Yokohama Chinatown

A couple weeks ago Raku and I went to Yokohama for the afternoon, the plan was to eat some Chinese food, spend the afternoon writing, and do a little shopping (the real reason for the trip). Well, we never got around to the writing, but we were very successful at the eating and shopping.

Yokohama is famous for its huge Chinatown, the perfect destination for a delicious lunch. I'm not that familiar with different types of Chinese food, but we picked a Shanghai style restaurant and had a very satisfying meal. We started with stir fried noodles with shrimp and vegetables. It was perfectly salty and noodles had a satisfying chewiness.  

Next we ordered a surprising pork and tofu dish. We picked it based on a picture, and were surprised that it came with little steamed buns to put the mixture inside. Honestly, it didn't really need the buns, but I'm not a steamed bun fan in general. The meat and tofu mixture was curry flavored, which was also unexpected, but not unpleasant.

We finished with an order of enormous shumai. Yokohama is famous for shumai - you can often get them as a souvenir to bring back. They're a type of steamed pork dumpling partially covered in a paper thin wrapper.  The filling is tender, juicy and delicious!

We had our meal with unlimited hot jasmine tea. I don't think I've had any since we were in Hong Kong, and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. The hot floral tea is perfect with greasy salty Chinese food.

After all that eating I got some shopping in. I bought these beautiful plates from a local ceramics company called Yokohama Masuda. 

I love them!

And just for fun, Raku and I took funny photos at a display painted on the windows at Yokohama Station.

Change of Plans

My ten year high school reunion is going on right now. Weird. It seems forever ago, but then actually hearing ten years sounds crazy. John and I were supposed to be in Okinawa this weekend, but unfortunately there's a typhoon hitting them so the trip had to be canceled. At least the flights were cheap and the hotel was refundable. Sadly it's also grey and rainy in Tokyo.

Misty Skyline

Luckily, we're finding ways to enjoy the weekend anyways. The other day I bought some tiny pumpkins at Aoyama Flower Market. The normal size are like 3000 yen, but these were less than 300. The funniest part is that they give you stickers to make jack-o-lanters, so that you don't have to color or carve them.

Jack-o-Lantern Stickers

Our little pumpkin friend

And as usual, Saturday mornings call for pancakes.  This morning I tried a new recipe - lemon ricotta pancakes with spiced apples.

The apples are the best part

October Already

I can't believe it's already October.  It seems like I've just been waiting and waiting for summer to end, and suddenly it's October.  But I guess that makes sense, the seasons here seem to be about a month behind what I'm used to.

It's not cool yet, but we're heading in that direction.  The temperature seems to be hovering right between the low 80s and high 70s.  The leaves haven't started turning yet either, but I hear they'll be beautiful when they do.  They've got the decorating down though, harvest decorations are all over the place.

Display at the Flower Market

I keep thinking about how a year ago John and I were in Colorado, visiting family, eating delicious food, hiking in the Rocky Mountains, and loving the bright yellow aspen leaves.  It was a wonderful time.

Loch Vale on the way to Sky Pond

It also makes me realize that we've been here for almost a year now.  Fall is the final season that I haven't experienced in Japan, but I expect it will be lovely.

Southern Food

When my sister came to visit I had her bring me some grits. I'm sure you're completely shocked to hear they're not available in the grocery stores here. I waited a few weeks trying to decide how to use them first, and finally decided to try and recreate a meal from Crook's Corner, an awesome restaurant in Chapel Hill. Shrimp and grits, and frozen mint juleps.

Doesn't that look amazing?

They have a frozen mint julep on the menu (both cocktail and dessert) that is to die for. It's a shot of bourbon over a scoop of mint sorbet, served with a tiny spoon. I've been wanting to recreate this drink for years, but I've never been able to find mint sorbet. Finally it hit me, I could just make a mint granita in the freezer and use that in it's place.

Aaaaa-mazing!

It was perfect! Almost exactly like the original. We were in heaven. For dessert, we had cheesecake (pre-made from 7-Eleven) with raspberries (from Costco). All in all, it was a fantastic meal of comfort foods.

If you're indulging, go all the way

Rainy Writing Days

Rain smells the same in Tokyo. That warm earthy smell that rises into the air when it first starts falling. When I was a kid my dad told me it was the smell of the water mixing into the soil, but there's not much soil to be seen here. I think I've actually read that the smell is ozone, but I might be making that up.

In general the rain in softer here than at home. I grew up with giant rain drops that would splat on the ground, falling quickly and making a comforting drumming noise. Sometimes the raindrops are so small they look like mist here, falling more slowly and making less noise (just like Japanese people). It's a peaceful sort of rain.

One of my first memories from moving here last year is eating lunch at Ark Hills Cafe with Raku. The wide open space with the rough wooden tables is so inviting and the food is always comforting. Today we're sitting here again, drinking warm drinks and writing.  The glass doors have been opened up to let the cool air in - it's finally comfortable in Tokyo after a long steamy summer - and now a gentle rain is falling. Sometimes that's all it takes to remember how good life here is.

Ark Hills Cafe

Hours: 11:00-11:00

Phone: 03-6229-2666

Address: 1-3-40 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Map

Strawberry KitKats

I bought some Strawberry KitKats the other day.  (If I blog about them, it's research not just idle snacking, right?)  I've seen them before but never tried them.

The packaging and the candy were all a lovely shade of pink.  But the flavor left something to be desired.  They had a very artificial flavor, and somehow they were really sweet but tart enough to make my nose prickle at the same time.

Like the passion fruit KitKats it seemed like the outer coating melted really quickly.  Too be fair our house is still pretty warm these days.  In the picture you can see the bottom left corner squished, just from taking it out of the wrapper.

I still think the original chocolate is the best flavor I've had, but I'd rank these better than the passion fruit.

Dar Fatima Moroccan Tea House

This week Raku and I went to the cutest little Moroccan tea house in Omotesando called Dar Fatima. It's just off of Cat Street, the pedestrian shopping street that connects Omotesando to Shibuya. They have a little patio with shaded tables as well as a few tables inside. We spent the afternoon writing on the patio and enjoying the cooler weather.

They have a selection of teas as well as sandwiches and desserts. Raku had the iced mint tea and I had iced verveine tea. The mint was better, but it comes pre-sweetened while the others don't.

Verveine Tea

Later in the afternoon we took a dessert break and split their osusume, the sour cream lemon crepes. Honestly, they looked better than they tasted (seriously, look how pretty they are!) The crepes were more like spongy pancakes than thin crepes, and the lemon flavor was very mild, but they were a nice little pick me up for the afternoon.

Lemon Sour Cream Crepes

Inside the shop they sell Moroccan glasses, pottery, and tea pots in the front room, and further back they sell textiles and crafts like brightly colored Moroccan slippers, bags, and rugs.

All afternoon it was very peaceful and quiet, a great place to relax in busy Omotesando. I'd definitely recommend it.

Dar Fatima Moroccan Tea House
Hours: 11:00-8:00
Phone: 03-3406-8200
Address: 5-11-13 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokoy
Map