Skippers - Burger in Japan

I know it's weird, first meal in Japan is burger but it was close by, so no choice.

Plus, they seemed like a gourmet burger, so why not give it a try.

Started with an Apple Soda, don't get that very often, so must try that out.

First up, onion rings.  I cannot deny a good onion ring.  Look at these big boys.  Seriously though the regular order gives you 6 rings, if it's a mini order, they give you 3.   Don't worry, I shared mine.

I got the slider trio.  They made their buns in-house, so I was kinda excited to see how they measured up.

All have a mini patty, left one has bacon on top with cheese, middle one has has brown on top, which is my favorite combo.  The last one has bacon, pepper and bbq sauce, that one was spicier than I like.  

The meal is definitely more than feeling not only by Japanese standard, but US standard too.  The whole thing is feel will quality meat, it is no wonder that the charge is higher than some other food places we've been.   That said, we did see families and people come here after work.   It was certainly convenient for us, as a late night dining spot. 

Skippers Shiomi

2-chōme−1−10, 1st floor, Koto City, Shiomi, 135-0052 Tokyo

https://www.skippers-shiomi.com/

 

Airplane food comparison

I'm such a country mouse, that I haven't been aboard internationally for a long long time.  So to be slightly impressed for me on an international flight with a non-US airline was a low bar. 

This trip, I'm on ANA.  Even their snack bag is prettier.  It has some senbei (rice crackers) and nuts mix.

For 'lunch' it was very well rounded, I got the Creamy Chicken with potato for entree, it came with pasta salad with salmon, tofu and veggie, regular salad, roll, and noodles with noodle sauce. 

It was over the top lots of food.  And yes, I carb-ed up and napped.

Mid-flight, they put out trays of snacks in case you're hungry.  Besides banana, snack pack, they also have Biscoff cookies and chocolate.  They did give us egg salad sando if we wanted, or if you're super hungry you can ask for cup of ramen noodle.  But you saw how much food the first meal was, really didn't need more.

For drinks, they have tea, apple juice, orange juice, water, sparkling water, soda.

For the meal before we land, I got the tortellini with tomato sauce.  It came with a muffin, slice of ham and potato salad.  

Meanwhile, on the way back, the club has all sorts of alcohol available.  Then there's Japanese style food along with Western style food.  My only complaint is that it was super crowded.

Meanwhile on a US airline - I think my dinner was burnt.  I got the beef dish with squash and potato.  The salad does have yuzu dressing, which does tastes good.  The roll was very dry, and it came with a brownie.  That was a nice snack in the middle of the night.

They did bring mid flight snack, which was sausage burrito, wasn't bad, just that the sausage was not breakfast sausage, but hot dog sausage, that was different.

For breakfast, I got the blueberry pancakes.  The compote kinda exploded, but it tasted good.  The pancake got dried in the heat up process, so sadly it was hard to chew with that awesome compote.  The bowl of fruit was really good though.  The muffin is a good stand by snack.  

They did not have snack laid out like the Japanese airline did, just water, but the flight attendants made it very unfriendly to hang out at the galley area even just for stretch, so I tried not to intrude their space had I not need water. 

As you can see, the Japanese airline food is definitely spiffier.  Then again, since the US airline food was loaded from Japan, I blame the heating up process.  The US airline did load up Japanese juices, soda, and water, and I swear it taste better.  The US airline was a tad confusing, because the drink card made it looked like we are to pay for our meals, which I know that's the case for domestic flights, but was awkward to see price tag on some international flights.  Luckily, it wasn't in our flight.

 

Aka Sushi

Back to some mid-range sushi.

I've actually have been back to Aka a few times.  Just didn't post much about it. 

This time, came here and got some different dishes... Like eggplant tempura - which to my surprise, they gave us sweet and sour sauce instead of ponzu sauce.  Got a sushi roll, and squid salad.

Of course, got my favorite agedashi tofu.  

And got the salmon sampler, which has 2 pieces of nigiri and 2 pieces of sashimi, great for splitting.

We went on a weekend, which has happy hour all day.  The price is right, the service is just right, and yes we know it's not fancy sushi, but for mid-range happy hour.  This did the trick. 

Aka Sushi

2390 W. Alabama 

Houston, TX 77098

713-807-7875

 

Katami

Finally got to check out Katami

It is Kata Robata's Hori San's brain child. 

Definitely on the higher end of things.

Got the mocktail version of the Okinawa Swizzle. Boils down to passion fruit, orange, and soda-y mix.

Toro Tar Tar - which I whole heartedly recommend.  It's Toro Tuna, kimchi sauce, peanut sauce, quail egg, with milk bread and baby mushrooms.  You put all that on top of your toast and pop it in.  It's delicious. 

Goma Tofu - sesame tofu with soy sauce, ginger, wasabi.  Served cold, kinda nice and refreshing.

Chawanmushi - egg custard soup mine was topped with caviar, and inside has bits of seafood in there.  I got a little bit of scallop in mine. 

Mmmm, sushi.  We have tuna, amberjack, and salmon.

We got Uni's - the left one by itself is a Purple Uni, the flavors are richer, and thicker; than the regular uni (on the right).   Those have less texture and flavor, but it really truly is depends on your palette. 

I got a piece of foie gras over scallop.  It's decadent, not bad, but not sure I need to revisit.

Now, this seared salmon, I revisited!  It's lightly torched, and it melted in my mouth.  So yes, I ordered another piece.

This is Unagi Shirayaki - fresh water eel, with no eel sauce.  It's nicely done, never had that before, but it's not bad. 

This is the crab meat nigiri.  To be honest, I hardly tasted much of that crab.  You can pass on this one.

This is Hot Stone Mushroom Rice.  This one I would recommend.  They purposely burnt the bottom a little and mix it all up.  It also came with a cream sauce mix with the egg yolk to give it thicker texture.  Of course, since the hot stone is still very hot, it cooked the yolk very easily.  Mix it all up is really delicious.  Great pick on this one!

It was my bday dinner so I picked the strawberry short cake.  It was pretty nice, not too sweet, not too much cake or too much cream.  I could honestly say it was great way to top off the night.  

If you want to come here, reservation is highly courage.  Not that you can't walk-on, you can, but it does fill up.  The service is mixed for me.  Our lead server is very knowledgeable, and explain things well.  The runner who brings us our food, sometimes very soft spoken and we can't hear what they say.  Sometimes, they're like Road Runner and sped thru our dishes to where I had to ask him to slow down and repeat.  Or the busser are constantly ready to clean plates off your table.  It just felt rushed that way. 

Katami is in the complex with La Griglia and Emma Jane, they share the same parking lot, therefore sharing the same valet.  If you come early enough, you maybe lucky enough to find street parking.  If not, be sure to bring patience as the valet does get busy at the end of the evening. 

Katami

2701 W. Dallas St

Houston, TX 77019

713-393-7376

https://www.katamihouston.com/

 

Rodeo fare

Last time was Rodeo's Best Bites, a special Food and Wine event.

This time, I'm at the Rodeo but already had lunch, but does not stop me from participating.

Up come this loud and ostentatious booth beyond the food tents.

They have large jugs, small jugs of a kinds of goodies.  Of which, I really wanted agua fresca.  There must've been like 9 different kinds. 

I got the watermelon one, and you can get a 16oz and that's actually alot.  Even though it's natural sugar, it's alot. 

At any rate, their drinks are fresh and at lunch time there's a line.  But the ladies behind the counter is swift, so no need to worry if you want to grab one before the concert. 

Fruteria Cano

Circle Drive in front of Exhibit Hall

Rodeo Houston

 

Bosscat Kitchen & Libation

Went to do a send off with a friend and ended up at Bosscat.

Been here for work event before, but never non-catered dining. 

First off, I got the mocktail, I'm the Driver, it's fruity, not too sweet, and citrusy.

We started with Barrata with Bacon Jam and toast, this is highly recommended.  It is THAT good!  Not going to say we licked the plate, but it is lick-worthy!

Then we split the Spinach Artichoke Eggroll.  I'm a huge Spinach Artichoke person, but this was not up to par.  The sauce is fine, the food is fine, the dish is just fine.  If I'm going to sacrifice calories, I'd like for it to go somewhere I'm going to be happy with and this was not it.

That said, Wednesday night is Whiskey night, they have all sorts of specials.  Our server was hilarious and well deserve the tip that we gave.  He made the entire experience fun and made sure our drink orders with the variations is to our liking.  Definitely will come back and ask for him again.

Bosscat Kitchen

4310 Westheimer Rd

#150

Houston, TX 77057

281-501-1187

https://bosscatkitchen.com/houston

 

To Soc Chon

I was telling my friend that I was craving Korean food, and no, it's not because I've been watching Kdrama.

She suggested To Soc Chon, which I've seen as I driven passed it. 

It's kinda quaint, they took over a family style restaurant, and you see alot of Koreans come here.

First thing first, Soondae, which traditionally is beef or pork intestines with noodles and spices.  Frankly, it really has very little taste of the cow, but the spices and the noodles are great.  You dip it in this pink salt to give it flavor, not too heavy.

Of course, my favorite: Seafood Pancake.  Love, love, love this. 

Their Banchan (side dishes) game might be few, but they're all made in-house.  The kimchi and the radish, you can taste that they're all fresh with natural preserves. 

For the entree, I got the Gamja Tang - in case you're ever wondering if you see Tang at the end of the dish name, it's a soup.  This is a pork neck and potato soup.  Came in its own stone pot and a side of rice.  I will say, even though it looks like there's alot of spices in there, and there is.  It's not spicy at all.  It was easy to eat and delicious.  Not to mention the meat fall right off the bone.  Eating the left over is even more flavorful than the day of.   Highly recommend.

To Soc Chon

22453 Katy Freeway

Katy, TX 77450

346-387-9800