Dinner at Nippon Club, Sydney CBD

Chirashi Sushi

I first came across Nippon Club when I was walking along Macquarie St to meet my tea ceremony sensei and I was reminded of this again when I received the Urasenke Tea Ceremony Association end of the year party (which I unfortunately was unable to attend). When I walked in that night, I noticed that there are two parts of the establishment: the bar at the front and the restaurant at the back. As it is still an RSL like club, I had to fill out a temporary membership form. Don't worry though, it took me only 5 seconds.

The place has that cozy kind of feel with a sushi bar which reminded me of an izakaya (Japanese tapas bar). The menu though told me that it wasn't really an izakaya. L and I settled on the chirashi sushi plate and mentaiko pasta to share. I was really impressed with the chirashi sushi, it really looked appetizing and was filled to the brimmed! The pieces of raw fish were fresh and succulent. If I was hungrier I would have been sad that I had to share that.

Super yummy mentaiko pasta

At first we were told that the mentaiko pasta was small, but when it came, we were surprised at how big it was. Unless you are really hungry, do not order this to eat by yourself! The pasta was firm! I was happy. The sauce were creamy, salty and spicy from the mentaiko. I was really really happy. It was the best mentaiko pasta I've had in Sydney so far! I long to return there already...

Oh and the price was quite reasonable too, between the two of us I think we paid around $30 each.

Nippon Club

229 Macquarie St

Sydney, NSW 2000

+61 2 9232 2688

Chicken karaage lunch at Hoya

Chicken karaage set at Hoya

Remember my post on Nazimi's chicken karaage not too long ago? If you haven't tried it, you should and then you should compare it to Hoya's chicken karaage - just a few shops away from Nazimi on the same side of the street. To be honest with you, I can't pick which one is my favorite out of the two as they are both different. What I love at Hoya is that the salad dressing, it's home made and I can't really tell what it's made out of. What I do know is that it is very refreshing.

The lunch set for $12

The set at Hoya is more basic than at Nazimi's bento style. In Hoya you get the chicken karaage set, with rice and salad. So if you like variety you might want to try Nazimi's but if you want plenty of chicken karaage, I'd say hit Hoya. For me though, I divide my time equally between the two, and at $12 for the lunch set, it's definitely value for money.

Hoya Japanese Restaurant

119 York St

Sydney, NSW 2000

+62 2 9267 0822

Sydney's best udon thus far.... Mappen!

On-tama bukkake udon (small)

Allright, hands up if you haven't been to or heard of Mappen? Yes, I suppose many of you haven't but if this place has created quite a buzz in the Sydney food blogosphere around September. I have been there numerous of times and in its early stage as much as 3 times in one week, with 2 of them in a row. Hahahaha, I should go to Mappen anonymous huh? Well, I haven't had time to write about this earlier since I was dealing with my broken foot, school works and exams.

Anyway, I was there last week and I ordered my favorite thing: on-tama bukkake udon: udon with par-boiled egg and concentrated sauce. Then as I walked along the line to the cashier, my faith is not strong enough to resist those tempura temptations... Not that I want to anyway! I ended up getting mixed vegetable kakiage tempura and the shrimp as they stopped serving chikuwa for a while now. Mappen management if you are reading this, please bring back the chikuwa tempura!

Vegetable kakiage and shrimp tempura

What I love about Mappen is, not only the interesting concept: noodle and tempura bar, but also the cheap (relatively) price and it's quality. It's a rare feat for any shop to serve cheap and good quality food, but Mappen definitely achieved that. For udon, the most important thing is its texture, what is it's chewiness factor? Mappen's udon is definitely good, the only better ones I've had was sanuki udon from Koya san in Japan. The onsen tamago (par boiled egg)? I've been there many times and it's always on the right consistency.

My only foe here is the tempura bar... it is way too tempting! I can never resist. Beware though, don't eat too much, you'll hate yourself for the amount of food you forced yourself to eat. Or hey, maybe you don't have that problem hehehhe... I like the way they always keep just enough tempura on display so that it never stays there for too long, keeping it fresh so to speak.

Menya Mappen

Shop 11, 537-551 George St

Sydney, NSW 2000

+61 2 9283 5525

Chicken karaage lunch set at Nazimi

Nazimi's chicken karaage lunch set

Nazimi is one of Sydney CBD best kept secret restaurants that serves good quality Japanese food with good value for money. So far I've only gone for dinner and today was the first time I went for lunch. I was meeting a friend of a friend of a friend. Yes, 3rd degree of separation, who just moved to Sydney from New York, one of my favorite cities in the world. Originally we planned on going to Cafecito, a Brazillian cafe in Town Hall that got good raving from the Sydney Time Out magazine. After getting lost somewhere in Kent St, with both of us entering the address as 473 Kent St into google maps, we found it inside Town Hall Square, CLOSED! *Gasp* I quickly opened my Time Out mag that I brought and it said "open Mon-Fri 7am-5pm". Well, mistakes happen I suppose... So we were hungry and had no idea where to eat... so we walked to QVB and decided to go check out the two Japanese restaurants on York St and settled on Nazimi as Hoya was closed.

We had to wait a few minutes before they opened at 11.30am and we were definitely their first customers. After looking at their menu, both of us decided to go for the Chicken karaage lunch set for $15 which included; miso soup, sushi, entree of the day, rice, salad and of course chicken karaage. A good deal. We were famished and luckily we got served the miso soup right away which helped me from having to deal with a riot in my stomach!

Wasabi, sushi, fruit and veggie salad, and entree of the day

It came in this cute bento box, not unexpected since it's a Japanese food characteristics anyway but it's always nice when your food is presented nicely. I love how the wasabi was piped into a flower shape. The karaage was bite size, crispy and tasty. There were a house karaage sauce that you get with it where I could taste a bit of wasabi in it... or maybe I accidentally mixed some in there.. Oh well I truly enjoyed the karaage. I found some eggplant on the entree of the day corner as well as shrimp salsa and tiny agedashi tofu. The vegetable and fruit salad was in sesame dressing and we both got one piece each of unagi roll and tuna mayo roll. I love it.

Good food, good company... what else could you possibly want for a Saturday lunch?

If you come here for dinner or want to order other things from the normal menu, I'd say go for it. I don't think you can ever go wrong. I've tried many other things and always find myself wanting togo back for more.

Nazimi

141 York St

Sydney, NSW 2000

+61 2 9283 2990

Annual Tea Ceremony at Eden Garden

Chabana (flower arrangement for tea ceremony) and the tea ceremony time

The annual Chakai (tea ceremony gathering) that I have been waiting for was finally here! I was helping out at the reception so that means I had access to backstage areas that would have been off limit to any other normal participants. A little power trip once in a while is good, I'd say ;)

Misonodana presentation, cleaning the bowl, hantou (helper) serving tea to VIP guests, and my bowl of matcha

The chakai was held at Eden Garden near Macquarie University in the northern Sydney. Despite the weather, we had a great turn out and everyone seem to be very happy to be a part of this event. The chakai was in two parts, honseki which was the formal tea ceremony and misonodana which was the more 'modern' as the host is seated at a chair and prepared the tea on a table rather than on sitting on his/her foot, seza style on tatami. Misonodana was first presented when the current Japanese emperor was a prince, so it is quite recent in its development.Fear not! You don't have to sit on your foot, folding your knees seza style at any time during this event. If anything you are seated on a chair! (as you can see from the pictures)

The Honseki: cleaning chashaku (tea ladle), explaining the rituals and its meanings

The other style presented was honseki, the more traditional one. Here you can see that everything is done on a tatami mat. On the right, the lady in pink kimono was explaining the different rituals and meaning of the ceremony. On the previous picture, you could see the misonodana host cleaning the bowl, and here the host is cleaning the tea ladle. All utensils are cleaned before guests entered the room, however, any chakai host will always clean the utensils again in front of the guests to show their respect, care, and hospitality for the guests.

Yuzu and matcha sweets, bubbles on top of the tea

Summer camellia (Nerikiri: moist bean cake)

The sweets were all handmade by the Chado Urasenke Tankokai Sydney Association members. The summer camellia was made from lima beans and naturally colored with matcha powder to make it green. The yellow pieces on the top was dried mango. I forgot what the other ones are called, but they were also handmade by the members, from yuzu (Japanese citrus) and matcha.

Sweets used in chakai are chosen to represent the season. This is tied to the zen idea 一期一会 (ichi go ichi e) literally translated as "one time, one meeting". It's basically the idea that life is transient, and that every moment is fleeting, everything its 'once in a life time'. So the host commemorates the preciousness of this moment in time with his/her guests by choosing the right sweet that represent the moment in time, the season.

Chasen (to whisk the tea) and the chawan (tea bowls) prepared for the guests

The tea powder is made from whole tea leaves, it is therefore rich in antioxidant, vitamin C and caffeine. During the chakai, it was explained that these are the reasons green tea was so popular amongst Buddhist monks who needed to fulfill their discipline in chanting sutras and meditation late into the night. In the olden days tea was used for its medicinal properties as well. Unlike our everyday tea that we chuck out of our tea cups after steeping, with these tea we drink the leaves, and this makes it a lot richer with antioxidant, vitamin C and caffeine.

My chawan

Chawan used for tea ceremony are also seasonal, another representation from the zen idea i explained above. The host will always ensure that the prettiest side of the bowl will face the guests to honor them, and the guests to show their thanks and humility to the host's hospitality will turn the cup twice to drink from the less pretty side of the bowl. After the guests drink their tea, they are welcomed to inspect the bowls. In the tea ceremony tradition this practice is not rude. The host invites the guests to inspect to show that the host has taken great length to ensure that everything used to entertain the guests are the best quality.

Mizusashi (fresh water container) with bamboo ladle on the top and the hot water kettle; clementi chabana (flower arrangement for tea ceremony)

Some people might think what a tedious way to have a cup of tea, but I really love the whole thing. It's very zen and with everything that's going on in life where our minds are constantly in the race for the next thing that we need to do, it's good to just be in the moment once in a while. To appreciate the moment and your companies, instead of trying to do a gazillion things at once, typing frantically on our smartphones while with out family or friends. I admit, I am guilty for this crime at times...

If you're interested to join the event next year, stay tuned, I post the info closer to the date. Also some flowers tips from the Ikebana and Chabana master from the chakai: if you want your clementi to last longer, bite the end of the stem with your teeth; and for wisteria, put it in an alcohol solution and not just water.

Annual Japanese Tea Ceremony Gathering

Presented by Chado Urasenke Tankokai Sydney Association

Day 5 of Japan trip: Kushiro, seafood heaven

Morning in Bibaushi

It is time to say goodbye to the lavenders in the heart of Hokkaido and continue our journey east to Kushiro where we would base ourselves to see the famous marimo at Lake Akan and horse ride in Kushiro marshland. We were really sad to leave Bibaushi and its surrounding as we felt so at home at our hostel. Since I woke up real early that day, a combination of jetlag and the fact that the sun rises at 4am in Hokkaido.... It was kinda surreal actually to wake up at 4 am and see it's sunny outside already. These surreal moments are one of the reasons why I love traveling. Anyway since I was awake, I decided to walk around with my camera to absorb moments when the town was waking up.

Various scenes from the Bibaushi train station

Life around the rolling hills of rice paddies in Bibaushi

Signs of spring and summer, the hills were alive with flowers!

We arrived in Kushiro at around 1pm and we were hungry. The city, one of the major hub in the eastern part of Hokkaido was decidedly more close to foreign visitors than the other places that we have been. It was amazing, because I just felt like we were amongst the first people to discover this city. Even if you don't speak Japanese, I truly recommend Kushiro. The people, the climate, its tranquility and the seafood are definitely worth our while. Unlike Sapporo and Furano where the humidity almost killed us (I'd still go back though!), Kushiro was very cool and dry with ocean breeze.

The cute ramen-ya near our hotel

Uni Ikura Donburi set - JPY 600 (~USD6)

Shoyu ramen, Kushiro style - JPY 500

We found this cute little ramen place near our hotel where we ordered ramen for JPY 500 and uni ikura donburi set for JPY 600. Yes!!! No typo there! Really! The total was JPY 1,100. No kidding, totally dirt cheap. The taste? One of the best I've had, SERIOUSLY. We shared the shoyu ramen which had light broth but full of taste. The noodle was just right, not over or under cooked. I finished the soup and I rarely do that. That's a testimony on how good it was. The uni ikura donburi set? The buttery sweetness taste of uni combined with the bursting in your mouth savory salty ikura were a match made in heaven. The sushi rice was still warm which was really nice. I always prefer warm rice than cold. We didn't even need to add soy sauce as it was soooooo fresh. I want to go back!

Unfortunately I cannot give you the shop's name and address as I forgot to get their name card. However, if you wander to Kushiro Palude hotel which was where we stay, if your back is facing the lobby you will be able to see this ramen-ya just one block ahead of you.

"Let's do brunch" at Cafe Ish

Karaage Soft Shell Crab Omelette

A few days ago I came across a tweet by @atablefortwo via RTs about Cafe Ish and Shoot The Chef competition that is part of the Sydney International Food Festival (SIFF) [click here for official website]. When I opened the link and saw the photo of Cafe Ish's take on eggs benedict with soft shell crab... I got really curious. Then by chance when I was checking out the SIFF website, I found the "Let's Do Brunch" promo (weekend only) at Cafe Ish: A$25 for karaage soft shell crab omelette (their specialty), breakfast triffle - yoghurt with native berry compote and muesli, and a cup of wattle macca-cino (another specialty of theirs). Not a bad deal I'd say. Talking to a friend, it turned out that she was planning a trip for this promo on Sunday and so I tagged along.

I set up my alarm for 8am as my friend as sent me an email reminding me of the time and that daylight saving started Sunday 3rd October. Morning came way too quickly as I had a real long day on Oct 2nd doing a charity fundraising for Youth Off The Streets - check out Race For The Youth on facebook if you're interested. Anyway, we got there early and it was raining. I really couldn't wait for the coffee, alas we were waiting for some people.

As we waited, I took out my camera and my friend told me to be careful and ask permission first before taking any picture as the owners are reputedly quite particular about people taking pictures in their cafe. Hmmm... okay.... Anyway, the next time the waitress was there we asked her if it's ok to take picture and she said yes. So that's done, but still I couldn't shake the weird feeling off. Another friend told me at the table that there has been some arguments between the owners and some Sydney bloggers regarding what the bloggers write on their reviews. Another weirdness..., but then the coffee arrived then the food started to arrive and we were busy taking pictures and stuffing our face.

Wattle Macca-cino with tiny cookie

I loved the wattle macca-cino, I drank it just as is with no sugar added. It tasted just right, balanced - just enough sweetness that compliments the solid coffee taste. I loved the cute cookie too. The waitress informed us that the cafe does all you can eat ribs every Wednesday for A$35 and I have a feeling that I will go back. Oh and maybe another visit to try the crab benedict.

The breakfast triffle - yoghurt, muesli and native berries compote

The native berry that was really sour if you eat it as is... interesting experience though

The breakfast triffle was interesting as well, it came with all these weird shaped dried berries that puzzled me at first. That is till my friend told me that the menu said "native berries". I tried eating one of the interesting looking native berries as is and it was really sours. So word of the wise, if you don't like sourness mix it well.

Salt: pink salt, green tea salt and chilli salt

Tasmanian pepper berries - didn't add any as the sauce delivered interesting flavour as is

Close up of the crab omelette - yum

After that, came the most anticipated dish - crab omelette. I couldn't wait to eat it and see if the raves were true. The chilli sauce on top was interesting. When the waitress told us at first that the omelette comes with a special sauce I was thinking Japanese-ish sauce. However, the chilli sauce tasted like Malaysian sambal belacan - chilli with ebi (dried small shrimps) base and then fried to take off the heat. I like the avocado, soft shell crab and shallots combination inside the omelette. It was like eating sushi but have the rice and seaweed replaced with omelette. The sweet and spiciness of the sambal belacan-like sauce went well with the sushi-like omelette. Halfway through the dish, however I started to feel that it was getting too salty. Overall though, I thought it was really creative to use soft shell crab on a breakfast dish.

Cafe Ish

82 Campbell St

Surry Hills, NSW

+61 2 9281 1688

Opening times varies so please contact the cafe directly

Day 4 cont'd: Affogato at Sugiyama Cafe and the Cheese Factory

Welcome to Sugiyama Cafe - Furano

As I was preparing photos for this post, I am quite aghast at how many food we consumed that particular day. To recap from the previous post, so far on the same day we have had: lavender ice cream, lavender calpis jelly, lavender cream puff, various soba and grilled mochi. This post picks up where we left off... after lunch, we had some time to kill before our bus to the wine and cheese factories (yes more food I know!!). So we walked back to the station when we came across this cute cafe. The signs were all in Japanese, but if you walk in, you will be rewarded with great coffee and super cute cafe.

Check out the tablecloth's pattern: coffee cups!!

The menu - Affogato for JPY 400! (+/- US$4.00)

I was so excited to find such a cute, cozy cafe and at the same time felt sad because I only had that time to enjoy it. As soon as we stepped in, we could smell roasted coffee beans wafting in the air. The furniture were so retro but at the same time very cozy as there were lots of wooden furniture and chocolatey color that made the atmosphere felt so warm. The AC was full blast, such a cool refuge from the midday heat outside! I absolutely adored the tablecloth, it has coffee cup pattern! I really wish I can transport this whole cafe here to Sydney, or wherever I happen to live.

Check out the retro chairs and the fan... too cute!

The special blend of coffee drip

Waiting for our order and taking a break from the heat

Affogato - perfect cure from the hit and to ensure that we stay after a morning of eating, eating, oh and eating!

There were two baristas and they were very friendly even though we don't speak the same language. This is what I call hospitality service! Well, my broken Japanese don't really count... Anyway, the lady barista spoke English as she lived in New Zealand before. She has the cutest accent! It was so unusual for me to hear Japanese speaking in a non American accent. Anyhow, she explained to us that they have a special brew see picture below - where it takes about 7-8 hours to drip the coffee and yields only 15 cups of coffee per day. Of course we had to try it! We decided to have the affogato. I am also sure that Ginko chan was happy I got the same as her, this way she didn't have to wait for me to take pictures of her orders! I think she got used to it though ;)

Closer to the bus departure time we head back to the station and waited for it to come. First and stop: cheese factory. We planned on going to the wine factory afterwards but it rained so hard that we decided to head back and enjoy our cozy hostel. Bibaushi and Furano area were so tranquil and peaceful, we felt so sad to leave the next day. But hey, it's always better to leave when you still want to stay than being stuck when you just can't wait to leave. I've been on both places and this is way better.

Furano Cheese: you could tell which one is the one with cuttlefish ink, couldn't you?

Unfortunately the cheese factory was closed on the weekend. However, we still get to taste the their specialty cheese which is black cheese made with cuttle fish ink. It wasn't fishy at all but you could taste the squid ink very subtly, the slight pungent taste cuts through the creaminess that would be too much for me. Ginko chan though, preferred the normal cheese. So really, it all comes down to your taste buds and preference.

The emblem, which is kinda funky as it fused Italian and Japanese elements, how they make the pizza and an angel pizza!

The end product and my Hokkaido Milk Ice cream...

This little guy kept us company while we were having ice cream outside, isn't butterfly a sign of good luck?

Remember to get your tickets here first, then give it to the people on the counter.

Then as if we hadn't had enough to eat for the day I had the Hokkaido milk ice cream and Ginko ordered a slice of pizza. Are we crazy? Yeah, I think we were... But then again, we WERE at a cheese factory so how can we not try the dairy products there?! They were really yummy, definitely worth our stomach getting angry at us. Will I do it again? I'd probably try to space all the eating out on a couple of days!

Sugiyama Coffee

〒076-0025 富良野市日の出町12-1
+81 167 23 5277

Opens 10am ~ 7pm

Click here for map

Day 4: 2nd round of Lavender ice cream and soba lunch in Furano city

Lavender soft ice cream Round 2!

At first it was definitely the rain that made us decide that we just had to go back to Tomita farm. However, I confess as you all probably have guessed that it was the Lavender ice cream that really tipped the scale. So it was day 4 in Japan, day 2 in Bibaushi and another visit to Tomita farm. Getting up early, we caught the train to Naka Furano and walked the 20 minutes walk to Tomita farm. The weather was as sunny as it was raining the previous day. By the time we reached Tomita farm, we needed to sit down under the shade and get something cold, yes we got lavender ice cream. Seriously though, it was the heat.

Lavender calpis jelly with poplar trees in the background

I then decided to try the Lavender calpis jelly and Ginko chan got the cream puff, also in lavender flavor. No surprise there eh? The fields were just so beautiful. I couldn't stop snapping pictures. I wish I had a whole week just to spend wondering around this area.

I wish I could have brought my late German Shepherd here, I miss him so much!

Norokko Go Train - Sightseeing train on operation in the spring and summer

Kodamaya front entrance, very summery

The sun was really shinning that day, as if to make up for its lack thereof the previous day. It exhausted us. So we made our way to Furano to get lunch and wait for the bus that will take us to the cheese and the wine factory. The tourist information recommended us this soba place about 7 minutes walk to the north of the station. We were lucky we got table right away because after that, people had to wait for quite a while. There were so many kind of soba to choose from too. I was tempted to get the Anago soba at first, but then saw the kinoko (mushroom) soba which I never see on any soba place menus. That settled it then. Ginko chan opted for the set and we waited for our food to come. We were super hungry.

Ginko chan's set, tempura soba, ikura soba and nama soba - fresh fresh fresh!

Look how fresh the egg is!

Mushroom soba with chicken

Yaki Mochi (grileld rice cakes) - my absolute favorite Japanese snack!

The soba, was really fresh. We ordered the cold kinds perfect remedy for such hot days. Honestly, I'm not really of a soba person, but I was happy here. Service was awesome, food quality was great and the price was friendly to my wallet too! Seriously, I heart Japan. There are so many affordable great quality food there.

Kodamaya

Click here for website

Click here for map