Tonight Mariko and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with an amazing omakase dinner at Takao restaurant in Brentwood. We’ve been to Takao a few times for our anniversary and have always enjoyed it.
This time, the executive chef/owner, Izumida Takao, prepared all of our main dishes. Everything was delicious, but the toro wrapped around uni, and topped with caviar and truffles (photo above) was both Mariko and my favorite. In fact, it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my whole life! 😀 If you would like to try some awesome sushi, I definitely recommend Takao.
Usually one of the first meals we have when we visit family in Torrance is CoCo Ichibanya curry, but this year we opted to try Josui Ramen. It was yummy! The service wasn’t the best (and the timing of when the food came out was not optimal), but the portions were large and the broth was delicious and very hot. Recommended!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/25 sec, ISO800 “Okonomiyaki” Cedar Park, 2021
We had one of my all-time favorite meals tonight: okonomiyaki! This particular okonomiyaki is Hiroshima-style, which is a bit different than the Osaka-style okonomiyaki. The batter is layered instead of mixed with the cabbage, and there’s yakisoba and egg on it. It was delicious! And perfect with a cold Sapporo. いただきます！
It has become a tradition to stop at Pepito’s Cafe for lunch on the way back from camping out at Big Bend, and now also Guadalupe Mountains. I’ve always gotten the Pepito’s Mexican Burger to quench my hiker hunger and it never disappoints!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO800 “Hario Mini-Slim Coffee Mill” Cedar Park, 2021
We’ve been upgrading our car-camping gear recently and one area that we were lacking in was our camp coffee prep. I’ve always pre-ground the beans at home and brought it with us in a plastic bag, but I decided to buy a Hario Mini-Slim Ceramic Coffee Mill so that I can grind the whole beans just before brewing. Freshly ground coffee is so much better than pre-ground!
This mill is hand-operated with a crank and takes about 2 minutes to grind 12 grams of beans, which is a good amount for one cup of coffee. On this mill’s measuring scale, that means filling it to the #1 marker. It definitely requires a little bit of muscle, so if you don’t have strong arms and wrists, a coffee mill such as this might not be a good idea. On the flipside, the extra exertion would be a good way to get your blood flowing in the morning. 😀
I need to mention that the coffee mill comes with a barcode sticker on it that absolutely sucks to remove. It tears and is super gummy, and the mess gets everywhere. Just getting it to the stage where I can use Goo-Gone on it took a while. What a pain in the butt!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/18 sec, ISO800 “Sticker Frustration” Cedar Park, 2021
Like this:
LikeLoading...
My camera & photos
I use a Fujifilm X-series camera for most of the photos on this site and my Instagram. Why not pick one up for yourself?
