Smiley Omurice

This blog isn’t dead! And neither am I! Which is a surprise, considering how much finals ravaged the last weeks of the semester. But anyway that’s all done with, so I’m ready for summer vacation

Recently I’ve been really into making omurice. When I didn’t have time to go out and eat I’d just get out the pan at home and toss in a bunch of eggs and rice. It isn’t complicated—literally omelette and rice—and it’s even fun. For every artist there are sketchbooks, canvases, doodle pads…and then there’s a nice yellow omelette with a big surface for drawing in ketchup. Nutrition and entertainment all in one.

Now I really want to have people and just cook omurice for them and draw different faces.

And then this was the day I wanted to eat pancakes but couldn’t have any so put a square of butter on a bun and made it look like pancakes instead. I actually thought I was being pretty innovative with this one. But then it made me think I definitely want to eat pancakes.

I mean I do have time now, but then so do a few million other school kids on summer break. So we’ll see

Anyway I’m sorry I have to resort to just showing you pictures of my breakfast and lunch at home…I haven’t been going out recently so there hasn’t been much I could showBut I’m going to take a break now and hopefully rake in the good stuff. Watch this space!!

The Biggest Sandwiches in Tokyo

…or at least, the biggest I’ve ever had.

Have you ever seen a bigger chunk of scrambled eggs in between two slices of bread? They even managed to squeeze long beans and a flower. This is now my favourite sandwich, by the wayThe eggs were so fluffy and compact at the same time I fell in love. Don’t even get me started on how satisfying it was to get it all in one big block.

These are all from Potasta—they’re a sandwich specialty shop with three branches in Tokyo, and they have the best variety of sandwich fillings I’ve seen. I mean, I never knew I could have chocolate cake in a sandwich. It seems ridiculous and it is; it works ridiculously well. It was like having dessert in handheld form.

But most of their sandwiches are still of the savoury sort. They’re so creative with the combinations that sometimes I eat one and get blown away by the genius of it. Like this curry potato and lettuce one I got the other day. There were small cubes of tofu and bamboo shoots wedged even between and as crowded as that sounds, it was just like one big delicious party.

They’re all pretty healthy in general, though some of them can tip over the scale a little. Back in spring I had this carrot overload of a sandwich and I have to say I regretted it a bit, because I’m not a carrot person by nature and I hadn’t expected there to be so much of it. There were supposed to be scrambled eggs, but before I got to eat them they were already eaten by the carrots occupying most of the sandwich.

Another case of extreme nutrition! I don’t even think I have that much lettuce in my usual salad. But I still like lettuce better than carrots anyway, and those eggs are a saviour. Even when they’re squashed down to the bottom of the sandwich they’re the only part I remember.

I’d never thought of having beans in my sandwich. And I think for my first time this massive amount of beans was a bit much, but it was still a super interesting flavour. I’m a texture girl so this was right up my alley, but side note to myself: do not eat after eating a whole other sandwich right before. This big bean number is so filling it could take up a whole meal. I just love how solid it is.

Another favouriteThe white chocolate part came in these biscuit wafers, so it added an extra crunch that I really appreciated in all that mashed pumpkin. This was a sweet flavour, so I had at it as another sort of chunky dessert. Easily one of my favourites, and not at all messy to eat [side eyes lettuce sandwich].

As you might tell from all the pictures I’ve posted, I’ve become a fan of Potasta by now. It’s so fun looking at the different flavours they have, and they actually do make a good lunch. Hefty and healthy. What’s not to love?! Plus if you have a sweet tooth like me you can splurge one of their sweet sandwiches, so it all works out great.

All Smiles at All C’s Cafe

Would you believe I found a cafe that wasn’t crowded on a Sunday afternoon?

Yeah, I really struck gold with this one. Sunday afternoons are the peak hour for cafes when everyone is out and about for lunchtime. But I found All C’s Cafe in Koenji and it readily welcomed me into its small, peaceful space. I liked it so much I stayed for dessert, which was the cutest plate of roll cake I’d ever had.

Everything about this place was adorable, from the food to the staff to the cafe decor. They even had a big ice cream cone standing outside. Recently I’ve been seeing a lot of cafes that are all about being cool and trendy (or if I’m going to go there, hipster), so finding this cafe that’s just so unabashedly cute in everything they do was extremely refreshing.

I mean, they just won’t stop drawing smiley faces in everything! That’s how you make a non-caffeine drinker drink caffeine. If a latte’s this cute then I’m going to make myself drink itSeriously speaking though, I feel like recently I’ve been able to drink lattes to the point that I sort of enjoy them. The milk and extra sugar cubes I dump in probably help some, but still. I’m getting there.

They also had regular food, like this great big chunky bowl of veggies and rice and fish. So healthyIt doesn’t look much, but it was a huge portion and took me a good half hour to chow that all down. Plus look at that little green elf standing by my bowl. That’s a bell and you use it to call for the staff. I loved ringing this elf so much just for the sake of shaking him by his tiny hat.

And this bear was sitting at my table the whole time. There’s a whole family of them lying around the cafe, so it makes the space feel a lot fullerIt just makes my day to come to a place like this that’s so full of joy and childish fun. I need a break from being an adult even though I’ve just barely started haha.

I want to start the second half of the year with more smiles