Gundam and Takoyaki Museum at Odaiba – Tokyo

September 8, 2014September 7, 20141 Comment

Fuji Television Studio

The next day, we made a trip to Odaiba by metro. Odaiba is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay which was initially built for defense, but is now a popular spot for tourists. Upon getting off the metro, we walked across this skywalk where we immediately saw a beautiful building. This was the Fuji Television studio! Apparently there is an observation deck on the top floor too.

We then walked into Diver City Tokyo Plaza, which is a large shopping mall that is also filled with entertainment. It had the typical big international brands like any other mall, but it also had a Calbee shop! Calbee chips are my favourite! Here, you can also get freshly fried chips, and some had chocolate toppings on them… We ended buying a few bags with unique flavours I haven’t seen in Vancouver. Pretty cool!

Gundam at Diver City Tokyo Plaza

The main purpose of going into the Diver City Tokyo Plaza, was to exit on the other side where the huge permanent Gundam model was situated. I don’t watch Japanese anime, but from what I know Gundam is a giant robot. Here, they placed a 1:1 lifesize statue of the robot. It’s pretty cool! Apparently at specific times, the robot will move too! There’s lights turned on and you can see it when it’s darker.

You can actually walk under the Gundam! Other than the statue, there is a Gundam Cafe, and a venue inside the plaza called Gundam Front Tokyo, which features more Gundam related experiences.

Daikanransha Ferris Wheel

Nearby, you can also see the Daikanransha Ferris Wheel. It was the tallest ferris wheel when it was first built, but is now the 12th tallest in the world. When the sun began to set, the ferris wheel lit up with beautiful lights and the pattern changed every few minutes. Beautiful!

Odaiba Takoyaki Museum

While walking towards another mall, the sky suddenly turned black and rain just poured on us. What’s worse was none of us had brought umbrellas. Lightning and thunder then stroke. Super scary! I’ve never been under lightning out in the open street. We quickly ran to the closest building, which was called Decks Tokyo Beach. The complex is more like a entertainment facility. It’s got themed buildings and has a boardwalk so you feel like you’re by the beach. We quickly realized, there was a Takoyaki Museum here!

The museum is free, and honestly not really a museum. It’s just an area with lots of takoyaki themed items. Cute place to take some photos!

They have an area for takoyaki souvenirs. Tako plushies, keychains, and some other very odd items. Takoyaki food items like chips as well.

They also had a showcase of the takoyaki pans.

At the end, you will find a bunch of stalls selling takoyaki. To be honest, they seemed to sell pretty much the same takoyaki with similar price points.

Takoyaki

we went for the 4 by 4 takoyaki. 4 takoyakis each of each of the 4 flavours. Two of the takoyakis had a lot of green onions piled on it. Almost way too much. However, it tasted really good! The sauce was the major factor that made each different. On the bottom left, these takoyakis were sort of like tofu! At least that’s what we came up with at the end. We were to dip it in the oden soup. It was quite delicious, but it fell apart really easily. Overall, the takoyaki were good, but they were very soft. I’m not sure if that’s how takoyaki is actually supposed to be like. However, I feel like you can probably get just as good takoyaki out in the streets. The prices are probably higher at the museum since it’s a tourist spot.

Definitely check Odaiba out if you have some time. It’s a nice change from the busy city center. There is also the Tricks Museum in the Decks Tokyo Beach plaza, which I hear is quite fun!

Cafe Est! Est! (MyLord Shinjuku) – Tokyo

September 7, 2014September 5, 20142 Comments

Mille Crepe Cake Parfait

After lunch at Tamago to Watashi, we found a dessert shop on the same floor. It was called Cafe Est! Est! and the plastic models of the desserts presented in a display outside their store definitely lured us in. They had a large selection of parfaits, crepes and sundaes. Other than desserts, they also have actual main entrees, but we were here for the desserts! After sitting down, we realized that again, each person had to order at least one item. Seeing that the drinks were roughly the same price as the desserts, we ended up each ordering one dessert. For myself, I chose the Mille Crepe Cake Parfait. After having the Mille Crepe from Lady M in Korea, I had to try it again! Unfortunately, this was nothing close to as good as the one from Lady M. It did have the layers of crepe, but it was hard rather than light and fluffy. It didn’t seem like a fresh cake. Underneath, there was a scoop of vanilla ice cream, some corn flakes, and the rest were whipped cream! After eating the cake, I didn’t even end up finishing the rest of it. It was overly sweet and eating pure whipped cream was nasty. It wasn’t even good whipped cream. Super disappointed!

Black Sugar Mochi Crepe

K went for the Black Sugar Mochi Crepe. It was filled with mostly whipped cream and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. On top, there were also mochi that was covered with black sugar. Some sprinkles were added to make it look cute and pretty. I actually enjoyed her crepe much more than my parfait. The black sugar mochi were very yummy!

Cheesecake Parfait

C got the Cheesecake Parfait, which had the same problem as mine. Way too much cream at the bottom! The cheesecake was decent, but it wasn’t the best I’ve had. It was smooth, but again, it didn’t taste fresh. Overall, I wasn’t too pleased with the parfaits at Cafe Est! Est! They are also quite pricey, at around 800 to 1,000 yen for a basic parfait. If you are interested in crazy looking parfaits, then this may be the place for you. They have a famous parfait called EST 48, which has ice cream sundae cones stacked on top of another and reaches 48 centimeters. high. But honestly, I doubt that it tastes that great. It’s more for the looks.

Address: 160-0023 Tokyo, Shinjuku, Nishishinjuku, 1−1−3, 新宿ミロード7階

Tamago to Watashi 卵と私 (MyLord Shinjuku) – Tokyo

September 6, 2014September 5, 2014Leave a comment

The next day, we headed to Shinjuku. Shinjuku is known to be filled with great shopping and businesses. The Shinjuku station is also the busiest train station in the world! Next to the station, there is a large shopping mall called MyLord filled with young women fashion that is more affordable. On the top 3 floors, it nests a variety of restaurants. We ended up trying Tamago to Watashi.

Tamago to Watashi focuses on omurice. It’s an omlette filled with fried rice and can be topped with several different sauces. The most original one is probably topped with ketchup. This is a western style Japanese dish.

Omurice with Demi-Glace Sauce

C and T shared the Omurice with Demi-Glace Sauce. They said the sauce was very good!

Demi-glace and White Sauce Omurice

K and I chose the Demi-glace and White Sauce Omurice. The omlette was mixed with both the demi-glace sauce and a white creamy sauce. The demi-glace came with some mushrooms to bring more flavour to it. The rice was cooked well and served hot.

The restaurant forces you to purchase at least one item per customer, whether it be just a drink or what not. So we ended up getting an iced tea with it. The iced tea was the American type of iced tea, where it was unsweetened. Our meal also came with a soup, which had a very flavourful stock. Overall, Tamago to Watashi was decent. I found it a little pricey with the omurice being at least 1,000 yen. It was good, but wasn’t amazing.

Address: 160-0023 Tokyo, Shinjuku, Nishishinjuku, 1 Chome−1−3, 小田急新宿ミロード7F

Kindenmaru 金伝丸 (Shibuya) – Tokyo

September 5, 20142 Comments

The next morning, we woke up early to take the airport limousine to Incheon Airport. We had the worst luck ever and were stuck in a huge lineup for check in. Luckily, after some speedy runs, we made it to the gate and boarded our Asiana flight. Super happy with the service on Asiana Airlines and I would definitely recommend it! We had great meals even for a 2-3 hour flight, and the flight attendants were extremely friendly! Next thing you know, we were in Tokyo, and we took an airport bus to Shibuya station. We had a terrible encounter dealing with our Airbnb host, but we finally settled in. We stayed literally on the streets of Shibuya, so it was extremely convenient.

For dinner, we walked across the street and found a bunch of restaurants. Shibuya is filled with restaurants, but the shops are also very small! Most of them were actually all occupied. We ended up at Kindenmaru 金伝丸, where we luckily snatched four seats at the bar table. Here, you can watch the chefs prepare your noodles.

In Japan, it’s pretty neat how many ramen shops just place a vending machine, and you can insert your money and click on the dish you want. A little ticket will print out, and you just give it to the server or chef. It’s not about the service at these shops, but rather about the efficiency. You can sit down, get your food, and leave. We realized that most Japanese people don’t linger around and chat at these shops. The ramens at Kindenmaru were roughly 800 to 1000 yen, which was actually a bit pricier than many of the other ramen shops.

Garlic Ramen

T got the Garlic Ramen, which had a deep brown coloured broth. I had a taste of it, and I really enjoyed the flavour! Very rich and thick. If you like more flavourful broths, this is the one for you.

Miso Ramen

K and C both got the Miso Ramen. As you can see, the broth is again very cloudy, showing that the stock had probably simmered for many hours.

Shoyu Ramen

For myself, I chose the Shoyu Ramen, which is soy sauce based. Like the other ramen, it came with a soft boiled egg split in two. The yolk could have been more runny as I found that it was starting to become more of a hard boiled egg. It also came with two slices of cha-shu (pork), beansprouts, corn, kelp, and green onions. The noodles were bouncy and chewy. Loved it! There was also quite a lot of ramen and I was thoroughly full. The only downside was that I found the broth to be a little too salty. Otherwise, it was a delicious bowl of ramen!

Address: 2-9-2 Dogenzaka, Shibuya, Tokyo

Japanese Food in San Francisco

March 13, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Mango Paradise and Salmon Sashimi

Miso Ramen

Shoyu Ramen

Unagi Don

Seafood Ramen

Spicy Sushi Rolls

Here are some pictures of Japanese food I had in San Francisco! I stayed at a hotel in Japan Town, so my hotel was actually connected to a Japanese mall with a whole building of Japanese restaurants! Here are two restaurants that I ate at. They were all authentic Japanese owners and the quality of food was excellent.

Every Day is a Food Day

Tag: Japan