....on holiday in Tokyo

Dear friends,

Apologies for the complete lack of post over the past weeks! 

After a few hectic weeks wrapping up work and changing my nephew's diaper, I found myself in Tokyo again for a break. Thank God for this time of much needed rest!

This is a quick post to share with you what I've seen and what I've eaten while being here. All photos were taken using my camera phone (learning to travel "light"!)

Hope you have a lovely week.

-Viv

We were served this green tea on entering a tea/pottery shop. The sakura-shaped cup makes the green tea tastes that much nicer ;)

Pondering Japanese bird lady.

A girl patting a wild cat. I noticed the Japanese love their cats! And there are cartoon characters of cats everywhere!

This was such a refreshing dessert at Henri Charpentier @ Ginza. It's like eating an apple that tastes better than an apple...totally makes sense!

Consists of apple mousse, apple compote, caramel mousse with a macaron base!

On the window display in Ginza

This is one of the most interesting department store displays I've seen hanging from the ceiling at Isetan. The photo doesn't do it justice - makes it look a bit witchy!

This chick is made up of many little chicks at Roppongi!

What to do after a long day of walking? Hot green tea soup with red beans and mochi of course! 

Chestnut souffle @ Le Souffle! I could't really taste the chestnut but was impressed with the hieght of the souffle.

I couldn't help but notice this beautifully pruned tree outside this house. It's like a giant bonsai!

Fancy LV building in Ginza from the Bvlgari building where we had afternoon tea.

This is a bit creepy. We went to a ramen place where they put you in your own cubicle and all you can see in front of you is this - hands of another customer waiting for his ramen. When you are served your ramen from the "window", they close the window off with a blind and you're left alone there all by yourself...with you ramen. *weeps*. Oh, and it was yummy ;)

I am going to learn to make this matcha jelly-like dessert when I get home. You take a piece of the glutinous "jelly" and dip it in brown sugar syrup and roll in around in bitter matcha powder. So oiiishi!!

Japanese people love their fried food - I am now breaking out! Can you see the deep fried egg yolk in the photo? *cholesterol alert*

Dainty lil strawberry cakes

Dark chocolate icecream with 80% dark hot chocolate @ Cacao Sampaka. This is the FIRST hot chocolate I've tasted that is more bitter than sweet. Enjoyed it sooo much!

Inside a newish department store Kitte @ Tokyo Station.

Green tea anmitsu..more matcha "jelly" goodness!

This cutie was tugging at my heartstrings...

My dinner - colourful inari sushi from department stores.

One of the best things about Tokyo is the array of desserts on display...I'll just try to eat with my eyes most of the time.

This is the dessert at one of the most memorable meals we had at Ryuzu - a 2 Michelin star restaurant. Their lunch deal is such a bargain (Y3600 which is less than AUD$40!) The head chef even comes out and talks to you after your meal - apparently he trained under Joel Robuchon too!

View of a busy street in Shibuya 

Outside the Shibuya station on Halloweens day.

And finally...I've found Hachiko! (Have you seen the movie Hachi? It will make you cry!)

That's all for now! I will be back soon with more travel updates :)

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Tokyo - final days

Rather than uploading all the photos from my Tokyo culinary adventures here, I thought I'd just highlight some of the places that I've been to over the weeks I was there.

For those who adore anything 'Green Tea'...

Koots is a green-tea lovers dream - it has all sorts of green-tea desserts and a huge selection of green-tea drinks! I love this place so much that I had to go twice. These are the type of things that make my feet do the happy taps while I eat.

Green-tea ice-cream with green-tea latte

For those on a tight budget...

You can't get any cheaper than at Hanamaru - Japan's largest udon franchise chain. Their most basic udon noodle starts at 105 Yen which is just under AUD $1.50 using today's exchange rate.

You can choose any style of udon - hot or cold, with curry or a poached egg, with natto, seaweed or with fried bean curd. Then you can also help yourself to a selection of tempura available for self serve.

Cold udon with grated radish

Hot udon soup

For those wanting a different dessert experience...

Yoshi Yoroizuka is unlike any dessert place I've been to. It is a stylish and elegant 'pastry bar' where the pastry chefs make the desserts right in front of you step-by-step.

Unfortunatley I don't have any photos of the experience there but head on over to this blog if you are keen to see what the 'bar' looks like!

Below is one of the desserts that we bought from the pastry store on the way out - Rhubarb and raspberry mousse tart! It was elegant and delicious (although, I still think that Hidemi Sugino is the best!).

For those who has time for a lazy afternoon...

HARBS is a quaint little cafe residing in the Roppongi Hills complex in Tokyo and they're famous for their layered crepe cake sandwiching fresh fruits and cream. You will find here the majority of customers are women chatting over some afternoon tea and light snacks.

Crepe layered fruit cake

Orange and mint tea

I drool every time I think about this omelette sandwich

For those souffle lovers...

Le Souffle has a whole page of menu dedicated to - you've guessed it, souffles! From the simple vanilla flavour to hazelnut, Grand Marnier and apricot souffles- choosing one is definitely a huge ask! I wanted to try pretty much everything! Since they make souffles from scratch from the time you order, it takes a good 15-20 minutes before your souffles arrive.

I was admiring the perfect looking souffles when they were brought out and before I could whip out my camera, the tops began to sink :(

Lemon souffle

Destructing my Chocolate with raspberry centred souffle

Instructions on how to eat a souffle properly!

For those who just don't know where to go for ramen...

Ippudo is one of the more well-known ramen joints in Tokyo - in fact it is so famous that a chain was opened in New York City. I think ramen really comes down to a matter of personal preference and while some ramen connoisseurs may not regard Ippudo as one of the tops, I reckon it is definitely one of my favourites in Japan (however I've only been to a handful).

We waited for 15 minutes outside in the 36C heat!

Business men in ramen action.

Oiiishiii!

The broth makes me want to float around in it, if that makes any sense

For those who want delicious sushi at the best value...

Can I introduce you to Midori? This is the first place I think of as soon as my flight lands in Tokyo. Beware of long queue at Friday and weekends! I waited for 2 hours once at their original Umegaoka branch (which is the best of all branches!)

Midori has never disappointed me from all my visits and I actually thought the food here is much better than the ones I've had in Tsukiji Fish market! ;)

Sushi Set

This one thing called aburi engawa probably sums up what I go to Japan for...it is amazing!

Plump and juicy scallops

Aburi sushi set

Avacado salad

Long strand of irresistable aburi engawa

Black sesame ice-cream with red beans

For those wanting to indulge a little bit more...

Henri Charpentier is a French-styled Japanese patisserie that I've been meaning to try for a while. As I really didn't have enough room in my stomache for dessert that day, I just had to buy some to take back to the hotel with me to indulge later at night.

Since mangoes are in season, we got the mango silk roll and a mango mousse log.

Deliciously fresh mangoes with light mango mousse and sponge....I'm in dreamland!

Mango silk roll cross-section

For those lactose intolerant (or not) on a hot day....

I'm not recommending any one place in particular, but it seems a number of places I visited in Tokyo sell soy ice-cream and they are so good! It's not just because I'm a soy lover, but they're so light, summer-y and highly addictive (and healthy I hope!). I had some at the Tsukiji Fish Market (one of the stalls) and some at Roppongi Midtown. For me, no trip to Japan is complete without one!

Tofu ice-cream from B1 level in Roppongi Midtown

Do you know any other places which fall into the above categories?!

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