What We Ate in Tokyo, Japan 2009 (Part 3)

Our ekiben when we took the Shinkansen to see Mount Fuji.

At Asakusa:

There are lots of stores along the street (Nakamise and Shin-Nakamise) from the Kaminarimon to the Sensoji Temple. They are famous for their senbei. The fresh grilled senbei are absolutely delicious. Wish I could try each and every one of them.

Fresh dango too. Another must try! And there are some stores that sells deep-fried manjyuu. We did not try it but there was a lot of people queuing to buy it.

There are many stores that sells ningyoyaki - another Asakusa's well known product. Ningyoyaki is a baked confectionery with thin layer of cake surrounding red bean paste(which is very very sweet).

There is a store that sells machine-made ningyoyaki (I think it is cheaper). We opted for the handmade ones. We picked the store operated by older people (and grouchier-looking chef). Haha. It turns out the chef wasn't that grouchy after all. He even posed when I asked permission to take picture of him making the cakes. xD

Just stop by one of the stalls and have a break - eat some dango/senbei/manjyuu/ningyoyaki with a cup of green tea.

Our "snack". Roasted chestnut (extra large chestnut) which my Sis insist on buying but in the end it was me who ate the most.

My 0 cal beverage - tried most of it that is available in various konbini.

Had a Mitarashi dango (basically shoyu/soy sauce). It was really nice - soft,chewy, and flavorful. It was a small store near Asukasa (we were making our way to Kappabashi), which turned out to be pretty well-known.

Manjyuu from department store.

Ramen from a random stall.

Ramen @ Ippudo

We went to the branch near Ebisu Station. It was good but not as good as we expected it be. We've read about how popular and good it is but it doesn't live up to our expectation.

From the department store: 

Pink peach cake (forgot which store I bought from). It says cake but there's more cream and fruit than cake. My Sis that never ever likes cream loves it. @_@ (She's being bias again, I think.)

Bought some mochi from Mochi Cream. The mochi wasn't good but the cream is.

Flavor tried:

- Premium: Strawberry cheesecake

- Premium: Green tea with anko

- Black soy bean

- Chocolate banana

In my opinion, the "normal" range mochi cream are better tasting than the "premium" ones.

JAL in-flight meals

A 12 hours+ flight and we got two meals only >.< Would have starved if I did not have my own supply of food. xD

Food we bought:

Castella/Kasutera Cake from Fukusaya

Soft and moist. Strong egg flavor.

Our favorite cream senbei from Minamoto Kitchoan

Variety of senbei. Mostly from Asakusa.

The black pepper senbei and the ika senbei is very very good.

Melon manjyuu from Akebono.

The melon flavor is very strong.

Kurobe from Tokyo Banana.

I think the store in Ginza have the most selection/range. Must try. 

Some compared it to Twinkies - if so, that is one hell of Twinkies and I would like to try THAT Twinkies too.

The chocolate sponge cake is soft and chocolaty. It doesn't have this oily feel like the Twinkies. Strong banana flavored cream - the part that I don't really like, it taste a bit too artificial to me. But my Sis said it was fine (again, I think she is bias).

Kamakura Hangetsu (half-moon senbei) from Kamakura Goro

Highly recommend. They have 4 flavors - green tea, red bean, peanut, and black sesame. In pic: Matcha (green tea) and Ogura (red bean) flavor.

The senbei is very crunchy and fresh-tasting. Strong flavor too. I think the green tea is sweeter but Sis thinks the red bean is sweeter. @_@ Depends on individual, I guess.