Cafe Comme Ca

¥1000 is a lot to pay for one piece of cake, and when I was a student in Tokyo I could only bring myself to do it twice – once with friends and once in a train station when I’d arrived three hours early for my train (oops). Both times it was from Cafe Comme Ca, and both times it was worth it. So when I went back to Tokyo I made sure to stop in again and try another slice. Each cake is sculpted with fresh fruit into rosettes or other incredible arrangements – I recommend taking some time to look at the display cabinet before making a choice (fair warning though – the staff, sadly, won’t let you take pictures of the whole cakes). This time I went for the blood orange and raspberry cream cake, which came out on a plate with cocoa dust in the shape of bluebirds (swoon). The fruit was juicy and covered in a sweet glaze, and the cream was light and not too rich. Western-style sweets in Japan are often sickly sweet, but Cafe Comme Ca gets the balance (and the beauty) just right.

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

Sushi Zanmai

Not everybody is a ‘sushi for breakfast’ person, but if we’re talking Sushi Zanmai, I absolutely am. I dragged my colleagues out to Akihabara bright and early, promising that sushi at 7am was something they wouldn’t regret. Sushi Zanmai is open 24 hours and you are always met with a chorus of ‘irashaimasen’ to welcome you. Here, seating at the bar is best, so you can watch the sushi-san work and have a chat. The staff are super friendly and are always happy to give you their recommendations. On this occasion, we were the only people in the restaurant, and had a sushi-san to ourselves, so we started the nigiri feast with salmon, followed by tuna, mackarel, scallops, and unagi (eel). We tried the ootoro (top grade fatty tuna), but all found it a bit too fatty for our tastes. The highlight was the aburi tuna, which had sprigs of spring onion on top and just melted in your mouth. I’m pretty sure that piece alone managed to convince my colleagues of the wisdom of eating sushi at 7am. A must visit for a real Tokyo experience – although not necessarily for breakfast!

Sushi Zanmai, 1F Yodabashi Camera building, Akihabara Tokyo     http://www.kiyomura.co.jp/ (Japanese only)

Paris Plans

I am beginning to think more about what I want to do in each of the cities that I am going to visit, and today a memory from Japan has inspired a plan for Paris.

On one of my visits to Ginza, I decided to go into the exclusive Laudrée cafe and try their famous macaroons. The store window is on the corner of a major intersection, and towards the end of my trip I figured I could justify it. I went up, and was told by a rather snobby lady that unless I had a reservation, I would need to join the huge line of locals waiting to buy from the take-away menu. Needless to say, I was quite put off, gave up, and ended up eating a Starbucks macaroon instead the next time that I had a craving for one.

But… I’m going to Paris, which is where Laudrée is based, and I think this time I will stick to my guns, especially after devouring the amazing menu on their website: http://www.laduree.fr/index_en.htm

So this post is more of a “note-to-self” so I don’t forget to go when I have the chance!

35 days to go.

Flashback: Kusatsu, Japan

With my adopted family; Brenton, Will and Chris.

One of my fondest travel memories is of the impulsive road trip that we took to Kusatsu (草津）, an onsen town, in June 2009. Brenton, Chris, Will and I rented a car, got the car-hire guy to program the GPS, and drove. It was so liberating to say, ok we need to get out of the city, and then just do it.

We saw some incredible sights; a soaring three-pylon bridge half-built, flooded rice paddies, the night sky from the comfort of an outdoor hot spring bath.

Exploring Kusatsu onsen park

We got lost;  instead of seeing ancient Jomon period ruins, we found a lonely mountain path with views of a damn under construction.

Roadside stop with Ariel Sharon (our car), Haruki Murakami and some confused Japanese carpenters.

We had so much fun; water balloons, Haruki Murakami’s Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, a collection of flowers, a road that sung, Ariel Sharon and an Italian place with the worst wine known to mankind. And we became family.

Amandine is talking about getting her driver’s license and us hiring a car to drive from Lyon to Geneva to visit the UN in December.  I can’t wait!