mother meat plaza's katsu sandwich

Tried Mother Meat Plaza's Katsu Sandwich the other day.

Super tender pork with just the right amount of breading, sauce, a little cabbage and toasted bread...only 400 yen (tax included).

Most of the workers are friendly too.

I'll be back.

setoka

Recently "my taster" (Satoshi) picked out an orange called Setoka.

They were giving out samples at the market, so you know what he was doing...

These were super sweet! (though some have seeds)

I was impressed with this...

A QR code on their label...if you aim your smartphone at it, it should take you to see their You Tube video.

I added the link just in case your phone doesn't...this video is in Japanese and I hope there aren't any region restrictions.

I was also amazed with what the fruit goes through before being sold in our markets...

I'm glad we tried this.

ikinari steak

There is lots of hype for Ikinari Steak...

I hear that there are even shops in the US, some under the name Ikinari Steak, some under Pepper Lunch...

Our experience was meh!

First off, I don't care for wait staff that assume you are a returning customer and have their drill and menu memorized...

As soon as we were seated the waiter asked us what we were ordering...(um, we haven't even looked at the menu!)

When we finally figured out what we wanted to order, the same waiter says, "I only take orders for sides and drinks"..."since it is Sunday, you need to go up to the grill area to order your steak"...(WT?!) sigh

We went to the grill area, ordering one 200 gram filet and one 300 gram filet...

Since it is by weight, you would think they have everything pretty much weighed out already...nope.

They "eyeball" the weight, cut the piece and then try to sell you the amount that they are over.

Each piece was 20 grams over the amount we ordered, adding almost 200 yen more per order.

I was also disappointed with the way the steak was cooked.

They recommend you order the steak cooked "rare" but we both ordered "medium rare"...needless to say that the cooking was uneven (some areas rare, some medium, some medium rare) especially since they serve it on that hot plate.

Satoshi's piece had very little suji (gristle) while my piece had quite a bit and was also hard to cut with their junk steak knives.

Another peeve was that we had to sit side by side...the tables seat 6 and are made for individual eaters.

There was zero elbow room for cutting your food.

Anyway, we tried it, we won't be back...

If you decide to give this place a try, let us know what you think...

Ikinari Steak
5-25-2 Kamata
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6715.9829
Hours: 11:00-23:00

spring is coming

Spring is coming...some days slowly, some days with lightning speed.

Sakura foods are slowly coming out of hibernation.

We recently shared this sakura filled taiyaki from Naruto Taiyaki Honpo.

Sweetened white bean paste mixed with minced salted sakura flowers and leaves.

Filled all the way to the tail.

Delicious!

Like the chestnut paste filled one, I hope to get a few into the freezer before the filling flavors change...

miura kaigan sakura festival

Yesterday, the weather was beautiful.

Perfect to check out the Miura Kaigan Sakura Festival.

From where we live it took almost and hour and a half to get to Miura Kaigan Station.

You then need to walk almost 1 kilometer to where the row of sakura trees are.

It was pretty because the nanohana (rape blossoms) were in bloom too!

They had some food stalls at the Komatsugaike Pond & Park area, but the food looked kind of sad...

On the way to Misakiguchi (the end of the train line), we stumbled upon a farm that was selling all sorts of veggies and picked up a whopper of a cabbage...

When we got home we weighed it...2.2 kilos (4.85 pounds)...and only 150 yen! (Thankful that Satoshi carried it around)

Lunch was at Donguri.

In this area it is all about the maguro (tuna).

I ordered the Zukemaguro Donburi (tuna soaked in a soy based sauce served on rice) and maguro karaage (deep fried tuna)...1650 yen (tax included).

This came with a super tender cooked Miura Daikon topped with miso, some pickles and miso soup.

Satoshi went with the Zukemaguro Donburi with yari ika nitsuke (squid simmered in a soy based sauce)....1600 yen (tax included).

His lunch also came with the super tender cooked Miura Daikon topped with miso, some pickles and miso soup.

He said the squid was super tender too.

The maguro karaage was so good, the flavor tasted like mochiko chicken....

Satoshi helped me eat part of my donburi...overall everything was delicious!

Apparently you can see Mount Fuji from this area too...we'll be back to explore the Misaki Peninsula area, but we were glad to be able to check out this festival.

Donguri
489-11 Hassemachi Shimomiyada
Miura, Kanagawa
Phone: 046.888.7790

If you're interested in checking out more photos and some videos, look at the Miura Kaigan Sakura Festival in the Photo Gallery.

supermarket finds

Nabana is broccoli rabe.

I couldn't resist trying it because there were two packages bundled together for only 98 yen (plus tax).

The stocks are softer than regular broccoli.

I sauteed one package with some char siu.

Super easy and tasty.

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