Photo - Tommy Indian Food

Lunch at a very nice, local Indian restaurant, Tommy. The pictured sets are only 800 yen each, which includes a desert and drink (not pictured) and free extra nan bread.

http://tabelog.com/kanagawa/A1409/A140901/14047727/

Photo - Yakult Soful Yogurt

This is Yakult's probiotic yogurt brand. ソフール ヤクルト

Photo - Meiji Love Brand Milk with Disney Characters

Love is Meiji's fortified milk brand. It is one of several Meiji products that currently have Disney characters on the package.

Haagen Dazs Pumpkin

Pumpkin is a popular flavor in Japan and is not used nearly enough in the West, in my opinion. This special fall pumpkin flavored variety from Haagen Dazs uses Ebisu pumpkins from Hokkaido.

http://www.haagen-dazs.co.jp/products/minicup/pumpkin.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Setchubai Sake from Niigata

This is another sake I enjoyed at the tasting last week. I am not really an expert, but all the sakes were very smooth and nice. Nothing cheaper house sakes. 雪中梅 酒

McDonald's Magnet Giveaway

In addition to selling full sets of magnets, McDonald's is giving away one magnet each with each large set. I got one of the magnets recently and have to say it is worth having. It is much larger than I had thought it would be and works well on the fridge. Usually, I have little use for small plastic giveaway stuff at fast food restaurants.

http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/campaign/foodmagnet/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

30 Years of Natori Cheese Tara

Natori is celebrating 30 years of their Cheese Tara チーズ鱈 product. These cheese strips are contain fish (cod) for extra flavor. The site explains a history where the company was trying to get the right balance of Eastern and Western taste. They had tried squid and cheese because squid had been considered the perfect finger food, but then came upon the idea of adding cod instead. The result was a hit and the cod-cheese combination is now celebrating 30 years.

http://www.natori.co.jp/30th-cp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Haagen Dazs Murasaki Imo

This looks very good, but I would assume it might not do as well outside Japan. Japanese purple sweet potatoes are very popular and are a treat for young and old. This product does not indicate where the potatoes are from, but one of the most well known sweet potato regions is Kagoshima and southern Kyushu. This product is a fall limited edition.

http://www.haagen-dazs.co.jp/products/minicup/murasakiimo.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Natori Bite Size Beef Cubes

Last week a reader was nice enough to contact me as she and her family were visiting Japan. We had some exchanges about foods that she found interesting. One of the foods she liked was in the same series as this product. She said the texture and flavor were excellent. The version pictured is Japanese steak sauce flavored. Looks good.

http://www.natori.co.jp/product/product_item.html?p_id=751800

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Photo - Sake Tasting Shirakawago

Shirakawago 白川郷 is a famous nitori にごり type sake from Gifu. The unfiltered rice ads flavor and this sake is pretty strong.

http://www.miwashuzo.co.jp/