LANI THE CREATOR: food

Sekai no Yamachan: My New Love

By Lani - 12:33:00 PM

To conclude this wonderful Japanese food adventure, here is Sekai no Yamachan. They are a known fried chicken chain restaurant in Japan. They are known for their fried chicken and the very special way you can eat them. You can slide the chicken right off the bone in one bite! They have specific instructions on their menu and chopstick covers. Check out their website (link at the end of this post) to learn more about their history and see the instructions for yourself!

You can order up to fifty wings and more depending on how hungry you and your friends are. When I went, my family and I ordered about fifty wings for four people. They separated it into plates of twenty-five and it was great. The wings have a distinct peppery taste that makes them slightly spicy, but delicious. There is also a variety of drinks, appetizers, and other dishes to pair with your fried chicken. We got the Yamachan salad along with some Japanese pickles which went well together.

Honestly, after eating at Yamachan, I don't think I can ever eat chicken wings anywhere else. I was never a fan of having to nibble around the bone and make sure all the bits were eaten. This place changed my life.

Yamachan's Website: http://yamachan.co.jp/english/

It saddens me that this will be my last post about Japan for a while. I hope that I can continue this series with restaurants and other places in my hometown. If there is a restaurant or food place you want to recommend, leave a comment down below! I always love hearing about new and good food.

Hope you all enjoyed this segment on Japan! Here's to the next adventure!

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Ganso Mentai Nikomi Tsukemen

By Lani - 12:30:00 PM

Ganso Mentai Nikomi Tsukemen is known for their mentaiko-based tsukemen, or fish egg based dipping ramen. The only dish they serve is their tsukemen, so if you're looking for variety, this isn't the place to go. However, their main dish is very worth it. According to outside sources, this ramen shop has been featured on Japanese television. When you enter, you are prompted to pick how spicy you want your order to be with wooden chips. On top of that, you can choose how many grams of noodles you want and if you want rice on the side. Besides that, the main dish is set.

The tsukemen broth itself was so flavorful. Since it's meant for tsukemen, it is more condensed than regular broth. It was thick, hot and salty, which is perfect for dipping cold noodles into.

Once you're finished with your noodles, you can decide to pour hot soup broth into the remainder of your tsukemen broth to water it down. This turns it into the perfect soup broth which will fill you up with warmth. You can even add in your extra rice if you prefer.

For dessert, we ordered their caramel pudding. It was similar to a flan, but the top has jello-like bits of caramel instead. It added a bitterness to the sweet and rich pudding. It was quite nice after a hot and flavorful meal.

I really enjoyed the food here. It was a bit intimidating at first because none of the waiters spoke English and everyone around us seemed like a local. However, the delicious food made up for it and I would definitely come back here again.

Address: 2F, No. 7 Yahagi Bldg. 1-21-5 Minami-ikebukuro, Toyoshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0022

Website: mentaitsukemen.com/en/

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Asakusa Food Tour

By Lani - 12:31:00 PM

Aside from its famous temple, Asakusa is filled with many different foods to try. Along the street leading to the temple, there are a bunch of small shops selling different types of food. These range from fresh rice crackers to traditional Japanese desserts.

The first place we visited was a melon pan shop called Kagestsudo. "Melon pan" is named after melons because of the way it looks, but does not traditionally taste like melon.When I bit into the bread, it was perfectly crisp on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. It wasn't overly sweet and it was comforting to eat. The shop has the atmosphere of a 1950s Japanese shop. Each melon pan costs 200 yen a piece (or 300 yen for five) which makes it a great afternoon snack.

Address : 1-18-11 Asakusa, Taito-ku

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On the outskirts of the temple, there is a tea shop called Suzukien that sells a range of green tea gelato. They had them organized by strength of matcha infused into the gelato. They have the richest matcha flavored gelato in the world. There were levels 1-7, I got level one, my mother got level two, and my dad got level seven for kicks. In the end, we liked what we got for ourselves. Since they are a teahouse with over 150 years of history, they also sell a wide variety of teas!

Address : 3-4-3 Asakusa, Taito-ku

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There are many fresh rice cracker, or senbei, shops along Nakamise street, but we decided to try this one. It had a few different flavors including soy sauce and wasabi. Wrapped in seaweed, or nori, it has a strong crunch and grilled flavor. Rice crackers are my personal favorite snack, so this was perfect for me.

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After walking for a while, we visited Karaage Yukari that is known for their fried chicken. The chicken in coated in a light flavored batter. When I bit into it, there was a nice crunch on the outside and a juicy inside. I'm not usually a fan of chicken and am picky about my karaage, but this one was very delicious in my opinion. The place is take-out-only so be aware that you can't eat at the location if you go visit!

Address : 1-24-7 Asakusa, Taito-ku

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Asakusa is a great place to try many different types of food. There is a large variety of traditional and non-traditional foods to try in the area. Plus, since it's mostly street food, you can try a lot without feeling stuffed! I was full and content after our journey through Asakusa. However, I still feel like there is more for me to try and would love to go back for more!

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Woodberry's: My Favorite Dessert Place

By Lani - 12:38:00 PM

Woodberry's is a fresh fruit, frozen yogurt cafe in Kichijoji. From afar, they look like parfaits, but they don't contain regular ice cream! They ferment their yogurt in-house and have been located in Kichijoji for 21 years now. You might be wondering, why did you get frozen yogurt in the middle of winter? Well, I heard about this place from Simon and Martina (go check out their video, link below!) and I couldn't resist the sound of it.

You can choose from multiple base flavors of yogurt and a couple of topping options. Everything is seasonal, and their fruits change regularly. The first time I went, they were serving an apple, orange, and yellow kiwi combination. But, the next time I went, which was within the same week, they had swapped out the kiwi for grapes.

The yogurt is cold, icy and flavorful. The regular plain yogurt has the perfect amount of sweetness without an overpowering sour yogurt taste. It is faintly tart and matches very well with the fresh fruit toppings. The fruit flavored yogurts were delicious and flavored with real fruits.

I would highly recommend this place to anyone visiting! It's a unique and relaxing shop with refreshing frozen yogurt. All their information is down below!

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Address: 1-Chome-20-14 Kichijōji Honchō
Woodberry's Website: https://www.woodberrys.co.jp/
Simon & Martina's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVYuOzMI6_4

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food

A Classic: Sushi

By Lani - 12:39:00 PM

Tokyo Sushi Say

As cliche as it might sound, sushi is one of my favorite Asian foods. It is refreshing, filling, and delicious. I personally love how it can be made it a variety of ways, but remains simple in its original form. Over the years, sushi has become more popular around the world and has evolved. During my stay in Japan, I was able to go to a few places that I enjoyed, some new and some old.

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Located in Tokyo station, Tokyo Sushi Say offers high quality sushi in a convenient location. You can go shopping, stop by for some quality Tsukiji market sushi, and go back to shopping. Compared to the places in Tsukiji Market, this place isn't as top-notch, but it was still decent for the price point. It took us forever to find this place. Don't use Google maps when wandering around a multi-level station, it gets very confusing unless you know what you're doing!

Address: 1 Chome-9-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo

Ever since my friend introduced me to Hamazushi, eating at conveyor sushi bars has never been the same. Hamazushi is known for being a 100 yen family-friendly sushi restaurant. Majority of the menu is a straight 100 yen with the exception of special items, but even those items are still very affordable. The wait at this place during mealtimes is always really long. This time, we waited for over an hour to get a table! But, in the end, it's worth it for the price and the delicious sushi. We went to the location near Toyosu station, near Odaiba. There are many other locations, though, so be sure to check where the closest one is to you!

Address: 3 Chome-4-8 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo

Sushiro is another affordable conveyor belt sushi in Japan. At this specific location, the plates weren't 100 yen each, BUT they had three tiers that were still very affordable. According to their website, most of the locations should serve sushi at only 100 yen per plate. My personal favorite pieces were the seared salmon nigiri, the hotate scallop, and the minced tuna with egg. This place is always a MUST for me if I'm visiting Japan. If you're lucky and depending on the location, they will have specials where all the plates are less than 100 yen, or 1 dollar.

Address: 6-9-9 Ueno, Taito-Ku, Tokyo

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Menchi Katsu Galore

By Lani - 12:37:00 PM

Juicy, meaty, and tasty with a satisfying crunch. Menchi katsu is a Japanese deep-fried ground meat patty mixed with white onions and seasoning. It is coated with bread crumbs, or panko, which gives it a crunchy exterior.

The first menchi katsu spot we visited was Satou in Kichijoji. They have a steakhouse upstairs, but on the first floor, they serve their popular menchi katsu. The line can get pretty long, so be aware of that if you decide to stop by! The menchi katsu was so juicy and crunchy; my eyes lit up when I bit into it. It was full of flavor and I couldn't get enough of it. They serve a variety of fried foods, like croquette and pork cutlet. But, their mechi katsu is what they are known for. I would definitely come back here to try out more items!

Menchi katsu originated in Asakusa. So, on our wonderful street food tour around Asakusa, we decided to go to the original place, Asakusa Menchi. They weren't as crunchy as the ones from Satou, but they were just as juicy and delicious. It was perfect to escape the cold wind and warm you up inside.

This last place that we tried was in Ueno, near Ameyoko Street. We stumbled upon Niku no Ohyama while exploring the area. The place seemed popular with business men. They served beer and alcohol and had standing tables for people to drink and eat. It was a different environment compared to the others because there was a designated eating area.

I never had the chance to try menchi katsu before this trip, and I'm honestly obsessed. I love it so much. They were perfect for the cold winter weather. There was something nostalgic about the taste and texture of the meat that made me feel warm and happy inside.

Satou : 1 Chome-1-8 Kichijōji Hanchō, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-0004, Japan

Asakusa Menchi : 2 Chome-3-3 Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo 111-0032, Japan

Niku no Ohyama : 6 Chome-13-2 Ueno, Taitō, Tokyo 110-0005, Japan

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Shirohige's Cream Puff Factory - A Totoro Café

By Lani - 12:32:00 PM

Shirohige's Cream Puff Factory is known for their Studio Ghibli, specifically Totoro, themed style and delicious Totoro shaped cream puffs. They are tucked away in the suburbs of Tokyo. The cream puffs were light and creamy with a slightly hard shell. My favorite was their strawberry cream puff; the cream tasted like a lighter strawberry ice cream. Being a Studio Ghibli fan, I was excited to visit this café, but I was happily surprised to see that there was more to it than just cream puffs.

They had a small, but nice selection of pastas to choose from. There were four of us that went so we were able to get one of each! Sadly, I wasn't able to capture a good photo of the fourth one. The pasta was tasty and the noodles were cooked perfectly; not too hard and not too soft. I was honestly surprised to find that they had very good pasta dishes, considering that I only heard about their cream puffs.

Overall, it was a cute restaurant that hidden away from the hustle bustle of the city. It's perfect for a quiet lunch, a small snack, or a hot cup of tea. The interior is small and tight, but allows for a more intimate experience. I would definitely bring people here, especially if they love Totoro!

If you want to visit this place on your own, the address is down below!

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Address: 5-3-1 Daita, Setagaya 155-0033 Tokyo Prefecture

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Hotcakes, Pancakes

By Lani - 12:30:00 PM

The famous pancake (or hotcake in Japan) that has circulated around the internet has made its way to my stomach. This beauty is located at West Aoyama Garden, near the National Art Center in Tokyo. I had promised a friend, and myself, that I would finally eat these pancakes. Honestly, it was the best pancake I've ever had in my life. It was thick, but very fluffy and light. I thought it had a great true pancake taste. I only needed the minimal amount of syrup on it to make it taste good. And I'm usually the type of person that will DRENCH their pancakes in syrup.

Address: 1-22-10 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Happy Pancake is a chain restaurant/cafe that serves these gorgeous, souffle pancakes. I went to the location in Kichijoji which had a casual and friendly vibe. They have many different options to choose from ranging from the classic with caramel syrup to one with raspberry syrup. (Both pictured above) The butter on top is infused with Manuka Honey, giving it a sweet flavor. It was delicious and light and didn't leave me feeling overly stuffed!

Address: 301, Brick Pavilion Mall, 1-8-5 Kichijoji Honcho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo

If you have the chance to visit these places while you're in Japan, I would highly recommend both of them! They are very different in style and taste despite the fact that they are both considered pancakes. On top of that, West Aoyama Garden has a classy setting with high-tea and calm, classical music, while Happy Pancake has a more comfortable, casual atmosphere.

If you've been to these places, let me know what you thought in the comments below!

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ITADAKIMASU Series

By Lani - 12:30:00 PM

"ITADAKIMASU" is translated to "I humbly receive" and is a Japanese phrase that is said before eating a meal. I grew up using this statement before my meals as a way to appreciate my food. In a way, it made me excited for the meal in front of me. I'll be kicking off this series with all the different foods I ate while in Japan!

I've been to Japan before, but this trip felt like it was dedicated to food. Despite all the sightseeing we did, we were still able to fit in all of our meals and included so many snacks and street food when we could. I always felt a sense of joy when I tried new delicious food. This feeling inspired me to create this series and share that joy with all of you!

The first handful of posts will be dedicated to a certain food, place, or day of my trip. I'm so grateful that I rarely ever felt hungry on this trip and my heart was always as full as my stomach. I hope you all will look forward to the series and discover new foods through it!

Thanks for reading!

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#notafoodie

Honey & Butter | #NotAFoodie

By Lani - 3:00:00 PM

I was at the Irvine Spectrum center the other day as I was heading back down from OC when I stumbled upon this really cute dessert place called Honey & Butter. I had never heard of it before and I only tried it because my mom insisted on seeing what it was.

When I decided to try their oreo flavored macaron, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it. I'm pretty picky when it comes to my macarons and I usually prefer tea/flower flavors. However, I was happily surprised at how yummy it was. My mom got their "character" macaron in the shape of a panda filled with regular cream. They weren't overly sweet to me, but having just one was perfect as an afternoon treat. We didn't decide try their ice cream, but I definitely saw a few people getting cups and cones of it. Maybe I'll try it next time.

My favorite thing about the shop was the aesthetics. They had TsumTsum plushies everywhere as well as Totoro, Pusheen, and other adorable characters. The place is pretty spacious and open, but they only have one long table that customers can share. The wooden swing in front of their Instagram chalkboard is perfect to take photos in front of and though I don't have a photo of me sitting there, a part of me wishes I had taken one. Haha!

Overall, Honey & Butter has a minimalistic/modern feel with adorable sweets to try out. I would recommend stopping by, even if it was just to admire the super cute stuffed animals!

Thanks so much for reading!

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Stories

Sekai no Yamachan: My New Love

Ganso Mentai Nikomi Tsukemen

Asakusa Food Tour

Woodberry's: My Favorite Dessert Place

A Classic: Sushi

Menchi Katsu Galore

Shirohige's Cream Puff Factory - A Totoro Café

Hotcakes, Pancakes

ITADAKIMASU Series

Honey & Butter | #NotAFoodie

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