Szechuan hotpot

Went for dinner with my colleagues after work one night and we went to this Chinese restaurant near a collegue's house which served Szechuan hotpot.

We ordered the half and half version with the spicy mala soup on one side and a herbal soup on the other side. So we ordered a bunch of veg, mushrooms, dumplings and meat for our steamboat which I totally forgot to take picture of.

We also ordered some "pei dan" hahahaa....I didn't expect that I would be eating this in Japan! At least it tasted good!

Then as my colleagues love spicy food, we also ordered this spicy fried chicken dish which was TOO SPICY for me!

Overall, I felt that the food was just ok. While it's not bad, it's probably one of the worst that I've had in Japan. Also, I suffered stomach pains after this meal so I'm definitely never returning to this place ever again! I usually have this problem when the food is super spicy!

鳥元 上野浅草口店 (Torigen Ueno Asakusa Guchiten)

Had dinner at 鳥元 上野浅草口店 (Torigen Ueno Asakusa Guchiten) with my friends after work and here are the items that we ordered.

Salad

Grilled chicken skewers, the chicken and leek one was super good

Nankotsu or chicken cartilage which was surprisingly really good!

Motsu which I dare not touch

House-made tsukune which was yummy~

Fried chicken bones! No kidding, they're really fried chicken bones! This was interesting for me because there's nothing much for you to eat in this dish except for the fried batter. But I guess this is a good accompaniment to beer as it's crunchy and salty.

As with most restaurants that you go to in Japan, the food is usually good. While I enjoyed the food, I didn't like the fact that the restaurant was filled with cigarette smell! 

Eating Japan - Granola series 1

1. Nissin Uji Matcha Granola

This has got to be one of the best granola I've ever had~!!! I absolutely love the match flavour~ plus there are pieces of strawberries, red bean and chestnuts in it!

A closer look at what's in the granola pack~

A definite must try if you are ever in Japan~

2. Calbee granola

This one is delicious too and comes in a big 800g pack!

There are many fried fruits in it, even coconut and almond!!!!

This is how it looks like in the bag.

Both these 2 granola goes really well with yoghurt and are delicious on their own too as snacks~

とり酒場 わや 神楽坂 (Waya Kagurazaka)

Went for dinner with K san after work on Friday at Waya Torisakaba.

Address: Kagurazaka RM building 2F, 112-6, Yaraicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-0805

Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/e860200/

My lime soft drink for 290 yen.

This is one of their seasonal item - squid with daikon oroshi. Interesting flavour but nice~!

Another seasonal item, sashimi of some fish....heehee....

Kyushu style chicken nanban (630 yen)

First time, trying the kyushyu style chicken nanban whereby the sauce has a slight sour taste to it! Nice~

Grilled shishamo (400 yen)

Tako and hotate carpaccio~ (780 yen)

Love the texture of this tako as it's chewy to just the right degree. All other times I've had tako, they were usually too springy!!

Day out with M san

Lunch with M san at Kobe Motomachi Doria, Lumine Ikebukuro, before she heads back to Malaysia.

Kobe Motomachi Doria is under the same SaintMarc Holdings that Kamakura Pasta is under. I previously tried that in Kanazawa.

Website:http://www.saint-marc-hd.com/grill/

I ordered the prawn and squid chowder doria that came with salad and panna cotta (1,684 yen tax inclusive).

While I have had doria before, it was my first time having a chowder doria and it was really good! I wonder if I could reproduce this at home~!

After that we went to Hokkaido Dosanko Plaza in Ikebukuro station for ice cream.

Website: http://www.dosanko-plaza.jp/

M san opted for the vanilla soft serve ice cream, while I ordered the yubari melon one at 390 yen. I really enjoyed mine as you can really taste the melon. Plus the soft serve was really smooth~

I spotted this in the shop and immediately bought it. Pumpkin soup~ and all I had to do was cook it with milk~!!!

Lastly, a picture with M san. Not sure when we will be able to meet again~

スペインバル バル Akihabara

Met up with H san and Mish for dinner after work on a Friday night at スペインバル バル at Chomp Chomp Akihabara.

Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/p859601/

No, the beer is not mine, I ordered an orange juice. heehee....

Apparently their osusume menu changes every month and when we were there, it was this~

This is the fish and paprika ahijo (780 yen). A first for me and absolutely delicious~!!! :D Though we're not sure why they only gave us one baguette when there were 3 of us!

This here is the korean-inspired pizza with gochujang mayo (780 yen). Interesting flavours and while we did not taste the gochujang, it was delicious!

Their no.1 dish - seafood paella (980 yen). This was ok, not as great as I imagined it to be~

Prawn and broccoli ahijo (680 yen). This time we requested for additional baguettes!

Braised beef tendon (680 yen). Another first for me....while the flavours were interesting and good, I didn't really enjoy the texture of the dish.

Overall, it was a pretty good experience for me....first time having tapas~ Next time, I'll probably make a reservation first as I didn't enjoy sitting on high chairs. 

Anniversaire Cafe, Omotesando

I went to cut my hair back in May at a hair saloon in Omotesando. After which, I met up with K and T san for lunch at Anniversaire Cafe.

Website: http://cafe.anniversaire.co.jp/

Was such a pleasant surprise to find out that behind the cafe is actually a wedding hall. While we were there, we spotted the happy couple walking out onto the streets of Omotesando. :)

I ordered the dessert set. You pay for the price of your drink order plus another 500 yen for a cake or 1,000 yen for the pain perdu.

 

I ordered a fruit juice (800 yen) and a pain perdu (+ 1,000yen).

My mixed berry and vanilla ice cream pain perdu (the ala carte alone costs1,400 yen) <3 

This is really good, I liked that they used brioche for the french bread. While I'm not a fan of whipped cream, the one used in this dessert wasn't as heavy as the usual ones and went well with everything.

The new haircut fresh out of the salon~ hahahaha....

It's not too bad, I had my dry ends cut off and my hair darkened a few shades.

When I met people that I had met about 2 weeks back again after my hair cut, they were like, "Did you change your make up style? You look different!?" And I'm like, "No, I just had a hair cut and I had my hair dyed." So yea, it was nice that the change was big enough to be noticed. Lol~

I like the concept of this cafe~ Hopefully, in future, I could visit this place with my special someone.

Izumi sushi Shibuya (和泉寿司)

Huge thanks to T san who treated me to dinner at this amazing sushi restaurant in Shibuya called Izumi sushi (和泉寿司).

Website: http://izumizushi.com/

This was my first time at a fancy japanese restaurant in Japan.

First up was the dashimaki which was super food with the radish~!!! <3

Squid with giner, another delicious dish~

Grilled anago to be eaten with salt as recommended by T san and it was yummy~

My izumi sushi~ definitely one of the best I've had! Everything was fresh and delicious, to a point that the tuna almost tasted sweet!! Wish I could have more~ 

Grilled cod~ which was super juicy and melts in your mouth~

Grille fatty salmon which totally melts in your mouth again!

So happy to see them again and have dinner together. It's been a long time since our last meal together in January~

They were super nice~ and even walked me to the station after dinner.

Honestly, I'm super thankful to all the kind people that I have met and helped me out in Japan. I really couldn't thank everyone enough. :)

Eggcellent, Roppongi Hills

Lunch at Eggcellent, Roppongi Hills.

Website: http://eggcellent.co.jp/top/

Menu: http://eggcellent.co.jp/menu/eggcellent_menu.pdf

Mish and I both opted for the same set - Half & Half Benedict Plate (Original/Avocado Maguro Quinoa) set which costs 2, 650 yen plus an extra 100 yen for our green smoothie.

This is the mini green smoothie. While over priced, I enjoyed the taste and texture!

The dish came with organic eggs, bacon, english muffin, hollandaise sauce, organic egg, avocado, maguro, quinoa rice, yoghurt, acai berry, coleslaw, chorizo and beans.

Definitely the most expensive plate of eggs I've ever paid for in my life~!!!!! 

For tea, we went to Creme de la creme. 

Website: http://www.cremedelacreme.co.jp/chou/

I ordered their custard choux (291 yen). Definitely the best I've ever had. I love the crunchy exterior with the thick custard~!! <3