Look At My Dumplings!

Last Saturday, after the sewer tour and the exhibition at Fabrica, I stopped for something to eat at Kokoro on Western Road.

They have several restaurants, and I've been itching to try out their food!
(By the way, the building has pies on it, because it was previously a pie shop. It's also a Pokestop!)

A lot of the food is already on a hotplate and ready to be served, but I had to be That Person who wanted something different.

I had Chicken Gyoza Udon (gyoza being a type of dumpling) and though I had to wait for it to be made, it only took five minutes!
It was worth the wait, too, as it was really tasty!
The portion size was just right for a lunchtime meal, and I sat upstairs on one of the seats overlooking the shopping centre. It was peaceful!

I enjoyed eating here, and will be going back another time to try out more of their menu options. There's a katsu curry there that I have to try.

On a similar food-related note, on the way home I stopped in at an Asian food/snack shop that I'd not been into before, and ended up buying this:

Chrysanthemum Tea!
I hadn't had it before, so decided to give it a try.
The flavour seemed pretty strange to me, in fact I ended up drinking water afterwards to wash the taste away!
It wasn't terrible, but I won't be drinking it again.

Inadvertently, in drinking this drink, I completed a goal from The List:

044. Try 10 foods/drinks I’ve never tried before

Hurrah!
I can't believe it has taken me over two years to complete this goal!
You can read about the other food and drink I've tried for goal #44 by looking at my goal 44 tag.

Self-Indulgent Japanese

Pulled pork steamed gyoza

On Saturday, I ended up at Wagamama in Horsham with my friend Sara (who bought me food as a birthday treat, my birthday being this Friday! Thank you Sara!)

Tori kara age

I'd never eaten at Wagamama before, so we totally pigged out on tasty things. I went with Sara's recommendations on sides because looking at the menu I was completely spoilt for choice.
I'm not even kidding. I wanted to eat all the gyoza.  It all sounded so good!
The pulled pork steamed gyoza was actually a lot nicer than I expected, and when the tori kara age (crispy chicken) arrived at the table, the waiter suggested squeezing the lime into the dipping sauce, which made a really tasty combination of flavours!

Chicken ramen

When it came to the main course, I plumped for chicken ramen. This was another first for me, as I've never actually had proper ramen before. It was great to eat it as it's meant to be, rather than simply eating packs of 3 minute ramen noodles from the Asian supermarket.
Ramen is tasty and filling, especially when eaten alongside gyoza and tori kara age.
But I said we were there to pig out, right?
So of course we had dessert.

Raspberry mochi ice cream

The raspberry mochi ice cream was a great way to finish off the meal, because it was refreshing! Eating it was an interesting experience, as it's chewy on the outside but soft ice cream on the inside. Nevertheless, it was tasty!

Would definitely go to Wagamama again, though would probably only usually eat a main and either a side or a dessert, rather than the whole lot! It's too easy to be greedy when the food is good...

(In case you're wondering, 'wagamama' is the Japanese word for selfishness, or self-indulgence... Appropriate considering the food, right?)

Octopus Balls and Curry Flavoured Fizz

Following on from yesterday's post, this one is dedicated to the food I bought at Hyper Japan Christmas Market on Saturday! Amongst other things, I tried a curry-flavoured soft drink, warm sake, and battered octopus balls...

Carnival!: The Day the Fair Came to Town

On Saturday I went to the annual fair in a local village. I try to go each year (even if my sole objective is a hot dog from the Scouts hot dog stand !)

The fair has been running for just over 700 years and since I don't know when, has had a theme for each year. This year, the theme was 'Carnival'!

Shopkeepers had the chance to participate in a 'Best Dressed Window' competition--above is one of my favourites; it really caught my eye and is brilliantly put together. Very deservingly, it won first place!

Over the course of the afternoon I saw the procession but also had the opportunity to work on a goal...