[Taipei: Dazhi] Palette, probably one of the best buffet in Taipei.

Posted on by Jamie Liew

GRAND MAYFULL HOTEL (1)

so in this post, I will talk about Palette’s well known buffet breakfast and dinner although they serve even during lunch and tea time. the Grand Mayfull Hotel is a 5 star hotel that is completely Taiwanese owned and it just opened its doors 1 year ago. Although they are not so well known yet, their buffets are already experiencing long queues and especially their dinner, you should only go after making reservations.

Continue reading “[Taipei: Dazhi] Palette, probably one of the best buffet in Taipei.” →

[Okinawa: Zamami Island, Aguu Pork] Day 2

Posted on by Jamie Liew

with the recommendations of friends who have been to Okinawa, we squeezed Zamami into our tight schedule because many of them commented that the Kerama (Zamami is one of them) Islands are the highlight of their trip. if you could stay a day or two in Zamami, make sure you go for the turtle watching which is around early in the morning or in the evening. but since we went for a day trip (where many Japanese does too), we had to miss out on the cute little turtles =(.

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my best friend while I was in language school, Megumi. ain’t she beautiful or what? =D. Continue reading “[Okinawa: Zamami Island, Aguu Pork] Day 2” →

[Okinawa: International St., Shuri Castle, Jack’s Steakhouse] Day 1

Posted on by Jamie Liew

when one thinks of Japan, they’d usually think about Tokyo or Kyoto; which yes, is two of my favourite places as ones super high-tech and another is full of traditional stuff. but near Taiwan, there lies Okinawa, an island that’s pretty under-rated and is said to be better than Hawaii by some. (it is also named the Hawaii of Japan!) lucky for me, the tickets from Seoul to Okinawa was pretty affordable and there’s a direct flight so I decided to pay a visit to the other end of Japan!

after doing some homework, I found a list of places to go and things to eat and I couldn’t fit all of it in my 4 day 3 night schedule. so I’d recommend going there at least for 5 or 6 days! what I will not be covering is the cave diving and turtle watching in Zamami (I’d recommend to stay in Zamami for at least one night!) which I would really want to see but there was just not enough time T__T.

so are you ready for day 1? let’s go! Continue reading “[Okinawa: International St., Shuri Castle, Jack’s Steakhouse] Day 1” →

[Tokyo: Nishi-Ogikubo] Pineapple and Chocolate Ramen?! Papapapapine!

Posted on by Jamie Liew

if you’re a hardcore rocketnews24 reader, you might’ve run across this restaurant that serves pineapple ramen so good, they came out with the instant noodle version of it and it can be found at selected convenience stores. except I’ve yet to come across it during my 7 month stay in Japan.

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so Papapapapine is known for their pineapple ramen. but what’s that above? kakakakakao. get it? well, other than its famous pineapple ramen, it is also known for its notorious innovation when it comes to ramen. they had strawberry ramen, banana ramen.. well.. you name it. while their seasonal menu changes all the time, you’d always be able to find pineapple ramen in this shop. Continue reading “[Tokyo: Nishi-Ogikubo] Pineapple and Chocolate Ramen?! Papapapapine!” →

[Tokyo: Harajuku] AFURI Ramen

Posted on by Jamie Liew

recently I got the nickname “ramen girl” from my Japanese friend because he stated that Ramen isn’t normally loved by women. but if you look through my instagram a month before I leave Japan, you could probably see my love for ramen, which made me the “ramen girl.”

while the best ramen I’ve ever had was still the one from Osaka, from a chain called.. I forgot (update: it’s called 藤平) but it was near Fukushima station, Tokyo has the widest range of ramen in my opinion. it is like, you can find anything in Tokyo. and I love Tokyo for that reason. if you are living in Tokyo and loveee ramen, then Afuri shouldn’t be a name that is unfamiliar to you as it is literally ONE OF THE BEST ramen available in Tokyo.

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you should know how no ramen in Japan would taste the same, Afuri takes a huger leap away from the weird. they are known for their Yuzu ramen, or in other words, Citrus ramen. how would the citrus’ tangy taste taste like with salty ramen? well, that’s why I went to find out! Continue reading “[Tokyo: Harajuku] AFURI Ramen” →

[Tokyo: Ginza] Midori Sushi. is it worth it?

Posted on by Jamie Liew

I’d like to label people who come to Midori Sushi as.. smart. because for 3,000yen, you can get as follows:

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12 pieces of sushi, egg + one handroll and a miso crab salad!

although the queue would be quite a misery (normally 2 hours. I only queued for 80 minutes ahahhaha ONLY.) you can actually take a number and come back an hour later and wait for only about 20-40 minutes! depending on which branch you go to really. I went to the Ginza branch and I heard the Shibuya branch has the longest queue whereas the one in Kichijoji has almost no queue! Continue reading “[Tokyo: Ginza] Midori Sushi. is it worth it?” →

[Tokyo: Ebisu] Itasobakaoriya 板蕎麦 香り家

Posted on by Jamie Liew

so this place which I’ve stumbled across in Ebisu while looking for a soba place, is the BEST soba place I’ve ever came across in Japan so far. I was actually around the area looking for the Ebisu illumination but decided to settle for soba instead since it’s a tradition in Japan to eat soba the night before new years (the Japanese NY is on 1.1) and it is said that you should not bite your soba as you eat and gobble it down as a whole until it is all in your mouth and then chew. all that just to live a longer life. well, no harm believing in it right? except I forgot and accidentally bit it off my first bite =X. but I followed the “rules” after that.

soba’s always been my favourite Japanese dish since I was young. although now it’s sushi, I still love soba. but to my surprise, soba in Japan does not taste quite like the soba’s I’ve had in Malaysia and Korea where it was always a little more jelly-like. instead, these buckwheat noodles called soba, are not as smooth and has a stronger buckwheat taste to it in Japan. I wasn’t very used to it the first few times but I came to enjoy it more than the ones I’ve had which I now label, the unoriginal soba.

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I actually read about this place and it has a soaring high 3.52 in tabelog and there were comments on how people waited for this and thought it was totally worth the wait. except because I had it first on NYE I had to queue for 2 hours in the painfully cold weather. and still thought it was very worth it! they even provided us hot tea, beer (yes, BEER!) and hot packs while we were waiting in line outside! Continue reading “[Tokyo: Ebisu] Itasobakaoriya 板蕎麦 香り家” →

[Tokyo: Roppongi] Matsurokuya Wagyu Lunch

Posted on by Jamie Liew

so what is living in Japan without having tried wagyu? well.. I had (the cheaper) Kobe beef before and I still think (medium priced home-cooked) Hanwoo beef from Korea tastes better =X. but the thing is, after going to Hidenori at Tsukiji and had their 2000yen a piece of raw wagyu beef sushi, I am now hooked onto wagyu. can’t say I prefer it over Hanwoo but I am definitely digging the raw wagyu beef in Japan. but I am a poor student and very unfortunately cannot afford to eat such luxurious food often. so what do I do?

I look for affordable places!

but with a catch, because Matsurokuya only serves 30 portions of this A5 Kurogewagyu everyday. I arrived 40minutes before (10:50) the shop opened at 11:30am and I was already 10th in line. but however, people who arrived just 10minutes before it opened were at like number 20-25. but just to be safe, arrive earlier. as this place is near some university, there may be many Japanese university students lining up for this in the morning.

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but well, fortunately in Japan, cheap does not always mean bad. I searched online before university even started and found this place far out in Roppongi where you can devour a bowl of rice topped with lightly seared A5 Kurogewagyu beef for only 1,500yen! and the best of all? it is served in Hitsumabushi style (will blog about this famous Nagoya eel dish sometime later!) which means you get to enjoy one dish in three ways! Continue reading “[Tokyo: Roppongi] Matsurokuya Wagyu Lunch” →

[Tokyo: Tsukiji] the BEST sushi in Tsukiji: Shutoku 秀徳

Posted on by Jamie Liew

I’ve always thought to myself, the best sushi in Tsukiji must be Sushi Dai since I queued 3-4hours for it. but to my surprise, there is actually something even better. though a different style, I definitely preferred this sushi bar over Sushi Dai. there is something about the way they prepared it which makes every piece pretty much perfect. PLUS there was completely no wait. well unless if you have a big group. I think this place is pretty local since up till now I have not found any blogs about this place in English and it is not infested with them English speaking foreigners (yet.) but since my blog ain’t that popular, I hope this place wouldn’t be crowded with foreigners the next time I go there. if you’re a famous blogger, please do not blog about this place HAHAHAH. PLEASE. also, because there’s 3 shops, there SHOULDN’T be a queue =X. and what is this unknown (to English speaking foreigners) sushi bar called?

しゅうとくにごうてん or Shutokunigouten or Shutoku.

the specific shop I went to was 秀徳 1号店 Shutoku Shop no.1.
(update 2017: went back and dined at shop no.2, it’s very similar but I still prefer shop no.1!)

don’t ask me why are there so many names. there are just so many names when I searched for it in Japanese :S. but I generally call it Shutoku.

I was actually recommended by a friend living in Japan whom had been to Jiro’s and since he strongly recommended this place, I decided to give it a shot when my sister comes (because I wanted to go to exclusive places with people whom are important to me ^_^.)

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the downside of this place is that it does not have an English sign so finding it will be tad more difficult but don’t worry. I got you. hence here are some pictures to help you. hahaha. Continue reading “[Tokyo: Tsukiji] the BEST sushi in Tsukiji: Shutoku 秀徳” →