I woke up later than I planned to today and headed over to Harajuku. Last time I was there, I had a guide from the Kera magazine for all the good gothic clothing stores in the area. This time I just wandered around.
I did have a plan though! I was hungry by the time I’m half way there on the subway, so I headed straight for the takoyaki shop. They have a couple of choices, but since I’m alone and can’t eat much, I didn’t risk it and ordered the good old original takoyaki. It was as good as I remember. An order comes with 8 octopus balls and I’m already half full. But of course, that can’t be the end of lunch, even for a small eater like me.
So my next destination was the crepe shop Harajuku Cafe Crepe Strawberry House in front of La Foret, a mall. I ordered the Double Chocolate Banana Whipped Cream Crepe, which had chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, banana slices and, of course, whipped cream in it. It was delicious, except that by the end, there were too much whipped cream left, so I had to pick some out and throw it away. Perhaps I should ask them to put only half the whipped cream next time?
La Foret was a bit of a disappointment. I intended to shop around in the mall for a bit before heading to other street shops, but there weren’t many interesting things there. Not that I expected much, I didn’t really love the mall the last time I was here in 2007. Guess somethings don’t change?
On my way to the crepe shop, though, I ran into Ice Monster, a Taiwanese shaved ice shop, which was full, but not exactly packed. I knew Japanese also love shaved ice, but didn’t know that Ice Monster is also successful in Tokyo.
It makes me wonder why there are no good ice shops in Vancouver. I wonder if it has anything to do with the weather not being hot enough during the summer or if it’s just that we don’t have any decent shaved ice place anymore. I still remember the Hong Kong shaved ice place in the old Aberdeen Centre before it was torn down to be built into what it is today. It was sad that they didn’t decide to open elsewhere.
I also passed by a lobster roll take out place, which seems to be quite popular as there were many people lining up for it. The price was pretty expensive at 1,000+ yen per a small roll, but they do smell good. I would have bought one if I wasn’t half full and planned for crepes.
For the rest of the afternoon, I spent on the Takeshita-dori and side street area shopping. Some shops were on sale and I bought two 3-way purses and a 2-way skirt/dress. I’m totally breaking my budget there, but the purses were well priced to begin with and now 50% off… so that was my excuse, never pass up a good deal…. -_-|||
I didn’t know there was a Calbee Plus at Takeshita-dori until I passed by it. Good thing I didn’t decide to line up for it when I was in Tokyo Station, because there was virtually no line up here. For those who don’t know, Calbee is a potato chips brand and they produce some of my favorite potato chips. So I was very interested in tasting them freshly fried… unfortunately, it wasn’t much of a mind blowing experience.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but, imo, it wasn’t that much different from the packaged ones to justify it being 230 yen for a small container of it. :(
I also saw a bubble tea place, it’s called tapioka in tea rather than bubble tea here… or maybe it’s just that particular store calling it that? Either way, I got curious and bought one. It was small and expensive at 300 yen (approx. $3 CAD) and not good. :(
By the time I realized and got out of Harajuku, it was already late and I still haven’t had any dinner. I didn’t get to visit Meiji Jingu (Meiji Shrine) either because I headed out late, but then oh well, I had fun.
Anyway, I headed over to Roppongi to a restaurant that I’ve been going to every time I go to Tokyo since I was a little kid, Shabu Zen. I think there are a couple of different Shabu Zens around that are owned by different people, serving different cuisines and named with a different Japanese kanji character. But this particular one services both Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki and has high end all you can eat.
With that said, if you are a big eater and would like to order all you can eat from this restaurant, make sure that you’re a really big eater or that you’re with a bunch of people. I’m unsure if they continued the practice now, but it used to be that they will alternate between better meat and not as good meat between dishes. So you’ll get better quality meat on odd dishes and lesser quality meat on even dishes. Of course, the lesser quality meat is still very good, but still.
I, being a small eater, ordered the regular set portion at sirloin quality. The price jump from sirloin to Kobe beef is just too big and there are generally too much fat on the best quality meat that I would have to pick out some of it in order to eat it anyway.
After I went on a diet when I was in high school, I can no longer consume chunks of beef/pork fat. Not that I retained my high school after-diet weight, but my food intake habit had changed much from that time.
The sirloin quality beef is marbled, so there is just the right amount of fat in it for me and it’s delicious. Why can’t all beef taste like this? The set comes with 5 big thin slices of beef, a decent sized plate of vegetables and noodles that are served after you finish the beef and veggies. No rice is served with the set unless you order some. They made their own sesame dipping sauce, which my parents love and you’re also provided with ponzu sauce.
It doesn’t sound like a lot of food for those who normally eat a lot, but it was already very filling for me. The most important part is that it’s very satisfying. I wonder if I have the budget to come back one more time before I leave Japan?
Otome, Romance, etc. 