kazuya

Friday, we had flurries and even a little snow. Most of if melted by the time the sun came out on Saturday.

Saturday, I went out for a walk and noticed two ume trees in Suigetsu Park have bloomed. In the afternoon, we had more flurries and a little more snow. It was nice watching it whizz by the window like we were in some kind of "spin cycle" with some styrofoam.

Sunday, we awoke to a beautiful blue sky and sun! but it was still very cold. Not wanting to stay indoors all day, Satoshi and I walked to Ikeda for lunch.

We tried a ramen shop called Kazuya. It is located right next door to the Rakugo museum. I've talked about rakugo before, here.

Satoshi ordered the mini shio ramen (salt broth noodles) with kaisendon (seafood bowl)...1030 yen.

This was so...small! The ramen had barely anything in there and the noodles were really thin.

I ordered the shio ramen with sakura ebi (sergia lucens) and veggies....850 yen.

My bowl of noodles were at least 3 times the size of Satoshi bowl of noodles.

After eating about a fourth of my bowl, I gave the rest to Satoshi and ate his bowl of noodles.

He felt bad because he knew how small his bowl was, but I felt even worse because his meal had so little.

The service was really spotty close to being bad even with the crowd they had.

While the broth was delicious, in the end, we decided this ramen shop was not worth coming back for.

Kazuya (UPDATE: no longer in business)
7-4 Sakaehonmachi
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.751.8228
Closed Mondays

shoes off

In Japan, there are many times when you need to take your shoes off.

Before entering a home. At some restaurants, if they have you sitting on tatami (straw mats).

In Hawaii, most of us take our shoes off too before going into the house, it is a custom that was passed down from the Japanese immigrants, and has pretty much spread to most other cultures in Hawaii.

But when I saw these shoes outside a storefront, I was kinda puzzled. Why did they need to remove their shoes?

I was actually worried their shoes would get stolen.

I looked inside and saw that they had put in new carpeting, guess they didn't want to get it dirty before their store opened.

Another time you need to remove your shoes is when you try clothing on in a fitting room.

Satoshi had to do this when he tried on some pants.

Oh, another time I had to remove my shoes was at the dentist. I took them off, put on their pair of house slippers and walked two steps over to the dentist chair.

Most doctor offices have house slippers in their lobbies, you are expected to remove your shoes and use their house slippers while in their office.

Guess it is a nice way to keep floors and carpets clean, but you need to make sure the shoes you are wearing are easy to take off and put back on.

Do you remove your shoes before going into your house?

jizoya

I think I've told you that my host-brother's wife is a foodie. I'm so glad "all of my family members" are foodies...she gave us this loaf of bread on Friday made by a shop in her neighborhood called Jizoya.

They don't use egg because many children in Japan have allergies to eggs. They do use flour, heavy cream, butter, sugar, salt and water.

The results...a very light almost airy bread.

The texture is like a brioche, rich and delicious. It was delicious toasted with a slather of butter. (Thank you!)

Jizoya
3-2-12 Yuminoki-cho
Nada, Kobe
Phone: 078.841.6230
Open from 11:00 until sold out
Closed Sundays

p.s. you may have noticed a "prove you are not a robot" thingy when you comment, at first I had turned it off because I moderate (look over) the comments before it is published. Then, I noticed many "anonymous" comments started spamming, so I put it back AND will no longer allow "Anonymous" comments, please sign in with an appropriate ID...Thanks in advance for understanding.

the garden place soshuen

Yesterday, I was able to meet up with my host-mom and my host-brother's wife for lunch at Garden Place Soshuen.

This large estate was the vacation home of a plutocrat and then after the war in 1946 was turned into a Chinese restaurant called Soshuen.

The estate survived the large Kobe earthquake of 1995 and in recent years, was turned into a wedding restaurant facility and the name changed to The Garden Place Soshuen.

The cuisine is Italian/French.

We started our lunch with a cocktail. This is made with sparkling wine and the juice of a himepon (literally, princess citrus, it is a type of dekopon)....very fruity.

The amuse bouche was mozzarella cheese with pieces of citrus and bits of anchovy, some capers...delicious.

Appetizers were a scallop and kanburi (type of yellowtail) marinated in an agrodolce (sweet/sour) sauce and served with some caponata.

It wasn't too sweet or sour, I enjoyed this dish because the scallops were grilled and had a nice flavor.

Lobster linguine...delicious lump of lobster, but the meat inside the claw was a bit difficult to remove.

A sirloin piece of "akaushi". Akaushi is the brand name of wagyu in the Kumamoto area of Japan.

Tender and delicious with the silky gorgonzola mashed potatoes.

Dessert was a strawberry shortcake.

This is different from the shortcake that is more widely known in the States.

Japan's strawberry shortcake is a yellow sponge, filled with fresh whipped cream and strawberries.

The waitstaff asked if we wanted the cake cut, and we did, so she cut it into thirds.

The property was beautiful, the food delicious and most importantly, it was nice to be able to spend time with my host-mom and my host-brother's wife. (Thank you!)

The Garden Place Soshuen
4-7-28 Sumiyoshi-yamate
Higashi-nada, Kobe
Phone: 078.851.3182
*Reservations required

enoteca

There is a company that has wine shops around Japan and overseas called Enoteca.

We have one in Osaka and they have a little cafe/bar towards the back of the shop.

I've always wanted to try their food, so one weekend, when Satoshi didn't have his language class, we went to check out their lunch menu.

I ordered the lasagna...1155 yen and Satoshi ordered the beef stew...945 yen

Both dishes came with some bread, a salad and a beverage.

You can choose a hot beverage like coffee or tea, soft drinks or wine. Since we were in a wine shop, Satoshi and I both chose red wine.

The wine they gave us was a 2010 Montes Merlot (Chile)...medium body and really nice for the dishes we chose.

My lasagna came screaming hot while Satoshi said his dish was kinda lukewarm.

He said it tasted good but wished it had been served a little hotter.

He did enjoy mopping up his stew and the end of my lasagna with the bread.

We want to try their pupus (appetizers) on their evening menu...we'll be back.

Enoteca
Herbis Plaza 2F
Nishi-Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.6343.7175
Open 11:00-22:30, closed when Herbis Plaza is.

It's Friday here, hope you have a great weekend!

on several walks

It is amazing what you see when you walk your usual walking route in the opposite direction.

I noticed this teeny hair salon. I don't think they are still in operation though.

Noticed this thin building.

Usually from the train you can see the side of the building, but when I walked towards it, I noticed it is like a slice of pie.

I also noticed these stairs.

Thought is was fun how they painted the underneath of the stairs a different color from the building.

At a shopping mall they had a contest, you had to guess how many chocolates were used to cover the bell.

Dunno what the answer is...

Every time I pass this apartment building, there is a MINI that is covered.

No matter what time of day I pass by, it is covered or gone.

At one point, I was so curious to see what was under the cover, I almost lifted up the cover...good thing I waited.

We passed by this bicycle shop in Osaka. I loved their sign, "what kind of bicycle do you like?" it says.

I guess this is why they call them sky scrapers...

> Satoshi and I were in awe of the items at Gucci...for kids!

What have you been seeing on your walks?

the tee by mlesna

After La Marina de Bourbon closed, I was a little bummed, but then a new tea shop opened in its place...The Tee by Mlesna.

I've tried the Mlesna Tea shop in Kyoto before and liked it.

I ordered the cream tea, this came with two scones, some tea jams and a pot of tea.

The tea I chose was their "finest quality earl grey".

Delicious with the scones.

Satoshi tried their caramel chiffon cake which came with a pot of tea.

He chose a peach tea.

He said that the chiffon cake was more like a bread than a cake, I guess it could have that kind of texture.

The tea jams were a caramel tea and orange tea. I preferred the orange one. The caramel tea jam was really liquidy almost like maple syrup and really sweet.

Satoshi really enjoyed this place, it was quite serene which is unusual for Japanese cafes which kinda echo and have people talking amongst themselves so loud most times that you can hear their conversations.

I was kinda peeved with the tea tasting they were having at the counter, the owner was going into all sorts of details about the teas, and with the amount the customers were tasting I was pretty sure their tastebuds were all whacked.

Kind of a mixed experience, but I think I'll be back for lunch...maybe.

The Tee by Mlesna
Herbis Plaza B1
Phone: 06.6343.0220
Open 11:00-20:00, when Herbis Plaza is.