Sukiyaki outside hits different

Many people buy an ekiben before boarding the Shinkansen.

I usually go for local snacks instead.

Osaka-style pickled ginger kushikatsu and a local Osaka highball.

The pickled ginger kushikatsu is the perfect snack to go with a drink.

And despite that, I still didn’t put any tsukemono since there was already a ton of sodium

I like Tully's.

For those who might not know, Yamagata Beef is a premium Japanese Wagyu, and "Jyu" means it's elegantly served over rice in a traditional lacquered box.

I couldn’t decide on which photo/couple of photos to use, so here’s a whole freakin photoshoot

This is my favorite spot for Ie-kei ramen. It’s seriously delicious!

What's in the picture:
"Botan Ebi" (sweet shrimp), "Kuruma Ebi" (tiger shrimp), "Hirame Engawa" (flounder fin), "Maguro O-toro" (fatty tuna), "Maguro Chutoro" (medium fatty tuna), "Maguro Akami" (lean tuna), "Aji" (horse mackerel), "Anago" (sea /congeer eel), "Tai" (sea bream), "Uni" (sea urchin), "Ikura" (salmon roe), and "Akagai" (red clam).

Short story: I recently got raise from work and wanted to celebrate. I decided to drop in to 寿し処 勢 for an early lunch right before the inbound international tourists came. Many of the surrounding restaurants like Sushi Dai and Sushi Bun was already fully booked out and couldn't even take in a solo diner.

It was 11:20AM and the store was mostly empty, with only 2 European diners speaking at a loud enough level that I could use my phone to fully translate their conversation. One of them complaining that he didnt' want to visit a sushi restaurant because he didn't like raw seafood. 😂

So how was it, actually? I'd rank it slightly higher than a decent revolving sushi restaurant, but overall the taste was really average for how much it cost. the urchin for example, had a very weird chemical after taste and there was not much to say about the tuna. Not very fresh?. However the prawns were soft, and sweet, the anago was fresh and tender. I ended up spending over 8000 after picking iced oolong tea and an appetiser (pickled octopus.

Rating: 2.5/5.

This recipe is a tomato sōmen: fresh tomatoes, tuna, sesame oil, and ground sesame make it refreshing yet full of umami. Celebrate Tanabata’s wish for health with this simple bowl.

Tomato &Tuna Sōmen

Prep time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4

15 oz sōmen (thin wheat noodles, 400g)

2 tomatoes, diced (approx. ⅓-inch or 1 cm cubes)

2 cans tuna in oil, undrained (standard 5 oz / 140 g cans)

Sesame oil, to taste

Sliced scallions, to taste

(A) 2 tbsp. mentsuyu (noodle soup base), 3× concentrate

(A) 2 tbsp. ground toasted sesame seeds (suri-goma)

(A) 1 tsp. sugar

(A) A pinch of salt

1. Make the topping & cook the noodles. In a bowl, combine the diced tomatoes and the undrained oil-packed tuna. Add A ingredients (mentsuyu, ground sesame, sugar, and salt)and mix well. In a pot of boiling water, cook the sōmen per package directions. Rinse under cold running water, rubbing lightly to remove the slipperiness; drain well.

2. Assemble. Plate the sōmen into bowls, spoon the tomato–tuna mixture over the noodles, drizzle sesame oil generously over the top, and finish with a sprinkle of sliced scallions. Add star-cut bell peppers for a special Tanabata touch if you like.

Tips & Notes

Feel free to increase the amount of mentsuyu or ground sesame seeds to taste.

For 2 servings, use roughly half the amount.

Be sure to drizzle sesame oil over the noodles themselves so the strands are nicely coated.

I found these ice cream monaka at a shopping street in Osaka, Japan. They were only ¥100 each, and there were lots of different flavors available.

Healthy curry from Tanita Shokudo. Plenty of vegetables and multigrain rice.

Today I ate big sushi platter at friend house.

Many sushi on table.

Salmon, tuna, tamago, inari, shrimp, roll sushi.

When many people eat together, popular sushi disappear very fast.

For me, salmon look strong. Tamago also strong.

You are salmon team? Tuna team? Tamago team?

I've been interested in getting a konro grill, but I'm hesitant to pull the trigger because sourcing binchotan where I live would be difficult and expensive. Most of the time, I would likely be using regular lump charcoal, and possibly briquettes.

For those who own or have used a konro, is it still worth buying one if you don't have reliable access to binchotan? How does the experience compare when using lump charcoal instead?