lunch @ Yojiya Cafe

April 10, 2015 by msfancypantstokyo

My mama and I were out shopping in Hikarie (ヒカリエShinQs) in Shibuya (渋谷), and were in the basement looking at cosmetics when we stumbled upon Yojiya Cafe (よーじやカフェ). I recognized it from the mascot of the ladies face. Yojiya is most famous for its oil blotting papers or aburatorigami in Japanese. It have bought and used these papers many times. And it uses the same ladies face.

My mama loves matcha/green tea so we decided to take a break and have a light lunch. We ordered wa-fu or Japanese style pepperocino pasta. It was oil based with Kyoto style Japanese pickles and mizuna. It was light and good.

Then we moved onto dessert. I had two colored warabi mochi, which came with ousu or uji matcha. Warabi mochi is a soft jelly like kochi that is usually covered in kinako powder. The warabi mochi was served with vanilla ice cream and came in two flavors, kinako or powdered dried soy beans and matcha.
You can also choose the syrup that you want to drizzle over the warabi mochi. Usually people use kuromitsu (黒蜜) or black honey, but since matcha is rare I decided to order it with the matcha syrup.

My mama order the matcha chiffon cake with red azuki beans.

We just stopped here for a quick lunch and we ended up having delicious green tea treats. I was happy we tried this place. Next time I will be sure to get their famous macha latte.

xxxo,
ms fancy pants tokyo & matcha latte

Yojiya Cafe (よーじやカフェ渋谷ヒカリエShinQs店)
2-21-1 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku Tokyo
Shibuya Hikarie ShinQs B1F
Mon-Sun 11:00-21:00
03-6434-1761
http://www.yojiya.co.jp

birthday lunch @ Patina Stella

March 14, 2015 by msfancypantstokyo

So it’s been about three weeks since Baby Sakuma was born, and it’s already my birthday now! Wow how time flies. My friend RiRi decided she wanted to take out to a beautiful birthday lunch. She knows how much I love Patina Stella and she had never been there before so she booked a table, and off we went!

I never get tired of eating here because the menu changes weekly. This week they were having an Alaskan Seafood Fair. As I love seafood I was so excited! We started with champagne toast. This was the first time I had champagne in about 10 months! Was so excited to drink, until I realized that I can’t hold alcohol anymore, and my face immediately turned red–so sorry no pics! hahaha.

To begin our course, this small chilled soup in a shot glass.

I ordered the Salad of Smoke Salmon and Salmon Roe Fregola. This was also the first time I had salmon since I was pregnant. It was so delicious and matched the fregola salad. This was the first time I had fregola and it reminded me of a larger version of couscous.

Then I ordered the King Crab and Squid Ink Tagliolini. This was fantastic. I have had this before with squid instead of crab. But every thing tastes better with crab–let’s just say I love crab! And I love thicker noodles so tagliolini is always a fav of mine. This was oh-so-good!

And for our main dish, we had meat of course (you have a choice of meat or fish)! RiRi likes to call us niku girls! Niku means meat in Japanese. hahaha.

Maria surprised me with a birthday cake too!

After making a wish and blowing out the candles they cut the cake in half and served it with some sorbet. Although we were full we both devoured it! It was so yummy. The cake was moist yet airy and the whip cream was light and not overly sweet.

Then we ended are lovely lunch with hot cups of lemon verbena tea with a small chocolate truffle and candied fruit jelly.

This was such a nice relaxing birthday lunch with one of my good friends. I needed a small break from the baby to enjoy great food and great company. Where do you like to go to celebrate your birthday?

xxxo,
ms fancy pants tokyo & RiRi & my birthday cake
(dress: M Missoni, cardigan: Prada)

PATINASTELLA
11-15 Kamiyamacho, Kamiyama Forest Bldg 1F
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 〒150-0047
Lunch Mon- Sat 11:30 am – 2:30 pm,
Dinner Mon- Sat 5:30 – 10:00 pm
03-5738-7031
http://patinastella.com

lunch @ Cicada

March 9, 2015 by msfancypantstokyo

My parents and I love Cicada, and they always request to go here when they come to visit Tokyo. Since Baby Sakuma is still only 2 weeks old, my mama and I decided to have a mother-daughter lunch date, while my dad watches the baby. I was so excited to have mother-daughter time.

Every time I dine here, I always think to order something different yet I always end up ordering the same thing–go fig! All the courses are served with tropical ice tea and with freshly baked bread from Breadworks.

Here is my favorite appetizer: Morrocan Crab Cakes! These really are so delish. They are spicy and the sauce is tangy, which is the perfect combination. I would recommend these to anyone. You won’t be disappointed.

My mama loves the Greek Horiatiki Salad with Feta and Kalamata Olives. It’s really big, so I snagged a few bites. I love the feta cheese. I ate some of it with their freshly baked bread.

Next came our main dishes. My regular: Pan-Roasted Scallops with Faro and Maitake Risotto. Anyone who knows me, know I love scallops! This dish is fabulous, it combines all the things I love:mushrooms, scallops and cheese.

I know my mom always goes for the healthy choice with Grilled Snapper with Rosemary and Olives. Although its healthy its still very VERY tasty and packed full of flavor.

We end our course with dessert! We both agreed on the same dish- the Super Rich Warm Valrhona 70% Cacao Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Gelato. 70% cacao means healthy right? hahaha. This was warm and rich. Another words it was happiness on a plate!

After devouring our desserts, we end the meal with Moroccan Mint Tea and a Cafe Latte. You may get free refills on any of the drinks, and you can even with them too. It’s a nice service! I love the mint tea, it makes we warm and relaxed.

I love spending quality time with my mama and I can’t wait till Baby Sakuma and I can have mother daughter time too. Better yet, all three generations spending time together! Bonding over excellent food–does it get any better?

FYI **To bring babies/kids to Cicada you have to book a private room–3000 yen for weekday lunch, 5,000 yen for weekend lunch, and 10,000 for dinner. I understand that parties with kids/babies need to use a private room in consideration to other guests however charging them extra to use the room is a little ridiculous, in my opinion.** (I’m still learning all the ins and outs of having a baby in Tokyo. Sometimes it seems you are penalized for having a child. No wonder the birth rate is so low)

xxxo,
ms fancy pants tokyo & my mama

Cicada (シカダ)
5-7-28 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Mon-Sun, Holiday Lunch 11:30~15:00, Dinner 17:30~23:00
03-6434-1255
http://www.tyharborbrewing.co.jp/en/cicada/

shower baby sakuma with love

February 8, 2015 by msfancypantstokyo

So the count down till Baby Sakuma arrives has begun. About one month to go. Mr T–my super generous nice bff decided to host my Tokyo baby shower at his lovely home. In Japan it’s a rare occasion to have a house party as Japanese homes are relatively small and people are embarrassed to have guests over. So I feel lucky Mr T has opened up his home to celebrate me and Baby Sakuma.

I’m not one for strict traditions, so I decided I wanted to invite guys to my baby shower too. And of course Boo-chan would be there too. Mr T is a fabulous cook and made all the desserts himself. Just check out this spread: chewy rice crispy treats, a beautiful cake, rich chocolate cake pops, and sweet strawberry popcorn!

He also made crispy chocolate chip cookies and served them with shots of milk. Such a clever idea! And I had no idea that his cake had three layers! It was so moist and scrumptious and followed the color theme of pink-strawberry cheesecake, black-chocolate and white-vanilla mouse. So cute and thoughtful.

Since Mr T slaved away making all the awesome desserts, we decided to order these gourmet Burgers from Brozers (ブラザーズ人形町店). They came in cute little individual box lunches with french fries and onion rings. I was a bit skeptical at first, but after taking one bite into this mouthwatering juicy hamburger, I was sold!

Everyone enjoying their yummy burgers! The above picture doesn’t show how truly big they are, but you can see in the pics below!

My friend K-taro also brought so many cakes from the Gourmet Shop at Mandarin Oriental Hotel. They were all delicious–yes I ate one of each! Well I should rephrase that–Baby Sakuma and I had one of each. hahahaha

All my guests wrote heartfelt or funny messages and put it into a book for me. And who can forget all the gifts I received! I have the NICEST friends ever. Baby Sakuma will surely be one stylish little girl!

We also created a little Photo Booth to take many pictures.

I’m one lucky girl to be surrounded by so many loving supportive friends! Baby Sakuma, Boo-chan and I appreciate each and everyone one of you: near and far, absent or present, we felt all the love today!! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Today was truly a special and memorable day!!

xxxo,
ms fancy pants tokyo & the best host ever!!
(dress: Z Spoke by Zac Posen, cardigan: Prada, necklace: J Crew)

maternity pictures @ Happy Birth Photo Studio

January 26, 2015 by msfancypantstokyo

I first thought I didn’t need or want to take any maternity pictures. But after seeing my friend’s pictures, I decided I wanted to take them too. It was hard to find a studio that I liked as I already had an image of what I wanted. Luckily, I found Happy Birth Photo Studio (ハッピーバースフォトスタジオ表参道店) in Omotesando.

I made an appointment and we were set to go! Before going, I looked through my wardrobe to see if there was any clothes or things I wanted to use. The studio provided many things tops, skirts, and hair accessories. I also decided that I wanted Boo-chan is some of the pictures too, and he happily agreed.

The studio was easy to find. We met with the coordinator and the photographer who were both ladies and had a short meeting on what I wanted to do. They were very nice and also gave us many ideas. It was easy to get my ideas across and things went very smoothly.

Enough talking!!! Here is a glimpse of some of the shots that were taken. Unfortunately, none of the shots are photoshopped. So you can see the real “me”—hahaha but hey I’m preggers!! These were all taken at 33weeks 6days pregnant.

Pregnancy is filled with cravings, hormones, expanding waistlines, and emotions. Sometimes I forget to step back and appreciate the beauty of it all, but these pictures sure help to remind me!

xxxo,
ms fancy pants tokyo & boo-chan & the bump