Ebisu, Omakase, Ginza, Books, and Sushi!
We decided to explore Ebisu, and the greater Ginza area. As always, our day began by climbing these secret stairs behind the Airbnb which led us back to the main street that connected with Ebisu station.
I remember first exiting the station for the Airbnb and thinking "we made a mistake" in picking our location. As the trip went on, Julie and I both grew to love the area more and more.
We decided we needed a caffeine kick before we began exploring Ginza, so we found a nearby coffee spot called JOE TALK COFFEE. I got to try out my new Fujifilm X-E5 for some insta-worthy food pics for the first time!
Satisfied with our caffeine levels, we decided our sugars were a bit low as we spotted a malasada spot. Now, being from Hawaii, I love me some Leonard's - if you're ever in Honolulu, give them a try. Our favorite matcha spot is The Matcha Tokyo, so when we spotted The Malasada Tokyo, we had to give it a try.
Verdict? Good, but not Leonards.
Not satisfied, we spotted a viral instagram spot called i'm doughnut? - The line wasn't too long, so we grabbed our spot and Julie picked out a few winners*.
*Doughnut not pictured as it was eaten too quickly.
The Omurice
Julie had been craving omurice the entire trip, so we found a spot on tabelog called キッチンパンチ (Kitchen Pan Chi / Kitchen Punch). Very very good.
Just like that, we were officially in Ginza!
Julie's parents wanted to get her a wedding gift before the wedding, so we stopped by Tiffany's to get a bracelet to match her engagement ring. We also saw some very expensive cars roaming the area.
Next up was Ginza 6, the fanciest indoor mall I'd ever seen. Julie had seen a bookstore called Tsutaya Books, billed as "The World’s Best Art Bookstore" that was located inside on the sixth floor. It lived up to its name.
Such cool art, gifts, and (of course) books.
Then it was finally time for dinner at Sushi Rizaki Nishiazabu. We'd booked months in advance, but were the only ones that had reserved their 6pm time slot. We luckily got the entire service to ourselves!
The restaurant itself had a great vibe.
Our chef spoke more English than I spoke Japanese, so we chatted a bit in English. Turned out he'd grown up in the same remote neighborhood that my friend from Japan did!
...and then the food started coming, and didn't stop coming. Omakase was an experience.
Ok. This next dish deserves a callout. Blowfish milt. I'd never heard of it, but knew it was probably something...fishy. Turns out I was partly correct. Similar to the reviewer at the linked article - would I order it again? Probably not. Am I glad I got to try it once? Absolutely.
Then it was back to the regularly scheduled programming.
A beautifully cooked tamago "bread" was the final dessert dish, and a perfect end to the meal.
Thank you Chef!
Julie's friend Allison had just flown in that day, so we headed back to Ebisu to meet up with her and her daughter for ice cream.
Spotted this cute bunny chair on the walk!
With our Studio Ghibli Museum visit scheduled for the next day, we headed home and unwound with a catchup of "Spirited Away".
