I love to bits the fried oyster in Japan especially the ones from “Shinjyuku Saboten” bento shop. Fried oysters are seasonal (November~February) in most restaurants in Japan. A miss out would mean that I need to wait for nine months or so before I am able to have fried oysters again. I decided that I wouldn’t want any regrets, so I popped in the bento shop and bought my last fried oyster bento of this season for lunch.

The taste is as usual SOLID, since the day I was their customer.
Oh, why couldn’t they just include fried oysters into their regular menu??
Next round will be a long wait again (v__v`) …

There is this cake shop within the grounds of Chou line’s Mitaka station. The shop is selling freshly baked pies and tarts with generous toppings of fresh fruits, besides cakes. I love especially their tarts, but calories is my greatest enemy when I am on diet. I have since made efforts to “distant” myself from the shop for quite a while.

On valentine’s day, I decided “why not?” and went down to get myself a piece of cake and a tart.

TOOoooo satisfying, the cake and tart.
d(^o^)b A few rounds of extreme work-outs will follow next after I went home today －＝≡ (;^･_･^)

I went to this cafe known as “charaku” today.
Though it is sitting just a mere 2 mins walk away from JR Chuo line mitaka station (north exit), most probably only regular customers knew about it because of its “hidden location”. The cafe has a very quiet ambience which I like very much.
And yes, the aroma of the curry. It fills the air some 20m or so away from the shop before even reaching. Upon entering the shop, one is greeted by those nostalgic Japanese music that the cafe is always playing. Well,,, you can call me old, but somehow I feel calm listening to them.

For just 900yen, the cafe offers set lunch with choice of either curry or spaghetti + salad + soup + coffee or tea. I am just wondering if it’s ONLY Japan’s cafe in the world that offers set lunch??

The exterior image of the cafe with terrace seats for those who smoke or would like to enjoy a bit more of the sun.

Cafe entrance

For those who wants to escape from the sun, go inside to indulge yourself in the nostalgic atmosphere.

Interior of cafe -- Table seats

For those lonely souls, opt for the counter table without worrying about having to share seats.

Interior of cafe -- Counter seats

The shop has many such small ornaments all over and thought they blend in well with the antique look of the interior.

Small little decorations

Finally, my healthy curry rice set came. Of course it tastes as delicious as it looks, but its unlike usual image of a curry because Japan’s curry is NOT HOT at all.　
Its time to get back to work again after some moment of quiet time..

Curry set lunch

I took lunch at one of my favourite japanese restaurant called ootoya.

Besides chinese food, Japanese food tops my list of favourite foods. Not that I had experience with so many different types of cuisines around the world, but my preference for food are those which are “light”. When I mean “light”, vegetables are a MUST, oily foods are out, all meat only dishes are out, serving must not be too big (I must admit that I am not a big-eater) and foods that are saltish is a No No.

In general, the food balance for Japanese set lunch or dinner (known as teisyoku) are very well considered. Few types of vegetables usually accompany the set with miso soup. Its important for people like me who don’t do much cooking to include a bit of intake of every kind and they make me feel healthy.

Today’s lunch set is claypot stew chicken cutlet. I must admit I am 100% satisfied.　(*^o^*)/