Cafe Comme Ca

I’ve been eating a lot of sweets lately, so I declare this to be #sweetweek, starting with a flashback to my favourite cake shop ever. Ah, Cafe Comme Ca. The lovely Shinjuku store with its fun lighting, creative wall art and immaculate display cabinet was our first dessert stop in Tokyo (of course!). We were seated in the back corner which has a great view of the cake decoration space (so much fruit being styled into perfect shapes!) and the wait staff bench where the delicate cocoa shapes are dusted onto the plates – the secret is a stencil, if you hadn’t guessed already. I adore their fruity cakes, so picked one with raspberry, strawberry and mango on a flaky pastry base. All of the cakes here are beautifully creamy and this was no exception. The vibrant flavour of the strawberries and raspberries matched the bold tropical mango perfectly. I also tried their seasonal iced tea – black tea with apple. It came out in a large glass with plenty of ice and was really refreshing. I like black iced teas that aren’t too bitter and this was just lovely. I can’t recommend Cafe Comme Ca highly enough – guaranteed to satisfy your inner foodie, design junkie and fruit artist (because here, that’s a thing).

Cafe Comme Ca, 5F Comme Ca Store, 3-26-6 Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku Tokyo http://www.cafe-commeca.co.jp/ (Japanese only)

Sushi Zanmai

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Reviewing this place twice is ok, but three times is excessive. Well, in my quest to share the best sushi experience in Tokyo, I did venture away from my beloved Sushi Zanmai in Akihabara and tried their flagship Tsukiji store. So, here’s how it went. Unlike in Akihabara, this Sushi Zanmai is multi-storey (oooooh), and at lunchtime it was pumping. We waited about 15 minutes for a table, and then were taken upstairs. Unfortunately our sushi chef was under the pump and had three groups of diners to look after at the counter, along with the table orders, so service was very slow. We started out with green tea and miso, sharing a bowl of the seaweed miso (so good). Next was the tempura squid, which was quite a good size portion and had a really lovely crispiness, along with plenty of salt to season. Then it was sushi time. We went for the classic favourites, having multiple serves of aburi salmon, before another go at the saba – sadly there was a bit too much wasabi on our pieces to fully enjoy this one. The unagi was excellent though – it just melted in your mouth. The verdict? Stick to Akihabara, or go at an off-peak time.

Sushi Zanmai, 4-11-9, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo                                       http://www.kiyomura.co.jp/ (Japanese only)

Each A Cup

Flashback post! I couldn’t resist trying the local bubble tea in Singapore – it’s not something that I’m hugely into in Australia, but when it’s 35 degrees outside and 70 per cent humidity, an iced tea sounds more and more appealing! I thought their tagline ‘for people who go for quality’ was cute and so I put them to the test. I ordered a lychee ‘fruity iced blend’, although there were a number of tempting flavours including peach, green apple and ‘love fruit’ (whatever that is!). You can add extras into your drink, and having been so close to picking the green apple flavour, I instead chose to add green apple pearls as an extra, because what is bubble tea without the bubbles? They were somewhat busy, although my order didn’t take long to prepare. The drink was very icy and hit the spot perfectly on a warm day. The lychee flavour wasn’t sickly sweet, and the pops of green apple pearls matched really well, although I did find that the ‘skins’ were a bit tough at times. Each A Cup has so many options that you could easily try one a day for months – hmm, what an interesting idea…

Each A Cup, ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn #B4-45 Singapore      http://www.each-a-cup.com/

Bitter Sweets Buffet

So many of my old favourites in Tokyo are just the same as I remember them – Bitter Sweets Buffet is yet another. We went nice and early on a weekday for lunch and didn’t have to line up (I remember waiting 90 minutes to go in 2009). For a fixed price, you have 90 minutes of all you can eat at the buffet, and all of their food is delightfully tiny so you can try lots of different things. There was a Mediterranean Cruise theme to the buffet when we went, so I started out with a slice of the margherita pizza, some crumbed fish with tartare sauce and (my favourite), a mini burger! You order the burgers from the chef and add your own toppings (lettuce, pickles, tomato sauce, onion) at the salad bar. I tried the potato salad (yum – so creamy) but went back for more crumbed fish – that was definitely the savoury pick. After enjoying some green tea we moved to dessert – hello mini cakes! I tried the strawberry mousse cake, the strawberry scroll (so light and fluffy!), the chocolate berry cake (my pick of the sweets) and a couple of jellies. We were so full that we didn’t last the whole 90 minutes, but every mouthful was delicious.

Bitter Sweets Buffet, 8F Lumine Est, 3-chome, 38-1 Shinjuku, Japan              http://pscoop.jp/bsb/index.html

Old Chang Kee

Another ‘wish-I-was-in-Singapore’ flashback! I am a bit of a snacker, and no more so when I’m in a country for the first time, burning energy exploring and trying to find stomach space to eat all of the things. As such, when we arrived in Singapore and had waited a good hour for an issue with our hotel booking to be resolved, I was on a mission to find some food. Luckily, we didn’t have to go far. Old Chang Kee’s street-side booth beckoned, luring us with delicious curry scents and the promise of trying a local snack food. I ordered a single curry puff, which was presented piping hot in a bright yellow bag, which I let cool a bit before tasting. I was surprised at how thick the pastry was, but was immediately converted by the incredible filling. A dense mix of chicken, egg and potato, the curry filling was fantastically rich and spicy and jam-packed into the shell. By then I was appreciating the spice-neutralising effect of the thick pastry – although it wasn’t an unpleasant amount of spice – and the mix of textures. The puff was really filling and a perfect snack for the hungry traveller.

Old Chang Kee, Paragon Shopping Centre, 290 Orchard Road #B1-10 Singapore   http://www.oldchangkee.com/

Wild Honey

Flashback time! Here’s one of my favourite foodie places in Singapore from my 2013 trip. My main reason for visiting Singapore was to eat. Yep, I’m not ashamed to admit it. I did a lot of research before we left to make sure no meal was wasted. Wild Honey made the top of every must-eat breakfast list I found, and for good reason. We booked a table, and were glad that we did, it’s clearly a popular place, even on a weekday. I ordered a melon juice to start with, and it came out quickly and was reasonably sized and refreshing. This gave us time to consider which of the country-themed dishes to pick. Wild Honey’s menu has breakfasts inspired by foods from all over the world, reflecting Singapore’s nature as an international hub. I opted for the ‘Portobello Road’, with poached eggs, mushroom, capsicum, spinach and hollandaise, served on a brioche toast. The eggs were perfectly poached and the hollandaise was obviously house-made. The brioche was soft and not overly sweet, but it was a huge serving and I struggled to finish it. Luckily Wild Honey has some lovely decor to admire while you take a digestion pause.

Wild Honey, 6 Scotts Square #03-02, Singapore,     www.http://wildhoney.com.sg

Monja-ya

My general love of Japanese food is well-known, but if I had to pick an absolute favourite, it would have to be okonomiyaki. Why? Well, it’s exactly what it name means – as you like it, so you can enjoy it with all the things you like most. We stopped in at Monja-ya for dinner in Shinjuku (as a chain store, they have various locations in Tokyo). Half the fun of this place is that you get to cook the food yourself, but if you don’t feel confident, the staff are very happy to help. We started with an order of the cheese okonomiyaki and the standard monja, which the waiter kindly cooked while Mum made the okonomiyaki (go Mum!). The portions here are good value, even better if you pick the all-you-can-eat option. Whilst the cheese okonomiyaki was good, we all devoured the round two choice of kimchi – the added spice was amazing! The monja took longer to cook, but was worth the wait – we loved the sloppier texture with crispy bits from the grill. The trick to a good okonomiyaki? Layering it up with the sauces – okonomiyaki sauce, kewpie mayo plus bonito flakes. Perfection.

Monja-ya, Royal Puddings Building 4F, 3-35-10, Shinjuku, Tokyo Japan