Japan Trip 2013 - Day 3

Today was a very long day. Our bodies did not recover fully from yesterday's 12 hour trek. So we were very tired despite today's shorter walk. First thing's first...the morning started with a green tea Pon de Ring from Mister Donut...but it didn't taste like green tea so :< paid an extra ３６円 for nothing.

Green Tea Pon de Ring

Lipton Flavored Tea

We got some of these teas at the convenience store....so tasty! Probably high in fructose corn syrup though. They do taste what they advertise though! Afterwards we made our way to Shibuya to check out Sweets Paradise, otherwise known as a dessert buffet.

Sweets Paradise in Shibuya - The sugary dessert buffet

Strawberry mousse, green tea mousse, tiramisu, and others

Located in the Parco department store-Part 3 building, $15 will get you admitted into this place. The target audience is obviously young girls that love sweets (though we did see some guys there as well). About 10% of the buffet consisted of pastas and sides which chefs would call out when a fresh batch is put out. The rest was an array of cakes...from roll cakes, to cream puffs, to mousse cakes, to sponge cakes...not to mention a chocolate fountain as well.  

Kitty came into the buffet excited to try all the sweets.  She was expecting high quality desserts, but she stated that eventually all the mousses and cakes tasted the same. They were not bad cakes, simply average. Perhaps we are just old fogies and do not have the vigorous sweet tooths that young girls have. Definitely an affordable experience and recommend for those that love love love cakes.

After wandering around the shops, we got really tired and wanted to sit as well as something savory to supplement those cakes. Kitty noticed a place called Funwari Tamago that specialized in making omelette rice souffle style.

Beef Mushroom Demiglace Omelette Rice

Super Fluffy Souffle Goodness Spilling Out

This was an amazing omelette rice. The eggs were like clouds, and each spoonful was so savory and wholesome. Despite being a little full from the dessert buffet, we cleaned this plate through and through. This restaurant took omelette rice to a whole new level.

Food coma really hit us then, so we went back for a nap before heading out to Ikebukuro where we combed through Seibu's (a Japanese department store) gourmet food basement. 

-=-Travel Tip!-=-

Whenever traveling to Japan, one MUST visit the basement floor of a department store because it is a treasure hold down there of food, snacks, gourmet items, and all that is nom worthy. 

One of Many Gourmet Cake Shops

Croquette

Sweet Potato Croquette

Ducky was craving to try a croquette from Japan, so we took this opportunity to get one.  We just chose a stall at random that had the croquette.  After we bought this croquette, we saw some other stalls with more enticing breading and wish we had taken a look around first.  The croquette we bought was not bad though.  We were expecting a normal potato croquette, but it turned out to be a sweet potato croquette.  This is a bit unusual, but it had a nice sweet and savory taste to it.  Ducky still would prefer the normal potato croquette over the sweet potato, so the search still continues.

Peach Jelly Tart

There were just too many stalls with fanciful desserts.  These were the kind of desserts Kitty wished for when we went to Sweets Paradise for lunch.  We settled on this wonderful looking peach jelly tart.  It was a bit pricey at around 600 yen, but, after tasting it, we concluded that it was worth every penny.  The jelly, the tart, and the peach all had a delicate sweet peach taste that was not too overwhelming.  The tart absorbed the peach flavor and offered a nice contrast in texture to the peach and jelly. We definitely recommend at least trying any of the desserts down here as they all looked so enticing.

Namco Namjaland

 We ventured over the Namco Namja Town which is a little mini amusement park for kids. There was a ５００円 entrance fee. If we knew Japanese a bit better we would have been able to enjoy many of the little amusement quests they had for their patrons. Otherwise we strolled over to the Gyoza Stadium, which offered gyoza, gyoza, and more gyoza.

Gyoza

Kitty wanted to try an order of Gyoza inside of Namjaland.  There were many stalls that sold gyoza, but we chose the one at the end of the "street".  The gyoza was 4 pieces for 380円, which is a bit pricey compared to what I am used to paying for gyoza back in the US.  However, these gyoza were quite tasty.  The bottoms were nicely fried to make a crispy layer.  The filling of chicken and onions was nice a moist.  The top of the gyoza was soft and the bottom was crispy.  We both agreed that we much prefer gyozas to be crispy all around, but these gyozas were nonetheless delicious.  For the price, we recommend trying them once if you happen to be in Namjaland, but it isn't worth paying the entrance fee just to eat these gyozas.

Pork Shabu Somen Set with Onigiri

We didn't have a real meal for dinner, so we still had some room in our stomachs from all that snacking. Kitty casually swung by a shop in the station when she noticed the set deal for ９６０円. It was a cold noodle soup dish that was extremely refreshing in the sweltering heat. We had the choice of choosing 2 onigiris (rice balls), so we chose the chicken and the preserved vegetables one. 

Kimchi Flavored Pringles

We found some Kimchi flavored Pringles and decided to give it a try.  Kitty and Ducky have conflicting opinions on these Pringles.  The chips have a nice kimchi like smell.  However, to Ducky it does not taste like Kimchi, but just a savory spicy taste with some kimchi aftertaste.  Kitty thinks they are just fine and taste like Kimchi, but it is not a flavor she would buy again.