Friday, October 31, 2014

Sushidai - the Best Sushi Restaurant at Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan

       While my husband was on his business trip in Tokyo, he stayed at hotel which was located very closed to Tsukiji Fish Market in order to have high quality authentic Japanese sushi there. If truth be told he booked different hotel located in Shinjyuku at first but finally changed the booking only because of sushi. He went to Sushidai, the most popular sushi restaurant in Tsukiji, at 5 a.m. and waited in a long line for three hours! I thought it's insane! He told me that it's worthwhile to wait so long and was really satisfied with their high quality sushi. He told me that their sushi was super fresh because it was still moving.

     He uploaded YouTube video which he recorded that day.


      My entry related to Tsukiji Fish Market can be seen here.
Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan - Haul


     My entries related to Japan can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan


     This is also my entry you might like.
Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

Thursday, October 30, 2014

6-bottle Reusable Bags - Whole Foods & Trader Joe's Haul

       My husband and I bought two 6-bottle reusable bags at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's last week. We don't buy and drink wine, but we always take water and coffee when we drive to somewhere. It's not easy to carry so many drinks from our car to home after shopping a lot of stuff. That's why these bag are very useful for us to carry some drinks. We owned the Whole Foods 6-bottle reusable bag, but it was already worn out, so it's time to get new bags! We went to Whole Foods first and bought one. After that, we found that Trader Joe's have released new reusable bags. Frankly, the previous version of Trader Joe's 6-bottle bags were not attractive for me, but this new bag was so cute! I couldn't resist getting new one! I'm going to share our new 6-bottle reusable bags.

6-bottle Reusable Bags


Whole Foods Reusable Bag


Whole Foods Reusable Bag


Trader Joe's Reusable Bag


Trader Joe's Reusable Bag


Trader Joe's Reusable Bag


Trader Joe's Reusable Bag

      My entries related to Whole Foods can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Whole%20Foods


     My entries related to Trader Joe's can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Trader%20Joe%27s

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Cold Brew Vietnamese Coffee at Whole Foods

      Last Saturday, my husband and I went to Whole Foods and found that they have Vietnamese Coffee at their coffee bar. We sometimes brew Vietnamese iced coffee, which is brewed with a small metal French drip filter, at home. Moreover, when we go to Vietnamese restaurants, we always have Vietnamese iced coffee. Now, you know how much we love Vietnamese coffee. :) That's why I couldn't resit trying Whole Foods' one!

      This coffee was already mixed with condensed milk. We grabbed a plastic cup and pulled the lever of Vietnamese Coffee to pour the coffee into the cup. If you want some ice, you can ask a cashier at the coffee bar. It was about $3.70 for the 24 oz cup. It was pretty affordable, right?
Whole Foods Coffee Bar
       Compared to our homemade Vietnamese coffee, it was a little bland though. However, its sweetness was just perfect! :)
Cold Brew Vietnamese Coffee at Whole Foods

      Next day, I brewed Vietnamese coffee with using an affordable Vietanese coffee filter. Frankly, I prefer my coffee to Whole Foods one.

      This is my YouTube video, How to Brew Vietnamese Coffee.


      My entries related to Whole Foods can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Whole%20Foods

      My entries related to coffee can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/coffee


Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Taqueria De Anda, Mexican restaurant

       Last Sunday, my husband and I went to Taqueria De Anda, Mexican restaurant, in Santa Ana for our second time. We went to there two years ago and had a great experience there. We just went to Anaheim last Sunday, and I checked my entry of this restaurant on my blog through my iPhone to check its address and my review on it. :) It was pretty close to the location where we were, so we decided to stop by this restaurant again on our way home.
Taqueria De Anda, Mexican restaurant


Taqueria De Anda, Mexican restaurant
        We ordered their Wet Carne Asada Britto with Cheese for $6.90. It was pretty salty but great with fresh radish which you can get at salsa bar.
Wet Carne Asada Burrito with Cheese

     We also ordered four kinds of tacos, which were Beef Tongue, Chicken, and Carnitas, Carne Asada, for $1.30 each. These were as great as we expected.
Tacos

       I was surprised that this restaurant opens 24 hours, which is very rare in the U.S. If I have a chance to go nearby this restaurant, I will definitely go to this restaurant again.


Taqueria De Anda1029 E 4th St
Santa Ana, CA 92725



Monday, October 27, 2014

A Clover Reserve Starbucks - Starbucks Reserve Panama Carmen Estate

     Yesterday, my husband and I went to Clover Reserve Starbucks store. Before going there, I was looking forward to trying their new Starbucks Reserve Jamaica Blue Mountain, which was just released. However, when we went there at 7 p.m., it was already sold out. We finally decided to try Panama Carmen Estate.
Starbucks Reserve Store

Starbucks® Reserve Panama Carmen Estate
This bright and nutty-sweet coffee is grown in Panama's Volcán Valley, where Carlos Aguliera produces some of the world's most renowned specialty coffees on his award-winning, family estate.
Nestled high between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the estate is lush with well-nourished coffee trees and native plants. Only the ripest cherries are picked by hand and then milled on site. Every sip of this rare gem reveals sparkling flavours at their most pronounced.
Of the thousands of coffees we encounter in our search for the best, only a precious few are deemed exceptional enough to become Starbucks Reserve® coffees, offered only for limited times at select stores.

Producer: The Franceschi Family of Carmen Estate in Panama's Chiriquí Province
Elevation: 5,100 - 5,700 feet (1,700 - 1,900 meters)
Coffee Variety: Typica, Caturra
Processing Method: Washed


      The coffee was brewed with Clover coffee machine. Its fresh coffee aroma made me happy. :)While it was described that it has citrus and sweet tastes on Starbucks website, I didn't notice those flavors. It was not sour, which I like. It was very decent coffee, and we really liked it.
Starbucks Reserve Panama Carmen Estate
       Next time, I'd like to try Starbucks Reserve Jamaica Blue Mountain.  :)


       I found that there were two interesting black boards.
A Clover Reserve Starbucks

A Clover Reserve Starbucks


          My Starbucks entries can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Starbucks

      My entries related to coffee can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/coffee

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Saturday, October 25, 2014

What He Got at Supermarket in Japan - Haul

       While my husband was on business trip in Japan this month, he bought some products at a supermarket. Most products are also available here in the U.S., but those are obviously more expensive than ones in Japan. That's why when we have a chance to visit Japan, we buy some products at supermarket. I'm going to share what he got there with you.
What He Got at Supermarket in Japan - Haul


       These are Japanese pickles. When I lived with my parents in Japan, I ate Japanese pickles every day.



      He bought two packs of Fukujinzuke, which is Japanese pickles used as a relish for Japanese curry.
Fukujinzuke
       He bought Kyu-chan, which is the one of the most famous pickle products in Japan. This is made of cucumbers, which is called kyuri in Japanese. I think that this was named Kyu-chan because of kyuri.
Kyu-chan

     This pickles is perfect with rice. :) Specifically, this package recommends to have them with tamagokake gohan, raw egg on rice.

Kyu-chan

       According to the package, the famous Japanese restaurant in Tokyo makes tamago kake gohan with Kyu-chan, and it has the recipe. Eating raw egg is a little risky outside of Japan because raw egg might be contaminated with salmonella. Next time I visit Japan, I should try this recipe.
Kyu-chan


       He bought this pickle, is called menma in Japan. This is made of bamboo shoots. Menma is perfect with ramen!
Menma


Menma

       He bought these tubed Japanese spices.
Japanese Spices

        This is tubed fresh grated ginger, which is perfect with tofu.

Fresh Grated Ginger

Fresh Grated Ginger



      These are tubed fresh grated wasabi. These are perfect with sashimi.
Fresh Grated Wasabi


       He bought sauce for okonomiyaki, which is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients.
Okonomi Sauce


        He bought two packages of instant miso soup, Asage. We often eat miso soup and Asage is our favorite product of instant miso soup. These are very easy to make. All I need to do is that just mix it and hot water. :)

Instant Miso Soup

      This is Maru-chan Seimen, Japanese instant noodle. I have tried some flavors of this products such as curry udon, miso ramen, tonkotsu ramen, shio ramen and figured out that curry udon flavor is the best. All flavors of this product are super good though.
Maru-chan Seimen Curry Udon


Maru-chan Seimen Curry Udon

       I had requested my husband to buy some Japanese coffee. These two brands, Key Coffee and UCC, are very famous coffee manufacture in Japan.

Japanese Coffee

Key Coffee

Key Coffee

       I didn't realized that Japanese coffee is very unique until I moved to the U.S.  I have never seen such a unique packed coffee like this at supermarkets in the U.S. That's why I decided to write about this on my blog and asked him to buy some. I will write about it next time. :)
Key Coffee


UCC Coffee


      My Japan entries can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan


      My entries related to coffee can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/coffee


     This is also my entry you might like.
Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods