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)

Mikawa

I have been staying in Bandung, a city I call home, for a while and I really missed my favourite Japanese eateries in Sydney. There are plenty of Japanese fusion restaurants sprouting in  the city but it’s really hard to find the authentic ones since there are not many Japanese communities  like in Sydney, but finally I found one!

Mikawa, an authentic Japanese restaurant tucked away in a corner of Jl Sukaraja 2, a few minutes away from Pasteur Toll-gate towards Gunung Batu area, but don’t expect an easy route as you will struggle with the traffic especially in the afternoon when people going off  work.

This restaurant is managed by a Japanese owner chef, and as I walked in through the noren I saw  one middle-aged man behind the counter, I assumed he is the one. The clientele is mostly Japanese people, they are murmuring softly in Japanese, so you can tell.

(Edamame)

We started with edamame and horenshouhitashi or spinach with soy sauce and katsuoboshi.

(Hourenshohitashi)

We ordered some ‘healthy choices’ like Kantekiyaki, Sake shioyaki (grilled salmon) and Saba shioyaki (lightly salted mackerel), yasai itame or stir fried mixed vegetables and agedashi tofu.

(Kanteki-yaki)

(kanteki)

The beef and the kanteki served separately, it’s a do-it-yourself kinda thing, thin strips of raw beef (tenderloin I guess?) on a big plate and then we cooked on the charcoal grill, we barely need to chew the meat. A little story about Kanteki, in Kansai region, kanteki means a ceramic cooking stove using charcoal, a kind of compact stove you would find in old houses.

(Yasai itame)

(Saba shioyaki)

(Sake shioyaki)

(Tori karaage)

Our main dishes received thumbs up from all of us especially the tori karaage, the crisp shell of batter and luscious juicy chicken within. Also ordered a Seiro meishi, steamed rice garnished with shredded salmon and served in a small wooden box

(Seiro meshi)

(Agedashi tofu)

(Cold ocha)

The price is above average but it's worth a shot for a Japanese food lover like myself...

Luxurious bread from Pan-Ya

Check this out! a one-hundred-rupiah-bread from Pan-Ya! I got a message and these photos from my best friend in Jakarta. What's so special about this bread? It's a bread with full of milk and butter, that's what it says about a bread from Pan-Ya bakery originated from Okayama, Japan.

It might not be a luxury in some countries like Japan or Australia, one loaf of bread priced around AUD 10-11, yes it's still a top premium bread though, but in Indonesia it's a real luxurious bread! In Indonesia you could get a  loaf of good bread around Rp 20.000, so this premium Gion Danish Bread is about five times  the normal   price tag, so yes it's a luxurious bread!

I couldn't give any review, neither did my friend since we haven't tried it yet, but if I happen to visit one of their shop in Jakarta, I may choose their Macha Shokupan or green tea bread since it's more affordable, anyhow their 'luxurious bread' with rich buttery milk sounds so tempting though... but would you spend $10 for just a loaf of bread?

(Rich milk toast from Pan-Ya Jakarta)

Umeshu with shiso

Umeshu, commonly called as plum wine outside of Japan, but I just read a surprising fact of Umeshu, actually Ume are NOT plums, that's what I read from Choya, one of the most famous Umeshu brands.

I have tried almost all kind of umeshu, the original ones, premium, umeshu with honey, umeshu with green tea but it's my first time trying umeshu with extra shiso (perilla) from Choya. If you ask me which flavour is my favourite one,I really can't pick one since I love all of these umeshu but in term of availability the original umeshu is the most available one so this is the one I drink most often.  My favourite way to enjoy umeshu is on the rocks, you also can enjoy umeshu simply straight or mixed  with hot water to warm you up in winter time.

(Choya extra shiso)

Marimo in a can

It's been more than two years since I posted about Marimo and bought two canned Marimo in Hokkaido, yet I haven't got time to open and 'plant' it. It's not really like planting a tree but Marimo is a plant, it's a green algae. I just opened my Marimo and placed it in a small plastic jar and let see if it grows then I'll need a bigger aquarium.

The label says 'for sale in Japan only', but if you'd like to have one I found it on rakuten, so you can order it online I guess.

Taiyo Sushi Jakarta

I meant to post this a month ago but having problem uploading the photos, anyway..  I made the post eventually.

It's the first sushi restaurant I tried in Jakarta, my home country's capital, this Taiyo sushi located at Pluit Raya no. 17, North Jakarta. The restaurant itself has a cozy atmosphere and the location relatively free from traffic jam (if you live in Jakarta you know what I mean), and the service is good.

Their special menu is sushi roll and as the staff recommendation I tried the Taiyo special roll then I picked the the spicy mozarella roll and kakiage roll out of their 'special' roll dishes. Don't expect for a traditional Japanese cuisine here, as the dishes are more like fusion that have been adjusted to local  taste, such as their Spicy mozarella roll, the names tells all you expected from the spicy garnish to the cheesy topping melts  in your mouth, taste good though for someone who loves spicy food.

(Taiyo special roll) 

(Kakiage roll)

(Spicy mozarella roll)

Every time I visit a sushi restaurant I never skipped inari and aburi salmon nigiri sushi, so I tried their aburi salmon with cheese from nigiri menu, and even I am a cheese lover still I prefer the simple aburi salmon as I love the pure salmon's taste. 

Overall I love their fusion taste and would love to go back there if I get the chance.

(Aburi salmon with cheese)

(Gyu enoki)

(Inari)