Wow, has it really been more than a year since my last Ginza post?! Anyway, here's the last of the Ginza series and a long post ahead. I'm almost through with the rest of the Tokyo food photos too. I guess I should be happy to finally be done with the gigantic photo backlog, but coming to the end of the Japan pictures makes me so sad and nostalgic :(
Mum-in-law visited us back in early April 2016 with her older sister, aunt D. Aunt D. was the one who took this pic, with me photo-bombing hubby and his mum ^.^
Took hubby to the Shiseido Salon during Golden Week 2016 for some tea, coffee, and cake. We waited in for an hour, I believe. It was unbelievably crowded, mostly because of the holiday. Then again, it was almost always crowded especially during the weekends.
Mum-in-law visited us back in early April 2016 with her older sister, aunt D. Aunt D. was the one who took this pic, with me photo-bombing hubby and his mum ^.^
Took hubby to the Shiseido Salon during Golden Week 2016 for some tea, coffee, and cake. We waited in for an hour, I believe. It was unbelievably crowded, mostly because of the holiday. Then again, it was almost always crowded especially during the weekends.
We went back to Kanoko a lot, especially towards the end of our stay. We knew we wouldn't be getting food like this at home so we tried to eat as much of it as we could. Ha.
I took my family here too when they visited the winter of 2015. My brother didn't love it, because out of all the goodies they offered he just had to go and ordered this gigantic matcha ice cream float, something I've only seen middle-high school students order. Then of course little bro went on to complain that his matcha float was too big and meh. Silly.
And oh my, for the summer they had this Uji matcha shaved ice, basically shaved ice not with matcha-flavored syrup but with Uji matcha, a high grade and thicker type of matcha that's not as bitter and thus used in chado (tea ceremony), then lightly sweetened. Of course I added a scoop of matcha ice cream and a side of dango, and the whole thing was served with a cup of hot sencha and another cup of sakuracha to cut the sweet, though it wasn't that sweet to begin with. Heaven!
When the weather cooled down a bit towards the end of September, I tried both the cold and hot versions of the sweet red bean soups with dango. Yum! Gosh I miss this place so much T.T
Annam (Indian cuisine) was a discovery in the early spring. Since hubby and I found the place we pretty much ate there once every 1-2 weeks. We haven't been to India, but so far the best Indian food we've had were both in Japan. No joke. Annam was one, and I've forgotten the name of the other restaurant but it's in Takaoka, Toyama.
The only complaint hubby and I had with Annam was the actual owner of the place. Dude was a real blowhard, and he was both irritating and rude as hell. From our very first visit to the restaurant, we'd noticed that he had a terrible habit of hovering over his English-speaking clients, or at least those he perceived to be English-speaking like my blonde hubby. Hubby was always patient and passed it off to him being a "different kind of friendly." Fine, I'll grant that dude isn't American. Hell, I'll even grant that he may have thought that hubby and I were the rude ones. But dude just didn't know when to stop and go the f*ck away so his diners can enjoy the meals they came for.
So, you're probably wondering what dude was chatty about when he hovered, and lingered, and hovered over his clients' tables. Did he ask about their days and how they were doing? Nope. Did he ask about the quality of the food and whether they were enjoying themselves? Nope.
I don't know about other clients, but whenever he hovered our table, and he did almost every single effing time we went, there were only 3 things he kept blabbing on and on, and on and on, about:
1. Bragged, yes bragged, about himself and his achievements ever since coming to Japan.
2. Complained, yes complained, about "competitions" leaving bad reviews for Annam on Yelp and other forums like Tabelog and Gurunavi, after he was done bragging about himself and his successes in a foreign land, of course.
3. Nagged, yes nagged, us to leave a good review for Annam on such forums.
Goddamn there were times when I was this close to losing it. Looking back, how I wish I'd looked dude in the eyes and tell him to just f*ck off. So why on earth did we put up with dude?
Two reasons:
1. The food. I mean, look at the food. *drools*
2. As if to make up for their socially inept and tone-deaf boss, the waitstaff was super nice and the service was great in general.
What hubby and I hated was witnessing dude barking, yes barking, orders to his wait and kitchen staff. Although after a while, even dude himself noticed that he was startling his Japanese clients and shut himself up a bit on that front. I mean, if yelling at your staff in front of your diners was rude in the US of A, it was rude*1k in Japan. He was a total a$$, but damn, his chefs made some delicious curries that kept us coming back despite our distaste for him, and his waitstaff was really nice ^.^"
Irina on the B2 floor of the Printemps Ginza made some of the most drool-inducing cakes. Their specialty was these "roll-cake towers," and yes, each of those roll cake was one person's serving (about 2-3 bites for yours truly, but I digress...), and each had a different flavor. The problem? They were expensive as hell! I mean, I couldn't blame them, but still, the cheapest started at 3,500yen, so no, hubby and I never indulged.
Also saw this plant on sale at Printemps. What is it, does anyone know?
Hubby and I had eyed Paradise Dynasty the whole time we were in Tokyo, but every time we passed by the place was packed with a huge line of mostly tourists, so we always ended up going elsewhere. I mean, it was Tokyo and we were never out of good options, so why waste time standing in line? Then came the last two weeks of our stay. Having returned from a short Taipei trip a couple of weeks prior, we were craving for xiaolongbao. One early evening after spending all day packing, we walked in super early before people started queuing up.
The place had a nice atmosphere and lovely decor. Hubby was in a silly mood with his Murakami-hand pose ^.^ And that was me and my bare face with just sunscreen and lip balm. Who has time for makeup while packing for an international move? =.=
The menu was huge--see for yourself!
Of course we got what we came for, but looking at all those options got me craving for Kiki's. Hubby was snickering as I fell for the pretty pictures and ordered some of my favorites. "You're going to be disappointed," he said, and dammit he was right. Other than the xiaolongbao, the rest was painfully blah, even the egg tarts! *sobs* Kiki's, where are you?!? Kiki's!!!
In Ginza Ichome towards Tokyo Station, we found another decent Indian restaurant called Andhra Dining Ginza. They specialized in southern Indian cuisines and were known for their dosa. Despite our preference for northern Indian cuisines we gave the place a try anyway.
Hubby loved this dosa lunch, and I really enjoyed my two-curries lunch also. We were really glad we went here as it dispelled the terrible impression we got from the previous not-so-great experience at Dhaba India.
I took my family here too when they visited the winter of 2015. My brother didn't love it, because out of all the goodies they offered he just had to go and ordered this gigantic matcha ice cream float, something I've only seen middle-high school students order. Then of course little bro went on to complain that his matcha float was too big and meh. Silly.
And oh my, for the summer they had this Uji matcha shaved ice, basically shaved ice not with matcha-flavored syrup but with Uji matcha, a high grade and thicker type of matcha that's not as bitter and thus used in chado (tea ceremony), then lightly sweetened. Of course I added a scoop of matcha ice cream and a side of dango, and the whole thing was served with a cup of hot sencha and another cup of sakuracha to cut the sweet, though it wasn't that sweet to begin with. Heaven!
When the weather cooled down a bit towards the end of September, I tried both the cold and hot versions of the sweet red bean soups with dango. Yum! Gosh I miss this place so much T.T
Annam (Indian cuisine) was a discovery in the early spring. Since hubby and I found the place we pretty much ate there once every 1-2 weeks. We haven't been to India, but so far the best Indian food we've had were both in Japan. No joke. Annam was one, and I've forgotten the name of the other restaurant but it's in Takaoka, Toyama.
The only complaint hubby and I had with Annam was the actual owner of the place. Dude was a real blowhard, and he was both irritating and rude as hell. From our very first visit to the restaurant, we'd noticed that he had a terrible habit of hovering over his English-speaking clients, or at least those he perceived to be English-speaking like my blonde hubby. Hubby was always patient and passed it off to him being a "different kind of friendly." Fine, I'll grant that dude isn't American. Hell, I'll even grant that he may have thought that hubby and I were the rude ones. But dude just didn't know when to stop and go the f*ck away so his diners can enjoy the meals they came for.
So, you're probably wondering what dude was chatty about when he hovered, and lingered, and hovered over his clients' tables. Did he ask about their days and how they were doing? Nope. Did he ask about the quality of the food and whether they were enjoying themselves? Nope.
I don't know about other clients, but whenever he hovered our table, and he did almost every single effing time we went, there were only 3 things he kept blabbing on and on, and on and on, about:
1. Bragged, yes bragged, about himself and his achievements ever since coming to Japan.
2. Complained, yes complained, about "competitions" leaving bad reviews for Annam on Yelp and other forums like Tabelog and Gurunavi, after he was done bragging about himself and his successes in a foreign land, of course.
3. Nagged, yes nagged, us to leave a good review for Annam on such forums.
Goddamn there were times when I was this close to losing it. Looking back, how I wish I'd looked dude in the eyes and tell him to just f*ck off. So why on earth did we put up with dude?
Two reasons:
1. The food. I mean, look at the food. *drools*
2. As if to make up for their socially inept and tone-deaf boss, the waitstaff was super nice and the service was great in general.
What hubby and I hated was witnessing dude barking, yes barking, orders to his wait and kitchen staff. Although after a while, even dude himself noticed that he was startling his Japanese clients and shut himself up a bit on that front. I mean, if yelling at your staff in front of your diners was rude in the US of A, it was rude*1k in Japan. He was a total a$$, but damn, his chefs made some delicious curries that kept us coming back despite our distaste for him, and his waitstaff was really nice ^.^"
Irina on the B2 floor of the Printemps Ginza made some of the most drool-inducing cakes. Their specialty was these "roll-cake towers," and yes, each of those roll cake was one person's serving (about 2-3 bites for yours truly, but I digress...), and each had a different flavor. The problem? They were expensive as hell! I mean, I couldn't blame them, but still, the cheapest started at 3,500yen, so no, hubby and I never indulged.
Also saw this plant on sale at Printemps. What is it, does anyone know?
Hubby and I had eyed Paradise Dynasty the whole time we were in Tokyo, but every time we passed by the place was packed with a huge line of mostly tourists, so we always ended up going elsewhere. I mean, it was Tokyo and we were never out of good options, so why waste time standing in line? Then came the last two weeks of our stay. Having returned from a short Taipei trip a couple of weeks prior, we were craving for xiaolongbao. One early evening after spending all day packing, we walked in super early before people started queuing up.
The place had a nice atmosphere and lovely decor. Hubby was in a silly mood with his Murakami-hand pose ^.^ And that was me and my bare face with just sunscreen and lip balm. Who has time for makeup while packing for an international move? =.=
The menu was huge--see for yourself!
Of course we got what we came for, but looking at all those options got me craving for Kiki's. Hubby was snickering as I fell for the pretty pictures and ordered some of my favorites. "You're going to be disappointed," he said, and dammit he was right. Other than the xiaolongbao, the rest was painfully blah, even the egg tarts! *sobs* Kiki's, where are you?!? Kiki's!!!
In Ginza Ichome towards Tokyo Station, we found another decent Indian restaurant called Andhra Dining Ginza. They specialized in southern Indian cuisines and were known for their dosa. Despite our preference for northern Indian cuisines we gave the place a try anyway.
Hubby loved this dosa lunch, and I really enjoyed my two-curries lunch also. We were really glad we went here as it dispelled the terrible impression we got from the previous not-so-great experience at Dhaba India.
See my previous posts:
I was supposed to fully focus on that matcha but hot damn(sorry for the language)...What sunscreen does your MIL use???
ReplyDeletegreat shirt btw, stuff I would buy because green and dots!
Hey Mina,
ReplyDeleteLOL believe it or not, MIL wears ZERO sunscreen all her life and she's in her mid 60's! In fact, I've been trying to get her to wear sunscreen for years now since the sun is super strong where we live. FIL has had a couple of melanoma spots removed already!
But nope, it's all genetics with her. That's how hubby got his baby face--he looks 15 with every new haircut! Ha!
P.S. The shirt is from Uniqlo!
^.^
D.