Exploring Jianghan Road, Wuhan

cof
cof

When I booked a flight from Tokyo to Madrid, I didn’t imagine I’d be dragging my suitcase round a night market in central China. But that’s exactly how things played out.

A layover of 8 hours in Wuhan forced my hand; there was absolutely no way I was going to sit in an airport that long when a 24-hour transit visa exists. An adventure beckoned.

Continue reading “Exploring Jianghan Road, Wuhan”

Art for Thought…Food as Art? An 8-course tasting dinner

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Food is art; art is food

Do you love food? Do you love art? How about, um, combining the two?

That’s exactly what you can at Art for Thought, a gallery-cum-restaurant located in the heart of Ginza. Continue reading “Art for Thought…Food as Art? An 8-course tasting dinner”

Bacon Fat Sizzle Time: Making Brunch in Tokyo – UK-Style!

BRUNCH. And wooden crocodile.
BRUNCH. And wooden crocodile.

There comes a point where a Japanese breakfast doesn’t quite cut it. Grabbing a rice ball from the convenience store. Or raw egg and fermented soy beans on rice. Or that dubious pastry from a dubiously named ‘German’ bakery stocked with even more dubious ‘French items’,  such as Croque Monsieurs.

Or maybe, it’s just the point where you want sausages. Proper, meaty sausages. Or you’re craving bacon so badly that you’d happily wear its scent as perfume.

Despite the rarity of these items, a lack of affordable quality bread, and even more ridiculously priced butter, my friend Luke and I set out to make the ultimate brunch. Watch and salivate.

It’s bacon fat sizzle time!

Cooking… sort of: a Japanese-style breakfast

Breakfast for one!
Breakfast for one!

As you may have read in my last post, I got a little carried away with buying goodies from the Hobby Cook Show. So of course I have compelled myself to make some delicious food. And we all know how much I love breakfast! Yet I prepared all of the above without doing any cooking at all… Continue reading “Cooking… sort of: a Japanese-style breakfast”

Hobby Cooking Fair 2015 – April 23rd-25th, Tokyo Big Sight

Hobby Fair - purchases and samples
Hobby Fair – purchases and samples

I have a friend who works in the food industry. He gets lots of free samples of many delicious things and he always knows when their is something food-related going on. I tell him that that is the only reason we’re friends.

This week was the Japan Hobby Show, which involves an amazing array of crafts. I wish I’d had time to look around because there was everything from knitting, jewellery-making, art… and many kinds of creativity that I simply don’t know the name of! However, I’m not creative in that way. I’m only creative when it comes to finding different ways of filling my stomach with delicious things and sharing that deliciousness with all of you.  Continue reading “Hobby Cooking Fair 2015 – April 23rd-25th, Tokyo Big Sight”

Spring Trip to Kyushu: Fukuoka

Strolling through Fukuoka
Strolling through Fukuoka

Oh what’s that? Is that a spring holiday I smell?

Where haven’t I been in Japan yet? KYUSHU!

Actually, there are many places in Japan I haven’t been yet (despite a good friend accusing me of marking my territory like a dog) but I heard that Kyushu, the third largest island of Japan, had really good food. It’s not hard to see why it quickly became a priority.

Booking flights less than three weeks before, my mother, flying from London, and I from Tokyo, began and ended our adventure in Fukuoka, conveniently the birthplace of tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen, the most delicious type of ramen in my humble opinion.

Hello sneaky ramen pic!
Hello sneaky ramen pic!

Continue reading “Spring Trip to Kyushu: Fukuoka”

Pancake Day 2015: All-you-can-eat Pancake Feast in Tokyo!

All pancakes should be misshapen turtles
All pancakes should be misshapen turtles

As if I was going to miss out on Pancake Day just because I’m living in Tokyo. Family restaurant Denny’s does an all-you-can-eat pancake offer for just 999 yen. I heard it calling to me. The challenge was on…

Continue reading “Pancake Day 2015: All-you-can-eat Pancake Feast in Tokyo!”

It’s Chocolate Noodle time! Valentine’s Day Chocolate Tsukemen at Menya Musashi

Is that some chocolate in my noodles?
Is that some chocolate in my noodles?

Yes, that is a piece of chocolate sitting casually nestled among some noodles and vegetables. Popular ramen restaurant Menya Musashi in Shinjuku may be famed for its huge chunks of juicy kakuni pork but it’s not opposed to branching out for a special occasion. Continue reading “It’s Chocolate Noodle time! Valentine’s Day Chocolate Tsukemen at Menya Musashi”

Sarabeth’s Valentine’s Day Chocolate Explosion

Oh, is that a CHOCOLATE EXPLOSION?
Oh, is that a CHOCOLATE EXPLOSION?

Sadly, one thing that Japan does not do very well is chocolate. If you lust over gooey, stodgy brownies that are almost molten in the middle, and eating one leaves you in a near-orgasmic coma for an hour or two, then you’re probably going to be dissatisfied by the average cocoa offering over here. (Of course, everything can be obtained for a price and if you’re prepared to seek it out!)

An abundance of chocolate can be found, however, just before Valentine’s Day. This is a celebration in which, conversely to Western practices, women give chocolate to men. Given that when I have visited any dessert or chocolate cafés/shops, they are almost always exclusively populated by females, I wonder if this practice acts as a form of cultural legitimation that permits men to enjoy chocolate at least once a year.

They say ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’. Well, I can tell you straight away that there is no way in hell (or the entire universe) that I’m giving chocolate away. Oh no, it’s going to go gliding down my greedy gobbling throat. With emphasis on the glugging noises. Continue reading “Sarabeth’s Valentine’s Day Chocolate Explosion”

Tokyo Ramen Show 2014 / 東京ラーメンショー2014

Fiery ramen
Fiery ramen

If you’re a foodie, you know you’ve made a good friend when your dining companion pulls out a notebook and starts rating dishes and writing comments. As a food blogger, I was half-filled with shame and half-filled with admiration.

How did I come to meet such a food-obsessed dining companion? The moral of the story is to always say YES. Continue reading “Tokyo Ramen Show 2014 / 東京ラーメンショー2014”