09Feb / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Nongshim Vegan Curry Ramen Big Noodle Bowl (6 pk.) | $9.98 (Until February 25, 2024 ($11.98 regular price) @ Sam’s Club)

Saw this newly at Sam’s Club and it was on sale so I had to try it. How is it? Well…it’s not bad but nothing to write home about either. Edible but not great. As you can see, it’s not soupy – more saucy?

Speaking of curry noodles, I made these noodles the other week. It’s Red Curry Coconut Noodles, super good. I’ll post the recipe soon!!

Hand-peeled Bamboo Shoots

I’ve seen these on TikTok, sorry no video to post but it’s all propaganda (according to Chan) but they sure make this look delicious. It’s ready to eat so you just have to peel it. Yeah, hand peeled means your own hand peeling it (lol). It’s kind of like artichokes, you peel it off until you get to the “heart” of the bamboo shoot to eat the flesh. You can try to bite off the bottoms of the peels in case there is small bits of flesh on it. This one had nice flavor, like a nice szechuan/mala flavor. I got this from 1-2 Buy, love going to that store!!

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07Feb / 2024

Chuka Soba Aoba – Ikebukuro, Japan

Located in the Sunshine Mall, Chuka Soba Aoba is just a small little chinese noodles soup that we tried. I actually think this was the first real bowl of ramen we had during the whole trip. It was a nice fill up – nothing too fancy or frou frou. The line was constant and they had a good system of seating. Singles were seated at the bar between the partitions and parties of 2 or more got seated at a table.

Super busy place and actually mostly locals which is a good sign right?

Chan got the tsukemen

I got the regular ramen. I gotta admit, it was the egg in the picture of the mall directory that got me. I just love Japan eggs so much and look at how bright deep orange these yolks are. What I was served looked exactly like the directory photo. Delicious! By the way, this is all they have. Ramen or tsukemen, nothing else. No gyoza, no side dishes, just noodles.

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05Feb / 2024

Nihonbashi Sui – Machida, Japan

Chan found his favorite kaiten sushi restaurant during this trip. On this day, we went to Grandberry Park to visit the Snoopy Museum and stuck around to get lunch. We timed it (by accident) perfectly, we were able to line up for the lunch openings. Plenty restaurants had long lines already so we decided to try Nishonbashi Sui – we were like 2nd in line so that was great! I can’t find too much online about this place, does anyone know if this restaurant has any other locations in Japan? The only cool thing I found was that it’s owned by Kyotaru! What a throwback, I used to work for Kyotaru. So that means I’m technically part of this family right?

We ate choke. I don’t have any prices or descriptions, just enjoy the pictures (there are a lot of them).

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02Feb / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Taki’s Intense Nacho

I’m not into Taki’s but I saw this online somewhere and super super curious. For some odd reason, it’s so hard to find this in Hawaii. Where did I find it? Oh, I think I found it at Don Quijote! Kind of pricey but was worth a try. Super cheesy, not at all spicy. Worth the try!

Giovanni Rana Beef and Sausage Lasagna (40 oz.) | $14.98

Saw this at Sam’s Club the other week and decided to bring it home to try. I didn’t get to try it but my brother did and he liked it! It’s nice that it’s not the full family size lasagna. It’s also great that it comes in a pan that you can either bake it in or microwave in.

Spicy Pork Plate | $10.00

Yup, back at Kalihi Palama Market snack bar again. No can lose with a $10 plate forreal! So good. You know dang well that it would cost so much more money if I decided to make this myself. I’ll keep “researching” their dishes for you folks okay? 🙂

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31Jan / 2024

Kiharu – Kyoto, Japan

Chan and I took the shinkansen (thank you Rail Pass) from Osaka to Kyoto which was a breezy 15 minute ride. We met up with his friends Mai and Tomomi. Kiharu (NOT KIHARU Brasserie – also located in Kyoto) is Mai’s favorite restaurant, so much so that she makes the journey from Tokyo to Kyoto just to eat here. And when she’s in Kyoto, she’ll eat at this restaurant like 3 nights in a row. She loves it that much! Quite a tall order but my gosh, what a wonderful experience. Yet another restaurant we would never have found on our own, very small restaurant run by the master chef and him alone. It’s all by reservation so no walk-ins, you sit at the bar and he serves you dish by dish. It’s all omakase, you do no ordering, it’s based on his shopping finds that morning. If you’re a drinker, he serves up nice sake pairings with each course.

The master chef was so wonderful and happy, even though us tourists couldn’t communicate with him, he was excited and tried his best! He was also overjoyed to hear we were from Hawaii lol. This was an experience like no other! Highly recommend if you are able to make you reservations and can speak Japanese lol.

Green Pea Soup, Tofu wrapped in Fried Mochi Bits with Yuzu Miso

What an interesting soup, great starter. Awesome flavors, super fresh ingredients. The taste of fresh peas? Can’t be beat!

Green Salad with Fried Yuba and Goma Dressing

Simple enough dish but the fried yuba is so good. Light and crispy, loved this salad anad the different textures!

Buri and Hirame Sashimi

Can’t go wrong with fresh locally caugh fish. Delicious!!!

Big Daikon Oden with Aburage and Yuzu Zest

Simple dish right? But aren’t simple dishes the best? He visually showed us with his hands how big the daikon was that used to make the oden. I believe him. Perfect melding of flavors.

Roasted Onion with Homemade Salt and Fried Soba Miso Dip

Okay, not all dishes can be winners. This dish wasn’t bad but it wasn’t my favorite. He roasted the onion over his grill and…it’s not like the onion takes in the smoky flavor you know? He deep fries buckwheat and mixes it into the miso. It was okay.

Salmon with Giant Shishito Pepper and Garlic Sauce

Salmon? Check. Giant Shishito Pepper? Check. Garlic Sauce? Check. I’m just ticking off all the things I liked in this dish. Yum!

Fried Taro with Fried Pickled Sakura Leaf

Another winner dish! Taking a bite out of the taro and then a bite out of the sakura leaf, the balance or the dense starch with the sourness of the leaf? Delicious! I enjoyed it quite a bit!

Matsutake Mushroom Rice with Carrots and a Chicken Base

Closing dish of the night, to me, just simple home cooked style dish. Comforting on a cold night. Look at how brightly colored the carrots are! It was delicious. Thank you again to Mai and Tomomi for a wonderful dinner and the wonderful company!

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29Jan / 2024

Bikkuri Donkey – Osaka, Japan

When my friend and I visited in 2022 and stayed in Osaka, we really enjoyed Bikkuri Donkey. It’s a silly name and really more of a family restaurant vibe (imagine Japan Denny’s but specializing in Hamburger Steak). This is a perfect place for tourists because it’s just all kine burgers and fried foods. Anyway, we ate there twice in about as many days but always in the Dotonbori location. Chan had quite a laugh at the name of the restaurant and we would toss around jokes leading up to the trip but you know…that I had to make a return visit. So we did! Visited the Umeda location this time, same good food. They do have an English menu, just gotta ask!

Zangi & Potato | ¥620

Appetizer! I don’t know why it’s called zangi, just wanted some fries and chicken karaage, was good!

Black Demiburg Dish (300g) | ¥1,610

I’m trying to find the exact item names and prices for you folks – I think Chan must have added an egg to this dish so I’m sure it cost a bit extra. He enjoyed the dish!

Egg Curry Burger Dish (300g) | ¥1,610

My dish. I’ve been getting this since the beginning of my visits and I love it. Something about it works and I’ll continue to get this dish, thank you!

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26Jan / 2024

Mixed Plate Japan

Check out this line for Panda Express. I couldn’t believe it! And you know, I don’t think it was just tourists, had plenty locals too! Maybe they enjoy American fare? Because we know this is not real Chinese food!

For some odd reason, I had such a craving for a crepe in Japan! Well, where else better right? Was happy to find Marion’s Crepes in Ikebukuro! It really hit the spot, yum!

Look at this shower in the Hilton Osaka. Click on it to make it bigger. Do you see anything wrong with this picture? And no, there is no optional shower curtain on the other side. So here I was crouching within this small area to shower because I really did not want to get the entire bathroom wet. I mean what?? What kine design is this? If I was missing something, please let me know. If not, awful design!!!!

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24Jan / 2024

Folk Kitchen – Osaka, Japan

Folk Kitchen is located within the Hilton Osaka. Thanks to Chan’s perks, we were able to eat breakfast free in the hotel and boy did I enjoy eating here. Haha one morning as we were waking up, he asked me if I was okay because I had been laying there and I just meekly answered…”Folk Kitchen?” That’s how much I was looking forward to eating there. You just had to be there haha.

Folk Kitchen offers a full breakfast buffet and you know Japanese restaurants are going to do right by buffets. No disappointments here! And for some odd reason, I loved the apple juice in Osaka. Specifically Osaka lol.

We came pretty early in the morning so we could avoid the crowds, mission accomplished!

Smaller portion of food this round. They had battered fried fish with tartar sauce (I loved it!), tater tots, fried rice, etc.! They also had a Japanese section to make Japanese style breakfast, and a congee section!

I absolutely toasted my own slice of bread and slathered it in butter and strawberry jam. YOU BETCHA.

Day 2! Much fuller plate. The brown noodles I think were yakisoba and were bland and junk! The pasta was good and I ate plenty saba! Chan must think I’m crazy but I really really enjoyed Folk Kitchen and it was definitely one of my top places we ate at!!!! Yum!

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22Jan / 2024

Kura Sushi – Osaka, Japan

Yay! We got to a Kura Sushi! Woohoo! Conveyor belt sushi for a great value – super easy for tourists. Once you’re seated, you can make your own hot tea and order on their iPad that has English as an option! Every five plates you eat, you input them into their cleaning dispenser located right in your booth and you can “play” a game and win a prize! I put play in quotations because it’s really just you watching whether your cartoon character “wins” their game on the screen. We didn’t win anything lol. Not much details or prices on these pics, just a bunch of spam photos (not literally)!

Fresh Salmon with Mayo and Onions
Can’t go wrong with this!

Raw Scallop
I steered clear just in case. I don’t know how far reaching my allergies are to raw shellfish.

Raw Shrimp
Raw shellfish…sigh…

Otoro~!

Tuna Salad
Of course this was mine, don’t you know me by now??

Shirako with Ikura

Okay, remember the other post where I said I liked shirako. Here’s the place where I tried it second and did not like it lol. It was groce here. So sad.

Tan Tan Udon
Ehh, just alright.

I forget haha

Chawan Mushi (look at that crab!)

It me! *waves*

LOL!!!! The cheese sauce wasn’t bad!

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19Jan / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday – Japan

Beef Gracoro Set | ¥770
Filet-o-Fish Set | ¥680

I am just imagining V asking me why we ate at McDonald’s. It’s different in Japan ok! And this was breakfast sets! The filet-o-fish was good, just like it tastes here. But can we get these salad shakers back in America?!

This was the salad dressing – goma dressing. Yum! Squeezed it in and then shook it up!

Gracoro Burger is a sandwich with a patty of macaroni, shrimp and white sauce. Chan had this, I think he said it was just alright. Me reading that description already triggers a tummy ache haha. But hey, when in Japan – gotta eat the Japan exclusive sets!

Wailele American Beer Bar

We headed to a cute little bar in Shibuya after dinner with friends, they specialized in Hawaii beers. Was super cool and the couple running the joint LOVE Hawaii. I thought it was really cool to see the different beers and they were even selling Maui Towels to raise money for Maui.

Bar Food – I’m sure V would enjoy this. It’s lost on me since I don’t drink.

Hey Kat, is this a good Tokyo People post? LOL nah if any of you are offended by this picture, I’ll happily remove it. This a late night on the train, the only late night I had on a train and well, this is what I saw. He had the whole row of seats to himself lol. Poor cleaners.

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