We got the original Pon de Ring which has a subtly sweet honey glaze. What really appealed to me about this donut was how CHEWY it was. It was as if donut and mochi made a child. And that child is a Pon de Ring from Mister Donut.
After a 30 minute train ride we found ourselves to the heart of anime/manga/video game culture: Akihabara! But a little too early....don't come here before 10 AM, nothing is open. When stores opened we...by we...it was actually Kitty...did a lot of souvenir shopping. There were mountains and hordes of goods. But when lunch time came around we were hungry and since we're in Akihabara...time for our very first authentic maid cafe experience!
There were many maid cafes, but we chose @homecafe since it looked the nicest...and cutest....and most moe.
They had English menus as well so for visitors who do not understand Japanese at all, we recommend this place! There is an initial 600 entrance fee per each adult and then there are various items you can order but we opted for the food set which included a meal, a drink, and a polaroid snapshot with a maid of our choice.
When they found out we were from America, they were nervous since they did not have an English speaking maid present. But thankfully Kitty's Japanese got us by. They gave us these moe ambassador chopsticks as a bonus.
We started with the Magic Shaker drinks. Ducky got milk base and I got soda base. The maid has us repeat after her while she mixed our drinks. "Moe moe" "Kyun kyun" "Nyan nyan" "Oishiku-nare~!" (Become delicious). It did become delicious...delicious of moe high fructose corn syrup. We also got moe water too.
Kitty's Omelette Rice!
Ducky's Omelette Rice!
Normally we'd choose different entrees but we wanted the maid to draw on our food...so yes. Lots of moe. We moe-fied our food as well.
This parfait wasn't part of the set but Kitty got greedy and ordered a mango parfait. While we ate, they called one of us over individually to take a polaroid snapshot. We actually had the option of either getting a photo or playing a game with a maid, but we really wanted to take home a memorabilia.
In the end, they gave us a frequent visitor's card (legit plastic material!). Overall this maid cafe was a very wonderful experience and a must do for any visitor to Japan!
Later on we wandered to Asakusa to visit the famouse Senso-ji Temple. Along the way we snacked on various items:
Left: Dango + Iced Green Tea; Right: Green Tea Manju + Iced Green Tea
Center: Tofu Doughnut + Yuzu Tofu
In the area in front of the Senso-ji temple, we bought some dango and green tea manju. The green tea manju didn't taste like anything special and we would not recommend it. It tasted just like a regular manju with red bean filling, but covered in green tea powder. The dango was like chewy mochi and it was covered in messy peanut powdered sugar. We both agreed that the fresh hot dango was much better than the manju. After going to the temple and praying for good fortune, we left for Ueno Park. Along the way back, we bought a tofu doughnut and some yuzu tofu. We both thought the doughnut was cakey and did not have the nice fluffy nature we expected from a doughnut. The Yuzu tofu had bits of citrus in it, giving its subtle zesty flavor.
After the park, we had dinner at a Sakaba Yakitori Bunraku in Ueno. We were simply wandering around the street shopping and noticed this little area full of grilled meats and beer. Always a good sign.
We chose this for dinner because we wanted a local Japanese street dinner experience. Much like our street seafood dinner experience when we were in Hong Kong. The restaurant is tailored towards the eating and drinking alcohol atmosphere that salarymen want to unwind after a long days work. As such, one half of the menu consisted mostly of parts of chicken and some beef that can be barbecued on a skewer and the other half was alcoholic beverages. Here's what we ordered:
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| Tsukune (Chicken Meatball) on the right and Cow Liver on the left |
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| Chicken thigh meat on the left and Gyu-tan (Beef Tongue) on the right |
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| Cow thyroid/sweetbread on the right and chicken heart on the left |
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| Chicken cartilage and green peppers |
- For beginners we recommend: the tsukune meatball (outside had a nice crispy layer and the middle a firm mixture of chicken), the chicken thigh, and the chicken wings (Ducky's favorite but we ate it too soon and forgot to take a picture)
- For the adventurous we recommend: the liver (super rich organ flavor!), the thyroid (super fatty richness), the beef tongue (firm and superb), the heart (not as intense as liver), and the cartilage (crunchy goodness for Kitty but Ducky does not like)
- Green peppers had a bit of a spicy kick and every bite produced a mouthful of sauce.
- On average, 2 skewers cost $2-3 which we felt was a bargain compared to back at home where 3 skewers could easily cost $7-8. On a hot summer night like this, grilled skewers is a way to go to quench that sweltering appetite.
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| Hokkaido soft serve ice cream |
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| Cream Taiyaki |
Grape-Apple-Orange juice drink
On our way back home, we just couldn't help but drop by a convenience store to grab something cold to drink. Ducky chose this Gokuri triple fruit drink. Grape flavor was definitely the dominate taste with the orange coming in second and barely any apple taste. It is not too sweet and it is not a soda (not bubbly). I would recommend this to anyone who wants a fruity drink. We have decided to make a mission out of finding weird snacks available only in Japan. Cheers to finding some!
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