fenyx66

I went to the second location (The nishiarai location) and it wasn't good. We had such high expectations from the original EL SOL (at Umejima Station) because the food was so good and fresh. At the nishiarai location, the portions were smaller and the beans tasted as if they were from a can. Nothing tasted fresh. The prices were lower than the original, but since the portions were smaller, it wasn't worth it. My friend paid 840 yen for a small plate of chips with a spoonful of salsa and a spoonful of guacamole, and she commented that her guacamole was better. The Nishiarai location was just bad. It's a pity too, because that location is more convenient, but it's worth the hassle to go to the Umejima store.

sorry to revive an old thread, but I found a great little Mexican place, seats about 25-30, on the north side of Tokyo. It's called El Sol, and the owners are a friendly Mexican woman and her family. And she speaks speaks English Spanish and Japanese. My friend and I split Chicken enchiladas, the mexican combo (2 beef tacos, chili con carne, rice and beans) and an order of pork tacos (on soft corn tortillas). She got a cream soda and I got a ginger ale and the bill was 3700 yen, and we were stuffed. The flavor really reminded me of what I used to eat when I was lived on the border of Texas and Mexico (texico?) The mexican combo (1250 yen) is pictured below. The menu had a lot of selections with pictures. After talking with the owner, I asked her why they didn't have chilaquiles (one of my favorite dishes), and she she said that it used to be on the menu, but nobody ordered it, but then she gave me the business card and told me to call ahead next time and she would make them for me, because it's one of her favorite dishes too. There are 2 locations now, the original is a 5-7 minute walk from Umejima station on the Tobu Isesaki line, cross at the crosswalk from the station exit, turn right ( walk past the sunkus convenience store) and keep on going, it'll be the bright yellow place on the left. The new location is near the Ito Yokado store at Nishiarai station on the same line, she said they wanted a second larger place because they want to do music and dancing. Sounds fun!

Mmmmm. That hawaiian bento looks delicious!

I went to the Tatabayashi Daruma Matsuri last night and especially took a lot of pictures of the food. Enjoy! (Note, these were taken with my cell phone, so the quality isn't so good, but nevertheless, Enjoy!) Yakimanju Takoyaki 1 More Takoyaki These were potatoes that have been steamed and then battered and then deep fried, served with lots of butter and salt. Hiroshimayaki, these were really beautiful so I took 4 pictures and my friend stood in the long line and bought one, I bet it was delicious. There's always they next matsuri though. Close up Another one of the hiroshimayaki not food, just Daruma

Yeah, that's it! Those are really delicious. I was confused by the name too, but the waiter said misonanbanzuke, but that clearly says nanban miso, 南蛮味噌. Thanks for that link, I think I'll order some if I can't find them. Do you know how long they'd last after being opened?

When I went to Sendai, I went to a Gyutan (cow tongue) restaurant named Rikyu (or Rikkyu, I forgot)... anyway, I ordered a set meal and some pickles came on the side of the gyutan called Miso-nanbanzuke. They were pretty spicy, but the flavour was so good that they are now my number one favourite pickle. I picked up a couple of bags at the omiyage store when I took the shinkansen home, of course they were for me. I really liked them on rice. I went back in December and thought I posted something about this already, but going back and looking, I see now that I didn't. Anyway, I've tried looking in all the stores in my area, and I can't find them, and I'm going to Tokyo this weekend for Sumo and Chanko Nabe, so I'll check around there, but if any of you happen to be in the Sendai area, check out Rikyu for excellent gyutan and miso-nanbanzuke. If anyone knows how to make this, please let me know. I found Torakris' nanban-zuke thread, but I think that this was different. These were pickles and had no fish or chicken in them. I'm guessing it's just nanban (but green) pickled in miso.

I didn't know where to post this, so I thought I would add it here. For those trying to study Japanese, try using http://www.popjisyo.com/WebHint/Portal_e.aspx It allows you to view Japanese webpages in Japanese, that's right, but when you put your pointer over a Japanese word it tells all the information you need to translate it yourself. I think this is more for intermediate to advanced level, you have to have a grasp on the way the language works. Try it out.

I went to Morioka city in Iwate Prefecture this weekend for a short vacation and I got to try two different local noodle dishes. One is Ja Ja Men, Udon noodles topped with sliced cucumber, sliced negi and a special miso paste. My friend said it was a special nikku itame miso, or meat miso. It was really good, I bought a package of it at the train station. The noodles were served cold. We also added a little sesame oil to spice it up, a little vinegar, and I added some extra miso. I really liked this dish. After eating this, we cracked an egg on our plate and then the staff took it and added a hot broth and made a soup right on our plates and brought it back. It was good. The second dish was Morioka Reimen. I think these noodles were made of potato starch, that's if I understood a staff member talking to my friend. Maybe somebody can confirm that. The noodles were served in a cold sweet and spicy broth with half a boiled egg, kimchi, a pineapple slice and some cucumbers. I ate this twice, it was also very good. So if you are ever in Morioka, I recommend eating this. There was a third noodle dish popular in the area called Wanko Soba. My friend has a soba allergy so we didn't pursue it. Maybe someone else can comment on it though.

Food at Ikea Just click on that link and it will take you to the food prices, though they had more than what was posted on the webpage, like the almond cake, it was sooo delicious. They also had Curry Rice and Gyudon (beef bowl), but I don't remember how much those cost. But yeah, it's not worth going out of way for the food there, I would rather spend the same amount of money and have a cheeseburger and fries from Hard Rock or make a nikkujaga (meat and potatoes) at home (I like your recipe Torakris, I tweaked it to make a one person version and added konnyaku and sliced pork instead of beef, just because it's cheaper, and carrots, so thanks for posting it on Recipe Gullet).

Yeah, I don't want to think of the crowds! There were so many people all walking around and not following the flow of the ikea floor plan route (if you've been you know what I am talking about) in the showroom floor that it was difficult to get around. I just had to stop for a moment and control my rage and just learn to relax, I am not a crowd person. I went on a Sunday and probably arrived at 5 pm and left the parking lot at 8:07. The store closed at 8 so when we went to the warehouse to get the mattress it was around 7:30 and we ate dinner around 6:30 in the restaurant, so hopefully that should tell you when you shouldn't go. But as we all probably know, Sundays are big shopping days in Japan because it's the free day of the week. It was the only time I was able to go, so I bet during the week it is less crowded. Has anyone else been? When did you go and what time? Was your experience like mine?

I went to the Ikea in Chiba about 2 weekends ago on a Sunday, first we went to Costco (One hour drive from Gunma to Costco) and then we drove from Costco to Ikea (1 & 1/2 hour drive). So the point of that was don't drive to Ikea unless you have to haul something back, just take the train and walk and you will be glad you did. They have almost everything that they have in the Atlanta store that I went to last winter when I visited my family, but I think the restaurant was bigger. I ordered ten meatballs in the cafeteria and it came with with a pretty good sauce, potatoes and what I think is cranberry sauce. I also got a slice of Almond cake (it was so delicious) and a roll (pats of butter are 20 yen each) They also had a salad bar, salmon, many desserts (including the Daim Cake) and food for kids (yogurt and kids sized portions). I didn't like the meatballs, but I have never cared for swedish meatballs anyway, so you can't take my word for it. Everyone else like the food anyway, but we all thought it was a little expensive for the somewhat small portions. But all the other food looked really good, and everything other than the meatballs was great. I even ate all the meatballs on my plate so it couldn't have been that bad. (I just woke up and now I am rambing) I paid around 1400 yen for my food and soft drink bar, but I was full though. They also have a market downstairs where you can buy other Swedish products, but I didn't go to this, but my Swedish friend Maria did and she went nuts and bought some fish and candy and other things. She said that the Ikea was just like the ones in Sweden. When I went, it was packed and the purpose of going was to buy a mattress, we picked one out, and then went to the cafeteria and ate and , after taking our sweet time, we went to the warehouse to get the mattress and that particular one was no longer in stock, so my friend chose a different one and bought that one, coincidentally it was the last one of that style mattress in stock. So, go early in the day and don't dally around before going to the warehouse to get your things, they might be gone. It was crowded and the drive leaving Ikea was worse. After sitting in traffic for about an hour and a half after leaving the store, I could look to my right and Ikea was only about 40 meters away and no cars ahead were moving. I wanted to cry. Going there for fun, doesn't sound like my idea of fun. I would wait until the other stores open and Ikea has lost some of it's ...charm (for lack of a better word) with everyone and people stop coming to Ikea by the busloads. Then maybe it will be fun. I hope this didn't sound too negative, it is a really good store and I will be going back when I move to a new apartment and have to furnish it, the furniture prices, like always, are great and they have great products.

This weekend I got to try my first Shoujin Ryouri meal. My friend is close to the monk/priest who runs the Fudoji Temple on Kurotakisan near Shimonita-machi in Gunma Prefecture (good day trip from Tokyo btw). One of the ways that this temple raises money, is by offering shojin ryouri courses. Mine cost 5,250 yen and I couldn't finish it. In the morning, we drove up to the shrine, had a tour, he gave a crash course in Zazen (Sazen, I forget which it is) meditation and then we went to a small lodge-like building and he taught us about shoujin ryouri and the buddhist thought of recieving a meal (it's hard to find words to describe this because it was my first experience). Then we ate. The first course had some pickled vegetables and some rice ball things, most of this food i had never eaten before so I am not sure what it was, except for being extremely delicious, and konnyaku. Then he brought out a rice in a giant nabe that had veggies and stuff in it. Then a soup and some tempura. Then we had a dessert. Anyway, I am not even going to attempt to describe it, but I will say that it was delicous and a great experience. If you want directions to the Temple or the phone number to make reservations or find out more info, PM me and I will give it to you.

I went to Inaka-ya the other day when my mother and sister flew in to visit. I thought I would write up a short review. The food portions are small, and the prices are high, but the quality is excellent, not to mention the service is outstanding and the atmosphere is inviting and energetic. The three of us ate and drank until we were satisfied and the bill came out to a little over 40,000 yen (around $400 US). We found the restaurant and walked in and were greeted with a smile and very generous Irashaimase. Then they asked us what our reservation name was, I said we didn't have reservations, and he told us to wait a minute. When the host came back, he asked us if we could finish eating by 8pm, and since it was only 5:15pm we said of course. We finished dinner by 7, and we didn't feel rushed. Several of the staff could speak English fairly well, so we didn't have a problem ordering. We ordered 3 plates of beef (2 sticks each with 3 cubes of Kobe beef per plate), one grilled red snapper, 2 plates of grilled prawns (2 prawns per plate), grilled bamboo, grilled eggplant, grilled potatoes (from here I will omit grilled, it's a little redundant for a robatayaki restaurant ) ginko nuts, sweet potatoes, asparagus, and 3 enkai-sized bottles of Sapporo beer (I think that is everything ). I had never had kobe beef before and it was so good, the inside was still a little red and the outside had that wonderful grilled taste with a dash of salt. It was served with a dipping sauce. The bamboo wasn't very special, so I would leave that off next time. The eggplant was great, I would order more next time. Our cook was Mr. Ono Hidenori (he said we could just call him Hide). His English wasn't so great, but he made pretty good conversation, and I got to practice my Japanese with him. We sat on the side, instead of in front of the cooks, so we were closer the cooks and could see the food cooking, I think this was the best. He explained some of the Japanese tools he was using, such as the wasabi grater he was using was just a paddle lined with shark skin (I liked the fresh wasabi taste). He even told us that the Rolling Stones were going to eat there the next night, then he pull a photo album from somewhere behind him and we got to see the pictures of him and various celebrities that had eaten there (Tom Cruise, the cast of Narnia, Some of the cast of the Lord of the Rings including Peter Jackson and Elijah Wood, Toby Macguire, Cameron Diaz, and the list goes on). Everyone was so friendly and the food was so good. I would go back if I were rich, or if I were getting married. My sister said I could propose to my girlfriend there and have the cook hand her the ring on the paddle in front of the entire restaurant, I think it's a good idea because she would have to say yes. My sister took some pictures that I can post as soon as she emails me digital copies, but just google Inakaya and I know you can find some pictures. It was so delicious, it might just be one of the best meals I have eaten in Japan.

This is one of my favorite school lunches, it is a bowl of curry with potatoes, carrots, and beef. Rice, three kinds of pickled vegetables (regular curry rice pickles (I forget what they are called) dill pickles (from costco that I brought to share with the teachers) and pickled hakusai), fruit salad, milk and green tea. And my hundred-yen slinky is there too.

So this one is ok, just and omelet with ketchup, steamed broccoli, bread and hakusai and bacon stew with milk and green tea. Not too bad. the other day we had a really good lunch and i forgot to take a picture, it will come around again though.

I think the noodles are too soggy, and they don't taste like yakisoba noodles, it tastes like soggy spaghetti noodles. I think the students like it because I hear their "oishiso"s (looks delicious) so maybe I think it might just be me, but the other foreign teachers in the other middles schools also don't like the school's yakisoba, it has become kind of our little joke, we compare things to it, or say stuff like "I'd rather eat kyushoku yakisoba" or "I'm so hungry I'd eat kyushoku yakisoba" and then we'd all reply with gagging sounds or "oh my gosh, you must be really hungry", but it 's funny. The flavor isn't good, there is just nothing good about it. I can understand that it is probably hard to mass produce something like yakisoba in the Kyushoku center, so I just keep a stiff upper lip and only complain to my outside of school friends and of course on E-gullet. Of course I shouldn't expect gourmet food for only 200 yen a meal. It's still better and healthier than the American school lunches I ate as a kid. I keep gomashio (black sesame and salt) in my desk, but I don't usually keep anything for this. Nori, eh? It's worth a shot, and some chili powder might work, or maybe I could just look at the monthly menu and bring a natto maki or something as a substitute and just forget it. I will take some pictures of my favorite kyushokus and post them when we come around to them in the monthly cycle.

This is my least favorite school lunch that is served at my school. It is yakisoba (which is normally really good, but the school lunch version is terrible), wieners with a watered down ketchup, a hot dog type bun, apple wedge (this is the best part of the lunch, can't ruin fruit), milk (it does a body good, even mine). Sometimes I put the wieners on the bun, sometimes I put the yakisoba on the bun, sometimes I cry, but every time I die a little inside. My other kyushokus are normally pretty good, this is the exception. I would rather make bento, but I am too lazy edited to say, I just figured out how to post pictures, this is my first (does celebration dance in the teacher's room, gets wierd looks)

yeah, I love mochi in my okonomiyaki too... It is what torakris says it is, I encourage you to try it as soon as you can, in fact stop reading this and go. GO NOW!!! (I am so hungry my stomach is digesting itself)

Pear? that is a first... was is ASian pear (nashi) or western pear (yonashi)? ← Well, I just got back from a ski trip with my second grade Junior High students and we went to Fukushima ken and in the Hotel's Gift Shop they had a five pack of Pear Hi-chew. It is La Fransu so I guess it is western pear and not nashi, but they are still really tasty. Under the boxes of Cherry and Pear Hi Chew they had a sign saying Tohoku Only, so sad to say it can only be bought there. I didn't pick up the cherry because I don't think I will like it, plus it was kind of expensive, and seeing how there wasn't a convini anywhere near the hotel, I didn't look for it anywhere else. Had I been able to buy a single pack, I probably would have. So, now I have 5 packs of Pear Hi-chew and I will probably only eat one or two, so what to do with the rest...?????

Monjayaki eh? I didn't really like this the first time I had it, but then I tried the garlic Monjayaki that had some soy sauce mixed in and I was hooked. The garlic goes so well with it. Just thinking about it makes me want to eat some right now.

What about after opening the bottle? How long can it last? Does it last longer in the fridge or at room temperature (which happens to be the same as the fridge right now :-) ? I bought a bottle about a month or 2 ago, and while I am pretty sure it's still good, I just wonder about after how many months should I throw it away and buy a new one...

Yesterday, I took a road trip to Utsunomiya with some friends. I bought a car in December and wanted to stretch it's legs, so to speak, with a short trip. We went to Oya, which is just outside of Utsunomiy and saw the famous Kannons that are carved in the cliffs there. And then we went into the city and sought out delicious Gyoza. We parked in a parking deck near the station (for 300 yen an hour, so I would recommend taking the train in, instead of sitting in the traffic and paying lot to park) and then went to a Koban to ask the police where the famous gyoza shops are. I didn't know any specific names, so I just said (in my poor Japanese) "etooo, yumena gyoza basho wa doko desuka?" and they knew exactly what I wanted, and gave us a small map and highlighted the path to "Minmin," My friend asked another police officer and he also said Minmin. So, that's where we went. We walked in and the man pointed to the menu on the wall. Deep Fried Gyoza 220 yen, Boilied Gyoza 220 yen, Fried Gyoza 200 yen, Rice 200 yen, Beer 400 yen. That's it. There are six gyoza per dish and three of use, so we got one plate of each and shared. We just wanted to taste them. Of the three places, these shells were the best, I think they had a crispness to them that was really nice. The filling was really nice too, the vegetables that were used were fresh and you could taste it. Then we went to another gyoza place that was just around the corner and I think the name is Shinfu. They had seafood gyoza and a curry gyoza. The filling was pretty unoriginal except that they added bits of shrimp, octopus, squid, or anything else. We shared the two combinations plates they had. My two favorite were the mentaiko and the shrimp. Other than that, the hyoza wasn't that special. The last place we went was, what we agreed, the best place for gyoza. I don't know the name, but the first kanji was 華、or at least, that's what it looked like. It serves ramen and gyoza, and is next to another famous gyoza place that had a long line coming out of it. There was no one in 華。 We went in ordered their 水 gyoza, their regular gyoza, the "lovely" gyoza, and their Goemon Tsukemono. Their filling also consisted of fresh vegetables and their wrappers had a nice bite and crispiness to them. Their 水　gyoza held together better than the minmin ones and tasted better, I think. But the real treat was the Goemon tsukemono which is the restaurants original recipe. It had eggplant, cucumber, daikon, and maybe the other thing was negi. I'm not sure what kind of tsukemono they were, but it had ginger and maybe a little vinegar among other flavors. They were great and the obaachan that worked there was very kind. The atmosphere there was better than the busy atmosphere of minmin and the cafeteria like atmosphere in Shinfu. There is also a beautiful shrine in the city which is worth visiting if you happen to be there.

Confessions Well..... my friend Osada-san and I were curious about this one maid kissa above the Gatchapon store in Akihabara and so we met at the station and walked there, it was around 7:00pm by the time we got there. There was a short wait and when we signed in, one of the waitresses told us that last order was at 7:30 so we probably wouldn't be sat in time to order. So we left, but the atmosphere was the same as those little cafes that serve curry rice and pasta dishes except the only thing that was different was that the waitresses were wearing the maid outfits (and they were quite modest, I might add). The prices were also a little higher than usual, so we went to the T.G.I Friday's in Ueno for burgers. As I understand, there are other maid cafe's that are a little more risque, but this one was just the average cafe. Most of the customers were male (probably akiba-kei) and there was a couple or two. Seating was very limited.

The Make Your Own Ramen sounds fun, I will have to try it when I get return from Winter Vacation. That would have been a perfect gift to give my friends. Too bad! I love the Tan tan men and Wan Tan instant soups that can be bought at 7/11. The tan tan men is the best. It is spicy, and it's so tasty that I drink the broth. It has bok choy (I think it's bok choy but I could be wrong) and 2 different pakcets to add to the hot water for flavoring. The Wantan soup is good but pretty salty, not as exciting as the TTM. The bowls they are served in are pretty nice looking and look like realy ramen bowls except they are styrofoam.

I have been to Alkatraz in Shibuya, a bar with a crazy haunted/prison/infirmary theme that played upbeat 80's music videos in our prison cells. And I want to visit Ninja Akasaka to enjoy being served and surprised by stealthy Ninja waiters/waitresses. http://www.ninja.tv/