36 Sticks has been having a lot of 100 yen promotions lately. For the past week, it was the chocolate cake stick. This time the item of the day was the strawberry cheesecake stick, which I snatched up quickly. (When I returned two hours later, all the cakes were gone.)



It was a layer of strawberry mousse on top of cheesecake. The mousse part had strawberry bits in it, but I don't remember if they actually tasted like anything. It was nice and cold though.

Name: Strawberry Cheesecake
Store: 36 Sticks
Location: Senrioka
Rating: 3/5

tags: sweets

Just so you know, I haven't been boycotting sweets. But it's getting expensive so I've been switching to convenience store and supermarket brand sweets. They're not the same -- taste more manufactured and not fresh, but at least they satisfy my sweet tooth (most of the time). Anyways I went hunting for new sweets at 36 Sticks today.



This strawberry mont blanc stick wasn't exactly what I'd expected but it was still good. The strawberry mont blanc on the top was kinda sour, like strawberry yogurt. I could barely taste the dried strawberry bits. The cheesecake was the same old.

Name: Strawberry Mont Blanc
Store: 36 Sticks
Location: Senrioka
Rating: 2/5

tags: sweets

Okay, so this isn't dessert, but I love curry so here's some recent curry I had:



I made this huge pot of curry yesterday, and I ate it all for lunch. It's more like a curry oden mix, since I added some shrimp cakes and kinchaku (mochi stuffed in fried toku skins). The rest was just carrots and onion. And I added the super spicy habanero flakes that I got at Ippatsuya (the spicy ramen shop in Takatsuki).

D. and I went to an Indian curry restaurant in Kakogawa for lunch today. We got the lunch set, which was only 650 yen and came with salad, nan, and the curry of the day (which was chicken, onion, and peas today). They also had different levels of spiciness, so naturally, I got the highest level (5) -- except it wasn't really spicy at all. Needless to say, I surprised the heck out of the chef, the owner, and the Japanese waittress. The owner said they'll make it spicier for me next time, but who knows if I'll go back there.



But for 650 yen, it was a steal. The same thing would cost you 1500 yen in Umeda (for dinner, at least). And the nan was huge.

tags: food

Went out with D. for dinner tonight. First we went to McDonald's, where I got a shrimp burger (since the McChicken burger wasn't on sale yet -- we missed it by a day) and she got a sundae, and then we went to Mos Burger, where I got dessert and she got a double cheeseburger. They had a few different flavors (like tiramisu and fruit), but I got the rare cheese one.



Damn it was tiny! It was like the size of a ladyfinger. Totally false advertising right there. The bar itself was really good though -- frozen cheesecake on top and a thin layer of chiffon cake on the bottom (D. loved the chiffon cake). There were some chopped up pistachio and dried strawberry (or some kind of berry) bits on top, which you could hardly taste because they were so tiny. I expected more for something that costs 190 yen a stick.

Name: Rare Cheese Ice Bar
Store: Mos Burger
Location: Kakogawa
Rating: 1/5

tags: sweets

Went back to beOFF tonight. The food was SOOO much better today -- they had a make-your-own-bibimbap corner, and some really good Chinese food. Plus I got the doria tonight, which was way better than the omurice I got last time. And of course I went back for seconds. The dessert selection was also pretty good. Here's what I got:



A large scoop (well, large by Japanese standards) of cheesecake ice cream, a semi scoop of black tea ice cream, a semi scoop of banana ice cream, 6 tiny squares of pumpkin cheesecake tart, some egg pudding, and a biscuit (I got more some biscuits later). I didn't like the black tea and the banana ice cream, so I just left it (and then it melted). The pumpkin cheesecake tart was SOOO good -- I could've eaten more but they ran out. I've kinda gotten sick of the egg pudding, so I won't get it next time.

Name: Nan demo parfait v2
Store: beOFF
Location: Hep5 in Umeda
Rating: 3/5

tags: sweets

So D. and I hit up 3 restaurants for "dinner" tonight -- we went to a spicy ramen shop, followed by a cafe for dessert, followed by CocoIchi where I got the level 10 keema curry.  Here's dessert:



I got the purple sweet potato cream cheese parfait (left) and he got the strawberry coconut parfait (right).  This place was basically a huge sweets cafe, comparable to Cafe Comme Ca in Yodobashi Camera.  They had like 50 different kinds of parfaits, all of which looked amazing.  It took them 30 minutes for them to serve the parfaits, so we knew it HAD to be good. 

My parfait had purple sweet potato ice cream on the bottom, cream cheese ice cream in the middle, purple sweet potato ice cream again on the top, and garnished with whipped cream, a biscuit, and a cherry on top.  The ice cream was cold and melt-in-your-mouth fabulous.  The biscuit was thin and crispy and complemented the ice cream -- I ate it first so it wouldn't get soggy.  I gave the cherry to D.

D.'s parfait had strawberry gelato (more sorbet than ice cream), coconut ice cream, tapioca, and corn flakes on the bottom.  There was also some whipped cream, a cinnamon wafer, and a cherry on top.  The wafer was kinda bland and the tapioca was all frozen and stuck together, so he chucked it.  All in all, not my favorite parfait.

Name: Purple Sweet Potato Cream Cheese Parfait
Store: ?
Location: Takatsuki
Rating: 5/5

Name: Strawberry Coconut Parfait
Store: ?
Location: Takatsuki
Rating; 3/5

tags: sweets

So we went out to an all-you-can-eat place tonight, and here's my dessert concoction:



There's almond jelly and custard pudding on the bottom, a mini-scoop of sweet potato ice cream, a mini-scoop of cheesecake ice cream, and a biscuit on top.  It was all right, but I wouldn't go back there for the dessert alone.

Name: nandemo parfait (I made this one up)
Store: beOFF
Location: Hep 5, Umeda
Rating: 3/5

tags: sweets

Got a case of the munchies at karaoke today, so here's what I got:



There was only a tiny dollop of whipped cream on top -- the rest was all ice cream.  And it wasn't that cheap soft-serve crap either.  There were two sticks of French toast, which were yummy (but got a little soggy from the ice cream). 

Name: Maple French Toast Parfait (forgot the actual name)
Store: Jankara
Location: Umeda
Rating: 2/5

tags: sweets

Went out for dinner with Y. at a Korean restaurant in Umeda, where we dined on Korean reimen, spicy chicken wings, and chicken necks, among other things.  For dessert, I ordered this:



There were two pieces of sweet potato chips on top, along with whipped cream (only a smidgen) and chocolate syrup.  There was also a slice of pound cake in there.  This parfait had TONS of vanilla cream, which was a definite plus.  Then there were the obligatory cornflakes on the bottom, because in Japan it's not a parfait if it doesn't have cornflakes.

Name: Sweet potato & vanilla ice cream parfait
Store: ?
Location: Umeda
Rating: 2/5

tags: sweets

So 36 Sticks finally ended their 120 yen promotion, but what the hell? -- at 200 yen a stick, it's still a lot cheaper than most other cake shops.  I felt the urge to try this:



It was everything I imagined it to be.  The top layer had vanilla custard with caramel sauce and the bottom was some kind of pound cake (very oily too).  There was that thin layer of brittle in the middle again.

Name: Creme Brulee
Store: 36 Sticks
Location: Senrioka
Rating: 4/5

tags: sweets

HARBS (in the Fujii Daimaru Department Store in Shijo) has a maron fair going on right now, and being a chestnut fan, I decided to get this:



Big mistake.  Talk about one hot mess.  At first glance, the cake looked huge, but it turned out to be like 70% whipped cream!  I'm kinda sick of cream by now, so I chucked it all.  I did like the whole chestnuts though (only two of them), and the custard cream with chestnut bits was also quite good.  The pie shell was awful, however.  It wasn't crisp enough, and worse, it tasted burnt.  What a waste of 700 yen.

Name: Maron Pie
Store: HARBS
Location: Fujii Daimaru in Shijo
Rating: 1/5

tags: sweets

I wanted something fruity today, so I got this:



The cake was decorated with a raspberry, a blueberry, 2 pieces of chestnut, and a non-edible sign saying THE WESTIN MIYAKO (as in the hotel).  Contrary to its looks, the top layer of cassis mousse tasted like bubble gum-flavored toothpaste.  Bleh.  The cheesecake part was all right.  The chocolate cake didn't taste so good either -- they used too much baking soda or something; it had a weird aftertaste.  However, there were bits of raspberry and chestnut in the chocolate cake, which I gobbled up.

Name: Cassis Maron
Store: Mayfair
Location: Kyoto
Rating: 2/5

tags: sweets

So I went out for dinner and dessert yet again tonight.  I think I must've spent over 2man this week just on food.  Anyways we were in Namba, so after wandering around a bit, we went to one of the underground cafes in Namba City.

My dessert (pear mousse):



The desserts all came with the same vanilla ice cream (which was more of a pale yellow color), whipped cream, and caramel sauce.  The ice cream had a really buttery taste to it.  Again, there was too much whipped cream.  The mousse was trilayered with custard mousse (with pear bits), caramel mousse, and chiffon cake, and it was topped with whipped cream and walnuts.  I loved the top two layers, the bottom not so much.  The custard mousse was amazing, and the pear accented the sweetness.

Rating: 3/5

R.'s dessert (chocolate stick):



The stick was also trilayered with chocolate cake (topped with whipped cream and a thin layer of fudge), cheesecake, and chiffon cake.  Man, the chocolate cake was really chocolate-y!  I couldn't even taste the cheesecake.  Great for chocolate lovers.

Rating: 1/5

A.'s dessert (chestnut tiramisu):



There were chestnut bits in the tiramisu!  Though I didn't like the texture -- it was very grainy.

Rating: 2/5

Store: chocoxmo
Location: Namba

tags: sweets

I was really busy at work today and, maybe as a result, I got a massive craving for sweets after dinner.  We went out for karaoke, and, while Jankara usually has a good dessert selection, this karaoke place certainly didn't.  They had only chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry parfaits, so I took the strawberry one, thinking you can't mess up something as simple as a strawberry parfait.  Boy was I wrong.



At first glance, it looked positively gorgeous -- I mean, look at all that pink and white.  When it comes to dessert, you can never go wrong with pink and white.  But the two half scoops of strawberry ice cream and strawberry sauce on top is just a throwback.  As a matter of fact, it was chock full of whipped cream and corn flakes.  Now, I do like whipped cream, but this parfait was like 2/3 whipped cream and 1/3 ice cream.  I felt like I was back in the States eating whipped cream by the tub.  It just didn't do it for me.  Well at least nothing was wasted, because R. loves whipped cream, so he took all the leftover cream.

Name: Strawberry Parfait
Store: Karaoke ZERO-GUY
Location: Umeda
Rating: 1/5

tags: sweets

So I was strolling down Shinsaibashi, looking for the perfect dessert, and I found this:



What's better than strolling down a shopping arcade?  Why, that would be strolling down a shopping arcade with an ice cream cone in your hand.  They gave me a spoon for easier handling too.  The whole thing was huge -- huge cup, huge waffle cone, tons of soft-serve ice cream and caramel sauce and diced peanuts.  By the end I got to the bottom, there was still plenty of sauce left over.  The mix of ice cream and caramel sauce and nuts was just perfect.  Unfortunately the waffle cone got soggy so I didn't eat it (though it had a nice cinnamon-y look & taste).

Name: Caramel Crunch
Store: Hop Chou a la creme
Location: Shinsaibashi
Rating: 5/5

tags: sweets

So I went to a Spanish tapas bar in the evening with N. and we shared this dessert:



The ice cream was cold and creamy, but there's no way I could've finished the cheesecake by myself.  I only took a few bites before I felt sick -- the cheesecake was just too rich.  Luckily N. was there to finish the rest haha.

Name: Vanilla ice cream & cheesecake
Store: Bar Mar
Location: Umeda
Rating: 2/5

tags: sweets

I was working in Kuzuha today, so after I got off at the train station, I stopped at the first cake shop I saw and got this:



Haha just messing with Photoshop.  Here's the real deal:



It's fruit pudding in a Halloween Stitch mug!  Okay, I'll be honest, I only got this for the Stitch mug.  But the dessert itself wasn't bad.  There was a melon wedge, a ruby red grapefruit wedge, half a grape, half a strawberry, and a slice of mandarin orange, on this layer of yummy baked custard pudding.  The pudding wasn't overly sweet or heavy as most baked custard puddings tend to be, and I drained every last drop of the melted caramel on the bottom. 

Name: Pudding a la mode
Store: Joffrin
Location: Kuzuha
Rating: 3/5

tags: sweets

I went to Lipton again in hopes of snagging the crazy chestnut mont blanc waffle that I saw last time.  Unfortunately their waffles are only for dine-in customers, so I picked this up instead:



It had pumpkin mousse layered on top of baked pumpkin cheesecake on a tart shell.  There was a tiny slice of boiled pumpkin on top.  I wasn't a big fan of the mousse (too creamy and thick for my taste), but the cheesecake was done just right -- not too sweet or heavy.  The tart was really good too, of course.

Name: Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart
Store: Lipton
Location: Shijo
Rating: 3/5

tags: sweets

On the way to work, I saw that 36 Sticks were having a 1-day only sale: 100 yen for their baked sticks.  How could I resist?



The cake was just gorgeous from top to bottom.  The top is this thin layer of pistachio gelatin with chopped up pistachio bits on pistachio mousse.  The bottom is made of a thin layer of cheesecake on a pastry shell.  The gelatin was slippery smooth and slightly sweet and crunchy (with the mixed-in pistachio bits).  The pistachio mousse was the best -- there was more of it than that pistachio stick I had last week, and it didn't get sucked up by other flavors (ahem, chocolate).  The pastry shell was thin and crisp to the tee.

Name: Green Pistachio Cheesecake
Store: 36 Sticks
Location: Senrioka
Rating: 4/5

tags: sweets

So I finally went to the infamous Sweets Museum at Yodobashi Camera in Umeda today.  We went to the biggest shop, Cafe Comme Ca, which seemed like it could take up the space of three restaurants.

R., who is a self-professed chocolate nut, ordered this chocolat bavarois:



Gosh I'm not even a fan of chocolate but this cake was really good.  There were oodles of glazed berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries) on top of whipped cream and chocolate cake.  There was a nameplate made of chocolate stuck on top of the cake.  The chocolate cake was soft and light and didn't weigh me down.  The berries (I only had some raspberries) were sweet and sour and just delish.

And here's what I ordered:



There were tons of sliced, glazed strawberries and chestnut mont blanc on top of whipped cream, chiffon cake, and custard, all on a tart shell and -- wouldya look at that -- a strawberry wedged in the middle of the cake!  There was also a single piece of chestnut on the top (I wanted more! *sob*).  OMG this cake was phenomenal.  I loved the mix of whipped cream and custard, and they didn't put in a lot of chiffon cake, which was fine by me.  The tart shell was really good -- not too thin or crispy.   They served it on a huge plate with strawberry sauce strewn across one side and cocoa powder on the other.  The portions were huge, btw, more like the size of two Japanese cakes, and I amazed myself by finishing everything (took an hour though).  At 750 yen a slice (most of the cakes were under 1000 yen), I could certainly see myself going there everyday and tearing up the place.

Name: Chocolat Bavarois
Store: Cafe Comme Ca
Location: Sweets Museum in Yodobashi Camera, Umeda
Rating: 3/5

Name: Strawberry Mont Blanc
Store: Cafe Comme Ca
Location: Sweets Museum in Yodobashi Camera, Umeda
Rating: 5/5

tags: sweets