Ootoya

Ootoya with their tagline 'authentic home cooked Japanese food', they do look like an authentic one, felt like authentic with wooden dining room and the food taste authentic too. They started with one restaurant in front of Ikebukuro station in Tokyo in 1958, now they have more than 280 outlets across Asia. 

(Ootoya Japanese restaurant at Plaza Indonesia Jakarta)

Visited the one at Plaza Indonesia Jakarta lunch as first customer of the day,then we saw some Japanese patronages after us makes a convincing proof that the restaurant is a real deal. We picked Tori Kurozu, Ponzu Burger, Sumi Tei and we are all agreed with the fresh Ocha with ice for our drink.

 (Tori Kurozu)

The Tori Kurozu, a mixture of deep fried chicken and some vegies in sweet and sour kurozu (a kind dark vinegar) sauce, the sauce is a perfect blend with the balance of sweet and sour taste.

(Tori Kurozu set) 

(Sumi Tei)

 I am not a big fan of beef but this charcoal grilled beef has an irresistable looks

(Ponzu burger)

Charcoal grilled hamburger steak with grated radish and ponzu plum sauce, the tender hamburger steak speak for itself

(Ocha with ice)

For ocha lovers, the ocha option is really worth it, not only because you can have free top ups but it is the best ocha in town!

We were all agreed that the dishes are real treat.

More variety in the tuna and salmon sashimi or nigiri sushi would be great.

Ryo's Noodles

Ryo's noodles on Falcon street Crows Nest is one of my most missed eating places in Sydney when I am away, the best ramen I found outside of Japan I would say.

The shop is located in a relatively quiet street, away from the hustle and bustle of the city yet only 10 minutes by bus from the CBD plus a couple minutes stroll from the bus stop. If you plan to have lunch at Ryo's better arrive before 12 as normally there is a crowd of people queuing outside the shop.

I always ordered the tonkotsu based ramen, my favorite one, and for those who love spicy soup can pick the hot and spicy ramen, but it's not as spicy as typical asian food you would expect which is perfect for me since I don't like a really spicy food. The chewiness of the noodle is just perfect and the rich and tasty tonkotsu broth is simply unbeatable! 

   

(hot and spicy ramen, no 3 from the menu)

(Soy sauce flavored tonkotsu ramen, no 2 from the menu)

I will definitely look for the below address when I visit Hongkong

(Hongkong shops)

Toilet Bike

Japan's (and world's) best-known toilet maker, TOTO, has just unveiled a Toilet Bike or you can translate this into 'poop-powered motorcycle'. No joke! it's as serious as their famous 'hi-tech toilet' you would find in every house in Japan. Let's make it clear, despite the look it doesn't run on human waste, nor does the real toilet used in the bike work, instead it is fueled with animal waste to travel up to 300 kilometers.

(photos courtesy of AFP)

Claimed as the world's first waste-powered vehicle, the tricycle has a toilet in place of a regular seat and huge toilet paper at the back.

Only in Japan..

(source: Tokyo Times)

Ramen Champion at Changi T3

I've got posts about Ramen Champion in Singapore and Ramen Champion at Changi Airport but just got a chance to prove it myself last week while transiting at this one of best airports in the world.

As you would expect, you can try tasty ramen from four different region in Japan at the comfort of Changi Airport, it's located in basement are (public area) at B2-58 Terminal 3. Gantetsu from Sapporo, Riki ramen from Tokyo, Taka no Tsume Chiba, and Ikkousha from Hakata. I didn't waste my (only) 18 hours transit and managed to try three different ramen, corn and butter ramen from Sapporo, one small bowl from Riki ramen, and a big bowl of Tonkotsu ramen from Ikkousha, and this last one is my favorite as I love tonkotsu based soup. For those who love ramen, better prepare an empty stomach to try all different kind of ramen you can't resist in one place!

(Tonkotsu ramen from Ikkousha)

Cherry Blossom Festival 2012

A quick post from the Cherry Blossom Festival at Auburn Japanese Garden, the festival is on for this weekend (18-19 of August) and next weekend (25-26 of August) only from 12pm - 4 pm.

I happened to visit the garden for a quick look this morning and only a few photos were taken. 

Updated with some more photos taken around Blue Mountain

Chicken Wing Ice Cream

I read a post on my Facebook friend about this Chicken Wing flavour ice cream from Nagoya, really..? wait .. that's not all. I found this post about ten weird Japanese ice cream flavours, and here they are:

Chicken wing ice cream

 Caviar ice cream

Beef tongue ice cream 

Horse sashimi ice cream 

Whale ice cream 

Indian curry ice cream 

Octopus ice cream 

Shark fin ramen ice cream 

Squid ice cream

Snake ice cream

Apuo Udon

It's the second Japanese restaurant in Bandung I tried since I came back to this city a few months back then. This restaurant is located in Lengkong Besar 16 Bandung, no homepage found but they have a facebook page, just search Apuo Udon.

I am not a fan of udon to be honest, so what makes me want to try this restaurant? There are only a few authentic Japanese restaurants in this city and Apuo Udon is one of them, it's run by a Japanese owner chef. They serve not only Udon, you can try their yummy chicken kaarage, sushi, some mushroom dishes, and if you want  a small bites they have onigiri as well. Since they specialize in udon, we tried their udon with beef and the 'spicy udon level 5' (there are level 1-5 of  spiciness) and it's definitely not for me as I can't eat spicy food. I forgot the name of the mushroom dish but it quite unique.

Their menu is value for money and the service is very friendly, would love to go back and try their sushi!

(udon with beef)

(spicy udon)

(mix mushroom)

(chicken kaarage)

(Chicken kaarage don)