Nakamura Tokichi Hong Kong - 中村藤吉香港店

Nakamura Tokichi, originally from Kyoto, Japan, is one of those new spots in town Hong Kongers are crazy about. The queue can be of one hour if you're lucky. We were extremely lucky (as I think we always are, thank God!) because we run into one of J's friend who had taken 45 minutes ago 2 tickets: numbers 92 & 99, in case her wife didn't make it for the first one, since he arrived early. The wife made it for the 92 and he gave us the 99, instead of the 122 we had taken ourselves! Awesome!!!

I was surprised by the beautiful Japanese decor and the amazing views of the harbour and Hong Kong's skyline.

Nakamura Tokichi is famous for its Matcha Zaru Soba (cold noodles), and for its green tea desserts. Since we went there for tea, we had two desserts. One (Kyo no Fukiyose) had cakes and matcha ice cream (best matcha ice cream ever!), and the other was a hot matcha sweet soup with rice balls and azuki (red bean). They were really yummy and I was glad we went, although I won't be going again if the queue continues to be as crazy as now.  

 

During our visit, a tea ceremony expert from Japan dressed in a kimono was there to teach a tea ceremony class in the tatami. From what I saw from Nakamura Tokichi's instagram, she flew in from Japan for three days exclusively to teach this class (three times each day I think). It looked really interesting, and was priced at $HK150 per person.

Visited on: December 24th, 2015

Overall Quality: 4,5* (venue is great; food really yummy; long queue is horrible (not their fault, though!)) I particularly didn't like the fact that one of their most coveted desserts, a matcha mochi kind of slices, was sold out when we went, and apparently is sold out early everyday. Why not simply make more?!
Price: pricey at around HK$65 for a matcha latte and between $HK80-100 for a dessert.
Value for Money: 4*
Would I recommend it? I do and I don't at the same time. I think the craze needs to ease down a bit, otherwise queuing for an hour and a half is simply nuts. There's other places in town with yummy matcha desserts like this one!

Nakamura Tokichi - 中村藤吉香港店

18/F, The One, Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui

Usagui Barcelona - Japanese Cafe

I just recently discovered Usagui, and it's already my favorite Japanese in Barcelona. When we think about Japanese restaurants, we tend to associate this concept to sushi, and yet Japanese cuisine is so much more than this! 

We have amazing ramen in town, like Ramen-Ya Hiro, and also, luckily, Japanese cafes, my favorite. There's currently two in Barcelona, Takashi Ochiai, a Japanese bakery and cafe I must write a review on soon, and Usagui, an absolute hidden gem. 

Usagui is run by a Japanese couple and the sister of the wife, making of this a perfect family business cafe. Not only do they serve outstanding matcha drinks and Japanese desserts such as mochis or matcha cakes, they also have some dishes available for lunch and dinner. Absolutely everything is homemade, of course. Usagui means Rabbit in Japanese, and you're bound to see little rabbits everywhere: in their business card, decorating the blackboards at the entrance, on their menus, and even their  hashioki (the chopstick rest) is a cute little rabbit. 

The first time we visited {last week}, we went for tea and absolutely adored it, so we decided to go back yesterday for dinner. We had Yakisoba Omu {Yakisoba noodles wrapped with egg}, and Oyakodon {Chicken and egg with rice}. 

Both dishes were delicious, but I liked the Yakisoba the best. We had miso soups as well. And for drinks J had cold matcha latte, and I had a hot matcha latte with soy milk. Matcha latte is my absolute favorite drink in the whole world, and I cannot understand why Starbucks has it in Hong Kong but not in Spain :'(

Visited on: May 29, 2015
Overall Quality: 5*
Price: You may find matcha latte sort of expensive at 4€ but I think it's all worth it for the quality you get. Cake slices are around 4€ as well, and main dishes around 9€. We paid 31€ for this dinner. They lunch set for 11€.

Value for Money: 5*
Would I recommend it? You simply cannot miss it. It feels like being in Japan!

Usagui - Te Japones & Cafe

Carrer dels Santjoanistes, 28 (next to Plaça Molina)

Phone: 93 200 55 41

Opening hours: 

Tue: 4:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Wed-Sat: 1:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Sun: 4:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Closed on Monday

Donguri Republic and Totoro Exhibition at LCX - Harbour City

On June 21st, Donguri Republic, a Japanese store selling character-themed merchandise from Studio Ghibli, opened in Hong Kong. Studio Ghibli's popular films include My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, among others. Besides opening the store, they organized an exhibition of My Neighbor Totoro in LCX, Harbour City. To be completely honest, I had no idea this store opened in Hong Kong, and I saw it on Thursday afternoon on the bus TV. I looooove Totoro since I was a little kid, so on Thursday after having afternoon tea with my friend, I asked her to go take a look at Totoro's exhibition!

There's many lovely scenes from the movie hanging on the walls, and there's also a big Totoro in the bus stop to take pictures with! In case you're not familiar with the movie, this is the most popular scene from My Neighbor Totoro, so it was really nice being able to take a picture pretending to be the girl on the movie :D

I discovered My Neighbor Totoro accidentally when I was about 10 years old, I remember it was a public holiday or a Sunday morning, I turned on the TV and Totoro was there! I had no idea it was a movie, since all the cartoons I used to watch were usually tv series, and I got completely addicted to Totoro and thought the day after they would have more episodes, but of course there weren't any... It's definitely the best cartoon movie ever, ever! 

Make sure to stop by LCX in Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, before July the 31st to be able to take a look at this exhibition! Regarding the store, I wouldn't recommend trying to go any time soon unless it's on a weekday when everyone's in the office. Last weekend people were queuing for 3 hours to get in there!!! Hello, crazy Hong Kong people!? Ok, I admit I queued for 30 minutes myself on Thursday at 6pm!

宏 Japanese Noodle and Dessert

I love weekends, and I love them even more when there's something green tea in them. And guess what, today we've had an amazing Matcha parfait with the best green tea ice cream I've ever had! It was at 宏 Japanese Noodle and Dessert, a relatively new Japanese restaurant in Jordan, serving yummy Japanese desserts! They use Milk Top's home made ice creams, and they are to die for!!! We had a Matcha parfait {HK$78} and a Matcha ice cream with cookie {HK$39}. Simply delicious!

Then we went to K11 to take some pics at their current exhibition inspired by the Wizard of Oz, one of my favorite tales!

This post was more about green tea than chocolate, but still, WHO DOESN'T LIKE CHOCOLATE? Seriously, I can't think of anyone! :D

宏 Japanese Noodle and Dessert

G/F, 15 Parkes Street, Jordan

Hong Kong

Visited on: May 11, 2013

Overall Quality: 4.5*

Price: HK$117 for the two desserts above

Value for Money: 4.5*

Would I recommend it? It's a pricey place, but sooo worth it if you like green tea as much as I do!

I was wearing: Top from H&M; Skirt from Maje; Stockings from Forever 21; Shoes from Daphne; Bag from MiuMiu.

Sushi One after 10pm: Best Sushi Deal in Town

One of my favorite things about Hong Kong is its amazing Japanese food. This doesn't mean I don't enjoy the local delicacies, but the Japanese cuisine in Hong Kong is to die for! I have never ever come across a Japanese restaurant in Europe that comes even close to the ones in Hong Kong. 

The high quality and low prices of Japanese food in Hong Kong make of this city a dream come true for Japanese food lovers. Sushi, ramen, Japanese BBQ, pastries, you name it. Everything is available in Hong Kong at good prices and superb quality.

All of the above very well applies to Sushi One. With six branches in the city, it's probably the most famous sushi restaurant in Hong Kong. A big reason behind their success is their daily 50% off promotion after 10pm. Taking into account that the regular prices at Sushi One are already very reasonable, you can imagine what a bargain half priced sushi is. People start lining up for it before 9pm, and a long queue is formed within minutes.

These are just some of the dishes we had, with HK$100 per head you eat until you're full!

Visited on: November 20, 2012 (that was the last time but I go to Sushi One several times a month!)

Overall Quality: 5*

Spending per head: HK$100

Value for Money: 5*

Would I recommend it? You bet! This is one of my favorite restaurants in Hong Kong!

Mochi Sweets

Today I want to introduce you to one of my favorite things in Hong Kong: japanese frozen mochis from Mochi Sweets. You already know about my obsession with cupcakes but what if I told you that I enjoy these japanese delicacies even more? 

A mochi is a round-shaped rice cake made of glutinous rice, traditionally made in Japan in a ceremony called Mochitsuki. The mochis from Mochi Sweets are frozen and come with a flavored cream inside. You need to wait 20 minutes in summer, or 40 minutes in winter, to eat them after purchase. They come in 15 different flavors, from the traditional Red bean to modern creations such as Mango Yoghurt or Chocolate mousse, with all the ingredients being flown in from Japan. I've tried almost all of them, and my absolute favorite is the Sakura mochi, followed by the Green tea mochi. 

I've tried many mochis in my life, even in Japan itself, from normal ones to the modern mochi ice cream, but the ones from Mochi Sweets are the most amazing of them all. Perfect flavour and texture, I'm just totally addicted!

There's three stores in Hong Kong as follows, one in Hong Kong island and two in Kowloon:

- L010 G/F, Jusco Kornhill Store, Kornhill Plaza (North), 2 Kornhill road, Quarry Bay.

- Shop UC-SP4, Upper ConcourseLevel, APM, Millenium City 5, 418 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong.

- Basement Level 1, The Sun Arcade, 28 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.

The one I always go to is the one in APM, Kwun Tong.

Overall Quality: 5*

Price: $11-$15 depending on the mochi

Value for Money: 5*

Would I recommend it? Absolutely!