What you can eat in Osaka, Japan - Floating Garden in Umeda Sky Building

We have just been to the Umeda Sky Building in Osaka which is 173m high and was completed in 1993. It is described as "a pair of skyscrapers connected in mid-air built in an unusual architectural form not often encountered anywhere in the world." It is earthquake-proof with disaster protection.

The two 40-story skyscrapers are connected at their top floors with a huge atrium that extends about 150 meters and Sky Walk at the very top where visitors can feel the fresh air and enjoy 360-degree panoramic views of Osaka city. The idea of the building is that it is covered with the half-mirror glass that reflects the sky so that it seems to become 'one with the firmament' (according to their website information and not my own word obviously!), giving the appearance as if the garden is alone and floating there in the blue sky.

Architectural model of the building and its surrounding area

Looking up to the floating garden

You use this escalator to get to the floating garden and to the Sky Walk.

There is a small snack bar in the observation deck. We bought an ice cream corn, hot dogs and ice coffee float and consumed these whilst looking out the city of Osaka.

 The views from the top are interesting.

And it was rather apt to have an ice coffee float up in the floating garden and chill.  You also get a free wifi and catch up with your friends whilst having some snack up there.

Floating coffee float....

That's all forks!

What you can eat in Kyoto - Miso dango (miso flavoured Japanese dumpling) in Gion

We are in Japan right now. Ever since we arrived here, we are constantly eating. Japanese people are foodies - people cue for hours to eat, there are lots of restaurants and varieties of foods to choose from, everything looks delectable.

We went to Kyoto today as Emily and Maria did Maiko experience (dressing up as maiko, an apprentice Geiko, a traditional Japanese entertainer), wearing kimono with white make-up on face and wigs, etc) in Gion, Kyoto. 

After this experience, we walked around Gion area and had miso dango (miso flavoured dango), which is a Japanese dumpling made from mochi (gooey rice flour cake), on a skewer at Tanbaya on Shijo Minamiza-mae (240 Gionmachi Kitagawa, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto).

A Japanese lady is busily making miso dango on skewers. It's 130 yen per stick. People are cueing up to eat this on street. 

Two big dangos covered with tasty miso flavoured sauce ... mmmmm, really delectable!

My sister, Mariko had Amayaki (see green one below), which is yomogi-mochi or kusa kochi (literally means 'grass kochi') made from kochi (rice cake) and leaves of Japanese mugwort, filled with red bean paste. She said it was tasty but a little bit hard so she would eat miso dango next time.

Sweet red bean paste inside

Tanbaya also has shops in Osaka but it's rather nice to eat this in Kyoto, walking towards Yasaka-shirine, which is at the end of the same street, although we did the opposite and ate this on the way to catch a train to go back to Osaka.  Dango on the go!

That's all forks!

A bit of taste of Scotland at One Ten Bar and Grill @ Marks Hotel in Glasgow

Why your cat always insists sitting on your lap when you try to use laptop?  One book I read says cats are trying to get your attention by doing that.  I am now holding her with one hand whilst typing this with the other hand, otherwise she would completely perch herself on the keyboard.  She is purring really loud so she must be happy and is feeling content.  Wow, she is getting heavy already and I am only into few sentences yet!  Well, if you see any spelling mistakes in this blog, it's because of her (or the glass of prosecco I am drinking....hahaha).

Anyway, my husband and I have just come back from a dinner at One Ten Bar and Grill at Marks Hotel in Glasgow (http://www.markshotels.com/glasgow-restaurants/one-ten-bar-and-grill.html). It was another one of those Groupon deals, £19.10 for Catch of the Day with sides for two and a glass of Prosecco each.

We pass by this restaurant when we go to Sarti's on Wellington Street (which is located almost across the road but diagonally) but never actually tried this place, so I thought we shall try using Groupon deal to see what they are like. Well, we had a very lovely evening. We thought the food was very good and service was friendly and attentive.

I made a booking on-line but when we arrived they did not have our booking, but it was not a problem at all. The restaurant manager lead us to a nice oyster shell shape seat with big round table. The catch of the day was salmon with sautéed potatoes and brocolli and we chose creamed spinach and mixed vegetables for sides. We also added starter and both chose grilled asparagus with poached eggs.  Two glasses of Prosecco arrived right away.

Unfortunately I was a designated driver tonight so I only had a wee sip and gave the rest to my husband. (That's why I am having a bubbly just now at home, doing this blog.....)

Back to the starter.  We were hoping that egg york would ooze out when we put a knife into the poached eggs and it did! Well done, chef.

As we were finishing the starter, a big group just arrived for company Christmas dinner and occupied the most of the empty tables in the middle. They were really merrily, having moved from the bar area in the front to the restaurant and clearly having a good time already.  Suddenly the restaurant got a bit noisier but that's ok, it's Christmas. And next thing, our main course had just arrived. Good timing.

Salmon was well seasoned and grilled perfectly. It was really tasty.

Well, by the time we finished our main course, we were debating if we should have dessert or not.
I have seen this item on the menu that has been really intriguing me ... the menu says 'Wee Taste of Scotland: Deep Fried Mars Bar with Toffee Sauce and Raspberry Sorbet'. I find Mars Bars are too sweet to eat but if you are in Scotland, you got to try Deep Fried Mars Bar, which was allegedly originated in a fish chippy in Scotland in mid 1990s, so we ordered one to share and see how this goes. (Apparently the big confectioner Mars never endorsed this...)

Well, it was kinda interesting.... it was not as bad as it sounds and looks but certainly sweet, even with an attempt of presentation effect with a mint leaf. Raspberry sorbet was really nice though.  Let's just not think about calories ... it's sheer heart attack but you got a try this if you are in Scotland.

Deep Fried Mars Bar with Toffee Sauce and Raspberry Sorbet

A couple of waiting staff asked us how it was as they were passing by our table. 'Interesting experience' we replied.  I know Anthony Bourdain tried this when he came to Glasgow although he did go to a real chippy for that. This one is not as authentic as what he had however here is our wee taste of Scotland!

We then finished off our meal with coffee that came with home made, I think, short bread which was nice too.

They gave us discount for starters and dessert, which was added bonus as we did not expect that so including Groupon deal, it came to around £35 for two which was not bad at all.

The menu looks nice so we may go back again for lunch sometime as I know they do some lunch set menu.

We came home with happy stomach, feeling contented. If we were cats, we would be purring by now, just like our cat is doing just now.  She would have loved that salmon too as she loves fish and seafood...

Incidentally our cat loves Sheba's cat food, which is actually owned by Mars, Inc that makes Mars Bar!  Interesting.

That's all forks!

Pan fried garlic prawns

Emily has just been to a newly opened tapas place in Glasgow the other night and mentioned about the king prawn dish she had. I have then remembered about the king prawn dish I made this summer which turned out very well.

Many many years ago, my husband and I went to Paris. We went to Basilica of Scre-Coeur (the big white church) sitting on the crest of the hill in Montmartre, Paris  to 'command the fine view' of the city of Paris.  (Well, this is an expression you learn from a text book in Japan during English class, ha ha ha...).

To be honest I remembered more about having been hassled by street vendors trying to sell us sunglasses, fake designer watches and bags than commanding fine view of Paris. Anyhow, we then strode through Place du Tertre as many tourists do and I got a portrait of mine sketched by by an art ist there.

My apology, you are wondering where I am going with this... I have totally forgotten about this sketch till this June when my husband took that sketch to a picture frame shop in Milngavie and that's where we found this fishmonger named Fantoosh Fish (3 Station Road, Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, G62 8PG). It's a great fishmonger - they have everything. They also had lots of langoustines, really beautiful fillets of tuna etc.

We did not plan to buy any fish or seafood that day. We only went to Milngavie to pick up a picture that had just been framed, but having looked at what the fishmonger had in their shop,  I could not resist not to buy anything. So we bought 10 juicy looking large prawns which costed just under £10 without thinking that much far ahead as to how I was going to cook these....

So, I just decided to simply pan fry them and that's what I did.

Here is my fail-proof easy recipe for lazy cook.

You need:

25 g butter
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 red chlli
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
10 large prawns (such as tiger prawns)
Olive oil
1 juic lemon
chopped parsley

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and the butter over a medium heat until the butter is foaming. Add the garlic, paprika and chilli to stair through and cook. Add the prawns to cook until they start turning nicely pink and turn them over to cook evenly. Once prawns are ready, which did not take that long, squeeze lemon juice and toss in the parsley, and it's ready!

We had these with some courgettes that came from my mother-in-law Mary's best friend's garden.

I simply chopped them randomly into bite size chunks, quickly pan fried them with olive oil, rock salt and chilli flakes.

We enjoyed these with a lovely and nicely chilled bottle of Gavi, and of course, I also enjoyed sucking those prawns' heads!!

This could be a very nice tapas dish that you can simply cook at home. Next time when you go to a good fishmonger, buy some large prawns and do try this at home.

That's all forks.

Afternoon Tea at Browns, Glasgow

It was my elder daughter Emily's birthday last weekend. Time flies so fast that already one week has gone! No wonder why I am getting old and feeling older quickly.  Anyway, Happy Birthday again, Emily.

Our sort of ritual for birthday treat is that we go to Jo Malone for hand massage (with a fragrance used during the massage for a present) and then go for lunch. So, after the massage, we, Emily, Marian and myself met up with my husband at Browns (http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/locations/glasgow/) for a relaxing afternoon tea for four.

Browns has afternoon tea menu (http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/media/ugc/menus/2014/10/08/Browns_DN_Afternoon_Tea.pdf) for £16 for two people that consists of finger sandwiches, fruit scones and mini desserts with pots of tea. Sounds great and it was really great!

As it was Emily's birthday, I asked Lucy, who looked after our table if they could make up some nice cocktail for a birthday girl.  10 minutes later, she brought this lovely cranberry cocktail with some mint. I tried a little and it was very delicious and refreshing.

We chatted away for a while and finally our Afternoon Tea has arrived!

We started off with finger sandwiches which are smoked salmon & creme fraiche, egg & watercress and cucumber & cream cheese.  Breads were really nice and soft, fillings were really delicious.

We then moved onto scones. They were big, round scones which were lovely and warm that came with crotted cream and strawberry jam. 

We then moved to mini desserts which are rich chocolate mouse, Victoria sponge cakes and meringue with blue berry and cream.  Chocolate mouse was really lovely but also really really rich. I liked the Victoria sponge cake which was really delicious and moist. 

You would think there were not much portion to begin with but as always, once we got to the last tier of cakes, we were feeling too full to finish all.  I had both an audacity and cheekiness to ask for 'cake-away' which Lucy was happy to accommodate for us.

As I have said before in my previous blog, Afternoon Tea always tastes much better taken where it is served. Once you 'cake-away' to eat left-over at home, you can never re-create the same ambience and excitement of eating the delicious cream cakes and desserts and they never taste the same neither. 

I think my tactics next time would be to go straight to the cakes to start off and work the way backwards, i.e. eating the savoury sandwiches the last.  See if this works so that we can eat everything on cake stand, ha ha ha.  

We all however enjoyed our afternoon tea very much at Browns. I think it is reasonably priced (basically it is £8 per person!) with good quality sandwiches, scones and cakes, served with great customer service and we felt we were well looked after.  I hope Emily had a lovely birthday. I certainly had a relaxing day at both Jo Malone and Browns on her birthday!

Well, that's all forks!

Wallace Well Farm - Robroyston, Glasgow

Last Saturday, we went to Wallace Well Farm (http://www.farmhouseinns.co.uk/pubs/wallace-well-farm) for lunch.  This must be a fairly new restaurant. We did not know this place exists until Emily told us.  She was raving about their cakes. I was checking their menu already and salivating with a thought of their yummy cakes before we even left the house whilst everyone else was wondering where it is or how to get there. It turned out that it is really near ASDA in Robroyston.

We thought that this place would be another one of those brewers' chain restaurants that serves microwave meals without any soul or characters, so to be honest we did not have much high expectations. But the menu seems to have good selections and varieties.  It does look promising....

When we got there, it was not much busy and there were plenty of tables available.  You just take your seats wherever you wish, decide what you want to eat and drink and go up to the counter to order and pay. If you buy drinks, you carry them with you back to your table yourself.  ... sounds familiar...

My husband and I ordered Beer-Batterd Cod with chips and peas.  We were both impressed with the quality of the fish, how both the fish and chips were fried to perfection.  The portion size was perfect too.  You could also order Large Beer-Battered Cod if you wish. We ordered standard size and that was enough for us.



Maria ordered Chicken and Chorizo Pasta which was Rigatoni pasta and strips of chicken in a pesto cream sauce with chorizo and sun-drenched cherry tomatoes, served with garlic ciabatta and topped with Italian-style cheese shavings and fresh rocker. Phew! Mouthful.
She said it was tasty and I think she enjoyed it.

The main event was however my mother-in-law Mary's plate of Carvery. She opted for small plate which is only £4.95.  When she went up to the Carvery section, they had big roasted chicken, ham and beef selections, and beyond that were 'vast' selections of accompanying vegetables that you could pick, choose and pile them up high!  Everything looked really freshly made and delicious.  I don't eat meat but they all looked really appetising!

The chef at the Carvery station carved up some slices of chicken and ham for Mary. She then proceeded to add big and yummy looking Yorkshire pudding, some roasted potatoes, boiled potato, mashed potato, green beans, cauliflower cheese with gravy over it.  It looked really delicious. Mary particularly loved the ham.



Before we left, we said we would have some cakes. That was the reason why we avoided the starters. After having these, we were already too full and could not eat any more desserts. Pity, as the menu looked really good...

We just need to go back there again to try cakes.  Maria definitely wants to try the Carvery next time and Mary wants to go back with her friend Margaret.  Since we did not manage to eat desserts, I got at least photographs...

These are their special home made cakes which you can also 'Cake-Away' to enjoy at home.

They also have varieties of flavours for ice cream..... this reminds me of gelateria in Italy. What's that blue one ..... it is bubblegum flavour ice cream! Honeycomb looks good but my favourite would be rum and raisins! Mmmmmmm.

Emily sent me some pictures of cakes she had when she went to Wallace Well Farm with Craig's mum and dad.

This one is Malteser cake... which was almost the size of a whole plate!

This one is sundae. Emily said it was really yummy.

This one is chocolate volcano which is ice cream and meringue topped with cream.

Wow ... sheer heart attack but we must try their dessert one day but not in too distant future!

That's all forks!

Maria's Tuna & Pasta Bake - Slimming World Recipe

I was working late this evening and on my way home I got stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway.  To be honest, by that point I could not be bothered cooking but I had to think of something for dinner.... yes, something that my daughter Maria can eat too as she is doing Slimming World diet right now.

When I arrived home, our cat Yuki came out from the kitchen, meowing as if to say 'Hello, where have you been?  We are all starving here!"  I could also smell toast. Poor, Maria, she must have made herself beans and toast for dinner as she could not wait any longer.

I walked into the kitchen to say hello to Maria, only to discover that she was in the middle of cooking dinner for us this evening!  YES, can't wait!

She went to Slimming World website and found this recipe - Tuna & Pasta Bake. Main ingredients are can of tuna, spring onion, can of chopped tomatoes, capers and breadcrumbs.  Ah, breadcrumbs - she was toasting bread for this recipe, not for beans and toast!

After half an hour of so, Voila! The dinner is ready.

Well, this is one of Slimming World recipe and only 1 syn point!

I must say it was really yummy. We enjoyed ourselves so much we had second helpings too. I particularly liked capers and chopped spring onions, and contrast of baked pasta against toasted breadcrumbs. Really yummy, and she said it was really simple to cook - for this recipe please go to http://www.slimmingworld.com/recipes/tuna-and-pasta-bake.aspx.

The recipe tells you to use 700g of pasta - it is actually 700g of 'cooked' pasta, not dry pasta otherwise you would end up with lots of extra pasta that you would need to use up for something else later. 

Anyway, this is only 1 syn, so of course I had this with a glass of wine to increase my enjoyment .... clealy I have missed the point of having almost syn free food, ha ha ha.  

And you know what, it is now less than 6 months to go before my daughter Emily's wedding in May next year!  I should actually start thinking about losing a weight a little bit.  I hope Maria would cook more dinner using other recipes from Slimming World as when I cook, I can do without olive oil, wine, etc and it would not be syn free....  Anyway, the only consolation I have is that I am yet to buy myself a MOB (mother of the bride) dress for the big day which means that I just look for a dress that would fit me, not the other way around that I have to squeeze myself into it!

Yeah, let's just chill and live a life, enjoy your food, and I am sure I can find a dress that would fit me...

That's all forks!