23Dec / 2022

Hormone Dedesuke – Ginza, Japan

One of the goals in Japan was to try some good A5 Wagyu. We were hungry and just trying to find a restaurant for dinner and stumbled upon Hormone Dedesuke. We weren’t sold on it initially and did a lot of back and forth before we finally went in. I’m glad we did, it turned out great! Pricey but it’s A5 wagyu, what do you expect??

Our waitress was a nice young lady from the Phillippines so her English was great. Whew. They have a wagyu set you can choose but I would opt against it, you don’t get to choose what cuts of meat the kitchen gives you. She basically pointed at the good ones and said don’t expect that if you order the set. So yeah, we went ala carte on our own. One thing I didn’t love, the service charge? Sitting fee? Service charge? This was the only restaurant we encountered that.

Yay for vegetables. The only veggies to be grilled are the corn, asparagus and mushrooms. Yup, you eat the big hunking chunks of cabbage raw. It was fine. It was seasoned with sesame oil and salt and pepper. I liked it.

Beef Tongue (unsure if this was A5 lol, kidding) | ¥1800

The tongue was good. But I don’t think I’ve had bad tongue (that’s what she said).

Flap Meat | ¥2420

Oh yum, first of the A5 courses. Delicious. Yup, you grill it yourself. I laugh cause the sign looks like it says flop meat. LOL.

A5 Sirloin | ¥4800

I gotta say, I would never choose a sirloin over other cuts but I think the sirloin was my favorite cut of the night. It was so good. I mean all the meats were melt in your mouth kine tender but this one just had a special touch.

A5 Rib Roast | ¥4800

Look at the hunk of fat you use to I guess season the grill, mmmm. I liked that they included wasabi, it was a nice topper to cut into the richness of the meat. They give dipping sauces, it’s very similar to Korean BBQ sauces.

Bibimbap | ¥1300

This might sound silly but dang this bibimbap was good. Like, maybe one of my favorites I have ever had of all time. Crazy right. I just loved the seasoning and vegetables they used. It was just…made perfect. I loved it. I’ll dream about it. I had weird cravings during this trip, because TMI, I was PMSing. 🙂 Meal well enjoyed!

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21Dec / 2022

Din Tai Fung – Ginza, Japan

Another country, another Din Tai Fung. I can’t help myself and my friend had never tried them before so we just had to right? I think I am slowly getting over my Din Tai Fung obsession, it wasn’t a great experience.

Spicy Pickled Cucumbers | ¥550

Good, not great? Not as pickled as I would have liked.

Pork Chop with Fried Rice | ¥1600

My favorite dish of the meal. I really liked their fried rice, had a good taste of MSG. Hahaha MSG gets a bad rep, I like when I can taste it in fried rice.

Steamed Shrimp and Pork Shiaomai (4 pc) | ¥800

Ehhh, if I compare it to the siumai from home. Thumbs down.

Pork XiaoLongBao (4 pc) | ¥660

My friend says he was disappointed because they weren’t as big or soupy as he expected. I don’t blame him for the disappointment. It was just alright. I think the better deal they had going was their lunch specials. For a pretty good price, you could get a noodle dish and side XLB. We weren’t that hungry since we had breakfast that morning so we only ordered this much. I would come back to order their meal set!

Here’s the restaurant being fancy just to be fancy. I should have put my jacket on the same chair as my purse, because they used two big cloth napkins to cover my purse and my jacket. I guess they are trying to protect it from any potential spills? I don’t know. A little extra in my mind, lol.

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20Dec / 2022

Japan Glasses & Wifi

Hi folks! Just a quick side post for some things I found neat! My eye doctor mentioned that I could get glasses in Japan for cheaper – and that the frames are better made for Asian faces, are lightweight and can be done quick. SOLD. I am due for a new pair of glasses anyway. Thank you so much to kat for answering all my random questions and sharing this place with me! There was a JINS in Ginza so I checked them out!

A pretty painless process! They have all the frames out for you to look at, when you are ready, you bring the frame to them and show them your prescription. I asked how long it would take since I am a tourist and they said it would depend on the power I needed. If they have the lens in stock, it would take 30 MINUTES. I was like dumbfounded. I showed them my prescription and they had it! So they did something real quick with a machine and my face and took to work.

You pay for your glasses and they give you a ticket telling you what time to return. Yup, it was ready in 30 minutes. When I came back, they showed me the glasses and then had me put them on so they could adjust the frames to fit my face perfectly. The glasses also come with a free hard case. I almost wish I got another pair! Highly recommend!

Do you folks have a preferred wifi provider in Japan? I’ve been using Global Advanced Communications for all the years I’ve been traveling to Japan. This is not an ad, no one is paying me anything. I just think they are reliable and the cost is pretty good! Just wanted to show you what you get – and the package with all of this is waiting for me when I checked into my hotel. I could use this unit all through Japan and they give you a pre-paid envelope to return everything in when you’re at the airport. It was great. This wifi pocket is a pretty old unit, I mean, I am pretty sure this is the same one I got the last time I was in Japan like 3 years ago lol. It’s okay, it worked great.

I also used an IC card for the first time this trip, what a breeze. Why didn’t I do this earlier? I actually went to a JR station to look for the Welcome Suica card made for travelers. Why not? I didn’t have to pay a deposit and it has a cute cherry blossom design. Using that card to just scan my way through all the train stations was great, it works at basically all the subway and train stations. It also worked in both Tokyo and Osaka and it’s very easy to refill the card at all stations.

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19Dec / 2022

2022 Japan – Day 1

Hi everyone! I am back! I am soo happy and relieved to report that I did not get sick once during my trip. Sick as in travel sick. I did incredibly well on the plane rides/train rides/bus rides. It might be a mixture of things but I also tried Bonine this time around and since I did well this trip, I guess Bonine will be the thing I take from here on out.

My flight in and out of Japan was through Hawaiian Airlines. They had a killer deal flying in and out of Narita so we had to snatch it up! It was around $687 round trip? Sounds good to me! We decided to do half the trip in Tokyo and half the trip in Osaka, instead of train-ing it, we decided to take a domestic flight. That was an interesting trip. Maybe I’ll do a side post on it.

For our first night, we threw down our stuff and headed to grab some dinner before resting for the night. I was actually looking for Ippudo and this place was closer so we just went for it. It was okay. We got tripped up by the machine because it was all in Japanese and only a few buttons had pictures lol.

Well first off, the char siu is hard as a rock. They slice it up ice cold and just throw it on top of the ramen. Who wants hard pieces of meat? The egg and noodles were good. The broth was…RICH. All in all, I wouldn’t go back again but was nice to start the trip off with some ramen!

Just another example of how Japan does everything better. This is their Starbucks Reserve. Our hotel was in Ginza so we spent the first day of the trip just staying within Ginza. This Starbucks was super close to our hotel. It was a bit confusing for me, you order downstairs and then go upstairs for seating. My drink was prepared upstairs but the sandwich I asked for was served to me on a tray downstairs. Their English wasn’t great haha.

I got the Winter Cinnamon Latte! I just couldn’t resist. I just noticed I paid ¥940 for a cup of coffee. What is blended? Oops! I just went for it.

Look at how cute the coffee is! The design, the whole cinnamon stick. The drink was lovely. Nice and mild, not bitter and just a nice touch of cinnamon.

Just a deli meat sandwich. Very dry. No mayo at all. It was okay, not great.

My friend’s plate! And look! They have the lemon loaf cake in Japan too! Very different. Very dense – it’s not bad but not great. I wouldn’t get it again, just stick to the one in Hawaii. I don’t wanna clog this post up with too many pictures! More posts to come!

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02Nov / 2022

Las Vegas Eats Part #1 (April 2022)

Okay, these pictures are 6 months old. Sorry, a lot has happened since this trip. I don’t know what was up with me but I was sick for almost the entire trip. I got super air sick and just when I thought it was better, it flared up again the next day. It was such a bummer. I still tried to eat some good stuff while I was there. I also came home and tested positive for covid a day after I came home so I don’t know if I was going through it with Covid during the trip or…from the travel home. My constant travel companion that shared a room with me did not get covid so it was all very confusing.

This was my 3rd trip to Vegas and I did enjoy it despite the sickness. I think it is because I am older and wiser (debateable), anyway it was nice traveling again after a 2 year forced break. First stop after we landed? It was late night so we found a ramen joint that is open very late hours, Shokku Ramen. We ordered takeout to bring back to the room because the wait to eat in was too long.

Ichiraku | $24.20
traditional pork broth served with yellow noodles, pork chashu, soy-cured egg, bamboo shoots, naruto, nori & green onions

Not my dish, it was enjoyed but is that worth $25? I don’t know.

Large Chasu Fried Rice | $13.20
egg rice, seasoned and wok-fried with pork, imitation crab, green onions & ginger

Yeah, so I was still feeling kind of nauseous so I went for a comfort food. Fried rice. I thought it was alright, nothing to write home about (even though I am writing a blog about it)

Gyoza | $12.10
7 grilled japanese dumplings

Once again. Nothing special. It was probably made in-house which is nice but $12 for a few gyoza is not my idea of a good time. I am looking at their website and noticed their dining in menu is way cheaper than their take-out menu. That’s dirty.

Next place is Korean! Once again, wasn’t feeling great nor was I wanting anything to eat but I think when you’re sick, you should be hydrated and fed! So we ordered take-out from Seoul Tofu, they are old school so we had to do a phone order.

Seafood and Green Onion Pancake | $14.95

Really good! I wish I wasn’t sick so I could eat more of this.

Free Banchan!

I love how they packed this and I liked the sides they give! Sometimes banchan is my favorite part of the meal.

Bibimbap | $14.95

Ugh, I don’t know how much of a thing this is in all Korean restaurants but they had quite a bit of romaine lettuce in this. I did not like it. I don’t like romaine lettuce in my bibimbap. Other than that, this dish would have been good! Part 1 pau!

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10Dec / 2021

Mixed Plate Friday

Happy Aloha Friday! We are creeping closer and closer to Christmas. You ready or what? I am writing this post early but I’ll just say yes to move this along. I plan to do some baking this season as well so let’s see how that goes. This is probably going to be my final Florida post on food – then we can get back to the regular schedule. Can you guess where my first meal in Florida was?

It’s a laugh I even walked around the store beforehand. Get me to thee meatballs!!!

Swedish Meatball Plate | $5.99
Traditional 8 pc. Swedish Meatball Meal served with Mashed Potatoes and Lingonberry Jam

This dish is my comfort food. After my bout of food poisoning while in the air to Florida, I just couldn’t wait to nourish my soul with some Swedish meatballs. Did they hit the spot? Absolutely.

Smoked Salmon Salad

I never saw this dish before and I can’t find the price, it’s just a simple salad with smoked salmon. The dressing is very strong in dill flavor.

Apple Cake | $1.99
tart with layers of almond paste, apples and crumble

Oh yes, my apple crumble adventures continues. It happens here in Hawaii and of course twice in Florida. It was pretty good! Served cold. I was kind of good, I mainly ate the topping and left most of the crust. I guess that makes it a diet dish? Ha. Ha. Ha.

There was an AYCE hot pot place right next to our hotel so while our meals were usually spoken for, we did make it out to this restaurant once. And well, once was enough. It’s not even worth sharing the name of this restaurant – they are incredibly busy so reservations are highly recommended. They have a gimmick, one of those cute robots that take you to your table. Cute and creepy? Anyway, the service was severely lacking and we didn’t even get the drinks we ordered until we had to remind them and they made them wrong but it wasn’t worth the effort to flag someone else down. The buffet was okay, had some people (ahem Asians) just grabbing all the good stuff to take to their tables. Come on guys, leave some for the rest of us and just grab more later. Ah what can you do. I miss Little Sheep so much. 🙁

So like, I think we ended up at Chipotle like every night. Hahahaha long days of walking led to getting late dinners at Chipotle. Boy did the locations differ in staff and ingredients available. The first bowl pic was basically all I could get because they ran out of everything. The second bowl was much better. Must be the Asian in me, I just wanted one big bowl of rice. Love their toppings and the fresh ingredients. Also love their chips with queso dip. Augh, wish we had a Chipotle here in Hawaii too.

You know what else I did? I bought Shake Shack burgers and Chick-Fil-A sandwiches the night before my return flight home. Threw them in the fridge over night and then straight into my luggage. Yup, I risked another bout of food poisoning. I wanted the boys to experience these burgers/sandwiches because they never have. Happy to report that none of us got sick and I was informed that Popeye’s Chicken sandwich is better than Chick-Fil-A. Have a great weekend folks.

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08Dec / 2021

Seito Sushi – Orlando, FL

Saved the best meal of the trip for last! It’s not easy to find good Asian food you know and while Seito Sushi was definitely more for the hip/trendy types, I still enjoyed it. We went after our day at Universal and got there in time for happy hour specials. Let’s check it out!

Salmon Hand Roll | $4.00 (each)
aji amarillo vinaigrette/pickled onion/fried capers
Yellowtail Hand Roll | $4.00 (each)
kizami wasabi/yuzu tobiko/powdered shiso

Did I expect sushi tacos? No. Did I like it? A resounding yes. We really enjoyed the salmon handrolls so we even order an encore of them. They mix all kinds of flavors together but they all work very well. Capers and salmon huh? Can someone try do that here too?

Amaebi Nigiri | $6.00 (each)

Look at how I positioned this shot. You can’t even see the actual nigiri. It was good, highly enjoyed and re-ordered. Don’t judge us, this was our splurge meal of the trip. I would have loved to eat the amaebi but I have an allergy to raw shellfish, it’s my cross to bear. The plus is that I get to eat the fried heads lol.

The Distinguished Gentleman Roll | $24.00
wagyu tataki/lobster/avocado/wasabi aioli/masago/jalapeno/scallion/truffle salt

We shared this roll and it tastes as good as it sounds. Yum yum! A bit wasted that the lobster is chopped fine – would not be able to tell if this was lobster or imitation crab, you know? Anyway, it was good!

Foie Gras Torchon | $10.00 (each)
five spice/cherry gastrique

I know I know. This is not the most ethical dish to eat. I never have foie gras but do want to try it once in a while and this was my opportunity. It was good – was it worth the $10 bite? Sure, I’ll go with yes since I enjoyed it!

Tonkotsu “Bone Broth” Ramen | $17.00 (add chili bomb $1)
Seito’s house broth/Bershire pork belly/shiitake mushroom/charred corn/black garlic/hearts of palm/Lake Meadows Naturals egg

Here’s what’s missing in Hawaii. Good Japanese restaurants that can do both sushi AND ramen well. We either have just ramen restaurants or Japanese restaurants that do noodle dishes but they are more of an afterthought or prepared very simply. I noticed this in Chicago too, one of my favorite restaurants did both regular Japanese food and ramen very well! Oh sorry for the offshoot. I really enjoyed this dish! Great broth, loved all the veggies and a whole soft boiled egg. The chili bomb isn’t in the shot but like I was hoping it would be shaped like a bomb or something. It was just a big glob of chili sauce on the side, boo.

Anyway, this restaurant was great and the waiter was good! Well he was good in the beginning. You know how it goes, they always seem to disappear as the night goes on. This is definitely worth a return visit!

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03Dec / 2021

Amorette’s Patisserie | Disney Springs

Okay, there were two things I had to eat while I was at Disney for this trip. First was the apple crumble tart which I got to try at Epcot (and loved), the second was the 50th celebration petit cake at Amorette’s. The first night we arrived in Florida, we came to this mall but the cake was all gone. It was such a bummer. The last night of our trip, we made one final trip to the mall and guess what? THEY HAD IT. So here is a post dedicated JUST TO THIS CAKE.

50th Celebration Petit Cake | $22.00
Vanilla Chiffon Cake with Celebration Blue Mousse, Blueberry Jam, and Lemon Curd

Do you folks watch the Great British Baking Show? I love that show so much. And when they talk about cakes, they are always talking about chiffon, mousse and LEMON CURD. Look, every part of this cake was my jam. I knew I had to get it. It’s 22 freaking dollars…it’s a petit cake. Maybe a 3 inch cake? But do you see all the beauty? Yes, there are gold flakes on it…alongside with the pretty rock candy (I don’t eat rock candy). The inside of the cake was delicious. I don’t care much for fondant so I mainly ate the inside and it was all worth it. I was sad that it was on our last night so I couldn’t even enjoy the whole cake. Why don’t we have these kind cakes here in Hawaii??

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02Dec / 2021

Universal Studios Florida

Only one day at Universal but that’s all I really needed, just wanted to check out Harry Potter there. Walt Disney required masking indoors but Universal didn’t require masks ANYWHERE. Yeah. I kept my mask on the whole time yet again. Better be safe than sorry!

Louie’s Italian Restaurant Jumbo Supreme Slice | $13.49
mozzarella, italian sausage, pepperoni, tomatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomato sauce, herbs, house made dough

Surprisingly really good. And it had a bit of a kick to it too so even better. Yes, pricey for one slice of pizza but I love supreme pizza. Also, when is Costco gonna bring back their combo pizza?!

Louie’s Italian Restaurant Spaghetti & Meatballs | $9.99

This was good, not great but not bad. It just hit the spot and I love meatballs. Was satisfying enough.

Frozen Butterbeer | $7.99
a non-alcoholic sweet drink reminiscent of shortbread and butterscotch

Always gotta get this drink when you’re here. To me it’s like a frozen root beer, not really my thing. I tried the hot version in Japan when it was cold weather and that was nice to sip on.

The train ride from Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade is pretty cool! The windows are all covered by video scenes so you feel like you’re riding your way to Hogwarts, complete with dementors! Super cool.

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01Dec / 2021

Be Our Guest | Magic Kingdom

I didn’t realize it was so hard to make reservations for certain restaurants at Disney. This is definitely one of them so if you are planning a trip, make sure you make you reservations early! We happened to keep checking the day before for any last minute cancellations and was able to score one! A very cute restaurant with a Beauty and the Beast theme. There is the main ballroom (where we dined) and two other rooms – I am happy we got to dine in the main ballroom. All meals are three course meals at $62.00. A much better price than the dang steak we got at Tokyo Dining! Anyway, the Beast comes out to make his rounds but no Belle! Bah!

Captain Nemo Octopus | Appetizer
Seaweed Salad, Cucumber, Pickled Beets, Hearts of Palm, Tapioca Crackers, Beets Mousse, and Carrot-Ginger Silk

Assorted Meats and Artisanal Cheese Selection | Appetizer
Chicken Rillettes, Shaved Serrano Ham, Chorizo Sausage, Pleasant Ridge Cheddar, Truffle Tremor, and Stilton Blue with Seasonal Garnishes

My appetizer and ummm…I might have gotten sick from the cheeses. This is the second time I got sick. I felt really junk after this meal, I found myself a seat on a bench with a wall and like just sat there for hours. I didn’t mind haha…maybe I just reacted poorly with the food.

Center-cut Filet Mignon
Robuchon Yukon Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables, and Cipollini-Garlic Purée with a Red Wine Purée

We both chose the same dish and it was delicious. Once again, much better than the Japanese steak dish. And they cooked the steak to our specifications perfectly. Lovely dish.

Lemon Jam Macaron
White Chocolate “Chip” Cup – with grey stuff and crisp pearls
Dark Chocolate Truffle – filled with dark chocolate grand manier ganache

You don’t have a choice for dessert – their menu lists these dishes all separately but you actually get this trio. I was already pretty full so I wasn’t really feeling dessert. I didn’t try the grey stuff but I heard the waiter having to tell every table to try the grey stuff it’s delicious, don’t believe him, ask the dishes. Poor guy. Hahaha

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maybeitsjenny

Category Archives: Travel

Hormone Dedesuke – Ginza, Japan

Din Tai Fung – Ginza, Japan

Japan Glasses & Wifi

2022 Japan – Day 1

Las Vegas Eats Part #1 (April 2022)

Mixed Plate Friday

Seito Sushi – Orlando, FL

Amorette’s Patisserie | Disney Springs

Universal Studios Florida

Be Our Guest | Magic Kingdom