Hapi Snacks

Snacks.  I love them.  I'm an avid snacker, and in particular, have quite a weakness for snack mixes.  I love hunting through mixes for my favorite piece of the moment, I love all the different textures and flavors, I just really love to munch.

I like classic American snacks mixes (like Chex or Gardetto's mix, although, not the generic store bought stuff, I'm partial to homemade - my mom's is the best! - or locally made styles like Sunday Bakehouse's furikake version), and I definitely like to try mixes from other countries.  While Asian style rice crackers aren't generally exciting on their own, put them in a snack mix, and I'm suddenly all in.  Which brings us to Hapi Snacks.

"Hapi snacks for happy times."

Hapi is a snack maker from Thailand, although the brand is pretty mainstream in the US.  You can find their products in Asian markets, but they also are available in Walmart, so, not exactly hard to acquire.

I've only tried a few of their products, but, spoiler: mainstream or not, these are pretty top not snacks.  I can't wait to seek out more.

Mixed Crackers: Original Party Mix.

"With an array of spiced rice crackers to choose from this crunchy hapi party mix packs a full-flavored punch. Perfect for game day or an afternoon pick-me-up these tasty and authentic crackers burst with the zesty flavors of thailand."

Wow.  I've had a lot of rice cracker mixes in my life, and I've mostly found them ranging from being slightly lacking, as in, I almost really like them but somehow always want more, to fairly satisfactory, like the Trader Joe's rice cracker medley that has a pretty addicting mix including salt & vinegar pieces and seaweed wrapped ones, but these ... these are in another realm entirely.  Hands down, no question, the best rice cracker mix I've ever had.  It makes all others seem like child's play.  I mean, really.

This mix excels on all dimensions, notably the incredible diversity of pieces.  How many distinct kinds are there?  I'm not sure.  I think I counted nearly 10, but it was hard to slow down to do that analysis.  There are multiple classic rice cracker shapes, one that is nori wrapped (iso maki), other styles that are jagged and a bit sweet, some that actually turn out to be shells with hollow insides filled with something that rattles around (!), and, finally, wasabi peas.  They all have their own merits, and they all combine into magic.

So, where to start.  First, the flavors.  Just far more intense than any other brand, be it the heavy soy sauce flavored pieces, the highly umami onion and garlic ones, the legit kick to the wasabi ones, or more mild, but equally compelling, seaweed flavored bits.  I don't think I've ever had rice crackers quite this flavorful before.

Then, the textures!  Another defining characteristic.  Not only are the pieces all different shapes, sizes, and flavors, but the textures of each are strikingly different as well.  Some are super crisp and crunchy.  Others are remarkably airy.  Others actually soft. I truly couldn't tell just by looking at a piece what sort of texture it would have.  The variety of textures made the eating experience fantastic, and, well, impossible to stop.  "Just one more super crispy one!"  "Ok, I need one more soft piece to round it out ..."  And so on and so on.

If I had to pick a favorite piece, it would be the jagged longer pieces, as they were both savory and sweet, and had a fantastic texture.  The ones with the surprise inside were another favorite, as were the crazy intense wasabi peas.  But really, they were all good.

Overall?  Addicting.  Flavorful.  Best I've ever had.  Nothing I would change.  ****+.

Hapi makes other mixes too, with names like "Crazy Mix" or "Tokyo Mix", with totally different styles of rice crackers, but this is definitely my favorite of the mixes I have tried.

Hot Wasabi Peas.

"Hapi Wasabi Peas are a great way to spice up your tea time! The crunchy texture compliments the fiery flavor of the Wasabi (Japanese Horseradish)."

These are very legit wasabi peas.  Eat a handful of these and the wasabi builds pretty quickly.  The peas themselves are top notch - super crispy, lightly coated in rice flour.  Super addicting due to the high crunch factor, but, wow, they pack a punchy zing.  The best wasabi peas I've ever had.  ****+.

They also make sriracha peas that I'd love to try sometime.

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Sushi from Okane

Update Review, 2022

About 4 years ago, I tried several items from Okane, the sister restaurant to the well known Omakase sushi restaurant.  I was underwhelmed, as you read in my original reviews.  I decided to give them another try when I was seriously craving uni one evening ...

I ordered on Door Dash, for delivery.  Ordering was easy, it took quite a while to arrive though (although within the time frame Door Dash quoted), just, longer than I expected given my small order, and how close by the restaurant is.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

I wasn't any more impressed this time.

Standard condiments + their house ginger/wasabi. $2.50 each.

All orders come with a standard bag of Okane branded chopsticks, and very generic packaged wasabi, ginger, and soy sauce.  I knew this, and opted to upgrade to their "house" ginger and wasabi, the same that they serve in the restaurant.  Each upgrade was a pricey $2.50 each, but, particularly for ginger loving me, this was a worthy splurge.  I enjoyed both of these.

**** upgrades, although pricey at $5!

Hokkaido Uni. $24.

I was going through a serious uni phase, and had some fabulous uni from Fenikkusu Tapas & Omakase (although everything else was meh) a few weeks prior, and a novel uni bruschetta from Sushi Shio (with both local and Japanese uni!) just days later (both reviews coming soon!), so, even though I had not really loved uni from Okane before, I decided to give it another try.  After all, this place, and its sister restaurant Omakase, obviously get such accolades.

The uni came served with shredded daikon and a shiso leaf.  I'm not sure if the pieces toppled over during transit, or if they were thoughtfully placed on their sides, as it seems unlikely that they would have fallen back to back like this?

Anyway, the uni was pretty average.  It wasn't bad, no funk, but it wasn't particularly great.  Same with the sushi rice, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.  The portion of uni was reasonable though, and I enjoyed my pieces, but, I wouldn't really go out of my way for this again.

***.

Original Review, 2018

This is a review that I know isn't particularly representative of the establishment.  But ... it is what I had, so, it is what you get.

Okane is the casual Japanese sister restaurant next to Michelin starred Omakase.  It features more low key dining style, lots of small share plates at dinner, bento boxes and rice bowls at lunch.  Plus all the high end nigiri and rolls sourced from the same markets as Omakase.

And yet, I haven't actually been there to eat.  Hence, my "not representative" statement.

Still, I've had food from there twice - once I ordered delivery (no sushi) and once I stopped by for takeout sushi (which I consumed immediately).  Obviously not the same as eating at a sushi counter.  So take my reviews with that in mind.

My impression though?  Eh, its fine.  But pricey.  Not special.

Setting

Okane is located on Townsend Street, across from Adobe, next to Omakase.

Sushi Counter.

It does have a working sushi counter with some high seats for the lucky few who get to eat right there.

Seating.

The rest of the relatively small restaurant is casual tables for mostly 4, wooden, nicely decorated.  The place feels comfortable, modern, clean, mid-range.  Certainly a great neighborhood place.

Order #1: Delivery, April 2018

My first experiment with Okane was via Caviar delivery.  It is a long story, but, I just needed a couple small side items to supplement another meal.  What I got was fine, but, obviously not anything they highlight.  On the plus side, delivery (via Caviar) was fast and easy?

Stewed Hijiki. $7.35.

"Carrot, shitake, and lotus root." 

I ordered this expecting a chilled seaweed salad.  Instead ... I think it was served warm.  The container was filled with steam and water droplets, and the lotus chips were soggy, both indicating a warm serving temp originally (although not by the time it reached me).

It was ... fine.  Fairly standard hijiki, a few chunks of kinda mushy carrot, a few slices of shitake.  I expected more flavor, more marinade, more something.  It was quite plain, and I added my own ponzu to give it flavor.

On top were mushy lotus chips, that I believe were intended to be crispy.

So, overall, fine.  More interesting than the standard seaweed salad you get at most sushi restaurants, but, not actually anything special, and the small portion seemed over priced at $7.35.

Fried Lotus Root Chips / Wasabi Mayo. $7.35.

Ok, these I got because I just love fried root vegetables.  Or really, any fried veggie chips besides basic potatoes.  Taro, yucca, plantains ... bring it on.  I couldn't resist ordering the side of lotus root chips too.

I think they may also have been served warm, perhaps freshly fried?  I only say this because they weren't particularly crisp. They were nicely seasoned though, with salt and some green herbs I didn't quite identify.

The wasabi mayo had kick to it from the wasabi, for sure.  And I love dipping fried things in mayo/aioli/etc.  But it actually was a bit too mayo forward to really feel like an appropriate dip for me.  I liked the idea of it inside of rolls, slathered on as a spread for a something, etc, but as a dip, it was just a bit to much like dunking into just mayo.

The lotus chips were tasty enough without the dip, and I gladly used it for other purposes the next day.

So overall, again, fine, but pricey at $7.35 as well.

Order #2: Takeout, April 2018

After my original delivery order of a couple sides from Okane, I decided to actually really test them on high end stuff, this time with takeout, because I just needed a small snack.  Except, I didn't just get a simple cucumber roll, nope, I went all in: crab and uni.  This girl knows what she likes.

Takeout Accompaniments.

My order came with basic wooden chop sticks, and packets of soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger.  I assume they use higher quality for dine in, but these did the job, and I was glad they were included.

Sushi Snack. $20.51.

1 nigiri.  1 hand roll.  >$20.

This was not a cheap snack.

Prices via Caviar, even for pickup rather than delivery, are 5% more than in the restaurant, not entirely sure why, as Caviar still charges additional tax and service fees on top of that, but every item is listed on Caviar with an upcharge already applied.  The restaurant can do this though, Caviar has no rules that they need to charge the same prices for the convenience, I just haven't seen it done before.

Uni Nigiri. $12.60.

Of course I got the uni.  And I consumed it immediately.  I knew better than to let this get old!

The portion was standard nigiri serving of 2 pieces.

It was ... fine.  Which is a sad way to describe uni.  The pieces were each generously filled, and the structures of rice and seaweed held integrity.  But it didn't really scream out "fresh amazing uni!".  It was just ... fine.

I did appreciate the little bit of daikon on the side, which filled the remaining space in my box.  Presentation matters!

The $12.60 price is fine for high end uni.

California Hand Roll. $6.30.

"Snow Crab and Avocado."

I also wanted my second favorite seafood, crab, but nigiri or sashimi didn't really make sense.  So I went for the California hand roll, just, no avocado because I'm allergic.

I was a bit sad when I saw its small size, but it turns out, this thing was *loaded* with crab.  Certainly the best value item I had from Okane.  There was a little rice (more here on top than throughout the rest actually, I honestly think it was 90% crab!), good texture and seasoning on the rice.

The crab was fresh snow crab.  Lump meat.  No shells detected.  Not fishy.  Very fresh.  Very good.  They also added tobiko for some pop.

I added the rest of my wasabi mayo from the lotus chips, which was great (creamy and zing!), but it wasn't necessary since the crab was such nice quality.

Overall a great item, and wonderful price for the ridiculous amount of crab I got.  Not sure how much they include in a normal roll with avocado, but, they clearly loaded me up.

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Onigilly

Update Review, October 2022

I recently attended an event with lunch catered by Onigilly.   I am quite familiar with Onigilly, although I realized when I went to write this up that, wow, it has been a loooong time since I've had their products.  For the background on Onigilly, you can start with my original review from 2014 (yes, it really has been that long!).

The organizers planned an entirely vegan event, and thus, we had only vegan options, namely, all 5 of the vegan onigiri they make: teriyaki tofu, shiitake mushroom, hijiki, ume, and eggplant.  I tried all but the tofu.

All were well made onigiri - tightly wrapped, generously stuffed.  The rice was average sushi rice, slightly sticky, not hard, lightly seasoned.  The seaweed wrapping was still crisp, even though presumably they had been made a bit in advance for the large order.  Onigilly clearly is experts in making onigiri.  My feelings on the overall product are much the same as 2014: I was impressed with the flavorful fillings, and the construction of the rice balls, but, I just don't like rice enough to love these.

Hijiki -Braised Seaweed. $3.65.

"Braised hijiki seaweed, carrot, tofu & edamame."

I started with the hijiki, braised seaweed.  

The filling was basically exactly what I expected - shredded carrot, a few cooked edamame, bits of hijiki, all in a soy braise.  I think the tofu in here was just ground bits, certainly no pieces of tofu I could detect.  It was fairly flavorful, and the piece didn't need additional soy sauce added, as I had thought it would, given the braising liquid.   I did want a touch of wasabi to add though.

Overall, a fine piece, although since I don't care that much for rice, certainly a higher ratio of rice to filling than I'd like.  ***+ filling (*** overall though, due to all the rice).

Miso Nasu - Eggplant.

"Flash fried eggplant in Aka miso w/ sesame & green onion."

Eggplant was next up on my list, and I was pleased with this one.  Again, a flavorful filling that didn't require additional soy sauce.  The eggplant was soft, well cooked, and quite enticing due to the miso marinade.  I liked this filling even more than the hijiki, although, again, more rice that I really care for.  **** filling.

Shiitake Mushroom.

"Soy braised shiitake mushroom."

I sound like a broken record at this point, but, the shiitake was much like the others - flavorful filling from the soy braise, nicely cooked, slightly soft, slight chew.  The mushroom was chopped pretty small.  I think this filling would be really good on mashed potatoes ... yes, that's the odd craving I had when I ate it.  ***+ filling, about on par with the hijiki for me in terms of preference.

Ume - Pickled Plum.

"Sour pickled plum w/ shiso flakes."

The final offering was certainly different from the others, filled with pickled plum.  This one also had colorful shiso flakes on the outside.

Ume is certainly an acquired taste, incredibly sour.  I like it, but, as just a onigiri, it was a bit much on its own.  Great mixed in with the hijiki one though.

My least favorite, but also the most unique flavor.  ***.

Original Review, April 2014

Welcome to another installment of Julie-visits-a-random-place-because-of-Paypal-promotion.

I've had my eye on Onigilly for ages.  They pop up at different markets with their food cart, they've had a main location on Keary for a while now (although, only open M-F, making it less useful for me), and recently opened an Embarcadero location.  But I still hadn't managed to stop in before.

One weekday afternoon, I did manage to find myself near their Kearny St. store, so I finally visited.

I was really interested to try their amazake, described as a hot horchata, given that I like horchata, and it was very cold outside.  Unfortunately, they were out of it when I arrived at 1pm.  I guess I wasn't the only San Franciscan absolutely freezing in the 45 degree weather.

Then, I was interested in a seasonal special listed, a squash salad.  I asked what was in it.  The person taking my order didn't know.  He didn't offer to ask.  I tried to get any details, like, was it a salad of salad greens just topped with squash?  Or squash cubes in some sort of dressing?  Nothing.

Besides the unhelpful person taking my order, service was really friendly.  Each time, when my food was ready, they called me by name, and thanked me for ordering.  The store is small, with a few tables, but most people seem to grab and go.

I've stopped in several times to try assorted onigilly and sides, although I haven't really loved anything. I'm still very curious about the amazake, but it is now it is no longer on the menu.

Onigilly

On my first visit, I just went for my first onigilly.  It was ok, but not really my thing.  I had never had onigilly before, but it is basically just sushi in a slightly different style.  Their signage tells me that it is more common than sushi in Japan, due to its convenient form, good as street food.  Generally made with fillings similar to what you'd have for sushi, although less perishable, with rice, wrapped in seaweed.  Onigilly offers onigilly in a slew of varieties, mostly seafood (shrimp, cooked albacore, crab, salmon, eel, roe, etc) or vegetarian (tofu, ume, natto, shitake, lotus, etc), although they also have a few meat options (beef, chicken, bacon).  All wrapped up in seaweed, and surrounded by organic brown rice.   

A month or so after my first experience at Onigilly, I went to Tokyo, and discovered that they really are everywhere.  Even the airline lounge in SFO had them, as did every corner store, including 7-Eleven.  They were served for breakfast at my hotel.  And as snacks in my office.  You could find them pre-made absolutely everywhere (although, made with white rice, and presumably not organic).

And in Tokyo, I really liked them.  So, when I got back to San Francisco and was craving one again, I went back to Onigilly, even though I didn't really like the first one I had.  I again didn't like it, but I realized why: they use nice organic brown rice.  It was the sweetened, glumpy, white rice that I really liked in Tokyo.  The fillings are quite tasty though!

Seafood

Snow Crab. $3.22.

"Canadian snow crab w/ lemon aioli. "

The choices for onigilly were numerous, but I was craving crab. Even though this was snow crab, not local Dungeness, I still went for it.

I don't really like rice, and usually prefer sashimi at sushi restaurants, and I knew this would have even more rice than nigiri, or sushi rolls, but ... I was here to try something new. The rice was warm, hearty brown rice. They use only brown rice, California grown. It was fine, but, well, there was a lot of rice.

Inside the rice was the snow crab, a good amount, shredded. I guess there was lemon aioli in there too, but I didn't taste lemon, nor really pick up on any creamy aioli. At least it wasn't over mayo-y.

I did really like the nori wrapper. It was crispy and held up well.

I see the appeal of onigilly. It is easier to eat than sushi. If I liked rice, I could see myself enjoying it. But as it was, I really just wanted the crab out of the center. ***+.

$3.22 for a single one was fine for a snack, and they also offer platters with multiples and sides such as miso soup or edamame.

I also tried a few other seafood onigilly, such as the Miso Tuna Salad, "Cooked wild Albacore with miso aioli", which was basically the same, except with what seemed like generic canned tuna in the center rather than crab.  I think both Ojan and I were a bit shocked with the tuna, although, it wasn't advertised as anything different.  I didn't taste the miso, and it was kinda strange to just have tuna salad inside some rice. ***.

Vegetarian

 Hijiki. $2.76. Pickled Diakon. $0.46.

"Braised hijiki seaweed, carrot, tofu & edamame."

On my next visit, I went vegetarian, for the hijiki.  Again, nice crispy nori wrapper, warm brown rice.  The form changed this time however, it was served as a triangle shape, like all the ones I saw in Tokyo, rather than the more handroll style I had the first time.

I again just wasn't into the rice, but the filling was tasty and plentiful.  The seaweed had a lot of flavor infused in it, and I liked how crunchy it all was.  But, I'd still just prefer a side of hijiki salad, rather than an onigiri.  ***.

I also ordered a side of pickled diakon when I saw it on the menu.  I LOVE pickled diakon, and this was no exception.  Crunchy. I loved it, and wish I'd made a double order! ****.

The price for the single onigilly was great, only $2.76 since this was a vegetarian one.  And diakon was another $0.46, making my entire little snack just over $3, a wonderful deal.

Renkon:  $2.76

"Spicy sautéed lotus root w/ sesame".

The wrapping job on this one was quite poor.  Totally falling apart.  But what lie inside was tasty enough.  I liked how crispy the lotus root was, and the sesame added a lot of flavor.  And ... it was spicy!  I was just trying a bite of the filling out of curiosity, this was for Ojan, so I didn't have the rice to balance out the spice, and it had quite a kick.  Again, if I actually like riced balls, I'd like this one.  ***.

Meat

Spicy Bacon. $2.76.

"Bacon cooked w/ garlic butter & chili."

Ojan picked this up one day and told me I needed to try a bite.  It was certainly the most interesting of all the ones I tried.  It really was spicy.  It tasted a bit like crumbled sausage.  Really not bad at all, but I still don't like rice! ***+.

Soboro. $2.76.

"Ginger-honey braised ground beef."

Ok, this was delicious.  If only I liked the rice.  It tasted more like sausage than beef to me, but the flavor was great.  I'm glad Ojan let me steal a bite!  ***+.

Sides

Besides the onigilly, the menu is fairly limited to just a couple soups, edamame, and tamago.  I of course tried a few of these too.

Miso Soup.  $1.95.

I'm not really a soup fan in general, but I was a bit chilly, and wanted something warm and comforting.  So I got the miso soup.

I expected just a broth, maybe with a few bits of token seaweed or tofu in it.  Instead, this was fairly loaded.  Along with plentiful tofu and seaweed, there were large chunks of carrots, onions, and daikon.  The veggies were all a bit too soft for my liking, and the soup overall wasn't all that interesting, but it was a very impressive serving for the very reasonable $1.95 price tag.  It was also served piping hot. **+.

Tamagoyaki.  $1.95.

I love tamago.  I know it sounds crazy, but it is often one of my favorite pieces of nigiri when I go out for sushi.  I always terminate a sushi meal with it, and judge a restaurant by the quality of their tamago.  So I was pretty excited to see it on the menu.

The tamago was served just as slices, no rice.  This was fine with me.

But ... it wasn't really tamago.  It was just an omelet.  As you can see, there were no layers.  It wasn't seared on the outside.  Maybe it had a mild sweetness, but there wasn't much depth of flavor.  Really, it was just egg.

It wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't what I'd think of as tamago, and I wouldn't get another.  $1.95 for two pieces was a fine price. **+.

Wakame Seaweed Salad. $1.84.

"Sesame seasoned wakame seaweed on top of our mixed green salad".

The seaweed aspect of this was was pretty standard, a mix of several different seaweeds, fairly fresh tasting, a bit of sesame and dressing.  I appreciated the lemon wedge too.  But ... it was served on top of mixed greens?  That was really strange to me.

Overall, fine, not particularly good nor bad, a decent portion for $1.84, but I didn't particularly want more. ***.

Desserts

Strawberry Mochi.  $2.76.

"House Mochi with Fresh Strawberries, Rice Flour, Red Bean Paste".

Very recently, they added desserts to the menu. Or ok, a single dessert.  Since I have a serious sweet tooth, I couldn't resist, particularly because at the register, in full display when you order is the offering: strawberry mochi.

It came in a inverted cup.

The mochi, unveiled!

Inside was a large strawberry, fairly ripe, but still a bit white on one end.  It was coated in a thin layer of red bean paste, that didn't seem particularly sweetened, and a thin layer of very soft mochi, dusted with flour.

It was all ... fine.  I like mochi, I like red bean, I like strawberries, but this didn't quite come together for me.  I wouldn't really want another. **+.

$2.76 is cheap for a dessert, but for just a single mochi strawberry, it actually seemed a bit high.

Drinks

Matcha Green Tea Lemonade. $2.

What do you do on a hot day?  You order refreshing lemonade!

I've had plenty of ice tea + lemonade combos before, but never with green tea.  It was lighter, and more refreshing this way.  However, it was too sweet for my taste.  I needed to dilute it to make it drinkable, and then I quite liked it.  I probably wouldn't get another though, but it helped quench my thirst on a hot day! **+.

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Ramen Kobo WARAKU

Ramen.  Not really something I eat much of ... just not really my thing.  But I do like other dishes often served at ramen restaurants (e.g. casual Japanese appetizers), which lead me to discover Ramen Kobo Karaku.

""Ramen D2C"- Your Favorite Ramen, Straight From the Kitchen!"

Honestly, I'm not sure what this catch phrase means.  But as I learned about the establishment, I became enamored with their story.

The owner hails from Japan, moved here 5 years ago, has background in all types of Japanese casual restaurants (izakayas, udon restaurants, ramen).  He lost his job when COVID hit, met a ramen chef who was looking for work too, and was inspired by what he saw going on all around - a city full of people struggling to make simple food, trying not to order too much delivery due to the expense.  And thus the concept of Ramen Kobu Waraku was born, with a desire to have quality ramen and casual Japanese cuisine, delivered across the city.

"We wanted our ramen to be more affordable, heartier, and tastier than ramen dining, and to top it all off, we wanted to have our ramen delivered quickly to people, which is why we decided to run with a "cloud kitchen". We don't directly serve any customers, and our kitchen is too small for us to have a diversified menu however, we can assured you that you’ll be blown away by our signature Tantan Spicy Miso Ramen or Black Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen."

And the way to achieve this was by *not* getting a storefront, and working out of a cloud kitchen, at the big 60 Morris Street complex, alongside a slew of other businesses and virtual restaurants.

While I've had, uh, mixed success with the 60 Morris businesses, Ramen Kobu Waraku is a shining star. Clearly a quality establishment, and I really hope they thrive.

And if you wonder about the name ... I learned that "WA(和)" means "Japan" or "relax", "RAKU(楽）means "fan" or "enjoy", and "Kobo" is like a lab.  So ... a relaxing, enjoyable, ramen lab.  I'll take it.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

My order was via Seamless (or Grub Hub), and was ready quickly (also, when I visited, Ramen Kobo Waraku was offering $5 off your first order! Score!).  I choose to pick up at 60 Morris myself, and just ate immediately nearby outside, but you can also opt for delivery.

My First Visit: Sublime Takoyaki!

The first time I ordered, I went straight for the takoyaki.  Sure, I was a little tempted by other things on the menu, which of course had ramen (pork, chicken, or even a version with ground Impossible meat), rice bowls, and a bunch of other appetizers (including several flavors of karaage, steamed edamame, deep fried shisitos, chili bean sprouts, some very tempting gyoza, and seared pork belly ...), and even cheese foam boba drinks.  But I wanted fried deliciousness with tasty sauces.

And fried deliciousness with tasty sauces is *exactly* what I got.  I was blown away, even compared to takoyaki I had in Japan (sorry, Gindaco, I know you are popular, but, no comparison!).

Takoyaki. $4.95.

"5pcs deep fried Takoyaki topped with Takoyaki Sauce, Mayonaise, Aonori, Bonito Flakes. (sic)" 

The takoyaki were glorious.  Piping hot when I got them, I was glad I decided to just stay and eat right outside.

They came topped with the expected toppings, just like okinomiyaki, of bonito flakes and aonori, and came with a small pile of pickled shredded ginger as well.  The toppings were all standard, but good for completing a "perfect bite".

I asked for my sauces on the side, so they were packaged separately.

Now, as for the takoyaki themselves.  They were well prepared.  Crisp on the outside, oily and greasy, but not in a gross way.  Maybe I was craving this sort of thing.  Plus, smother it in sauce and mayo, and it helps cut the greasiness, heh.

Takoyaki: Inside.

But of course, it is what is inside the takoyaki that matters too.  Sooo often takoyaki are filled with chewy octopus.  Or negligible octopus.  Or are under cooked and doughy.  These suffered none of those common problems.  These were perfect inside.

The inside was creamy, gooey, but cooked through, filled with good sized hunks of octopus, not chewy.  I was really, really impressed with inside these balls.  The filling was simple, no additional flavoring inside, but it was just really really well done, and once you had a bite with the toppings and sauce, it was just glorious.

****+ for the execution on the takoyaki, definitely the best I've ever had.  At ~$5 for 5, the price was fine.

And about those sauces ...

Mayonnaise & Takoyaki Sauce.

The mayo sauce I believe was just mayo, Japanese mayo though, which to me is always a bit less tangy, thicker, richer, and definitely tastier.  It added the right creaminess when added to the takoyaki.  And the "takoyaki sauce"?  DELICIOUS.  Wow.  Such complex flavor, sweet and salty, I think there was some miso in it, sooooo much umami.  If you have ever wondered what umami tastes like, it is this!

The sauces together were the perfect finishing touch.

Perfect *****, all around

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Lotte Candy From Japan

One of the best parts of travel? Besides, you know, the culture, the experiences, etc, etc ... yeah, of course it is the food, and in addition to trying every random snack I can get my hands on, I also love trying different types of candy and chocolate when I travel.

Which brings me to Lotte, a brand I disovered in Japan.

Lotte is a huge multinational company, known for their confections and ice cream across different parts of Asia.  In Japan, if you have a random sweet from a convenience store, if it doesn't come from Meiji or Gilco, it most likely comes from Lotte.  

I've tried a ton of Lotte products while in Japan, but never bothered to photo nor review.  I am totally addicted to their gum though, and order it online often, even though soooo expensive to ship here (warning, not the kind I get now, but they have a bunch that are caffeinated, and if you don't know this, and are a gum addict like me, this can be dangerous!)

But this one was too fun not to write up ... 

Lotte Crunky Corn Flavor Chocolate Bar.

"This famous chocolate bar from Lotte is loaded with sweet and juicy corn from Hokkaido, Japan. Enjoy munching this creamy corn-flavored chocolate treat that has crunchy puffs inside. You can add soy sauce and bake it in the oven for 2 minutes to make it taste like real baked corn."

I had no idea what to expect with this one, but, I do sometimes love white chocolate (for sweetness, I just don't think of it as something even in the "chocolate" family of products).  And I love corn in desserts (thank you Thai desserts in Sydney for introducing me to this concept!  You can read all about my first encounter with a dessert with corn from Chat Thai in my review, and see it totally torn normal to me, and something I seek out, like the corn in the green tapioca with cream from a random Thai dessert stall in Thaitown).  And I love Milk Bar corn cookies (as you know from my reviews), for dessert, for breakfast, for anytime.  So corn in dessert form was not a novel idea to me.

But this was still ... fascinating.

It is sweet.  It tastes like corn.  It is creamy.  it  is crunchy. It confuses the brain.  And I think I love it. 

I started by just breaking off a piece and eating it, and then another, and another.  I think it could be *really* fun to melt down and drizzle on popcorn or chex mix.  And then of course, there are the instructions to add soy sauce and bake it … which sadly I never got to, as I just couldn't stop eating it.

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Chanoma Cafe, Sydney

Update Review, 2019 Visit

It had been years since I went to Chanoma Cafe in Sydney, as we weren't particularly impressed on our original visit.  There are too many good places to go in town to waste time repeating somewhere lackluster.  Yet ... I walk by all the time, it is always swarming with people, and, well, they have good flavors of soft serve.  Eventually I decided I needed to try the soft serve again at least.

I had major decision paralysis when I visited.  The lack of coherent menu certainly added to this, as did the fact that I had literally just arrived from >24 hours in transit.  I was ridiculously jetlagged, craving strange things, and very, very grumpy.  I decided that was all a good excuse to go have ice cream, caffeinated ice cream no less.

The menu showed parfaits and sundaes, but I had a very hard time figuring out what the differences were.  I asked the person taking orders, and he said if I was alone and had no one to share with (I was), the parfait was too big, I should get sundae.  But, you can't customize sundaes at all.  It was all very confusing.

In the end, I either wound up with a "Deluxe Bowl" with extra toppings, or perhaps a modified sundae.  I'm not sure,  I also think he incorrectly rang me up, as I saw him put in "Extra mochi", which I didn't have, but I was too tired to really press more.

I don't really think I'll go back, unless I really, really want some matcha soft serve ...

Matcha & Black Sesame Soft Serve / Lychee Jelly / Red Bean / Anmitsu / Whipped Cream / Waffle Bowl.

Chanoma has two flavors of matcha soft serve, one called "matcha" and one called "matcha latte", the later described as more creamy, which sounded better to me, and the former, more pure.

I asked to try the matcha latte first, and it was good, indeed a fairly creamy ice cream, mild matcha flavor, sweet.  I was going to get it.  I didn't want just matcha though, so I wanted to mix with black sesame.  Alas, the black sesame machine had matcha (not matcha latte) and there did not seem to be a way to get two separate flavors, not side by side, not layered.  Thus, regular matcha and black sesame it was.

Both flavors were very intense.  The matcha was certainly less creamy than the matcha latte, but it was also a stronger matcha flavor.  I don't think I'd want a whole cup/cone of this alone, but, mixed with black sesame , it was good.  The black sesame I liked a bit more, it had a lovely nutty flavor to it, but it too was not very creamy, almost icy.  They win points for strong flavors, but lose them for the texture.

My sundae came with red bean and anmitsu, the former a scoop hiding on the other side, the later a skewer with two white and one green balls.  The red bean was fine, fairly classic sweetened red bean mush/mash.  A generous scoop.  Served warm.  The anmitsu I didn't care for, they were just flavorless soft balls, a bit too gummy.

To this I added jellies, coconut is what I ordered, but they only had lychee.  I'm not sure why I wanted these, but I wanted more fun elements.  The lychee jelly was sweet, slimy, fine, but, it turns out, not what I want on ice cream really.  Best left for inside bubble teas.

I also added whipped cream on top, which was just standard canned whipped cream, but it really went well to balance the stronger flavors of matcha and black sesame, so I'm glad I added it.

The waffle bowl was one of my favorite components, crispy sweet waffle bowl at start, but it softened quickly as the ice cream melted in.  I strangely liked it that way.

Overall though, this was fairly lackluster.  Nothing particularly great about it, toppings that I didn't end up actually excited for, and a ~$10 price tag?

Original Review, April 2015

When I was in Sydney, I was on a quest to try different foods from what I'm accustomed.  Sydney is full of Asian influence, and thus most of the places I choose to visit were Thai, or Vietnamese like Ms. G's, or uh, bubble tea.  On a slightly different asian front, I read about Chanoma Cafe,  a Japanese cafe, and self-proclaimed "Japanese Matcha Master".

As you'd expect given that tagline, their main item is obviously matcha, available in just about every form imaginable: regular matcha hot tea, or with steamed milk as a latte or cappucino, or iced as tea, or iced lattes.  Or, more interesting, it can be served as a float with matcha ice cream swirled into it, or even as a float garnished with mochi balls.  Or ... as a blended frappe, with Oreo if you want, topped with whipped cream of course, and mochi balls.  The menu is all pictorial, and there were some fairly crazy looking creations 

Chanoma Cafe also offers an fairly extensive non-matcha drink menu, including black sesame lattes, red bean lattes, and all sorts of floats.  Ojan ordered a yuzu lemonade, which was totally delicious.  It was sweet, flavorful, and really quite tasty.  By far the best thing we had!

The next biggest section of the menu is Japadogs, aka, Japanese style hotdogs, with totally ridiculous toppings, served with fries (wasabi or seaweed coated).  Ojan and another friend went for lunch, and ordered hot dogs before I arrived.  They both really enjoyed the toppings, but said that the hot dogs themselves were really, really low quality and they didn't like them.  And the hot dog buns were somewhat stale and chewy, hard to bite through, and there was too much bun to go with the dog.  Doh, sounds like I didn't miss much.

Storefront.

Chanoma Cafa is located inside the Regent Place dining area, alongside several other casual establishments.  It isn't a food court exactly, as each facility has its own contained doors.

You order at the register, and are given a buzzer to bring back to your table, and then pick the food up inside.  In my case, my buzzer went off literally within a minute, which seemed a bit ridiculous.  Why give me the buzzer in the first place?

The people working seemed fairly traditional Japanese, for example, handing everything over with two hands.

"Outdoor Seating"

There is seating inside, but also "outside" the shop too, basically, in the hallway of the mall.  Each little shop seems to have their own small seating area out here, and patrons were generally respectful of consuming only goods purchased at the proper establishment.

Seating was not very comfortable, just hard stools and wooden tables.  It is here that I found Ojan and our other friend, finishing off their Japadogs.

I joined them after the Japadogs, because I had my sights set on something else: dessert of course, and not just any dessert: soft serve ice cream.  You know I eat a lot of ice cream, but soft serve in particular I adore.  They serve only one flavor, you guessed it, matcha.  Available simply in a cone, or in totally ridiculous creations as parfaits, loaded up with red bean, mochi, fruit, whipped cream, pocky, waffle sticks ... the list goes on and on.

Matcha Anmitsu. $6.50. Plus whipped cream. $0.50.

As I said, I was there for the ice cream.  I decided not to just get a simple soft serve, and was really tempted by the aforementioned crazy parfaits, but I wasn't actually interested in having pocky, waffle sticks, or cornflakes in my sundae.  But I wanted whipped cream, and the other ice cream based choice, anmitsu, did not come with whipped cream.

I was stumped only momentarily, and came up with an easy solution?  Order the ammitsu, but with whipped cream!  Now I could have exactly what I wanted, and the person taking my order didn't bat an eye when I asked to add whip.

There were a slew of components to the creation, that you can't quite see in the photo above, because they are hidden beneath.

On the bottom was cubes of jelly.  They were absolutely flavorless.  A decent texture, and maybe I'd want them in bubble tea, but they made no sense in my ice cream.  Just sweet, sugar and agar, nothing else.  Least interesting component, by far.

On the side was a scoop of sweet red bean paste.  I really like red bean, but didn't like this.  I did like the mushy part, and the sweetness level was just right, not too sweet, just enough to be pleasant.  But then there were whole beans, which is good, except that they seemed almost raw and uncooked.  I like a crunchy element to my desserts, but ... I don't think this was intentional crunch.

The main attraction, the matcha soft serve ice cream, had a strong matcha flavor, clearly made with a serious amount of matcha.  It wasn't very sweet, actually, more bitter than sweet.  But it wasn't creamy at all, and even as it melted it didn't get creamy, and just stayed unpleasantly icy.  For the star ingredient, it was really disappointing.  The flavor was there, but the consistency was just all wrong.

Drizzled over the ice cream was an optional brown sugar syrup, which I opted for.  Since the ice cream was so bitter, it was a pleasant contrast.

On the side was a stick of shiratama, 3 little balls.  The mochi were soft, but not really flavorful.  I could see how these would be nice dunked in a hot matcha though.

And finally, my edition, the whipped cream.  It was sweetened, fluffy, basic whipped cream, but they did provide way too much.  I guess I got my $0.50 worth, but I think I had more whipped cream than any other component, and the balance was all off.  This is my fault for adding it though.

Overall, there were a bunch of ingredients here that I was interested in, but they just didn't execute it well.  I like matcha flavor, but the ice cream was too icy.  I like red bean, but there were too many undercooked beans.  I like mochi, but these were flavorless.  Sadness, as there was a lot of potential.

$7 was pricy for a small dessert.

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Dean & DeLuca Ice Cream, Japan

Dean & DeLuca is relatively well known in major cities for their gourmet, curated, line of markets and cafes, plus mail-order business.  During my 2017 visit to Tokyo, my hotel had a Dean & DeLuca downstairs, but I never visited it.

Tokyo was Dean & DeLuca's first international location.  And in Japan, they carry a house brand of incredible Super Premium Ice Cream.

It wasn't there that I tried their ice cream though (although now I wish I had discovered it sooner, as they did serve it at that cafe/market, and I certainly would have returned for it!).  Instead, I had it on my return flight, on Japan Airlines, where they offer Dean & DeLuca ice cream on the "Anytime You Wish" menu (for flights out of Japan only, it was Häagen-Dazs on my flight from the US).

Um, it was delicious.  Really, really good ice cream, and I promise it is not just because I was a captive audience!  Available in chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and pistachio.

Madagascar Vanilla.

Our flight had only one option: Madagascar Vanilla.  Vanilla is generally a flavor I reserve only for pairing with a fruit crisp/crumble/pie, a base for a sundae or shake, or perhaps an affogato.  It is not a flavor I generally will eat on its own, and in most cases, a flavor I just don't really like (an exception is Three Twins), which, until I tried this, I believed was the best vanilla out there.

It was creamy.  It was luxurious.  When they talk about a smooth mouthfeel, this is what they mean.  It was so rich, it almost tasted like it was laced with mascarpone, or something more than just cream.  (I wonder if, like the soft serve in Japan, they use higher milk fat percentage?).

The vanilla flavor was also very pronounced, with flecks of real vanilla bean in the ice cream.

Amazingly, I enjoyed it just plain, I didn't bother make an affogato, add anything else I had with me as toppings, or do anything to it.  It was perfect as it was.

I immediately ordered a second one.  Seriously, the best vanilla ice cream I've ever had.

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Kyourakutei, Tokyo

You've heard my spiel before about Tokyo and Michelin stars.  Nearly 300 Michelin stars in the city.  On past visits, I made it a point to rack up as many as I could, but on my visit in 2017, I was all about more unique, authentic experiences.  I dined at 7-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMart, yes, the convenience stores.  I went to a tiny place for monja, where we were the only non-Japanese, and our meal was less than $10 a head.  Same thing with visiting a local takoyaki chain Gindaco.

But of course I wanted *some* Michelin star dining, right?  My research lead me to learn about Kyourakutei, one of 8 Michelin stared soba restaurants in 2016 (although my visit was in 2017, when they lost the star, but were still recommended as a Bib Gourmand).  I haven't ever loved soba, but I wanted to learn if that was just because I hadn't had good soba before.  I also was initially lead to Kyourakutei when researching tempura, something I do love, and they are also known for.

The stars: Tempura, Soba, and Yuba.

So, to Kyourakutei we went.  A chance to finally have good soba, highly recommended tempura, and almost-Michelin stars?  Yes!

Sadly, I didn't love the food, but it was an incredible experience.

And yes, we were the only English speakers there.

The Setting

Storefront.

Our visit was actually wrought with some failure.

The first time we tried to visit was a Saturday, a day they are indeed open.  We eagerly showed up right at opening to get a seat.  But ... we couldn't find the place.  Now, if you have tried to understand the address system in Tokyo, this likely sounds familiar, and not a real cause for alarm.

But we tried and tried, and couldn't find anywhere that looked like the photos at the right address.  We tried asking, using Google translate, and showing our screen to other shop keepers.  They all kept telling us they weren't it.  We were confused.

I tried calling the restaurant.  The phone rang and rang.

It was then that I learned that the Japanese take their national holidays very seriously.  It was Autumnal Equinox Day.  This is a real thing.  So, they were closed.

Doh.

Undeterred, we returned a few days later, on a Wed, our last night in Tokyo.

This time we found it easily.  The signs and entire storefront had been covered up before!

Millstone.

One of the features of the restaurant is the in-house millstone, where they mill the grains sourced from the owner's home area, every single day.  You can see it right in the front window, and it is in action throughout the day.

The noodles are then made fresh daily, and hand cut.

The soba is a serious specialty here.

Weighing Noodles.

The noodles are then weighed to order, each and every time, cooked one order at a time, to order.

(Side note: check out the knife block!).

Counter Seating.

The interior is small, with mostly one large counter, and then a handful (I think 3?) tables for 4.

My first move, 2 months before my visit, was to try to make a reservation, through my hotel concierge.   But Kyourakutei takes only 3 reservations per day, for pairs only.  And they were booked for the entire month I was there, 2 months out.  Doh!

So we arrived right at 5pm opening, and were able to easily get a seat.

The hostess offered us a table, but I declined, asking for the counter.  I knew this is where we would want to be, as I had done some research, and knew everything would be prepared to order in front of us.

The Kitchen.

And indeed it was.  The kitchen area was small, with 3 stations.

Directly in front of us was a counter, with tiny tempura area beside it.  Cold apps were also prepared here, by one chef.

Behind that was a cooktop, where sometimes pots were boiling away.  But this was not the noodle station, that was separate, on the side.

Cooking & Grilling Area.

The cooktop also turned into a grill, whenever a grilled appetizer was ordered.  Again, everything done, one at a time, to order.

Tempura Station.

The tempura station is the area that fascinated me.

There was a box of fresh vegetables, and a tank of live fish.

The tempura chef plucked items from the box, whole veggies, and sliced off bits to order to fry.  He removed live fish from the tanks.

It doesn't get fresher than this! I loved watching this chef in action.

The Food

We were provided an English menu, but I'm convinced it contained only a fraction of the items from the Japanese menu, as we saw many things being prepared that were not on our menu.

Cold Noodles.

The first two pages of the menu were cold noodles, soba or udon, topped with different things, like grated radish, grated yam, soft boiled eggs, mushrooms, or even tempura.

I had read that the cold noodles were the way to go (unless it was winter), and as it was a hot day, that seemed right.

So, cold noodles it was.  Since we were sharing, we opted for the large size.

Hot Noodles. 

Hot noodles were the next two pages, similar options, plus some soup ones.

Appetizers.

Appetizers were the final two pages, a few chilled items, fried items, simmered items, and tempura sets (or a la carte).

We opted to try the three things I most wanted to try: cold soba, yuba, and tempura, by getting the large chilled soba topped with yuba, and a appetizer of tempura.

For tempura, we selected the Kisetsu Tempura "Seasonal Seafoods and Vegetables", for ¥2400.  It came with 2 seafoods, 3 vegetables, each in a pair so we both had a piece.  A decent value.  The other tempura choice was tiger shrimp, conger eel, and vegetables, same price, but we went for the seasonal one, since, seasonal is better right?

Condiments.

I'll admit that I had planned to do more research before our visit, and, uh, I ran out of time.

And thus, I was a bit stumped when things started showing up in front of us.

First, the condiments, set out on every table/place setting.

The sea salt in the bowl I knew to expect, as, legit tempura is meant to just be dipped in salt.  In the box next to that was togarashi.  I wasn't entirely sure when you were supposed to use it, but, its one of my favorite seasoning mixes, so that was fine.  And then, the taller box, seemed to be soy sauce?

Accompaniments.

After we ordered, two small little round dishes were provided, a triangle dish of chopped green onion, a pot of another brown liquid, and, a cup.

Now we were confused.

Ok, a little round dish for each of us to eat off of?  We looked around, but didn't see anyone else with these.  It seemed like a reasonable assumption.

I knew the chopped green onion would go with the soba.  The sauce?  We think it was vinegar.  Was it for the tempura? The soba?  Not sure.

And then ... the cup.  That was confusing, and, got more confusing as we went.  I'll get to that soon.

Seasonal Seafood Tempura: Sweetfish.

Our first piece of tempura came up, served directly to us from the chef who had just fried it moments before, one of the seafood selections of the day: sweetfish.

I'll admit, I was intimidated by this one.  Whole little fishes.  But look, they were plated so nicely!

I consider myself fairly food-brave at this point, but, eating a whole fish was a bit much for me.  Head.  Eyes. Tail.  Oh my.

As you can see, the batter was very very light.  This was not oily in any way.

This was an experience, that is for sure.  The texture inside of it was unlike anything I've ever had. It was like ... little tiny balls?  Kinda mushy inside, but crispy outside.  And the tail and bones, uh, gave some crunch.

I can't say I enjoyed this piece, but, it was an experience.

Vegetable Tempura.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the next set came, all vegetables.

The vegetable tempura was served all at once, a half a slice of zucchini for each of us, a piece of okra and a chunk of corn.

Here too, the batter was so very light, and it was not oily.  So different from "tempura" I've had in the US.

I started with the okra, and nearly burnt off my tongue.  I knew it had been plucked from the hot oil moments before, but, I still wasn't prepared for just how hot and fresh it was.  Yikes!  It was fine, not slimy, but not particularly something I like.  My companion, who previously did not like okra, said he liked it for once.

Next I went for the zucchini, also hot and fresh, nice and moist, but, not a veggie I really care for.  My least favorite.

I saved the best for last.  A chunk of corn, individual kernels still attached.  The chef literally just sliced chunks off the cob in front of us before frying.  Incredible.

I loved the corn, it was super crunchy, great pops as each kernel burst.  My favorite bite of the meal.

Seasonal Seafood Tempura: Pike Eel.

The final piece was pike eel.  It had a bit more batter, but still not much, and again, not oily.  It was incredibly moist inside, and, for eel, good enough.

For most of the tempura, I did just use a little salt, which greatly enhanced things, but I did try dipping it in a little of the soy and vinegar too.  I think that is what our little dishes were for?

Overall though, I wasn't a big fan of the tempura.  I'm not sure why, or what I wanted different.  Maybe different seafood, different vegetables? 

Yiyashi Yuba. ¥1100 + ¥200 (large).

"Chilled noodles with tofu skin." 

And then, it was time for noodles.  A giant bowl of soba, chilled.  It came topped with sheets of yuba (per our selection), and a little grated wasabi.

It was here that I realized we had no idea what we were doing.  My research had been months ago, when I planned the trip.  I thought I recalled something about making a dipping sauce, and dunking your noodles into it?  Maybe that is what our cup was?  But we only had one cup, and we were clearly sharing.

But then, we were brought what looked like a tea pot, even though we didn't order tea.  Neither of us touched it at first, since we didn't want caffeine, and assumed it was tea.  Did they think one of us ordered tea?

Yeah, we were confused.  We tried the noodles.  They were ... very plain.  There was nothing on them.  We knew we were missing a step.  Again, we looked around, but no one else was in our phase of the meal.  We did verify that we had correctly used the little dishes for our tempura though.

So I kinda gestured at the chef, and mimicked pouring sauce into the bowl, looking for confirmation that we weren't supposed to do that.  He definitely said no to that, and pointed at the cup.

Ok, we were on the right track.  Make a dipping sauce in the cup, dunk the noodles.  But this was very hard to do with two people and one cup.  Finally, we asked the server for a second cup, and things made more sense.

But I still didn't like the soba.  It was just ... cold noodles.  With a slightly hearty flavor I guess.  I added soy sauce, vinegar, spices, wasabi, green onion to my sauce.  Still, meh.  Not my thing.

I moved on to the yuba.  I love yuba.  I was super excited for fresh yuba.  But ... it turns out, I'm spoiled in San Francisco, as we have Hodo Soy right across the bay, where I've gone for a factory tour before, and been eating yuba from for years.  I think their yuba was fresher than this.

The yuba was sadly unremarkable.  I think the rave reviews likely stem from people who aren't as familiar with it.  It was fresh enough I guess, and the addition of soy milk poured over enhanced the "soyness" of it and added a touch more creaminess, but, it just wasn't special.

And now, let's get back to the aforementioned pot.  Once I grew bored of the noodles, I decided to try to figure it out.  But I wasn't sure how, where was I supposed to pour it.  My cup was full of sauce, and that seemed ... right?  So I poured my sauce into my dining companion's cup (I know, so wrong), and poured a cup of the liquid from the pot.

It looked like ... dirty pasta water. And it tasted like it too.  It turns out, that is exactly what it was, called sobayu, the water from cooking your soba.  A quick moment of looking this up online told me what to do: I was supposed to add it to my leftover sauce at the end of the meal, and drink it like warm soup.  Aha!

So, I took back some sauce, added it to the soba water, and tried it.  It was really good!  Almost like miso soup.  I ended up making a second cup, with fresh sauces.

Overall, an experience of soba unlike anything I've had before.  I think we did it all correctly in the end.  But, I just didn't care for it. 

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