Bye bye Fortnum and Masons, boo to Daylesford Organics and farewell to Whole Foods. None of them compare to my new favorite food shop,
Japan Centre. I am currently so addicted to it I no longer want to eat out. And I get really cranky when my value sushi bento box (a steal at around GBP5 - bigger & better than at Itsu too!) is sold out by the time I get there from work.
But delicious take away sushi and other bento box meals (their "katsu curries" are 10,000 times better than Wagamama's) are not the only reasons I shop here so often...
It's also because:
1) They sell
the best pancake mix in the world, which yields perfectly thick and fluffy pancakes every time (see above picture). I am never going back to soggy Bisquick.
2) You won't find just one type of ice tea in their chiller cabinet, you will find a million: light, strong, premium, no caff (Mugi cha or Soba cha), with milk, with fruit, with milk and fruit, with flowery flavour, with or without sweetener, etc. etc... In fact you can also find lots of exotic flavored waters, energy and fermented milk drinks - the other day I tasted one with bits of "nata de coco" (coconut flesh) and I swear it was just like summer in a bottle!
3) They have an awesome in store bakery stocked with the weirdest and most delicious buns, from chocolate brioche to green tea muffin, from curry "pans" (a type of
pain au lait) to yakisoba sandwich (I dare anyone to try this!).
4) They stock yummy black sesame pudding and all kinds of "agar agar" fruit jellies which are packed with fiber and much healthier than our western desserts.
5) One can find fresh Asian veggies such as Yam and Lotus Root. And also fresh Oba (or Shiso) mint leaf which you can infuse in hot water to make Asian mint tea or simply add to your sushi.
And most important of all, because unlike the typical hard-to-decipher Asian food store, all of their products contain an English tag with a brief description and list of ingredients, so you are never left wondering what the heck you are buying!
... and the real thing
Curious George exploring a candy shop in Pilgrim's rest
Made in South Africa: the red capuccino
A beaded cloth for sale in Graskop
And some funky bags at Moyo's (Jo'burg)
A happy Kruger Park hippo says "cheese"
Lies to tell tourists:
Small but also powerful
The cheetah or "the coolest cat in catsdom"
Elephant Whispers
Credit crunch compliant patisseries at Yauatcha
Kenneth MacMillan's Rite of Spring (Picture source: The Telegraph)
Japan Centre's Morinaga "Hot Cake" mix. Fool proof and idiot proof!
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