Egg-cellent Japanese Device for Egg Eaters

egg1This morning my friends and I had breakfast together at a new restaurant in Roppongi Hills called “Eggcellent“.  They specialize, not surprisingly, in egg dishes.  They had eggs fried, scrambled, over easy, etc.  Their real specialty is different types of eggs benedict, which you could order with rincon (lotus root) or crab or a myriad of other ways.  On weekday mornings they have  two breakfast specials also – one with pancakes and over-easy eggs, and the one I had, with bacon and a poached egg. egg2

The plate with the over-easy eggs and pancakes came with the tiniest little server of syrup that you’ve ever seen! It was adorable and perfect for a doll’s house milk jug.

egg3

The opened egg

My plate with the poached egg came with a side of what looked like a small bell with a long, metal stick in it.  We realized that it was meant to open the egg neatly.  Watch the video to see what happens!

It was such an easy way to open and eat the poached egg – no mess whatsoever!  Leave it to the Japanese to figure out that one.  The whole breakfast was yummy though.  The coffee was rich and the egg itself was cooked to perfection.  Being an American, I prefer crispy bacon, but that’s a rare find in Tokyo.  And I’m not exactly a fan of salad at breakfast, but it was still good.  The English muffin and homemade blueberry jam were just amazing, sweet with just the right amount of tart.  Not only was the coffee perfectly brewed, but the cup was bottomless, another rare find in Tokyo.  My friend tells me that there is often a line out the door for this restaurant on weekends, so if you can, try for a weekday – it opens pretty early.  I’d highly recommend it.  And be sure to order a poached egg for the fun of opening it!

Literacy is Priceless

No English in sight, but the one on the left is Choco-flakes and the right is Corn Flakes.

The other morning I decided to have cereal for breakfast.  Cereal is not a common breakfast item in Japan, so when I saw the bags of it in my local grocery store, I grabbed them.  Oh, I’m exaggerating a little bit.  If I go to the International Supermarket, which I do rarely, there is a small selection of cereals.  There’s always rice crispies, frosted flakes, and granola.  In the past year, Special K has been available.  These boxes, however, run upwards of $5 for a box a quarter of the size of those available in the U.S. I try to stay out of the wildly overpriced International Supermarkets anyway, of which there are two.

So this particular morning, I opened the bag on the left in the picture above.  I looked inside and a very particular smell came up at me.  Chocolate.  I had bought chocolate cereal.  Me, in all of my attempts at healthy, Japanese-style eating, had bought chocolate cereal.

“Mom, Bailey said, taking the bag from me, “It says ‘choco’ right on there in Katakana.”  Then I showed him the other bag of cereal.  “Corn Flakes,” he assured me.

Hm.  It might be time for Mom to learn to read.