For Robin

I’m gonna have a short proud moment, just this one time, and say that this rural area of Japan didn’t have much (if any) English info on food before I got here. I dedicate this post on my favorite food places in the north Okayama/Tottori area to my successor, “Robin from England” whom my students (can I still call them my students? waa) are so super excited to meet come August.

Robin, I speak for all of us (my followers and I) when I wish you the very best of time in Ohara. We hope you make the most of every day and cannot wait to see this place from your pespective in future pictures. So without further adieu…

For contemporary-style cafes try: Cafe Roca in Tsuyama

or Moco Lifestyle Store  in Tottori

For a contemporary-style cafe with WIFI: try Dot Diner&Cafe in Yunogo or Nambate in Ohara or Motoyu in Nishiawakura

For the world’s fluffiest pancakes: Cocogarden in Tottori (Mochigase)
Arrive super early or be prepared for a long wait. Also sell udon, fresh bread and omelette crepes (go figure). Open daily from 10am. I recommend the milk soft serve and the organic eggs.

For Thick crust pizza: La Gita in Katsumada

For BIG and I mean, gigantic thin crust pizza, Pizza King in Wake Town
I recommend the spinach pizza.

For the best counter sushi in Japan: Yoshinoya in Mimasaka but only on a Saturday
Every day else, this place is an izakaya (Japanese bar).

For contemporary cafe-style food with the best view: Yukkuru Terrace in Yunogo

For a super cheap sushi train: Sushiro in Tsuyama

For a fancy sushi train: Hokkaido in Tottori (go figure)

For a very beautiful and very Japanese and slightly expensive place to take your parents when they visit: Mitaki-en in Chizu Town

For REAL bread (and takeaway pizzettes): Hugo et Leo in Nishiawakura

Or
Aiyuuwaie in Yunogo

For incredible burgers (and good conversation): Shuvi Du Bar in Tottori
For good Indian with naan the size of your mattress: Sivam in Yunogo (or Sivan – still don’t know which)
For fancy Italian try: Terra in Tsuyama
I recommend the chef’s choice set menu. 

For super fancy Italian: Ristorante Cielo in Tsuyama

For vegetarian: Cafe Bonheur  in Tsuyama

Or Gemmaishokudourakudokan (yeah, it’s a tongue twister)

For fresh gelato: Hashimoto Farm in Tottori

Or Latte in Tsuyama

Ok desu. Think that’s probably enough for now. Happy scoffing, buddy!

Okayama Table Terra

For my little sister, Juri’s birthday, my Japanese parents took us to Okayama Table Terra. And oh my goodness. This place was SO delicious. I could not believe it! I wish I had discovered it earlier.

Terra is two storey and the interior is gorgeous. White chairs and dark wooden tables. Big mirrors, open kitchen, wonderful service and pot plants. Perfect for any occasion. Especially a couple date! EEEE

We had the chef’s choice set menu and it was to die for! WOW! I can’t wait to go back. Is the chef single?! Can I marry him? More details HERE.

Because I can’t fluently understand Japanese, I can’t give you the exact description of each dish, but what I can say is we started with an antipasti plate (featuring zucchini bruschetta), followed by a variety of vegetables served with an anchovy dip, then cold new season cream of potato soup, next delicious eggplant pizzas topped with cheese and mince, next pizza margarita and last but definitely not least (because it was our favorite), a vegetarian zucchini and soy-bean “bolognese”. WOW it was so delicious I wish I could eat it for lunch today. Heck, also dinner.

At Terra, we also had coffee and a little cake. At home, we had tea and a big cake (gluten, dairy and refined-sugar free) – which I made. Recipe HERE. Except for Juri, I doubled this recipe: made two cakes, placed them on top of one another and spread an all-natural raspberry jam in the middle of them. Mama Mia.

I Accidently Ate Christchurch

I have officially touched back down in Osaka but here are the last of my foodie pictures from NZ.

From top to bottom: hands down the best pizza in Christchurch at Cafe Val, an overdue catch up at the coolest new cafe: Gentle Giant, flavoursome shakshuka from Hello Sunday, local apples, frozen yoghurt (one split into two cos we stingy) and vintage cookbooks on Mother’s Day with my sweet mama at the Riccarton Sunday Market, more coffee (with local almond milk) at Black and White Coffee Cartel and finally, vegetarian black rice sushi (not Japanese) from Bento Riccarton.

Cake By The Mountain

Cake by the mountain. Amongst other things. Like little hands and big hearts. And Homemade pizza (Anthony I’m thinking of you!) and delicious soups and fresh salads (not pictured) and organic dates from the holiest of Holy Lands (Israel).

The Last Samurai

So I haven’t actually seen this movie.. but now I have a reason to! Yesterday I visited one of the apparently iconic sites of The Last Samurai at Mount Shosha in Himeji city. And it was really something! Here are the pictorials… for reference, the first dish is Japanese soba with wild vegetables and the second, prawn pizza and third, the love of my life, tirafreakinmisu.

Pull Up A Chair

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.”
― Ruth Reic

Had the most wonderful Saturday yesterday and I couldn’t wait to tell you about it but I just crashed when I got home. Tis what good food in belly does to you, people! First, a delicious home-cooked and I mean, really home-cooked meal by my dear friends, Mina and Shogo: vegetable medley, cabbage salad with koji dressing (like a super healthy fermented salt) and home-made kimchi (thanks Leo).

Next, we made hummus (to take for dinner later). We made two kinds using this recipe. The one difference being, we used homemade peanut butter for one and for the other, homemade tahini – which by the way, is essentially, blitzing 100% peanuts or 100% sesame seeds in a food processor until they naturally release their oils and a paste forms. Both good.

Next, Yukuli Cafe (third picture) in Setouchi where we had delicious Americanos and even more delicious sweets: traditional lemon and blueberry cake (the owner’s mom’s own recipe) and apple, cinnamon and walnut sponge cake. It was my first time at Yukuli and I felt the place (and the owners) had great energy. Perhaps the large glass windows letting in all that glorious light were to account for. Anyways, definitely a place worth visiting. Even more so for the English menu and late opening hours (23:00).

Last but not least, Munchies Pizzeria (coming soon) where I finally ate REAL pizza in Japan. And perhaps even better than the pizza (if there is such a thing) were the passionate owners who I wish I could have taken home with me. Absolutely precious couple. So so sweet. What a day!

Happy Valentines Day everyone. Or Galantines day? That’s the new trend, is it? Clearly, as you can see, I’m in an open-relationship with munchies (of all kinds).

He’s stolen a pizza my heart

This weekend I had one of the best Saturday nights of my life. Thank you Lifa, Akiko and Oz for having me over and feeding me delicious home-made pizza. Aki, after your adorable son (click HERE to see the little man in action), for me, the highlight of the night was your “kiwi for a kiwi” salad. It left such an impression on me that I cannot wait to recreate it myself.



I should have really checked the salad recipe with Aki first, but alas, this is what I imagine it is:

Garden greens, diced kiwi-fruit, diced apple, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and raw walnut pieces mixed together and dressed with: a little olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce and maple syrup.

I can’t rave enough about it.

I especially liked the delicateness of the salad. Both the kiwi-fruit and apple pieces were diced small so everything (seeds, nuts and fruit) were the same in proportion. It was just divine. ARI GA TO!

Sister visit, day 1.

From top to bottom, Nonocafe, Kurashiki and last but not least: Pizza King in Wake.

Review no34 (I started counting again) Talmary in Chizu

One thing I’ve noticed about Japanese restaurants is that more often, no meal checking is done. In hospitality lingo, meal checking is basically that, checking, after the second or third bite (not too early nor too late) if everything, with the food, is alright. Wait did that rhyme? My Japanese friend reckons this is because, Japanese people are too polite to comment even if they’re unsatisfied. Which is really honorable and all… but, no.

Now, I don’t like/want to be writing bad reviews – as one angry Lower 9th Diner fan/most-likely-employee hate mailed me once: I am not even “certified”.

So, I’mma keep this short cos I don’t want to offend too many people and I don’t want the entire village after me nor to be even more singled out. So , without further ado…

Newly opened Talmary (Chizu) is a beautiful and creatively set out restaurant. It used to be a pre-school which means the majority of the decor centers around little folk, making it salty and original. At the moment, two rooms are in use. They feature comfy couches, packed book cases, a children’s corner, so you can take a break from entertaining your little one (for a while), a log burner and FREE wi-fi. If I weren’t writing this review and so, able to return at some other time, I could totes spend an entire day because the ambience is just that nice. BUT, that, is where my praise stops.

I used to work at an Italian restaurant. And not any restaurant but THE best restaurant in all of NZ. No shit. No bias. Cafe Valentino has the best pizza I have ever tasted and I’ve tasted too many pizzzzas. In other words, I know good pizza. You could even go as far as saying I’m pizza certified. But let’s not. Unfortunately Talmary though, isn’t. Which is a real shame and a true waste because their pizza oven is SO nice (see picture above).

Ah, how I wish I had been meal-checked so that I could have told them, there and then that the dough was RAW (snow white) and clearly needed more time.  And the flavor? Null. Except for perhaps the soy mayonnaise on the first pizza, but like come on, all mayo tastes nice…

*insert sick green emoticon*

eggplant pizzettes

I’mma be honest, living so far from home isn’t easy but these eggplant pizzas are worth it. Just kidding! What I’m trying to say is, I’m finding love in so many different forms and receiving it in an abundance of unexpected ways. Today, love took the form of a big bag of organic vegetables from my considerate colleague. I received eggplants, tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers! Eating healthy and seasonal is so easy here! I am truly blessed. Ideally for this dish, bigger eggplants are better (more room for toppings, you see) but if you only have mini eggplants, like I did then you’ll just have to wing it!

1 or 2 big eggplants (sliced 1 inch thick)
salt (just enough)
1/4 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozarella (use vegan variety if vegan lol)
fave pizza toppings (I used cherry tomatoes, white onion, corn and green capsicum)

Preheat oven to 180C

Place eggplants on a lined tray and season generously with salt – this helps draw out the excess water

Prepare toppings (chop, slice etc)

By now, the water from the eggplants should  have surfaced so using a paper towel pat the eggplants dry – this will also get rid of the excess salt.

Bake eggplants for about 10 minutes (we dont want them getting mushy so watch them)

When ready, remove from oven and top with remaining ingredients:
sauce, cheese, toppings, cheese again is usually a good order

Bake for a further 10-15 min or until golden!

YUMMO