Mister Donut

Mister Donut is the largest chain of Donut store in Japan, with more than 1300 stores found in almost every main street of Japan. They are popular for their cheap, delicious donuts and you don't have to queue for a long time unlike Krispy Kreme. 

Periodically, they will have a JPY100 sale for their donuts, which normally sell between JPY120 - JPY150. 

And just like St Marc cafe, donuts are self service where you take a tong and tray, select your favourite donut and pay at the cashier at the end of the line.

You will also find a seasonal or special edition item in the stores and these items changes every few months. When I visited, the special item was the snoopy mont blanc house. 

We ordered the chocolate french cruller, angel cream donut and a cup of coffee. And did you know that their coffee is refillable as well? Their service is so good that the waitress even brought the coffee pot to your table to refill the coffee for you!

These are some of the special items that have been created by Mister Donuts for the past years. Kudos to the people who think up of all these creative donuts!

Mister Donut

www.misterdonut.jp (Japanese only)

Tokyo Ramen Street - Ramen Honda

Ramen streets are becoming popular in Japan, as they gather some of Japan's famous ramen shops all within an area so ramen fans do not have to travel far to enjoy a bowl of delicious ramen. 

Tokyo Ramen Street, located at the Yaesu Underground Exit of Tokyo station features some of Tokyo's most famous ramen shops. 

There are a total of 8 ramen restaurants at Tokyo Ramen Street, each with their own special soup and taste. 
Four shops were originally opened in June 2009, namely:
1) Rokurinsha Tokyo (六厘舎TOKYO)
2) Hirugao　(塩専門ひるがお)
3) Ramen Mutsumiya　(らーめんむつみ屋)
4) Keisuke Kitanosho　(蟹専門けいすけ北の章)

The grand opening took place in April 2011, whereby another four shops opened:
5) Shichisai/Tokyo Edoama　(麺や七彩/Tokyo江戸甘)
6) Ikaruga (東京駅斑鳩)　
7) Honda (麺処ほん田)
8) Junk Garage (ジャンクガレッジ)

After looking through all the 8 shops, we decided on Ramen Honda as it has a shouyu ramen which L likes, as well as tsukemen which I wanted to try. 

Their menu is simple:

Asari (light) flavour of either shio (salt) or shoyu (soya sauce) ramen which the soup is made using chicken and fish broth. 

Kotteri (rich) flavour tsukemen (dry noodles) of miso or shoyu thick soup which is cooked in Pork and fish broth. 

For the heavy eaters, they also have a variety of rice with toppings side menu to go with your ramen. You can also order almond tofu for dessert (only limited to 20 per day)

As with all the other ramen shops, you have to purchase a ticket at the ticket vending machine outside the shop before entering. 

However, the disadvantage is that most of the vending machines do not have English on it, so it may be a challenge for those who can't read Japanese. 

Pass the ticket to the waitress after you are seated and your orders will be sent to the kitchen. This saves on waiting time to choose from the menu, as well as minimize staff having to handle money. 

L's order of shoyu ramen. Although it looks like a simple bowl of ramen, what is most important is the soup, as well as the noodles. Noodles for the shoyu ramen are made thinner so that customers can enjoy the soup as the noodle will not overpower the soup.

My order of miso tsukemen. As you can see, the noodles and the soup are separated and you have to dip the noodles into the soup.The soup is much thicker than your normal ramen soup noodle and not meant to be drank directly. Noodles are also made thicker so that they can be fully coated with the thick broth. 
I also like that it comes with a lemon as the sourness of the lemon balances out the taste of the thick broth. 

No matter what kind of ramen you like, there will sure be one ramen shop which is of your liking. However, do note that you may have to wait for approximately 30 minutes on average during meal times. 


Tokyo Ramen Street- Ramen Honda

Tokyo station B1F Yaesu South Exit (First Avenue Tokyo station B1F south street) 
Open daily: 11am - 10.30pm (hours may vary by shop)
(Rokurinsha & Shichisai open from 7.30am onwards)

www.tokyoeki-1bangai.co.jp/ramenstreet (Japanese only)

St Marc Cafe Chococro

Saint Marc Cafe opened it's first doors at 1998 at Tokyo Ginza and has gained popularity from it's signature product, Chococro - a short form for Chocolate Croissant. 

The secret in the croissant lies in 3 points:
Chocolate - using the best Ghana and Ecuador beans which has a slight bitter taste
Pastry - Butter and Margarine are mixed and the pastry has more than 20 layers
Kiln - the pastries are carefully baked in a Kiln at 230 degrees 

All pastries are displayed at the self service counter and you can just pick any up and pay at the cashier. 

I ordered the Fresh chou cream croissant set which includes a cup of coffee at JPY390 (SGD 6)

They also carry seasonal items, such as the white chococro - a white chocolate croissant symbolizing the white snow of Christmas. You can also get a box of white and chocolate croissant at JPY790 for 5. 

Besides the seasonal white choco croissant, some of the other seasonal croissant includes: banana, strawberry choco, match and milk tea. All sounds so delicious!

When in Japan, just look out for this orange circle logo for the nearest St Marc chococro cafe!

p.s. you can also get your fix of chococro at Vivocity Unit 01-108/10

http://www.saint-marc-hd.com/cafe (Japanese only)

Tsukiji Sushi Sen (築地すし鮮)

When in Tsukiji, how can one miss out trying out any of the sushi or kaisen don restaurants.

Not wanting to join the super long queues at the morning seafood restaurant street, we settled for sushi sen (すし鮮) which we were attracted by the lunch sets.

The prices are cheap! at only JPY1000 - JPY1500 for a lunch set, and it even includes miso soup and chawanmushi!

Besides the lunch sets, you can also order other sets or ala carte sushi from the menu.

We were given a counter seat, as the restaurant was filled with an American soccer group and the big sized players were ordering loads of extravagant food like lobsters and sashimi. 

A counter seat is also not bad! You get to see the sushi master at work, preparing all the sushi customers ordered.

We ordered the lunch nigiri set 1.5 portion. 11 pieces of nigiri sushi and 6 makis at only JPY1365 (approx SGD19)

I ordered sushi from the ala carte menu as I wanted to eat something different from the standard lunch sets. And even though I did not order a lunch set, I was also given complimentary miso soup and chawanmushi. As expected, this is what they call the Japanese hospitality. 

No regrets in dining at Sushi sen. You can get fresh and very affordable seafood, without having to queue for a long time. 


Besides 2 outlets at Tsukiji, they have a total of 15 restaurants all over Japan. 

Sushi Sen (築地すし鮮4丁目場外市場店) 








東京都中央区築地4-9-7
4-9-7 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Open 24 hours daily
Nearest station:
1) Oedo subway line, Tsukiji Shijo station exit 1 (5 minutes walk)
2) Hibiya subway line, Tsukiji station exit A1 (3 minutes walk)

www.sakanaya-group.com/01sushisen/00top (Japanese only)

Tsukiji Fish Market rules

Do you know that there are certain rules to follow before entering the Tsukiji fish market ? As mentioned, Tsukiji fish market is not a sightseeing spot, hence these rules are set out so as not to obstruct the workers in the market.

As many tourists enter the fish market via the outside market, they will miss out these important rules set out to them. You can only find these rules if you enter via the Tsukiji main gate (築地市場正門).

Trust the Japanese to do it in the form of cartoons. Enjoy!

Tsukiji Fish Market (Central Wholesale Market)

Nearest train station: 
1) Tsukiji-Shijo Station (Oedo Subway line Exit A1) 
2) Tsukiji Station (Hibiya subway line) 

Hakodate Donburi Yokocho (どんぶり横丁市場)

Hakodate being located at the Southwest of Hokkaido and facing the Tsugaru straits, it is never short of fresh seafood. 

The Donburi Yokocho is a restaurant arcade featuring 20 eateries, mostly selling kaisen don (海鮮丼) which is a rice bowl topped with fresh raw seafood.

One of the most unique kaisen don featured in Donburi Yokocho is the "Ika Odori don" (イカ踊り丼) or directly translating as Squid dancing bowl. 

A live whole squid is put directly on top of the rice bowl and served to you. As you pour the soya sauce over it, watch the squid move (or dance) due to the acidity of the ginger in the soya sauce. 

"Ichika tei"(一花亭) is one of the popular restaurant selling Ika Odori don. The squid practically danced out of the rice bowl!

Each eatery will display photos or food models of their various kaisen don for you to choose your favourite bowl of seafood to dine in. 

 
 
 
  
The prices are really affordable, with a luxurious bowl of kaisen don selling at an average of JPY1500 (SGD20).

We settled for restaurant "Maekawa" as I was attracted by their 5色丼, a seafood bowl consisting of 5 kinds of seafood - uni, ikura, salmon, hotate and ama ebi selling at a promotional price of JPY1500 (usual price JPY2100)

The eateries there are all small establishments, with just about 6 tables and some counter seats. As we went during lunch time, there wasn't much customers in the restaurant as most customers visit during breakfast time. 

My long awaited 5色丼! Look at the freshness and size of the seafood! You can never get this with that kind of price in Singapore.

L ordered 鉄砲汁定食 or what is "cannon soup" set in Japanese. You may be wondering why it is called cannon soup when in actual fact it is crab miso soup, but this is actually how the locals call it in Hokkaido, as when the crab legs pick up the chopsticks look like a stuffed cannon.

I couldn't resist ordering the seafood gratin as well (JPY500) consisting of prawns, squid, crab and scallop cooked in white sauce topped with cheese. Definitely worth ordering for fans of creamy and cheesy stuff. 

The Hakodate Donburi Yokocho is a must visit place for an early morning breakfast or lunch. Definitely value worth for your money for it's freshness and price and variety. Don't worry if you don't speak English. As many tourist visit this place, the restaurants always have a picture menu for you to point at.


Hakodate Donburi Yokocho Ichiba - Restaurant Maekawa

函館市若松町9-15
9-15 Wakamatsu-cho, Hakodate shi
Opening hours: 5:30am - 3pm (closed on Thursday)
Nearest station: 1 min walk from Hakodate JR Train station  
www.donburiyokocho.com (Japanese only)
www.maekawa.hakodate.jp (Japanese only)