Sunday March 23, 2014
Gorgeous Spring Weather
Tokyo, Japan
My sister (affectionately known as Kimi-chan to me) flew in from Boulder, Colorado to visit me and her friends in Japan to celebrate her ehem… half time birthday. To begin the celebrations, I had a great weekend with her in Osaka on Mar8 and 9.
But first, we had a celebratory dinner at L'Atelier Joel de Robuchon, one of my top 3 regularly visited restaurants located in Roppongi Hills. When my sister was on assignment in Japan, Roppongi Hills just opened and L'Atelier Joel de Robuchon was one of her and her husband's favorites. I love it for it's Michelin one star cuisine and its casualness. And of course, the impeccable service of Sylvain. They did a special birthday serenade to her which caught her by surprise.
The next day on Saturday, we got up early, to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Osaka. We got into Osaka around 11am and checked into the fabulous Intercontinental Hotel in Umeda. I first was surprised it was in Umeda, as there were new buildings with chichi designers.. nothing like what I remembered. We first had lunch with Uncle Susumu, Uncle Tadashi and his wife Aunt Taeko. It was fun reminiscing and also bittersweet to talk about our Mom and their memories of her. But both my sister and I were amazed how both our Uncles are active and mentally young.
Uncle Tadashi, Uncle Susumu, me, Kimi-chan and Aunt Taeko
After lunch, we decided to play tourist and went to Osaka Castle which we haven't done since kids growing up in Japan. I convinced my sister to walk through the plum grove which was crowded with folks enjoying first plum blossoms.
We then headed back to the hotel but first had to stop at the department store (Isetan) to buy cake and sweets as my sister was determined to eat as much cake and sweets in Japan as possible as it is SO delish here.
After resting up and refreshing in the hotel, we took off to our dinner destination – Michelin starred Asai Kigawa – a very famous Kappo restaurant in Osaka. Kappo cuisine is famous in Osaka. Basically you sit at a counter, and the chefs cook the dishes right in front of you. We had the omakase but agreed that if we go again, we will order a la carte so we can get the types of food we really enjoy. But we were sure glad we went and was able to enjoy very good Osaka cuisine.
Asai Kigawa
The chefs and the daily menu
First course, sushi but using potato instead of rice
Fava Bean soup – delish!
Sashimi and Katsuo Tataki – Kimi-chan and my favorite!
Tofu/Fish dumpling
Tuna teriyaki
Swordfish in miso
Veggie and Fugu tempura (not our favorite)
More sashimi and a palate cleanser
The finale: chicken and rice porridge. I loved this!
One of my favorite Japanese sweets: Warabi mochi
The next day, I woke up early to work out in the fabulous gym and take a Japanese bath at the spa. After breakfast, we met up with our cousin Satsuki-chan who came up from Tokyo to take us to Shinge to see our Uncle Hiroshi. We had heard he had trouble walking but surprise! he was full of energy. And as usual always learning so had a great lunch talking about many different subjects.
Before going to Uncle Hiroshi's, we stopped at this pie shop to buy a delicious strawberry pie for dessert to have with Uncle Hiroshi
Me, Uncle Hiroshi and Kimi-chan
We had a great time in Osaka, our Mom's home town. Kimi-chan left for Kobe while I returned to Tokyo. Stay tuned for the next post on what we did when Kimi-chan came back from her trip to Kobe.