back to shinjuku

After telling Satoshi about the day I had with V & K, he wanted to go to Katsukura and to visit Shinjuku Gyoen.

He had the same meal that we had the other day, and was super impressed by the huge prawn.

I was determined not to eat the same items (twice in a week!) and ordered the filet katsu sandwich instead.

So tender! and great with the kuroshichimi (black 7 spices) that it came with.

FYI: the Japanese menu is a little different from the foreign language ones, for one thing this sandwich wasn't on the foreign language menu.

Can you believe in all the years that Satoshi lived in Tokyo, he had never visited Shinjuku Gyoen? mottainai (what a waste!)

We walked the perimeter of the park.

This was the French Garden area...Avenue of Sycamore trees.

Loved that the roses were in bloom too.

And the lower pond area.

An area called "Maple Hill"

The sun sets so early these days.

The weather was so warm and it was nice to be out and about.

boulangerie towaie

I thought I had posted about Boulangerie Towaie before, but it seems I didn't.

They are a tiny bakery near the Senzokuike station on the Tokyu Ikegami line.

I bought their cheese maru (mah-roo)...a round (maru) piece of bread, the texture is like boule (which I think also means ball in French) and filled with lots of cheese.

Toasted, the cheese gets oozy...so so good!

I put half in the freezer for us to eat with soup.

I also bought slices of their stollen...

Was a bit disappointed as this was similar to toast.

Still I can see why their cheese maru is their number one seller...I'll be back.

Boulangerie Towaie
2-30-1 Kamiikedai
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6421.8825
Closed Mondays & Tuesdays
Hours: 7:00-19:00

hutte

Tried Hutte's stollen recently.

Loved how it was moist, a little dense...almost like cake.

There was a little marzipan in the middle and lots of dried fruits and nuts in it.

It's stollen season and since we've moved to Tokyo, I am on the look out for places with stollen...so far, I think this one is a fave.

stivale

Walking to the Nagahara station after buying the dried fruit yokan, I stumbled upon Stivale, a tiny shop that makes Italian style foods.

I picked up their marinated eringi (oyster mushrooms) in a balsamic vinaigrette.

There were also some sun dried tomatoes in there too.

Delicious.

I used it to top some steamed broccoli.

I hope to go back to try their pannetone.

And on their website, I also noticed they have a restaurant, so I hope to go back and try them soon.

Stivale
1-8-9 Kamiikedai
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3727.7343
Hours: 11:00-22:00

wagashi asobi

I have seen the big posters of Wagashi Asobi's dried fruit yokan from the train line we ride and finally got a chance to try it.

Dried figs and dried strawberries are soaked in rum then are placed with walnuts in a dense, smooth sweet bean paste.

This actually goes nicely with wine.

The owner also suggests eating it with cream cheese and bread.

I hope to try this way of eating it soon.

The owner was so nice to also let me try his rosemary rakugan.

Rakugan is a hard candy made with rice flour and sugar....kind of like eating a sugar cube but firmer.

This also went nicely with wine.

I think this yokan would be nice to give to friends who enjoy wine/whisky.

I'll be back.

Wagashi Asobi
1-31-1 Kamiikedai
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3748.3539
Hours: 10:00-17:00

yaoya jazz

Stumbled upon this cute produce shop called Yaoya Jazz.

Yaoya means produce shop.

The kaki (persimmon) that they were selling were so orange! (and were super sweet)

The lady at the shop was so nice too.

I'll be back when I am in this area.

Yaoya Jazz
2-16-14 Todoroki
Setagaya, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3701.3860
Closed Mondays
Hours: Tuesdays & Wednesdays 10:00-18:30, Thursdays-Sundays 10:00-19:30

shinjuku

Spent most of Tuesday with V and K.

Since their flight back to Hawaii wasn't until almost midnight, they had lots of time to kill after check-out.

We first walked part of Kita-Shinagawa, which Satoshi and I first explored back in May.

Then we took the Yamanote line to Shinjuku, where we had V's favorite tonkatsu at Katsukura.

The yuba wrapped veggies (cut into pieces) were delicious.

While the chestnut mushroom croquette (not cut) didn't really have much chestnut in it.

Talk about kanak attack afterwards...for those of you who don't know what that is, kanak (kah-nack) attack is when you eat way too much then feel super sleepy afterwards...(thank you again for lunch)

V and K did some shopping and then we went to check out Shinjuku Gyoen.

A huge park literally in the middle of the city.

There is a small admission fee, but it is worth it.

It was my first time here and I look forward to maybe braving the crowds for cherry blossom season (maybe).

I'm glad we got to spend more time together and got most of V's shopping done.

I hope they enjoyed their trip and had a safe trip back to Hawaii.

Katsukura
Shinjuku Takashimaya 14F
Hours: 11:00-23:00
Open when Takashimaya is

Shinjuku Gyoen
11 Naitomachi
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Hours: 09:00-16:30 (Entry until 16:00)
Closed Monday (if Monday is a national holiday, closed the next day), New Year's (Dec. 29th-Jan. 3rd)