sandwich marco

Found a tiny sandwich shop near the DIY store...Sandwich Marco.

This shop was tucked away in an alley...super hidden from sight.

I tried the spicy chicken sandwich.

Fried chicken with a spicy coating.

The veggies were super crisp.

I love how there was just a little mayo so that the bread didn't get mushy.

I hope to try more of their sandwiches.

They open really early, so hopefully when I go, they will still have some sandwiches left...I'll be back.

Sandwich Marco
2-35-4 Chidori
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3756.5100
Closed Mondays
Hours: Tuesdays-Fridays 7:30-18:00 (earlier if they sell out), Saturdays & Sundays 7:30-14:00

saba tartare-style

I was recently watching a program and just knew their recipe would be tasty.

They call it saba (mackerel) tartare-style...If I am not mistaken, tartare is usually raw but this version is cooked.

Saba Tartare Style : about 4 servings : Recipe from NHK Gogonama

1 can water packed mackerel, drained
1 eggplant, diced
10 cherry tomatoes, diced
1 clove garlic, grated
1/2 onion, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons capers, crushed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
parsley
salt, pepper to taste

In a pan, heat the oil to medium and add the garlic and onions
When the onions get transparent, add the eggplant, cooking it until it starts to gets soft and has some color
Add the tomatoes, capers and then the mackerel, breaking the fish up with a wooden spoon
Add the vinegar and cook until most of the liquid evaporates
Salt and pepper to taste
If serving warm or cold, add the parsley before serving

NOTES: During the program they mentioned that this time of year we can get the end of summer veggies along with the start of autumn veggies, so this was a nice way to cook with both.

This appetizer was good warm and chilled.

I had this with crackers but think it would be even better with toasted baguette.

Super simple and this would be nice with a dry white wine.

I'm making this again.

d button

We've not had a flat screen digital television until we moved to Tokyo, so figuring out the remote control has been interesting...

There is a "D" button on there, which when pressed accesses you to "data".

It brings the television program to a smaller screen and the rest of the screen is filled with items like weather, train & airport info as well as other things.

The day after the typhoon, we used the train data to see if the trains that Satoshi needed to ride to work were running.

Since we live in a rather convenient area where there are different train lines running, he decided to take a couple of different train lines to work and ended up just a little late to work in comparison to others who didn't have the option of taking other lines and were SUPER late...there was an article in English here.

Not everyone has access to internet, so this type of access to information is great.

One thing you should know...If there is a typhoon, they usually broadcast in the corner of the screen where the typhoon is.

Also, if there is an earthquake, they also use a corner of the screen to show affected areas.

At the bottom of our remote there are 4 colored buttons, sometimes programs have quizzes and you can participate by putting in your answers according to these colors.

We've not yet won any of the prizes that have been offered for these quizzes, but hopefully, we will one day.

Changing the subject a little, my phone went off on Sunday night alerting us of evacuations in the Kawasaki area, the weird thing was that Satoshi's phone didn't go off at all.

And then the other night, my earthquake alert went off...luckily, we didn't shake with the earthquake in Chiba, BUT we were shaken up by the loud alert...

It's the start of yet another 3-day weekend for us, BUT there is a typhoon (#25) approaching, they say that we'll get some wind and rain, but not sure as to how strong everything will be...hoping it won't be as krazy as Typhoon 24.

There are still many areas all around Japan trying to recover from the almost weekly natural disasters...send us all good thoughts.

Have a nice weekend.

good town doughnuts

Tried Good Town Doughnuts recently.

I think they may be related to a shop in California.

Anyway, when I went, there weren't many seats available.

The guy taking my order either woke up on the wrong side of the bed or was in some kind of mood.

While he was taking my order he said if I wanted to eat in, I needed to take the only seat available which was facing the wall.

I agreed and in the process of ordering and paying, several seats opened up.

A table in the back of the shop and two seats facing outside (good for people watching).

I asked if I could sit at the table in the back...nope, it was for a party of 3 not just for 1...

Then I asked if I could sit facing outside (which meant he'd have to clear up the dishes left from those customers)...

There was a sigh and then he cleared the seat facing outside.

Geez...it's not like there was a line of people waiting to get in to eat...

After bringing out my order, he mumbled something and then walked away.

As I started to eat, he then says, "you can use the table in the back"...

"thanks but no thanks" I told him.

Even the doughnut & iced coffee was good, I don't think I'll be back here, there are just too many other places to try to tolerate this type of customer service.

Good Town Doughnuts
6-12-6 Jingumae
Shibuya, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5485.8827
Hours: 10:00-20:00

sakurashinmachi

Last Tuesday, I went to help a friend with her Japanese language class in Sakurashinmachi which is about 54 minutes away by train.

Her class involved teaching some professional rugby players (men & women) from New Zealand, Australia, Tonga and Spain.

It was fun and I think the players learned some new phrases.

As for Sakurashinmachi, if you are familiar with some of the animation/manga characters of Japan, you may know Sazae-san.

If I am not mistaken, the characters of this manga all have seafood/ocean related names.

Apparently Sakurashinmachi was the home of the author of Sazae-san, Hasegawa Machiko.

There is a museum named after the author near the station but since it was the day after a holiday, it was closed.

Hopefully I'll be able to go back to check it out.

After class, we had lunch at Natural Stance.

We both had the Deli Plate...choose 3 items from their menu and your meal comes with rice and some soup.

I chose the duck with balsamic sauce, pork shogayaki (pork ginger) and prosciutto cesar salad.

I enjoyed all the items I chose though the rice was kind of dry and hard.

It was a (cold) rainy Tuesday, but I'm glad I was able to help out a friend and learn of a new place to explore.

Hasegawa Machiko Museum
1-30-6 Sakurashinmachi
Setagaya, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3701.8766
Closed on Mondays (closed on Tuesdays when a holiday falls on a Monday)
Hours: 10:00-17:00

Natural Stance
2-10-3 Sakurashinmachi, Okuno Building 2F
Setagaya, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6804.4151
Hours: 11:00-23:00

ryoheido

Ryoheido is another Gifu sweet shop from the Ena area that specializes in all things kuri (chestnut).

This particular sweet is called Kurifukukaki (literally chestnut lucky persimmon).

A dried persimmon filled with a slightly sweetened chestnut paste.

I'm glad we got to try this.

Ryoheido
kiosk inside the ticket gates of Tokyu Futakotamagawa station

kaseiro

A neat thing about living in Tokyo is that we are rather close to Yokohama.

Yokohama has one of the largest Chinatown areas in Japan.

Since the Moon Festival was coming up, I picked up this almond cookie and mooncake (geppei) for us to try.

Bummer that the cookie was dry and kind of sand-like...definitely not like the type of almond cookies my mom used to make, which were more shortbread like.

The mooncake was filled with a chestnut filling.

I enjoyed this more.

We've been to Yokohama in the past (pre-blog) and hope to get back to reconnect soon.

Kaseiro
Takashimaya Tamagawa B1
Setagaya, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3709.3111

p.s. THAT was the scariest typhoon ever...I think it passed right in front of our building! The glass doors were shaking so hard from the wind and rain, I thought they were going to shatter.

Luckily, we didn't lose power, there are many other that did.

It's supposed to hit 30C-something today (86F-something) eep! Thanks to those who checked up on us.