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Kaneko Hannosuke

This, my friends, is THE place to go for Tendon (Tempura Rice Bowl) in Tokyo. This is the only dish that Kaneko Hannosuke serves, and the place is quite small so you either have to come early or be prepared to wait. They serve this bowl of perfectly fried tempura (white fish, squid, shrimp, vegetable, and soft boiled egg!), on top of steamed rice with sweet soy sauce. On every table were large buckets of pickled radish and pickled ginger, both finely sliced; I liked the sharp taste of the ginger as it gave the fried dish a good contrast and helped cleanse the palate. Steaming black tea at the end made for a perfect meal on a freezing winter night.

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We bought this freshly-cooked, hot takoyaki (Japanese Octopus Balls) from a vendor on the street, and opted to have ours topped with cheese and mayonnaise for a change. The sweet-saltiness of the cheese with the creaminess of the mayonnaise and the savory flavor of the batter with octopus bits made for a very yummy snack on a cold winter day. (Of course, we had to be careful not to burn our tongue as the filling was still a little too hot to eat).

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Apparently, popcorn is a big thing at Disneyland Tokyo. They have the usual flavors like salt, and caramel, and also unusual flavors like curry, and soy sauce with butter. Our fave is the milk chocolate popcorn: chocolate powder with butter! You can also buy one of their special character buckets for refills; in fact, regular parkgoers already brought theirs while in line to go inside the park! Some of the character buckets we saw were Minnie, Lightning McQueen from Cars, Cinderella’s carriage, and Darth Vader. We got BB-8 from Starwars.

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Pastries at Toyko Disneyland. G had the Mickey Double Chocolate Muffin, I had the Mickey Banana Chocolate Muffin, while Little S had the Mickey Custard Bun. The custard in Little S’s bun had a hint of lemon, with some golden raisins in it! Something different but not too bad, and more importantly, Little S enjoyed it! 

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I saw these kawaii bean buns at a stall at the Ueno Park, which were called doubutsu manju. Little S grabbed the green bear and I was left with the panda, chicken, duck, monkey and pig. All had different types of sweet bean paste wrapped in soft and pillowy dough. Not a bad snack to munch on while going around the Ueno Zoo!

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Dominique Ansel

I’ve been reading about Dominique Ansel as early as the summer when they were serving watermelon ice cream, but since we visited in winter, we had the Framboisier (front) and Frozen S’more (back). The Framboiser was a lovely dessert with fresh and juicy strawberries rolled in soft sponge cake and light cream. I found the Frozen S’more, which looked mouthwatering, a bit too sweet, particularly the honey-flavored marshmallow. The vanilla ice cream with chocolate flakes inside the marshmallow was more tolerable in terms of sweetness and also creamy which I liked.

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Ginza Gyuan

Our Kobe Beef Dinner at Ginza Gyuan. This was definitely the most expensive dinner that we had during our trip, but it was worth it! Those who know me know that I normally don’t eat beef, but their beef was so nicely marbled and so flavorful! We had “beef sushi” as an appetizer which was a very thin slice of beef that melted in your mouth, and coffee and dessert as part of a set. The service was excellent as well, with a lovely elderly lady taking care of us the entire meal. Two thumbs up!

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Matcha Soft Serve at Tsukiji Fish Market. I know that matcha is now a popular favorite of people around the world, and I just like its bittersweet, floral taste.

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Strawberry Skewer at Tsukiji Fish Market. They were so sweet and juicy! The strawberry-topped mochi (which you can see in the background) are delicious too! I had the matcha-flavored mochi filled with red bean paste, topped with another juicy strawberry.

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Sushi lunch at Tsukiji Fish Market. Tuna, Salmon Roe and Sea Urchin for G, Salmon for me, and Grilled Eel for little S.

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Marugame Udon Monday nights have become date nights for G and me because Little S usually joins us by the time the weekend rolls in. Today, we had dinner at a relatively new Japanese restaurant called Marugame Udon. They have a cafeteria-like concept where you go from station to station to get either an udon or rice bowl, then some side dishes and drinks. G had Gyudon while I had the Chicken Paitan Udon. We also shared sticks of Chicken Karaage, which were very juicy! They have a well-stocked seasoning station with soy sauce, green onion, grated ginger, sesame seeds, etc. As you can see, I added a lot of grated ginger on my bowl and it made my soup yummier.

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St Louis House of Fine Ice Cream and Desserts

It has been more than a year since I last blogged or visited Tumblr (ooops)! After I gave birth to Little S and returned to work, I got a new job assignment where I have to travel a lot, so things obviously got busy bee crazy after that. Things are still busy now with Little S now a hyperactive toddler, but I miss blogging so here I am!

So my first post in a long time will be about my favorite food…DESSERT! St Louis House of Fine Ice Cream and Desserts is apparently an Australian cafe chain which just opened a branch here in Manila. What draws you in at their entrance is their display of ice cream but then you realize that they also serve pastries, waffles, and crepes, and even savory food!

The servers were friendly and they accommodated us pretty quickly. (Also, they were quick to offer us a high chair for Little S, which is always a plus in my books). We went through their classy, hardbound menu and were initially overwhelmed by the variety of indulgent choices, but we settled for the Sweet Amalia Journey, Churros, and Ferrero Waffle.

I loved the Sweet Amalia Journey because it was all my favorite desserts combined on one plate - ice cream (we chose Vanilla, Strawberry, and Peanut Butter Nutella), berries (strawberries and raspberries), lemon curd, and macarons. The Peanut Butter Nutella was not too sweet and tasted a bit like Reese’s chocolate, which I love, and the macarons were perfectly chewy. In fact, Little S liked it so much too that he had two out of the three pieces on the plate. The Churros were served with white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate dips. I tried a bit of the churros with dark chocolate - I liked that the churros weren’t drenched in sugar, while the dark chocolate was bittersweet and thick. Not bad at all! Finally the Ferrero Waffle had toppings of maple syrup, white chocolate, salted dulce de leche, milk chocolate drops, melted dark chocolate, vanilla ice cream and of course the Ferrero Rocher chocolate. Didn’t get to try this but sounds and looks delicious!!!

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Flatiron

I’m not really sure why this restaurant was named after the well-known triangular shaped building in NYC, but the food served here is indulgent, comfort food. G ordered the Flatiron Brisket which is the specialty of the house (fork-tender U.S. beef brisket slow-cooked for 6 hours in aromatics then seared on the griddle to order; served with sauteed brown and red rice and fresh cucumber carrot slaw) while I ordered the Battery Park Pork Chop (1 1/4 thick grilled pork chop brined for 48 hours, seasoned with spices; mashed potato; apple, cucumber and carrot slaw). The brisket was soooo melt-in-your mouth and certainly deserves its title as the specialty of the house! The pork chop I had was just as good too, very juicy, and I like how the coleslaw was acidic and crunchy and not at all soggy. I also got to try my friend’s Pizzaiola Pasta (bowtie pasta, napolitaine sauce, bell peppers, salami and bacon covered with cheese and gratinated) which unfortunately we found a bit dry. 

As for the dessert, we ordered the Intense Brownie Burger (coffee ice cream sandwiched between two Swiss chocolate fudge brownies on cream cheese sauce, slathered with chocolate mocha sauce and toffee sauce and spiked with cashew brittle shards) and the Peanut Butter Delice (chocolate peanut praline, chocolate peanut ganache; hazelnut, almond and cashew sponge; and caramel chocolate mousse; not photographed) to share. Both desserts, with their extensive descriptions, are as indulgent as they sound, and while they are for sharing, I could see how one person could finish these rich desserts by himself/herself!

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For my brother’s birthday, my sister (check out Niji Desserts!) made him a Donut Cheesecake. That’s right, a cheesecake shaped and decorated as a large donut! The icings were coffee and chocolate, and inside was an extremely creamy cheesecake - mmmmm....much better than a donut!

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Mister Delicious

I originally wanted to try the Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich but they had run out, so I got the Smoked Chicken Sandwich instead. I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty and packed the sandwich was with the crisp arugula, sweet and tart roasted apple slices, salty cheddar cheese and juicy smoked chicken breast. I did think the middle bread layer was too much though but otherwise, I liked how all the flavors came together!

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High Street Cafe, Shangri-La at the Fort

Shangri-La’s buffets do not disappoint, and their newest buffet restaurant, High Street Cafe certainly met our expectations. G and I brought our little S to celebrate his first month and we were glad that the servers were very accommodating to families like ours. Highlights of my meal were the sushi and sashimi (as always), breads + cheese + flavored honey (I got the rosemary and it was delicious with my bread and cheese), roast duck, laksa (it was my first time to try laksa and it was creamy and sour and generously packed with seafood - yum!), and of course, the desserts! The chocolate circles (white, milk and dark) were made of high quality chocolate, the moist chocolate cake was one of the most moist chocolate cakes I’ve had and was delicious topped with fresh raspberries and raspberry macarons, the molten lava cake was freshly baked (though I still liked the moist chocolate cake more), and the ice creams had unique flavors (I had strawberry and suman at mangga or “Filipino rice cake and mango”). Would definitely come here again for special occasions!

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Classic Confections

Classic Confections has been open for years (definitely longer than most bakeries/cafes which have been sprouting recently) and it has been a while since G and I enjoyed some dessert here. I think most people drop by here just to buy cookies or almond brittle as gifts (especially during the holiday season), but it is a good place to sit down for tea and coffee as well. I had the Banana Cream Pie (creamy vanilla custard on a cashew nut crust topped with caramelized bananas and fresh whipped cream) while G had Meline’s Chocolate Cake (one layer of moist chocolate cake filled and iced with creamy fudge icing). Both the pie and cake were really delicious - the cream pie had thick banana slices and the crunchy crust was the perfect contrast to the creamy custard inside. The chocolate cake was very moist and the chocolate icing was bittersweet and thick - just the way I like it!