Day out in Chinatown and Naka-ward, Yokohama

Early in the morning, we met up with T's family in Chinatown for dimsum at 西遊記.

Website: https://r.gnavi.co.jp/8me72cy10000/

They seem to be famous for these baked char siew pao. While these were nice too, if I were to compare them to the ones from Tim Ho Wan, I prefer the latter. But it is the only yummy item on Tim Ho Wan's menu.

They have xiao long bao too with I & A love.

Happy to get so many different varieties of dim sum here.

They even have pan fried raddish cake and roast meat such as pork and duck there.

After dimsum, we walked uphill to check out the open houses in Naka-ward. Soon, we got tired and decided to stop by at Enokitei Honten (えの木てい) for some cakes.

Website: https://www.enokitei.co.jp/

I got a hot tea while TJ got a coffee. His coffee came with vanilla ice cream on the top.

Our cakes, which were super good. I didn't expect this place to serve such good quality desserts. I will definitely revisit again to try more of their cakes.

The view from up Yamashita Park.

After that, T's family went back home while TJ and I continued to explore around Minato Mirai.

We ended up in Megumi Suisan in Mark Is Minato Mirai (めぐみ水産 マークイズみなとみらい店).

Menu: http://www.neo-emotion.jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/de4e2ae8b4e295973f9df4b2c4f8b644.jpg 

While the sushi here is more expensive than the typical conveyor belt sushi shop, their quality is good and the size of the sushi is slightly bigger than the cheaper ones. You can also get some items that you do not normally find in other stores here.

 

Xmas lunch at AUX BACCHANALES（オーバカナル ）

Xmas is here!

On Xmas eve, we used origami papers to make this Xmas tree.

The next day, we went to AUX BACCHANALES（オーバカナル ） for lunch.

I had the while pasta dish while J had the beef steak. My past was so-so, but the beef steak was delicious.

We also had some fruit tart after that and they were delicious. I ordered the pear tart which was delicious! J, being a blueberry lover, ordered the blue berry tart which was also good, but not as good as the pear tart in my opinion.

Lol, as if all that food isn't enough, after shopping for a few hours, we grabbed a chocolate cake at Dean & Deluca too.

After that, we took a long stroll to Chinatown because we had to visit an acquaintance's place for Xmas dinner.

Along the way, we found some nice illuminations.

Yokohama area is always very nice during Xmas with it's decorations and illuminations.

Finally, we made it past Chinatown and was surprised to find that there area already Chinese lanterns and it feels like CNY.

Thank you to Aunt H for hosting us. Her family fed us yummy food and we left home with lots of gifts.

On the way back to the station, we passed by a very empty Chinatown. It was weird to see it so quiet. 

Look at all the beautiful gifts that we received.

Before the end of the year, I had more lunches with my colleagues.

Had a very nice lunch with JJ at a German Pub, where we had fish and chips! Too bad, there was no chili sauce.

Towards to end of the year, I had ramen with a few other colleagues. It was nice to have some face to face with them after a long time.

 

THE CITY BAKERY BRASSERIE RUBIN

Back at the THE CITY BAKERY BRASSERIE RUBIN again!

Had a super good experience the first time, we revisited again in less than a month.

We ordered a soup this time to go with the bread and omg, the soup is soo good! Highly recommend you to get the soup each time!

This visit, I ordered the lasagna which was super good and also went really well with the bread served.

J had the grilled chicken which was surprisingly good and very juicy. The chicken was served with lots of  nuts. I love the soft juicy chicken with the crunchy nuts.

Then we also had a chocolate cake for dessert. 

Honestly, everything served here is good!

After that we shopped around a bit, and spotted a shop selling My Kuali Penang White curry mee. Immediately bought 2! While it is expensive here, I miss the taste.

 

Xmas in Minato Mirai

Spending Xmas in Minato Mirai. 

Every year, during Xmas, they have every nice illuminations.

I really like these blue lights. I think I will be back again this year for more photos.

This year, there was this dome shaped thing, which was not there the year before. This is the first time I am seeing this and there were many ppl queueing to enter. As there were man ppl, we avoided going too near.

Not too sure what is the idea behind these illuminations. 

This year, the Xmas market is back. We only walked by and did not buy any food as we did not feel comfortable to eat there.

That night, we had Mexican food for dinner. Not sure if it is just me, but I feel that Mexican food in Japan is pretty pricey.

My favourite, is this fried calamari!

We also ordered fajitas. Here is ours being flamed!

Overall, the fajitas are yummy, but I really enjoyed the calamari. 

THE CITY BAKERY BRASSERIE RUBIN

Visiting the THE CITY BAKERY BRASSERIE RUBIN for the first time.

Website: https://thecitybakery.jp/shop/yokohama_restaurant.html

As we were there late, we had to queue a bit before we got a seat.

After ordering, we were served some bread, which were all really good btw. These bread goes so well with the spare rib grill (1,815 JPY) that I ordered. I enjoyed dipping the bread into the mashed potato and sauce.

J had the chicken biryani (1,760 JPY). This was surprisingly delicious. We never expected to find biryani in a bakery restaurant and one that was delicious. We were pleasantly surprised by how good it was.

I expect that I will be revisiting this place often as the food was good.

After shopping around Yokohama, we found ourselves at Din Tai Fung for earl dinner.

As usual, we had the pan fried raddish cake and spicy wontons, which are 2 of my favourite dishes there.