gyoza ou

A gyoza shop opened up near our station on Monday.

Don't think anyone was too excited about it because there wasn't a line to try the place.

Yesterday, I bought 2 servings for us to try...560 yen (tax included).

I liked the crisp bottoms and the flavor of the gyoza was nice and garlicky.

Didn't appreciate the "tude" of the guy working there though.

No "irrashaimase" (welcome) or "arigato" thank you, just a rude "laser beam" look...

Though I will give points to the girl working at the take-out window for friendliness.

We may be back...will see what Satoshi has to say about these gyoza (he's super picky).

*will update info on this shop when I find out more

this and that

This weekend was so warm.

I think the weather dude said we were having May temps?!

I went to check out the ume (apricot) blossoms at Nakayamadera on Saturday.

It was beautiful.

The cyclamen on our lanai has started to bloom.

Which indicates that Spring is indeed on its way.

Unfortunately, we're supposed to hit a cold snap tomorrow.

How's the weather in your area?

foodie friday in osaka

Friday, started out with me picking up some bagels from Happy Camper.

After picking up the bagels, I walked to Awahini Coffee.

It was so warm out, that I ordered a cold brew...530 yen (tax included)

Boy! did it hit the spot. I like that they also have free wifi for customers.

Since it was nearly 11 and I was nearby, I decided to check out Grill Stereo for lunch.

It had been some time since my first visit and I was lucky to be the first in line.

I decided to try their hayashi rice (hashed beef)...800 yen (tax included).

This came with a large salad.

I loved how the guy flambéed the beef before topping it with the demi-glace sauce. The flambé gave the meat a nice flavor. I also loved that there was lots of meat and onions and not too much gristle as sometimes hashed beef can have.

Since I was really stuffed after eating, I decided to walk around a bit and went to check out the ume (apricot) blossoms at Osaka castle.

There were tons of people and the blossoms did not disappoint.

Since Satoshi didn't need dinner that night, I stopped into Boulangerie Goût to pick up something for dinner.

I picked up a bacon broccoli tartine (super thick bacon cubes, broccoli, béchamel sauce and cheese), chicken mushroom potato tartine (thinly sliced potato, topped with some mushrooms and roast chicken, creamy mushroom sauce and cheese), pastrami gorgonzola walnut berry baguette (I've had this before and this time it was so good with wine)

I also picked up a cinnamon roll which I had for breakfast the next day.

My walking route was krazy long (I clocked about 23,000 footsteps) but it was nice to be out and about.

Awahini Coffee
1-2-9 Funakoshi-cho
Chuo-ku, Osaka
Phone: 06.6809.3805
Open 10:00-22:00
Closed Sundays

kaisen chirashizushi

Last night for dinner I made a kaisen chirashizushi. This is a type of sushi that is topped with seafood.

In recent years I've seen this version especially for hinamatsuri (Girl's Day).

I adlibbed.

After cooking some rice, I mixed in some denpu (a type of "meat floss" made from fish that is sweetened), if I am not mistaken, Japan uses tara (cod). I also mixed in some sesame seeds and snow peas.

On the bottom of my plate I sprinkled some shiso (perilla) that I cut up thinly.

I added the rice mixture.

Topped it with more shiso and snow peas.

I sprinkled on a little thinly slice omelette.

And then I put on some sashimi (katsuo (bonito), salmon & amaebi (sweet shrimp).

Drizzled some denpu here and there.

And also drizzled some ikura that was soaked in shoyu.

I drizzled a little shoyu over everything before eating.

Super easy dinner, well, once I got everything together.

I had this with Hoegaarden's rosée.

Oh and can I talk a little about this plate that I served it on?

I think my mom gave me this from her stash when we moved from Hawaii (pre-blog)...

It has ume (apricot) flowers on it, but it isn't microwave friendly (there is a metal rim as well as some metal on the plate), so I don't use to very often.

Anyway, I hope you had a nice Girl's Day, if you celebrated.

Have a nice weekend.

customer service

The other day, I went to 7-eleven to get something for snack.

I ordered a caramel doughnut at the register paid and then went home.

When I opened the package there was a kinako doughnut in there instead.

Man, was I bummed.

After eating the doughnut (which was good), I called 7-eleven because I noticed that the price on my receipt was no where near what a kinako doughnut costs (the kinako costs less).

The lady I spoke to said that they would need to check up on it.

She then asked me for my address and telephone number.

At the time, I thought it was kinda weird that they needed my address...

So a couple minutes later, the manager called to apologize.

She offered to DELIVER a caramel doughnut to me (probable reason for needing my address), as well as to refund my money.

I told her that it was not necessary to bring the doughnut over (especially since I already ate one) and that I would go to pick up my refund the next day.

So the next morning, I went to 7-eleven and told them who I was.

They apologized and refunded my money.

I offered to pay for the kinako doughnut because even though it was their mistake for giving me the wrong item, I still ate the kinako one.

But they wouldn't hear of it and refused my money.

Customer service at its finest.

p.s. keeping with the doughnut theme...

today is Girl's Day...we're celebrating with some doughnuts from Donuts Dept, so cute! (and delicious)

misadventures

A couple of weeks ago, my Instagram friend, Andi, asked if I would be interested in participating in her Traveler Tuesday series.

I said I would and she emailed me her questions.

After answering them the best that I could, I realized that I have not traveled internationally as much as many others in her series.

So, if you are interested in reading my answers to her questions as well as seeing what I look like (as I've never posted a photo of myself on this blog!)

Go check out her blog...

Thanks Andi for the opportunity to participate, it was fun.

lilac spoon

This past Sunday, while we were hanging out at the Itami airport, I noticed this unusual flower.

While searching on the internet for what it was called, I punched in "blue middle and curled petals" and voilà (love technology!)

It's called "Lilac Spoon" and is part of the daisy family.

Cool, yeah?!

It's the start of March today...whoo!

Can I back up a bit and tell you about February 29 though?!

In the morning, it started to rain, then there was thunder...a little hail and a major downpour (all within a couple of minutes).

Krazy!

Luckily, by the time Satoshi had to leave for work, it was just drizzling.

Hope your week is going well.