かつくら (Katsukura)

When my darling and I are tired, we crave for Japanese food! One of our favorite Japanese restaurants is かつくら (Katsukura). They serve sophisticated tonkatsu (deep-fried breaded pork cutlet) from Kyoto.

If you order tonkatsu at かつくら (Katsukura), you'll first get their original Kyoto-style tsukemono (Japanese pickles). I don't like tsukemono, but their tsukemono is amazingly delicious!



While you wait for tonkatsu, you grind your sesame seeds served in a small mortar and mix them with their original tonkatsu sauce.



Now the tonkatsu is served with farm-fresh shredded cabbage on the side with original yuzu (citrus ichangensis) dressing!



My darling always go for 170g (6oz) pork loin cutlet.

I always go for a combi menu that comes with small pork fillet cutlet and seasonal vegetable yuba (tofu skin) croquette!



Their miso soup, cabbage and wheat rice are all-you-can-eat!!! I love their miso soup. They use white miso with a hint of Japanese mustard! Amazingly addictive!!!



Actually, I am not that crazy about deep-fried foods in general, but I like the way their foods are served, so we go there once in a while!



Maybe this weekend again?! LoL

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Mario i Sentieri

Mario i Sentieri is an Italian restaurant in Nishiazabu. Few weeks ago, I met the owner Italian chef Mario Frittoli at 青の洞窟 (Ao no Doukutsu - blue cave) idea recipe contest held there.

Yesterday, he called me for lunch. He was such a busy person that we could talk only for a few minutes, but was a quality time. I want to keep my passion and step forward like him, without being stereotyped.

While I was waiting for him, I enjoyed the lunch there. Actually, I had a late breakfast but without hesitation, I could finish them all. It was an exquisite prix fixe lunch. His Italian food is not simply authentic but delights the eye and the palate! Amazing!!!



Grazie!

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Aji no Mingei

Aji no Mingei is well known as a handmade udon restaurant. My darling and I go there once in a while because hot udon in winter warms us up. Also their Japanese style decors make us feel at home :D

As you can see, their dish is really huge. This is our favorite Mingei Salad. It comes with 3 different dressings: Wa-Fu (Japanese), Dai Dai (orange), and Shirogoma (white sesame).



On this day, I ordered Nagasaki Champon with Collagen!



From February, an extra buck adds extra veggies! Fabulous :D



However, one thing we regret is that our new home is quite distant. We have to go there again this month for the last time!

BTW, I prefer hot to cold for udon and cold to hot for soba.
How about you?!

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Good Luck Longevity Noodle

Aji no Mingei (味の民芸) is well known as a handmade udon restaurant. My darling and I go there once in a while because all their menus are big, inexpensive, and delicious!

Last year, I had a "Good Luck Shrimp Tempura Udon" and was pretty good, so I was going to have the same one again, but this year, I found a new menu called "Good Luck Longevity Noodle (｢開運｣長寿麺)". As you can see in the pic, noodles are in attractive green (made of spinach). The soup is light and it has a lot of stir-fried vegetables on top! It tastes like a non-fatty ramen :)



I read on the menu that it is a festive food eaten in China. Is that true?! Anyway, a lot of vegetables made me happy :)

Last year, we played garapon drawing. This year, they again gave us tickets for New Year's drawing. I remember the prizes were not that attractive, but we gonna go there again because we wouldn't go there after the removal.

Changing my story, there was a hula class on Monday (holiday) morning. I always think I have slow reflexes... because I make a lot of mistakes while others don't... Well, I hope I can improve that someday.

Anyways, I cut my hair too short... which I regret recently X(

Bye for now!

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Kaitenzushi

When we have no idea what to eat, we always go to kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi restaurant). Crab is in season, so I had 4 pieces of them :P Also my favorite anago (conger eel). Yummy!!!


During the holiday, I cleaned up my stuff which I haven't used for approx 6 years, which made 10 garbage bags (5 of them are clothes)! But then I have done it... I thought the first garbage collection day is Friday but was today (this morning)! So we have to keep those garbage bags in our room for 3 more days!!!

This holiday was fast. I have to work from tomorrow. I couldn't go shopping during the holiday, so I hope I can this weekend! I'm sure I won't buy too much since I just organized my stuff. haha

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Wara Wara

Compared to our anniversary dinner, our dinner yesterday was amazingly cheap!

Last night, we've been to a chain Izakaya called 笑笑 (Wara Wara). We haven't been there for ages since there is no smoke-free seat. However, we went there yesterday because I had 5,000yen ($50) value coupon which expires in the end of this month.

Wow! We didn't know all drinks and foods there are now 300yen (only 3 bucks)!!! Can you believe this huge fish (Atka Mackerel) and Omelet Soba cost only 300yen each?!

Luckily, there wasn't any customer who smokes around us, so we had these foods in a better air. I mean, it still smells a little, you know...

Of course, we couldn't use all 50 bucks, so we have to go back there again soon... but not at all bad than we thought!

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First Marital Anniversary

It's been already a year since we filed our marriage paper!!!

On 11/22, we reserved an Italian restaurant called "Passo a Passo" in Monzennakacho, which was the prize for Jambalaya Original Recipe Contest 2010.

The dinner for 2 was worth 100 bucks per person! The special course of the day was gibier. Gibier means wildlife animal. Believe it or not, we had cave bear dishes!!! The cave bears grew up on oranges, so they don't have strong taste! All dishes were amazingly delicious!!!

For Pumpkin Risotto, the owner chef Arima used Calrose (California rice) which he newly harvested in California. It went great with Mozzarella in the center! Mmm!!! I couldn't believe it's the same rice I used for the contest...

And of course, the wine they served was really great! At first, I was going to try different kinds, but I stayed with Barbera del Monferrato Superiore 2003! The wine is made of classic grapes of Italy's Piedmont region. Fruity fresh wine but has a deep aroma. I love the way it tastes casual ;)

For dessert, we had pear compote. How come the chef knew that it was our anniversary!? On our plates, he wrote "Auguri (congrats)" and "Buena Felicita (best wishes)" :D

Thanks to the chef and his wife (she served our table)! We had a heartwarming anniversary.

Then last but not least, my darling gave me a sweet gift with an adorable message card. He wrote, "Please use this hand creams and let's walk hand in hand forever"!

Yes, I will!!!

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Basilium Acherun Aglianico Del Vulture 2005

On the weekend, we again had a dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant "Mia Angela". The restaurant uses farm fresh ingredients from Hokkaido and cook them in the Italian way!

As usual, we shared dishes ;) Farm Fresh Vegetable Bagna Càuda, Oyster and Pancetta tomato spaghetti, Deep Fried Shima-Ebi Shrimp and Calamari, and of course Risotto Parmigiano!!!

As you might now know, I used to dislike oysters, but there, I could eat them! The oysters at Mia Angela are grown up on KELP! No wonder they're good!

And speaking of wine, Basilium Acherun Aglianico Del Vulture 2005 was today's special. I think there are many good Italian wines this year! It's a 5-year aged fragrant red wine! Tastes like ripe cassis. Very fruity and spicy vintage wine. It went well with all foods we ordered ;)

Tonight, we are going to celebrate our first marital anniversary :D We have so many eating-outs in the year-end! Hope not get pig X(

Tomorrow is a holiday (Labor Thanksgiving Day) again!

See ya!!!

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Midori-zushi

Again, after so long, we've been to Midori-zushi on Saturday!!! I just realized last time we went there was October 2009! Almost a year ago!!!

Since my favorite anago (conger eel) is in season, I ordered "anago no shirayaki" which means anago is grilled without sauce and the color is white (left bottom image). You enjoy it simply with lemon, yuzu kosho (yuzu pepper), or ume paste. Yummy!!!

Wow! We drank a lot this time! We finished a bottle of cold sake and half a bottle of white wine... which cost us total of 7,000 yen ($70)... Midori-zushi is very famous for delicious low price sushi but drinking too much doesn't save at all X( Anyway, I could use my sushi coupon (which I received as a prize), so we just paid few dollars in cash. Whew...

How was your weekend?!

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Yukata Dinner and Fireworks

On Saturday, my darling asked me to wear Yukata (casual summer kimono) for dinner. At first, I refused to wear it because I forgot how to wear it and was very muggy outside. My darling at last searched for an instruction at YouTube and taught me how... it took about an hour to wear it but I was happy with it. He-he :D

When we arrived at the restaurant, there were few people wearing Yukata. I wondered why but we enjoyed the night view of Tokyo Tower! Yes, it was a romantic place to celebrate our 7th anniversary. Then after few minutes, I saw fireworks in distance!!! It was Tokyo Bay Grand Fireworks Festival!!! What a surprise!!!

PRIVATE TABLE Mitamura is located in Ebisu. They serve Japanese prix-fixe menus using seasonal ingredients. The owner said they served foods at their best so that we can enjoy foods even if it rained and missed fireworks. Yeah, needless to say, everything was superb!!!

Thanks to my darling. It was such a memorable anniversary :D

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Risotto Parmigiano @ Mia Angela

Yummy!!!
I think this was the most delicious Risotto Parmigiano I've ever eaten :D

We've been to the neighborhood Italian restaurant called "Mia Angela" again to try out their new summer dishes. I have posted about the restaurant for many times, so I hope you all remember. The restaurant uses farm fresh ingredients from Hokkaido and cook them in the Italian way. Their seasonal menus are super delicious!!!

This month, they started Risotto Parmigiano which is cooked at table on a chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano. We ordered it without a question and was BINGO!!! Some small pieces of Parmigiano were mixed partly and that was extremely tasty with slight saltiness. Their house wine (affordable lol) "Rione dei Dogi Rosso Molise Riserva" nicely matched the dish!!!

They said it will be their staple menu from the next month! Yay!!! We will definitely order it again!!!

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Italian Lunch Buffet @ INOW

Before I forget, we had delicious Italian lunch buffet in Jiyugaoka last week.

INOW is the finest organic Italian restaurant since 1983. My darling picked up a flyer with 200-yen-off coupon at the train sation, so we decided to go there to have lunch.

Their buffet menu includes:

1, all-you-can-eat antipasto and seasonal breads
2, all-you-can-drink wines, tea, coffee, and juice
3, pizza or pasta of the day
4, seasonal dessert

What attracted us was "all-you-can-drink wine". Their pink sparkling wine was really refreshing when the weather is hot. We felt like putting on the ritz. He-he ;)

The total was 1600yen per person with the coupon. We don't drink that much wine, but pretty good deal for those who drink!

Anyway, we have steaming muggy days for 2 weeks or more. Drink water!!!

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