ginza ranzu

After the typhoon passed on Sunday, Satoshi cleaned up the lanai and we got out and about.

Unfortunately not a lot of places were open.

Luckily the shopping mall nearby was opening at 13:00, so we stopped in to Ginza Ranzu, a tiny coffee shop for something sweet and to wait until the stores opened.

Satoshi ordered the mini chestnut parfait (you can kind of see it in the photo).

I ordered the chocolate parfait and was surprised with this huge thing!

This place was quite pricey...not sure if we'll be back, but I'm glad we checked out this place.

The weather was so summery and warm after that typhoon...this really hit the spot.

The news footage of the damage to some areas of Tokyo as well as Northern Honshu are sad and krazy!

Sending good thoughts to everyone in the affected areas and hoping they will be able to get back to their daily routines soon.

Ginza Ranzu (UPDATE: 2025 no longer at this address)
Kamata Sunrise
7-51-12 Nishikamata
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3737.7585
Hours: 9:00-21:00

update

We are fine. (sunrise this morning)

Many of the rivers around Tokyo as well as other prefectures overflowed.

Residents near these areas were evacuated, the damage near these rivers were pretty severe.

News footage shows the damage throughout Japan.

We have sun today and the temps are supposed to go to 29C (84F)...rain to return tomorrow.

Thank you for checking up on us.

We had lots of rain and krazy winds, but we were lucky.

No loss of power or any damage.

Praying for those in the affected areas, hoping they will be able to get back to their daily routines soon.

Take care everyone!

typhoon hagibis

Typhoon Hagibis (or Number 19 as Japan calls it) is making its way towards Japan and is supposed to make landfall on Saturday.

It is supposed to be bigger (and stronger) than the one that hit Chiba Prefecture last month.

It is the start of a 3-day weekend here but we are staying put and hoping for the best.

Crossing fingers we don't lose power.

Hoping you have a nice weekend where you are.

yoyogi

Yesterday, I went to the Yoyogi area.

There was a bagel shop that I wanted to check out, but I didn't check their website and they were closed...boo!

So I went across the street to 365 nichi (days) and picked up some items to try.

The croquant chocolat (left) is their most popular...a chocolate bread filled with some chocolate ganache and chocolate puffs

Randonnee (top right) which means to mountain climb in French...the bread is rye filled with all sorts of "stuff"...

Scone (bottom right)...plain filled with oats

We'll be trying the randonnee and scone for breakfast today.

The croquant chocolate was so good!

I also went to Minimal to try their chocolate mont blanc.

Phyllo wrapped chocolate chestnut tarte topped with chocolate chestnut ice cream and a chocolate cream.

There was also a chocolate wine sauce and nibs on the plate.

Delicious with some black coffee.

Afterwards I walked to Shibuya and picked up this Viennoise Tuna sandwich from Viron.

The weather was sunny and warm but not totally blazing.

There are many more places I want to check out in this area, I'll be back.

365 nichi
1-6-12 Tomigaya (moved to 1-2-8 Tomigaya)
Shibuya, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6804.7357
Hours: 7:00-19:00

Minimal
2-1-9 Tomigaya
Shibuya, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6322.9998
Hours: 11:30-19:00

this and that

There is construction happening all over Tokyo so that they will have more hotels and such for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Our station is also getting a facelift.

This is what it looked like last November.

This is what it looks like now.

Hopefully they will make it in time for the Olympics.

First time for me to see red bartlett pears at the market.

Hoping they will be sweet.

kawasaki

Sunday we went to Kawasaki to run some errands and have lunch.

We tried Solah Spices Tokyo.

Apparently Solah means 16 in Hindi.

Satoshi ordered their aigake curry...2 curries served with rice.

This was their dal and keema.

The curry is also served with a small salad.

I ordered the BBQ chicken with Autumn veggies Keema curry.

This was tandoori chicken on a stick served with a small salad and keema curry.

Flavorful and delicious.

The chicken was tender and moist too.

We want to come back to try their curries with naan.

After lunch we stopped into Krispy Kreme for coffee and shared this black cat doughnut filled with marron (chestnut) creme.

The filling was meh.

I'm glad the doughnut wasn't overly sweet.

Solah Spices Tokyo Azalea Shop
26-2-2017 Kawasaki-ekimae Honcho
Kawasaki, Kanagawa
Phone: 050.3463.6062
Hours: 11:00-23:00
Closed when Azalea is

Krispy Kreme
26-1 Ekimae Honcho (Atre 1F)
Kawasaki, Kanagawa
Phone: 044.223.1690
Hours: 8:00-22:30
Closed when Atre is

devil craft & some good news

Saturday, I met up with a friend from Hawaii, Kurt.

He actually lives in Tokyo, and we've met up before.

I thought I wrote about it, but guess I didn't.

Anyway, this time around, we met up at Devil Craft, a craft beer and pizza shop in Jiyugaoka.

We ordered the chili fries (with jalapenos)...I had envisioned "stick" type of fries, these were waffle cut.

The chili had a nice kick...Kurt ate the jalapenos...

I ordered Devil Craft's Berry Bang Bang which was super fruity, a little sour...I enjoyed this.

I also thought it was cool that they filled the glass "above" the 200 mililiter line!

Devil Craft is also known for their Chicago-style pizzas...this one was the Devil Works...a deep dish with all sorts of toppings.

This had lots of tomatoes, olives, spinach and Italian sausage...delicious.

I also tried the Graham Cracker Porter by Denver Beer.

This was super chocolatey...love!

They have several locations with different items on tap, I wouldn't mind trying other beers...Thanks for meeting up Kurt!

As for some good news...the scaffolding has come off "that condo"...

And from the very far end of our lanai...we could see Mount Fuji!

Not a full view like we had before, but better than nothing!

It was kind of eerie seeing someone on the lanai on "that condo"...probably looking at Mount Fuji too.

Mount Fuji doesn't have any snow on the peak...yet...

Hopefully the weather will cool down soon!

Have a good week!

Devil Craft
2-12-18 Jiyugaoka
Meguro, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5726.9072
Closed Mondays-Tuesdays
Hours: Wednesdays-Fridays 17:00-19:00 (Happy Hour), 20:00-22:30
Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays 14:00-17:00 (Happy Hour), 18:00-22:30