{  Shanghai Tea Salon Cha Yu  }

Shanghai Tea Salon Cha Yu
Shanghai Tea Salon Cha Yu
Shanghai Tea Salon Cha Yu

I went to this awesome Shanghainese place inside of Yokohama Sogo on the 4th floor with some friends. We went on the weekend for lunch and It was packed with older women and housewives and if you sit by the window, you get a great view of the Yokohama Bay. We got there around noon and the place was already almost packed with only a few open tables left. I had the Vietnamese Cold noodle plate with oolong tea for 1150yen and my friends both had the special of the day which was a cold sesame noodle lunch set that comes with a hot tea and dessert for 1500yen. Everything was delicious and I recommend this place if you want decent Shanghainese food near Yokohama station.

Address // Yokohama Sogo 4F, 2-18-1, Takashima, Nishi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 045-465-3176
Website // http://www.chayu.net/yokohama.html

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{  POPHOT  }

POPHOT
POPHOT

This creperie has one of the best galette’s I’ve had. I don’t know why, but the combination of their soft but crunchy crepes with high quality ingredients inside is truly delicious. I had the cheese, chorizo, egg, and mushroom for 1155yen and I loved it. The other one you see pictured above is the cheese, chorizo, and tomato crepe for 1050yen.

With that said… The place has a bit of a strange attitude — for some reason pets are allowed but baby’s and kids aren’t, and smoking is allowed but taking pictures inside is not. I clearly managed to sneak in some pictures :p The portions are on the light side and the service also feels a bit slow since they make the crepes fresh as you order so If you are starving, this is definitely not the place to come to. However, if you’re just looking for a light lunch with really good food, give this a try.

Address // 3-31-6, Gohongi, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-3794-6769
Website // POPHOT Website

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{  Artisan Terra  }

Artisan Terra
Artisan Terra
Artisan Terra

This cute bakery/pastry shop is located in Sangenjyaya right by Setagaya park and it might remind you of a Parisian bakery. We couldn’t help but notice how adorable this shop was when we first passed it so we came back on a different day just to check it out. It’s a small & cozy shop with cute decor and very friendly staff. The service was great, the breads were delicious, and we couldn’t have asked for more. Even though this place is slightly inconvenient to get to, there were many people coming in and out in the short time we were there which makes me think it’s definitely worth coming here even in the rain :)

Just to give you an idea, here are some of the items we had:
– Asparagus and bacon foccacia (263yen)
– Smoke cheese and dill bread (252yen)
– Bean bread (126yen)
– Hokkaido cabbage menchikatsu burger (357yen)

Everything we had was delicious!

Address // 2-44-11, Shimouma, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-5787-8850
Website // http://www.laterre.com/artisan/

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{  Gari gari kun Festival  }

Gari gari kun Festival 2012 Summer
Gari gari kun Festival 2012 Summer
Gari gari kun Festival 2012 Summer

It’s getting real hot and humid in Tokyo these days, the summer has definitely arrived. On days like this, I crave for ice cream, shaved ice, and popsicles. One of the famous popsicles here is called “Gari gari kun”. They have many flavors such as Soda, Grape, Pear, Grapefruit, Orange, Cola, etc, but their current most popular flavor is Pear. I happened to try the pear and it was so good and refreshing.

Anyhow, they are currently having a gari gari kun festival at Shibuya Parco and they have 7 selections of popsicles for only 100yen each. They also sell some accessories if you are a gari gari kun fan so if you happen to be in the area, stop by! The festival is from 7/14~7/25. If you can’t stop by the festival, you can still pick up your popsicle at most convenience stores and super markets :)

Gari gari kun Festival 2012 Summer
Event Info: http://www.parco.co.jp/parco/garigarikun/

Address // Parco, 15-1, Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-3464-5111
Website // http://www.garigarikun.jp

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{  Soramachi – Tokyo Skytree  }

Soramachi - Tokyo Skytree
Soramachi - Tokyo Skytree
Soramachi - Tokyo Skytree

The hottest spot to check out in Japan right now is Tokyo Skytree & its new shopping town area called “Soramachi”. Tokyo Skytree opened on May 22nd, 2012 and its been featured all over the media here in Japan. I personally wasn’t planning to check it out for a while but now that the initial craziness has calmed down a little we decided to visit it and we were pretty impressed.

The new shopping town called “Soramachi” is beautifully done. There’s been so many new malls opening in Tokyo lately such as the Tokyu Plaza in Harajuku/Omotesando, Hikarie in Shibuya, and Diver City in Odaiba but this one is among the best. (Yes, I’ve gone to all of them!) It’s packed with everything Japanese and there’s so many places to eat, dine, snack, shop, you can spend all day here. If you want to know where we ate here, check out my other post on Rokurinsha.

Just for your information, the tickets to go up to the observatory is open to the public on July 11. It’s probably going to be insanely crowded all over again but if you are coming to visit Tokyo from out of town, this is the place to go! Even if you can’t get tickets to the observatory, you’ll enjoy the scenery and Soramachi. For online ticket information, check out: http://www.tokyo-skytree.jp/reservation/

Address // 1-1-2, Oshiage, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 0570-55-0102
Website // http://www.tokyo-solamachi.jp/english/