Tokyo: Day 5 (Nakameguro + Ebisu)

Thought I wanted something healthy for the first meal of the day, so headed over to Brown Rice Cafe, which was about 5 min walk from where I was staying.  But the sign on the door said it opens at noon!

Brown rice cafe:
GREEN BLDG 1F, 5-1-17 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku

Since I was rather hungry and had to head over to Nakameguro to meet up with a friend,  aborted my plan for having a healthy meal and went for a tonkatsu set meal at Maisen.  Very well known to travel books for a very good reason, this place serves amazing tonkatsu and other deep fried dishes.  Batter is unbelievably fluffy, light yet crunchy with capital letter “C”!  Even it’s a deep fried piece of pork, it almost melts in your mouth like a cotton candy!

まい泉 (maisen):
4-8-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ki

Enough with tonkatsu!  When JR train was about to stop at Nakameguro station, I was stunned with the view outside, since along the both sides of Meguro River (it’s called a river, but it’s more like a quaint canal) were covered with cherry blossoms in full bloom!  Since I was rather disappointed by what I saw in Ueno Park 2 days earlier, I wasn’t expecting much!  Plus, my sole reason for a visit in Nakameguro was to try out a veggie dessert place , it was like a huge bonus for me and my friend!  First, we walked and chatted while walking down the river.  Both of us were extremely excited by the view in front of our eyes and felt so lucky to be witnessing something so beautiful together.

And then we headed over to Potager Patisserie for rather unusual afternoon tea.  The place was small and jam packed with people lined up to try beautiful desserts made out of veggies.    We tried 3 items, buckwheat mousse, carrot pudding and chocolate brownie with some sort of veggie inside to add some crunch.  I must say I’m still a fan of full fat and sugar concocted desserts, but it was a very unique experience worth  trying!

Patisserie Potager:
2-44-9 Kamimeguro, Meguro-ku

After the afternoon tea and long chat, I headed over to Ebisu, where sleepy residential streets are dotted with one of a kind stores for clothing and home furnishing.  I was able to score a french sailor shirt with crisp dark blue horizontal strips (which was on the top of my shopping list) and cute enamel butter knives, which I’m so excited to use for homemade scones.

Strolling in Ebisu was very calming and spotting newly opened blooms were rather refreshing.  It was cold though.  I nestled myself in a tiny cafe ran by 3 young woman and warmed my hands, body and soul with a mug of matcha latte while watching the sun go down…

Hexagon Cafe:
2-8-9 Ebisu Minami, Shibuya-ku

My plan was to walk over to the train station, but I knew I was lost.  Sun was already gone and dusk was fast approaching.  But I was rather calm.  Asked a person on the street whether I was close to Nakameguro, since I sensed that I was walking toward west.  The polite middle aged man said I was about 20 mins away, so I walked.  I wanted to see cherry blossoms once again illuminated by the street lights.  I always considered cherry blossoms to have innocent beauty.  But night sakura showed its sensual side.  There’s something shy and introverted about closely clustered blossoms, yet so open and eager to show itself…