Pariya Aoyama

For about a month now, my friends and I have been planning to hit up Pariya in Aoyama. This restaurant is rather well known for it's homemade gelato flavors and cupcakes. They also have a cafeteria style area with salads and pasta dishes. We went for the desserts.

Pariya is a nice little restaurant located between Omote-sando and Shibuya. It's closer to Omote-sando, so I recommend getting out the B2 exit there. Walk down the street until you pass the really big Kinokuniya and turn right immediately past that building. Go straight and turn left at the next street. Pariya will be the restaurant on the left-hand corner. It has glass windows all down the front, so it's easy to spot.

From what I understand, Pariya mixes up their flavors of cupcakes and gelato every so often. When we went, the flavors were mostly fruits, with a few standards thrown in. I didn't think to list all the flavors, but the gelato flavors I remember are milk chocolate, fresh milk, salt milk, melon, orange, kiwi, lemon, tomato (not a typo!), and coconut and honey. There weren't that many cupcakes available the day we went, but we got about 5 of them to split between the three of us. We ordered Mandarin Orange, Raspberry Chocolate, Plain Buttercram, Carrot Cheesecake and Pistachio Chocolate.

Here we have our three (or in my case, four) gelatos. From the left are coconut-honey, milk chocolate and fresh milk, and melon. You can also see two of the cupcakes in the back. The gelato are melting because instead of just putting all our cupcakes on one tray, the guy had to put them each on their own plate with a separate napkin and fork. Nice, but hardly needed with just three of us!

NY Food Fair

Okay, if you have time in the next two days, get yourselves down to Ikebukuro's Seibu (7th floor) asap and check our the NY Style Fair that's going on now! It finishes at 5 p.m. on Wednesday (Tuesday it's open until 9), so get over there quick!

I heard about this fair through a co-worker who's stationed at our Ikebukuro office. She has a predilection for red velvet cupcakes, so when she saw them at the fair, she sent me a text to tell me I'd better get my butt down there. I'm so glad I did!

I actually went twice. lol Once on Saturday night, where I just bought stuff I wanted to take home, and then again on Sunday to have lunch with GEG. Mochi will show you what you could be missing if you don't go.

2011 Tokyo Ramen Show

It was a gray, rainy, miserable day, but people still lined up around the block to get into the Tokyo Ramen Show. The ramen otaku were out in full force with their impressive cameras, polished ramen spoons hanging from a chain around their necks, their "No Ramen, No Life" t-shirts straining over their large bellies... It was a sight to move the soul and bring one to tears.

Behold the hordes of ramen faithful:

Tokyo Brunches and Sweet Little Things

Today I'm writing about great places to have brunch or buy treats in the city. Trust me, with more Michelin star restaurants than Paris, Tokyo has lots of good places to eat!

Here are a few of my favorites:

Breizh Cafe Creperie
Shinjuku Takashimaya 13F
5-24-2 Sendagaya
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
03-5361-1335

This wonderful restaurant is owned by the same group that bring you Le Bretagne (a famous creperie that has branches in Omotesando and Kagurazaka). I normally don't like to eat in restaurants that are located in large shopping centres because of the crowds, but since the Takashimaya in Shinjuku has dozens of restaurants to choose from, you can usually find a seat.

Breizh Cafe Creperie is located on the 13th floor and has indoor seats and outdoor seats on the patio, with a small garden in the center. It's a perfect place to sit outside and enjoy the weather while you eat some buckwheat crepes with yummy fillings and drink either their regional cidre or one of their numerous teas.

I apologize for cutting into my crepe's egg before taking a photo! It was too delicious to wait!

I've been to Le Bretagne in Omotesando and I have to say that location-wise, Takashimaya's Breizh is far superior (anything not smack-dab on a street corner where people sitting outside can touch the cars is an improvement). It also has more seating and isn't super crowded with trendy foreigners. If you don't show up during peak hours, you're pretty much sure to find a seat. I've never been to Omotesando when it wasn't packed to capacity and requiring either a 40 minute wait (on the street) or a reservation.

Hairy Dilemma

I wanted to have a little chat about hair in Japan. Namely, finding a hair stylist that doesn't make you feel suicidal.

In my nearly 6 years in Japan I have been to countless salons. I tried going to salons that were really just for Japanese clients, "Foreigners accepted" but staff are only Japanese, English or Japanese service with multicultural staff, and finally a "by foreigners for mostly just other foreigners" salon.

Up until last year, every salon I went to in Japan was an utter disaster. My hair often looked like a freakshow and I spent a lot of time crying myself a river. I realize such things can happen even in your home country (good stylists seem to be a somewhat rare animal anywhere), but I find the ratio can be much lower here. Let us examine the things you need to think about before you venture off to hunt that elusive being; the fabulous stylist.

#1) Your hair type