Umami Mart

On New Year’s Eve in Japan, my mama came home with this box. This looks exactly like an Asian cake box, right? I thought, from the shape, this was probably a log cake or something. Very celebratory color and pattern on the box. Must be something for the new year, I thought. But something shiny […]

Update May 10, 2012: This location has since closed.  Shimokitazawa is hands down my favorite part of Tokyo. It’s teeming with youth and the elderly, shopping for knick knacks in a part of Tokyo that has no high-rise buildings — preserving a quaintness that is absent in the major hubs of the city like Shibuya […]

It was a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon (everyday in San Diego is like a warm Sunday afternoon, isn’t it?). Besides our morning coffee, we were on an empty stomach, fully prepared for what would be a four-stop fish taco extravaganza all over town. Let’s do this. First stop: South Beach Bar & Grille, in […]

UPDATE: Hi everyone! I hope you all are ready for the Fish Taco Crawl in San Diego THIS SUNDAY! It’s gonna be a blast. So a few new details for you: – I’ll be staying in North Park– please feel free to meet us at our place and we can just carpool together from one […]

I’m finding all these pictures from my Japan trip that I never blogged, so please excuse this outdated trip down memory lane. I went to a kabuki show in Asakusa (in Tokyo) and afterwards, my family took me to feast on dojo, a small eel-like fish prepared in various ways. The whole experience was right […]

I’m still hopeful that winter will make its curtain call as scheduled, despite the seemingly unrelenting frigidness of late. So to get through this late-stage frostiness I knew some hearty comfort food would be in order, and homemade chowder fit the bill. I used a recipe I had for Portsmouth Seafood Chowder from BG’s Boat […]

One of the ultimate comfort foods during winters in Japan is oden, which is essentially fishcake stew. Whether cooked at home, bought from the konbini (I hear that Japan’s 7-11 makes it the best), or as a nightcap for businessmen to accompany cup after cup of sake, it is the darling of Japanese winter dishes. […]

Finally made it to my #1 NYC fantasy restaurant, Le Bernardin! I had been dying to go there for years- one time I had almost convinced my parents to take me, but alas my dad refused when he heard of their silly jacket requirement. I don’t actually think he owns a suit… My prayers were […]

For some reason, anago (saltwater eel) is not so popular in the States- its freshwater sister, Unagi (freshwater eel) just took the limelight and ran with it. Perhaps it’s because anago is not as buttery, I’m not sure… poor anago, it’s the underdog eel. But I’m telling you folks, anago is BETTER! It’s just delicious […]

I had qualms about blogging the Homo Sausage. Was I really a near 30 year-old woman with the humor of a 7 year-old boy? Yes. Was Umami Mart too sophisticated for a juvenile post such as this? Yes. But then again, maybe not. I met Homo Sausage last week at my friend’s party. Someone had […]