Morinaga (杏仁豆腐バー) Almond Tofu Bar short review

杏仁豆腐バー by Morinaga (森永)

I love Almond Tofu (杏仁豆腐) especially when I'm having Japanese-Chinese food (中華料理). It is usually lightly sweetened with a hint of Oriental almond taste. The Tofu is smoother than normal tofu. I was very excited to try this :D. 

Translation for what is written on the box:

It is a chewy, sticky ice cream (もっちりアイス)

Mainly Coconut fruits and Yellow Peach (椰果＆黃桃)

Lactic Ice - this product contains milk (ラクトアイス) (this is important to note since a lot of Asians are lactose intolerant)

It contains 3% of fruit flesh (果肉3%)

It contains coconut fruits (the chewy "fruits" derived from coconuts) (コリコリナタデコ)

杏仁豆腐バー

impressions:

• very sticky
• has a nice chewy texture (モチ)
• was surprised they used coconut fruits for the "fruit elements"
• a bit sweeter than your normal almond tofu
• it melts but also doesn't melt

 I liked it! I was a bit taken back by the sweetness (compared to normal Almond Tofu), though. I really enjoyed the chewiness of the ice bar and enjoyed munching away at the coconut fruits and yellow peach :)

It was a very chewy experience ;) モチモチ感じ

What I found interesting while eating was the "tofu" elements weren't very cold and weren't melting (they gave in to the warmth of your mouth but not to the warmth of the air), the only part that melted was the icy milk ice cream part. I felt I had enough time to enjoy this and allowed the tofu to melt in my mouth. 

score: 9.5/10
website: https://www.morinagamilk.co.jp/products/icecream/natadecoco_in/6771.html

Mike Sesame Oil Popcorn review

ごま油ポップコーン

so... I saw this sitting at the bottom of my drafts and realized I forgot to publish it (I wrote this review on June 11, 2018)... it has been 3 years and I haven't seen it reappear... still... I thought I would share this with you. 

One of my favourite "oils" of all time is sesame oil... and one of my favourite snacks happens to be popcorn... so you can imagine my excitement when I found a whole shelf of these Sesame Oil Popcorn bags lying around at my local grocery store!

impressions:

• strong seaweed taste
• where is the sesame oil?
• has a strong "Mike's popcorn taste" (which I'm not particularly a fan of...)

I was disappointed and I hope they never bring this back... when you say there is sesame oil and the aroma or taste is not there... that is extremely careless... I did taste the seaweed

score: 5/10

website: no website

Cafe Bon Shinjuku (自家焙煎珈琲 凡) review

One of my ex-colleagues introduced this place to me and it has quickly become one of my favourite go-to cafes in Tokyo. 

The concept behind this cafe is the owner of the shop will choose a cup that matches what you are wearing or your personality. Every cup is different as he has traveled the world collecting teacups, so there is a story behind every cup. 

I love the ambiance of this cafe, it is perfect to go to on a cold or hot afternoon (it is both cozy and cooling). The place reminds me of the tea party from Alice in Wonderland. (I couldn't take pictures but managed to do an instagram story. (see youtube link or access below)

The tea/coffees are a bit on the pricey side (approximately ¥1500-2000 per cup). But you can stay as long as you want. On weekdays when the cafe is not busy, you can chat with the owner and learn about his adventures.

score: 8.9/10
website: https://cafebon.crayonsite.net/
address: 3 Chome-23-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0022, Japan
自家焙煎珈琲 凡

Coca Cola's Apple Coke mini review

It is no secret that Coca Cola is one of the best-tasting soft drinks in the world!

I am very fortunate to be in Japan where mixing coke with other beverages is common.

A few weeks ago, I found these Coca Cola with Apple flavour lying around my local grocery store and decided to get it!

impressions:

• they used Japanese Fuji Apple juice
• I LOVE IT
• reminds me of Autumn (because of the subtle apple taste)

The apple juice (think Japanese apple juice... not the American/Canadian kind) which is lightly apple with a hint of sweetness complements the coke so well! While it makes the coke flavour less coke, the lightly scent of an apple makes your tastebuds wonder what is that familiar subtle taste?

I highly recommend it (and I have already drank 3 bottles)

score: 9.5/10
website: https://www.cocacola.co.jp/brands/coca-cola_/cocacola13

Family Mart's Tapioca Milk Tea review

One of the things I miss about Toronto is the convenience to get boba/bubble tea/珍珠奶茶 (whichever you like to call it). It's not that there aren't any in Tokyo, they are just located in touristy areas (places I hardly go to... and when I do there is usually a LONG line) I have seen this at Family Mart for quite some time and I finally managed to buy it and try!

impressions:

• not real milk tea... tastes like Japanese royal milk tea >____<
• tapioca tastes like it is made out of 大菜糕 (not chewy enough and very veggie like)

the "tapioca"

first off for what you pay for, it is a good deal (only ¥238). BUT... it tastes nothing like the real thing. The tapioca isn't made from the same ingredients in authentic tapioca, they are less chewy, smaller, and not sweet.

I was very disappointed with the milk tea. It tasted a lot of Japanese Royal Milk Tea. If you haven't had the real thing, this is worth a try, but if you had the real authentic Bubble Milk Tea then you will be quite disappointed.


score: 6.5/10
website: http://www.family.co.jp/goods/drink/1753301.html

Ichiran Instant ramen noodles 一蘭ラーメン review

ichiran ramen

If you have been following me for a while, you will know that Ichiran is one of my favourite-go-to fast food places in Tokyo (minus the long lines). Because of this, I was very curious to know how similar or different their instant ramen version is to the ones in their shop.

A package costs ¥2000 (or a bit more, less than ¥2800 for sure) and contains five servings. 

the instructions

A disclaimer, after cooking and preparing for these ramen noodles for 3 times... my verdict is... PLEASE follow your own instinct... the instructions DO NOT work... I had a frustrating 2 times before I decided to use my common sense and they tasted how I wanted to. (This includes how much water you should add, how long the ramen/noodles should be cooked for).

the bowl of Ichiran instant ramen I made at home!

impressions:

• easy to make (again, DO NOT FOLLOW THEIR INSTRUCTIONS)
• 80% similar to the taste at the shop
• you can put in how much hot sauce you would like
• good souvenir if you do not live in Japan

So I took this picture before I added in the garnishes and eggs since these were the only items included in the package.

I was impressed with how similar in taste this is to the real thing.

You can find them all over Tokyo but I wouldn't procrastinate if you want to buy them because I have seen a lot of sold out signs for these in a lot of places. (These are in demand!)

I love how I can have something similar at home without having to go to the shop and wait in line!

score: 8.3/10
website: https://en.ichiran.com/index.php
I found it on Amazon (affiliated link)--> https://amzn.to/2HIA8qK

also... please check out my personal blog and follow me around Tokyo :)

Japan 7-Eleven's fried chicken mini review

their regular ななチキン (7 chicken)

Japan 7-Eleven's fried chicken is so good! :P you'd be surprised to know that I was full after eating only 2 pieces!

this one had cheese inside

They are marinaded properly (meaning: enough salt and spices to make it taste good but not too much to steal the flavour from the meat) the meat was very tender, juicy and fresh.

After trying their regular 7 chicken and the one with cheese, I would get the normal one. If you are adventurous and curious, then get the cheese one. The cheese one was not worth the extra ¥10-¥30.

score: 8/10
website: no website

Sweet Box Fried Potato Sticks review

While a lot of people like Calbee's fried potato sticks, I was never a fan of those. I felt that they were too thin and reminded me too much of potato chips for me to consider them potato sticks. 

I came across these while shopping at my local grocery store (I was craving something cheesy) and decided to give these a try, they were only ¥99 for 50g, which is quite reasonable.

impressions:

• thick cut
• similar to French Fries
• very crispy on the outside with a slight softness on the inside
• needs more of a cheesy taste
• strong potato taste

I prefer these to Calbee's because they are shaped more like French fries and are crispy, like a very crispy French Fry (they are slightly soft inside, whereas Calbee's are hard and crispy inside and out).

Like most Japanese cheesy flavoured snacks, they need to put WAY more cheese flavour.

Other than that, I'm quite fancying these :)

score: 8/10

website: no website

also... please check out my personal blog and follow me around Tokyo :)

Buruzu Azabu Juban Yakiniku short review

Happy New Year!!! I ate this back in 2018... but I didn't have time to write about it... so here it is! 

the name of the place is: ブルズ焼き肉 (BULLS in English)

I had one of the best dining and also worse services at this restaurant. I was torn when I had to rate this place. The food was fantastic but the service was one of the worse.

This was the set menu... unfortunately, the ¥6000 set required us to tell the restaurant well in advance. Out of ¥8,000 and ¥10,000, we chose ¥10000. The reason was the UniNiku (雲丹肉 Sea Urchin with Beef)

 The 雲丹肉 was the deciding factor when we chose the restaurant as well as the set. (only the ¥10000 included this in their set... regular price is ¥800 / piece).

Pumpkin soup and beef tartar

presentation of table

Add caption

in the dish next in front of the uniniku, you can see a sauce dish. Left is a strong yuzu sauce and right is salt.

the sauces from left to right: onion sauce, some sour sauce, lemon sauce

the salad was really good. I really liked the salad dressing... it was salt based.

the kimchi Korean platter

the meat platter... :9 (is your mouth watering yet?)

it deserves another picture

and another one

the stove was big making the meat look small... but they weren't... 

in the end they gave us pickles

this dish required us to cook on the stove 5 seconds each side.

the result (there was a piece of rice we had to wrap around

we had an assortment of ramen to choose from cold, spicy to mild. I chose the spicy one

a sherbert to finish the meal off

and finally... the candy basket. which contained a lot of random candy, breath mints, some mints to clean your stomach and gum.

the service:

it was terrible. First, the servers did not know what food was included and couldn't answer any of our questions. They were unprofessional and extremely rude.

the restaurant closes at 11:00. But they started kicking us out at 9:15... and then ushered us out by 10:00... (we gave them the benefit of the doubt thinking maybe we were the only ones left... BUT when we walked out of the booth, there were two more tables still eating... and there was no line).

During the moments they think they could charge us extra (for the ramen, if we chose a Spanish Paella, we had to pay ¥700 extra) they came acting nice and trying hard to convince us to upgrade when we declined they gave us a dirty look and left.

service score: 4.5/10
food score: 9.5/10
website: http://yakiniku-bulls.com/

if you are interested, please check out my personal blog and follow me around Tokyo :)

Lion's feet and legs soothing sheets resting time neat foot review

Kyusoku Jikan - Lion Corporation

I threw away the actual box, but if you take this picture to any drugstore in Japan, they will know what you are looking for. The box looks more colourful.

As I have started working and officially an office lady, I have no choice but to wear heels all the time. When I get home at night, my feet would cramp (super painful). 

I found these (which by the way are one of the more popular souvenirs in Tokyo) and decided to give them a try. 

Description:

• A moisture-rich sheet that cools your legs through the vaporization of water, helps to care for your tired legs after a long day of standing, walking, wearing high or doing sports. 
• Formulated with 5 aromatic oil fragrances, it also relaxes your senses while pampering your legs. 
• The adhesive is gentle on your skin and adheres firmly to the leg till the next morning.

Directions:

1. Use it after showering or before going to bed.
2. Ensure skin is dry and clean before using.
3. Remove half of the transparent film and affix to the required area i.e. calf, sole or ankle. Remove the other half of the transparent film.
4. For best cooling results, refrigerate it prior to use. Do not store in freezer.

pros:

• easy to apply
• slight minty smell
• works! 
• gets rid of foot cramps (on heel days)
• self-adhesive
• works on leg muscles (you will feel the difference the next day)
• affordable - ¥700 (approx) for 18 sheets

cons:

• smell
• easily slips off of feet (especially when you walk) 
• need to be absolutely still

I put them on my feet/legs before I go to sleep (so I don't have to use my legs and feet as much) and when I wake up the next day, my feet and leg muscles feel much more soothed.

Sometimes (depending on the season and your body temperature) you will slowly get a minty cooling sensation which also helps you relax. (I haven't tried storing them in the refrigerator before... so I'm not sure whether that would enhance the cooling feeling).

I highly recommend it!

score: 9.5/10
website: http://www.lioncorp.com.sg/Kyusoku%20Jikan/kyusoku-jikan.html