又造ラーメン屋 Lemon Salt Flavored Tsukemen @ レモン塩つけ麺

Occasion: 食べ歩き on a Tuesday evening

When: Dinner Time

Venue: 又造　ラーメン屋 (Matazou Ramen Shop)

Address: Kita 13 Nishi 3

(located right next door to a parking lot with a small salon situated beside it)

So, I have another great eatery to share with you guys. It's a true gem to be honest. I went there again last night with Tah and Dino and it still taste just as good as I remembered it to be. 

又造 (pronounced as mata zou) is a dainty little ramen shop that serves a variety of the usual choices of ramen but what makes it so special to me is that it serves:

#1. つけ麺 (tsukemen) - ramen dip into a bowl of cold/ hot sauce (optional)

#2. Lemon salt flavored soup (lemon fanatic is ME!) hehe

The first time I was there was in the beginning of January. I remember how the little door frame called out to me and also the blue red flags were beckoning me to go in. Then, good thing I had a lunch date with TT and we decided to try out this new eatery. There was no turning back since then.

I didn't post an entry about this place earlier was because I was selfish to not want to share this amazing eatery with everybody :p

Well, I can't hold back anymore and 

HERE YOU GO!! EVERYTHING IS OUT!! GO BOMBARD THIS PLACE! JUST PLEASE HAVE SOME MERCY AND LEAVE SOME つけ麺 FOR ME!!

Last night, Tah suggested to have dinner there after me raving to him how good it was since gazillion years ago. He was craving for ramen and I was just happy to go eat something I know is gonna be awesome. Dino is lucky enough to bump into Tah downstairs my place and so happened to be available for dinner hence he successfully got accepted to join the 'special secret ramen place' that was initially by invitation only. *cough cough*

Anyway, the secret is revealed as below:

(pardon the quality inconsistency of the pictures as they were taken on separate occasions, different seasons and camera tools)

Shopfront of 又造ラーメン屋 (taken early January. Note the snow on the ground)

The owner/ chef with his signature hat. Don't expect him to smile and
also he usually look less frenly but I think that is because he has a 'cool guy' image to uphold.
LOL

This is where the goodies are!!! おすすめメニュー
The above board lists the shop's specialty ramen/ tsukemen with
over the top flavors to choose from.
Spicy Miso Ramen ¥800
Lemon Salt Ramen ¥700
Lemon Salt Tsukemen (Dip sauce noodle) ¥800 (noodles used here is different than ramen)
Spicy Miso Tsukemen ¥850

The restaurant's permanent menu
(usual choices of miso, shio, shoyu ramen and tsukemen)
Also offers rice and additional toppings such as 'char siu' and etc.

My favorite!!!
Lemon Salt Flavored Tsukemen.
I ordered the cold dip rather than the hot sauce dip as recommended by the owner.

The sauce dip closed up! Oh my, my saliva gland just
got activated. I can actually taste the lemony sauce
in my mouth right now with lots and lots of floating leek!

The cold noodles hidden below the generous portion of
'Char siu', 半熟卵 'hanjukutamago' (half boiled egg), shredded leeks,
diced onions, seaweed and dashes of spices and ground black pepper.

Obligatory photo of moi in my first visit at this eatery.
(pardon the finger cos obviously TT has great skills in taking photographs. Just kidding :p)

Happy TT with her yummy food!

Photos from last night:

The boys.
Dino happily obliged for a photo request while Tah is obviously
not a very happy fella when his meal gets interrupted. ROARrrrr...

His so- called best 'smile' for the camera! Pissy much!! 

Oh btw, the boys both ordered the lemon salt flavored RAMEN instead
and decided to top it up with additional 'char siu' slices for extra ¥150.
Good deal!

Finally, the very happy customers of the night!!
SATISFACTION TO THE MAX!!

Okay. Now that you guys know where to find awesome ramen and tsukemen with special lemon flavored soup, feel free to check out this place.

As for me, I shall continue with my quest to discover what's worth sharing here in Sapporo and my forever hope to lose weight. Ermmm.. not so convincing right since most of my blog entries are about food! LOL

Till then, toodles.

Soup Curry SAMURAI スープカリイ

I AM SUPER HUNGRY NOW I CAN EAT A HORSE!!!!!

Occasion: Dinner on a Weekday

When: Whenever the craving calls for it..

Venue: Soup Curry SAMURAI

Address: North 19 West 4 (there are a few more outlets available. Click HERE)

If you've read my previous post on Cocoro soup curry, you know that I'm a big fan of soup curry. Just thinking of these 2 wonderful words out loud also can make me salivate!! *wipe saliva off chin*

Not going into details to explain what is soup curry all over again, but if you want a brief intro, click and read my previous post HERE. Instructions on how to order is available as well.

Anyway, back to this heavenly new place that Tah intro-ed to me not too long ago. To be honest, I read about its Susukino outlet before, but never got around to trying it out. But finally, the man himself took me there. The soup was amazing and best of all................ it was the サクサク ブロッコリpronounced 'sakusaku broccoli'. In Hokkaido, the fresh vegetables here are to die for. True story! And coat this fresh green awesomeness with garlic and deep fry it.......... need I say more??!!!!! *salivate*

Enough text!!! Here comes the pictures!!!

Vintage looking chopstick box.. nice!

You can locate the nearest SAMURAI place to you

We went about almost 9.30pm and the place was no longer
packed which is very rare to be honest.

Floor sitting area for larger group of customers

Here comes the yummy!!!! Tah ordered some 'natto' thingy.
It was an excellent choice cos we both love natto anyway.
Try it if you are feeling adventurous. hehe

My order!!!! I usually go for:
Main: チキン野菜 (chicken veggie) ¥1150
Soup: Regular (FOC), you can choose other soup for an extra fee
Spicy: No. 4 (perfect level of spiciness)
Topping: サクサクブロッコリadditional ¥150

Look at that!!!! Need i say more??!1

サクサクブロッコリ is da bomb aitelyu!!!

Finally, ending it with a pic of moi. Thousand apologies on the
tired looking me. It was a long day.

Anyway, I am absolutely head over heels in love with soup curry. Drop me a note if you think there are more to-die-for soup curry restaurants that i should go check it out. Mean time, I shall try not to get fat from all these indulgences. DAMN!! It's hard being a woman.. #firstworldpains

"I eat merely to put food out of my mind."  

~by N.F. Simpson~

Hara Donuts 安心おやつ。。はらドーナッツ

Occasion: 食べ歩き on a Sunday afternoon

When: One lazy January weekend

Venue: Hara Donuts, PASEO WEST, 1F 

Address: Kita 6 Nishi 2 

(located right next door to Starbucks Coffee, PASEO Sapporo JR Station)

You would be surprise to know that i'm writing this blogpost at 5:05am. Why do I choose to write this topic at this very point of time? and why is this my first post for the year 2012?!  in which, btw, 

Happy New Year 2012 everybodehhhhhh.....

The answer is very simple. I crave it!

YES!! I AM CRAVING FOR A HARA DONUTS RIGHT NOW AT 5:07AM!! 

(yes, 2 minutes have passed....)

This craving caught me by surprise cause to be honest, it didn't blow my mind away on the first bite and it was pretty alright for me in regards to the taste. But i guess hara donuts are one of those stuff in life that grows onto me. Something good to have but not remembering it off for awhile then suddenly BAM!! one freaking morning when no form of life has awaken to embrace the world yet (okay.. maybe the roadside cleaner... or the drunk people dragging their feet home.. or 'whosoevernot'... but you get my point! And worst of all..... you can do nothing about your cravings cos the mall is not open for another 5 hours or so!! So what now?! ):

Back to this special donuts that is trolling me right now. What is Hara Donuts? (website: HERE)

The CNN calls it 'Japanese Boutique Donuts' (click HERE for article)

From some articles I've read, it is also called the friendly, healthy and HAPPY donuts. 

(Read more)

Some calls it 'Tofu Donuts".

Some DON'T EVEN call it a donut, cause it is made with 'tofu' 豆腐。Okay, more accurately it is made from 'okara', a by-product produced during the making of soy milk and tofu. Well known to be highly rich in fibre and very nutritious. 

It is really popular healthy snack take-out store that has branches all over Japan and one will always find a queue at its store front especially in Tokyo. Originally started from Kobe, its' latest addition smacked right at our door step at the newly renovated PASEO. If I am not mistaken, there is another outlet located somewhere between Odori and Susukino. 

If you are expecting Krispy Kreme and Mister Donut kind of donuts, boy, are you wrong?! It is definitely not and far fetched from tasting the same. In fact, on my first bite, it sort of reminded me one of the version of 'you tiao' or 'you zhao gui' 油炸鬼 back home in KL. If you can read Chinese/ Kanji, you would find that the characters I just typed is literrally translated to 'Oil Fried Ghost'. LOL. As for why it is call that, go wikipedia it or something k. BUT not today cos wikipedia shuts down today in protest for SOPA. If you do not know what SOPA is, go wikipedia that also on the following day! And by now, you would have made me very curious on what do you actually know?!!! Do you even read??!! *baffles* Anyway, back to the main topic, hara donuts reminded me of one of the doughy version of the 'you tiao' but not the same thing.

So, pictures of the day to tell the story as below:

Love the simplicity of the signboard and store concept.

There's a sitting area that fits probably 10 pax at most for those
that would like to order drinks to go with their hara donuts.

The famous Hara Donuts!! Yumms!! *salivate*

Little merchandises that is being offered for sale.
Think some proceeds go to the 'Dogs for the Blinds' Charity.

Friendly staffs and open- styled kitchen area possibly to promote
compliance and cleanliness. I like this kind of display. It makes
me feel as if they have nothing to hide. No dirty processes in
making my food that is to be consumed into my mouth! Silly much? hehe
And besides, it is always fun to watch how the food is created. (:

More hara donuts!!!!! Look at them so fresh and yummilicious looking!
They are quite a number of flavors to choose from!

Flavors you can find in Hara Donuts are such as listed on their website.

but I noticed that some of the offerings are new as one of the donuts we saw that day, tomato トマト flavored donuts, was not shown on the website. Apparently they have 日がわり (special offer of the day- ¥130~). Guess you need to go to the store to find out what is the special donut of the day. Some of the permanent flavors worth mentioning are such as コウチャ (black tea), ほうれん草 (spinach), にんじん (carrot), さくら (sakura). I find these flavors so different as compared to other donuts stores. Not only that, these flavors are so good too. Hara Donuts also offer the usual flavors of fruits (strawberries, lemon) as well as sweet flavors such as chocolates, white chocolates, coffee and etc. Prices range from ¥120- ¥160 per piece. 

'Food wikipedia' Tah with はらドーナッツ

My turn!! (:

By the time i took this pic, we've already started nomming. Hence
there's already 3 left in the bag.
Chose the original はらドーナッツ、丹波黒豆きなこ、コウチャ、チョコ
and i forgot what else. LOL.

As mentioned earlier, I didn't find it mind blowing at first. It wasn't love at first bite at all. I found it rather subtle and just a good snack at that time. BUT how the devil it crept up to me at this point of time!! At when I would have to sit around thinking about it non-stop while awaiting for the mall to open!!!! 

YOU SNEAKY DONUTS!!!!!!!!!! 

*waiving fist in the air*

Check out the queue formed. That happens regularly but it doesn't take too long.

Moi posing at the store front. what's new? hehe

Okay. That is all folks. I should continue sitting and waiting around like a mad woman until the time  can rush to the mall and get my fix of this little devils. Happy donuts... HAH!! They're right about it being called happy. I'm sure it has to do with being a healthy snack but as for my definition... I will feel happier once i get to sink my teeth onto these devils. Just as Homer would have said....

"DONUTS. Is there anything they can't do?" 

~Homer Simpson~

Aerosmith Live in Sapporo~ エアロスミス 札幌公演

Occasion: Aerosmith Concert Live in Sapporo 2011(For Official Band website: Click HERE)

When: 10th December 2011

Venue: Sapporo Dome 札幌 ドーム

Address: 1-3, Hitsukigaoka, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo (Access: Toho Line- 10 mins walk from Fukuzumi Station)

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la. 

Wishing all a very Merry Christmas (not too late since there is supposedly 12 days of Christmas.. hehe) and a Happy New Year to you all out there!!! (:

This is suppose to be the season of joy and I wish I share the same happy sentiment as you guys. Unfortunately, I couldn't say it is and shall not pretend it is anyway. Lots happening right now and I am just blessed that special holiday occasions like these make me feel more love and appreciative of things I have with me. I guess that's what Christmas spirit is all about. It has been a tough month for me and I just hope that the worst will be over soon enough. A new year hopefully will bring me a new start! Nothing wrong with wishful thinking right?! It's all about positivity!! (:

Right! Enough ranting over here.. anyway, I am glad to say that I've attended one of the most happening concert in Sapporo this month!! AEROSMITH was in town!! Ohmaikot!!! *screams like crazy girl and pulls hair* LOL

It was fantabulous to the max!! They are definitely a great live band. You know how some people say that some bands are just not up for it? They can't go live and only good on studio-recorded audio? Well, NOT THEM!! They were just great all the way through.. Their performance was awesome and got me high on adrenalin rush at all time. I was glad my heart didn't palpitate wildly and burst out at some point causing me to die unexpectedly!!

Anyway, as usual caused i'm nice liddat, and for those who doesn't know them... (ohmaikot!! are you for real??!! Seriously?! *face palm* ..

Below is a brief about them as taken off wikipedia,

Aerosmith is the best-selling American rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million albums worldwide, including 66.5 million albums in the United States alone. They also hold the record for the most gold and multi-platinum albums by an American group. The band has scored 21 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were included among both Rolling Stone's and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

As usual, I'll let the photos from that day do the talking for me. Enjoy!

Check out the crowd man... Superb!

Steve Tyler, the man himself (:

Joe Perry, guitar. He was quite a big hit that nite, the crowd went
crazy for him.

Joey Kramer, drum. Performing solo at an interval. Great showmanship!
Have I ever mentioned before, besides the bass, my other fav
would always be the drummer (:

Tyler joining Kramer on the drums! Good job! (:

For someone at 63 year old, he can sure ROCK!! 

Looks like Tom Hamilton there playing Bass..

Getting the crowd to sing to his leopard printed scarfed mic!

Piano performance on 'Dream On'- my favorite!!

until he decided to get on top of it and ROCK IT!

That man sure got charisma aitelyu!!

The whole band has got it!

Joe Perry on the big screen!

Tyler looked as if he got sent down from above.
It was a great live concert!

Tribute to the Japanese for the 311 incident

They performed a lot of their greatest hits such as Angel, Crazy, Love in an Elevator, I Don't Want to Miss A Thing and many more!!

I didn't know some of the songs but yet that didn't stop me from bopping my arms and head along with the amazing live performance they've put on. It was incredible! The energy that channeled to the crowd made them unstoppable. 

Some of the concert goers of that day
(K, T, Gel, Moi and Big Guy)

The WHOLE group that gone for the concert that day!
Special mention to Dino and Li for the great photos!

Last but not least, found this video shared on YouTube (credit given to thelujinjbj). Here, you can see how amazingly strong Tyler's vocal is performing "Dream On" on top of a piano. Cool siut! It is definitely my favorite song from their greatest hits album. Too bad, there isn't an official music video made for this song. ):

Gonna end this post with something familiar and definitely one of everybody's favorite from their greatest hits, "I Don't Want to Miss A Thing", soundtrack of the movie 'Armageddon'.

"Every life has a measure of sorrow, and sometimes this is what awakens us."

~ Steven Tyler~