flipped it over (the first time) they put katsuo bushi (bonito shavings) on top, which sort of surprised me because I'm used to seeing the katsuo bushi dancing on the finished dish.

Having it under the sauce was delicious and their okonomiyaki has lots of cabbage.

Though the amount of mayo they put on top was a bit too much for our liking, we still enjoyed this.

With 2 glasses of umeshu (apricot liqueur)...our total was 2820 yen (about US$28.20).

Not bad for dinner.

Tsuruhashi Fugetsu
1-1 Ofuka-cho, Yodobashi Camera 8F
Kita-ku, Osaka
Phone: 06.6377.2319

lunch

It has been almost a month since my "almost everyday" lunch pick up bakery went out of business. I've been buying bento(boxed food) for lunch.

There was the chicken soboro bento--399 yen (about US$3.99). Chicken soboro means ground chicken. The ground chicken is seasoned with shoyu (soy sauce), mirin (sweet rice wine) and sugar.

Haigamai bento--399 yen (about US $3.99). Haigamai as I understand is the brown rice with the germ taken off. I think this is the step before it turns to white rice. There was also nishime, a piece of fried chicken & konnyaku with aburage.

Omurice (omlette rice)--398 yen (about US$3.98)--the inside of this omlette has ketchup seasoned rice and bits of chicken. There was way too much ketchup around the omurice.

Chili dog--sorry forgot how much it cost. I liked this one because the bread was crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside and the chili was spicy.

Sometimes when I have rice sitting in the rice warmer, I buy some okazu (side dishes). This day, I bought some togan ebi ankake (wintermelon with shrimp and thick sauce), yakinasu no pirikara ohitashi (chilled grilled spicy eggplant), su-buta (sweet sour pork) and some yakisoba (fried noodles)--293 yen (US$2.93).


Yakisoba (fried noodles)--180 yen (about US$1.80), I prefer my yakisoba a bit crispy, with thin noodles, this version was dry and the noodles were fat.

What do you usually eat for lunch?

yakisoba

Since I knew it would rain today and knew I wouldn't want to seek out lunch, I made sure to buy ingredients for today's lunch, yesterday.

Lunch was yakisoba. Fast and easy. I just chopped up some veggies plus used the leftover meat from the sanshokugohan. Added the yakisoba noodles and okonomiyaki sauce when the veggies were cooked and meat was heated. After plating the yakisoba, I topped it with katsuo bushi (dried bonito flakes) and aonori (green seaweed).

I like a little thinner noodle, but haven't come across it at the supermarket. This one is more like udon (wheat noodles). Still, this was a fast and filling lunch!