Tag Archive | Japan

Hilton Hotel Eats – Nagoya, Japan

Mar4

Another Hilton Hotel means Jenny taking in all the perks from Chan’s membership! What does this mean in Japan? Buffet Breakfasts baby!!!! I’ll just put all the pics from our trip here and let all the judging happen within this one space (no judging me outside of this post but also please be nice to me).

There’s an Executive Lounge in the hotel but the food is kind of junk. I think that’s just a quiet room for you to relax if you want to! Probably best for folks who have to wait for check in or had to check out early. Here are some sandwiches they had at the bar.

Do I eat like a child? At times, yes. And do they cater to children since they are a family hotel chain? Yes. Yes they do.

Ogura Toast

The hotel was pretty cool about also offering up local specialties in Nagoya. Here is the special order Ogura toast. It was just alright, not my kind of thing. I do like that they used smooth an, sorry, I am picky!

Their buffet selection is always so vast, a good variety of American and Asian foods!

Another specialty but I forget the same. It’s basically a rice ball smothered in red bean and either grilled or baked. It was just alright (sorry!).

Unagi Omelet

Damn, I really like noodles.

Another video to end the post! The Hilton Hotels in Japan always puts up an impressive holiday train! Here’s a quick video of the one in our hotel.

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Kiharu – Kyoto, Japan

Mar2

A trip to Japan means a repeat visit to Kiharu! You can read my previous post here. I didn’t take a lot of notes this trip around but you will see there are some similar dishes from the last visit. Great experience as always. Chan bought some Hawaii omiyage for the taisho and he was so tickled and happy! That’s always fun.

Green Pea Soup, Tofu wrapped in Fried Mochi Bits with Yuzu Miso

Had this dish last time, was just as good as before. Fresh peas with fried mochi bits? WHY NOT. Great starter to the meal.

Shirako (V’s Favorite Dish)

LOL sorry, I had to put that in there. This restaurant is an omakase so you don’t choose what you eat, I didn’t order it I swear! Was good though. LOL

I forget what kind of fish this was but wow, this dish was so good. He braided the fish meat together to create such a pretty look! The fish is a bit salty but I think the squeeze of the citrus provides a wonderful contrast. One of my favorites of the night!

I’m starting to wonder if he just created our meals from one single fish lol. I have no problems with an all fish night.

Yes, his tempura! I think that’s a sakura leaf fried up with sweet potato slices. Super good. I am pretty sure he is all by himself in this restaurant so he is busy cooking and serving us. Very small space, just the counter for service.

Quick video reveal of the steamed rice with mushrooms. I need help on why my videos become so white washed when I edit it and upload it? UGH! This is why it’s so much easier to post on social media. Actually this video is one of the better uploads upon review.

Another great experience at Kiharu again but this is thanks all to Chan’s friend who makes the reservation and dines with us there. There is no way we could do this on our own not knowing Japanese. Can’t wait to return again during our next trip!

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Mixed Plate Friday (Japan)

Feb27

Japan Filet-O-Fish and French Fries

Happy to report that the filet-o-fish recipe is consistent in all countries lol. Also happy to report that the fries are still in these cartons versus the junk baggies we get in Hawaii now. Yum!

Had to try one more trend. Eating the Egg Salad sandwich with Famichiki. I only found this sandwich so well it was a mini sized try.

Here we go! So how was it? Well it tasted like an egg salad sandwich stuffed with awesome chicken patty. No complaints here man, what did you think would happen when you combine to ono things together? Yum!

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Moumou Tei – Nagoya, Japan

Feb25

I took a break from Japan posts and completely forgot that I have so much more pics to share! So I’ll slowly finish up some posts with you folks. This was Chan and I’s first meal in Nagoya! We tried out Moumou Tei which was conveniently located very close to our hotel and oh my gosh, it was so good. One of my favorite meals of the trip!

We were placed into a private room and seated right in front of a window? I have never had a set up like this before. Chan and I sat side by side staring out onto the street lol.

Banchan

I don’t know much about the restaurant but it seemed to be a fusion of both Korean and Japanese cuisine. No complaints here!

“Almost Salad”

Don’t ask me why they call it almost salad, it was from their website that was probably google translated. Just to let you know, it was fully a salad to me lol.

Beef Tartare

You already know I liked this. Come on.

Here’s the grill!

Mmm salted beef tongue…

Raw Japanese Yolk with everything!

Meat, meat, and more meat

Favorite dish of the night coming up…

Oh my goodness, I am salivating as I look at these pictures. The waitress cooked the block of meat for us and I wondered if it would be overcooked. Not at all. Look at how glorious and marbled this meat is. Of course we ordered the egg yolk! It was a great dish, my only regret is that it was at the end of the meal when I was feeling full already. I couldn’t enjoy it as ravenously as I would have liked!

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Nihonbashi SUI – Machida, Japan

Dec22

A visit to Snoopy Museum means a visit to Grandberry Park and our favorite kaiten sushi place, Nihonbashi SUI! Machida and Grandberry Park is such a cute neighborhood, I’ll bet it’s expensive to live here too. If I was rich, I wouldn’t mind living here! Not much to say in this post, just look at al the food we had. We really go crazy at this place. This time, there was no line. We were the first ones there but it did get busy after we started to eat.

Look at this shrimp tempura! The shrimp was HUGE. It was so plump and bouncy – super good!!

One of my all time favorite fish – flounder! It’s so good and tastes so well with shiso leaf. Highly recommend!

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Mixed Plate Friday (Japan)

Dec19

Another Hawaii related sighting! Blue Water Shrimp! Did I try it? No. I don’t even eat here when I’m home lol. The prices aren’t horrendous but pretty expensive for Japan.

Grape Sorbet Balls | Cup of Ice | Mitsuya Cider

Yes, yes, yes! This is one of the social media trends I wanted to try the most! Add the sorbet balls to the cup and pour in some mitsuya cider…mix it all up and this is what it looks like. It’s super good, super sweet. I loved the taste of it though! If they ever bring these grape sorbet balls to Hawaii, I suggest you try it!

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Snoopy Museum Tokyo – Machida, Japan

Dec17

We always come to check out the Snoopy Museum when we’re in Tokyo. We came two years ago and they were under renovation so we were excited to come back to check it out! We were hoping it would mean a bigger gift shop but shucks, it wasn’t! If anything, I felt like the gift shop was smaller and had less to offer this time around. Boo. If you like Peanuts and can make it out to Kawagoe, I would highly suggest the Snoopy Village there. SO MUCH stuff.

Not much else to post on today, just check out the pictures below!

We’ve only come during Christmas time so I haven’t ever experienced the museum in non-Christmas mode. I really enjoy Christmas so I am okay to keep seeing it in this way!

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IPPUDO – Gotanda-Higashiguchi, Japan

Dec15

Chan has never been to an Ichiran, can you believe it? I don’t know why I brought that up when this post is about Ippudo. I like Ippudo but don’t necessarily come to Ippudo when I visit Japan. This location was located really close to our hotel and I really wanted some ramen and chahan so off we went. How was it? Much better than I remembered! This was also Chan’s first time trying Ippudo and he liked it a lot! In fact, this was the first out of two visits during this trip.

Free sides! Pickled spicy mustard cabbage, bean sprouts, gari and whole garlic cloves! They offer garlic graters to put freshly grated garlic into your ramen. Oh so good!

Gyoza (10 pcs) | ¥470

Chan’s Noodles!

My noodles! I only got half an egg…humph!

Chahan

This is super random but I really enjoy Chinese fried rice made by Japanese ramen shops. Is that random? I super enjoy this version of fried rice, it has a good wok hei flavor and a good amount of MSG. Not many places in Hawaii makes this…or makes it well. Sorry, I must have been hungry and didn’t get a picture of all the menu prices!

The service here is enthusiastic, they get you in and out quickly (which works great for all the business people). I think their broth is deep in flavor and I like that they offer up many different bowls with a variation of toppings. English menu available on their ipads! I would return (and did return).

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Mixed Plate Friday (Japan)

Dec12

Saiboku

Saiboku was such a cute town with its pork restaurants and grocery stores! Unfortunately we did not get to try any of the pork products during this trip, we just did a quick walkthrough before heading to a shrine and then off to Kawagoe. I would definitely like to return to try out their products!

Sayama Cha Cola

Chan’s friend got this for us. They were told that this area was known for the sayama cha cola (green tea mixed with cola). I’m not usually a big fan of green tea so I wasn’t too sure about this. Well let me just say, I tried it a few days later in the hotel room and freaking loved it. It wasn’t too sweet and had just the right amount of carbonation. I liked it a lot, Chan didn’t love it as much as me which meant I could have the rest of his bottle. A win is a win.

Time to buy some cloting. LOL, not as much funny Engrish signs this time around.

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Shunkashuto – Kawagoe, Japan

Dec10

Chan and I were hanging with his friends and made an impromptu trip out to Kawagoe! Totally unexpected and so awesome because there is a Snoopy Village there! We started off with a warm and nourishing udon meal on this rainy day (the only rainy day of our trip) at Shunkashuto. I think the restaurant is geared towards tourists but it doesn’t matter, it was still so good.

Kakuni (Boiled Pork) | ¥800

Yummy kakuni for the table to share. What can I say? Broke-da-mout tender, fall apart in your mouth kine. Delicious!

Sweet Potato Tempura | ¥420

Yum! So glad they ordered both side dishes because I wanted to get a full set that included these sides but didn’t…and they ordered them as sides anyway. Isn’t life great? LOLOL.

Shrimp Tempura Noodles | ¥1550
classic udon noodle dish topped with deep fried shrimp tempura

I was excited to eat some shrimp tempura with “tick” udon noodles but soon regretted my choice after my fellow dining companions got their meals. Not that my dish was bad, not at all, it’s just that theirs was better!!!

Kakiage Noodles | ¥1380
ukiuki is happy or a delightful noodle dish with kakiage shrimp and veggie fritter
kakiage is deep fried shrimp and veggie fritter, which uses a variety of ingredients, such as shrimp, onions, sweet potatoes, carrots and japanese parsley.

The other three including Chan got the kakiage set and damn, take a look at that kakiage. The kakiage we get here in Hawaii looks so sad compared to this. If I knew this is how their kakiage was made, I would have definitely gotten this. Chan let me have a taste and it was so good! Big chunks of vegetables and shrimp – fried light and crispy. Dang. I enjoyed this restaurant a lot!

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