“Obon de Gohan” Healthy yet so delicious! : 「おぼん de ごはん」へ行きましょう！

Want something good for your health but can’t tolerate the thought of eating plain tofu and salad with non-oil dressing any longer? You’re blessed that you’re in Japan because there are so many restaurants that tailor to consumers like you who are health-conscious but hate to compromise the taste. I know….we’d better pay for something delicious, right?

I truly recommend this restaurant called “Obon de Gohan” which maybe many of you have seen before. There are many branches in most department stores’ restaurant floors. Thus, easy to find. There are sooo many menus to choose from too! (which is not that common for Japanese restaurants) The menu is separated into main dishes with meant, fish, and tofu; ocha-tsuke (rice bowl with a pot of soup to pour over); udon; donmono (rice bowl with various toppings); and desserts (which I have to tell you it will be HARD for you to not order this; they are gorgeously made). 

I usually go for a set menu with fish as fish menu is actually very DIFFICULT to find in Japan!! This is quite ironic in a way ‘cuz Japan is known to the world as the country with high consumption of fish. (I’m not talking about sushi or sashimi here, but more like main dishes eaten together with rice.) 

What’s more, you can…

1. choose your type of rice from 3 alternatives: White rice （白ごはん）, Brown rice mixed with white rice（玄米入りごはん）, and five-grains rice with hijiki seaweed（五穀ひじきごはん）
I always choose the last one as it has so much more fiber and the texture of grains makes it more yummy!

2. You can refill your miso soup! I always go for DOUBLE! This is RARE in Japan, people!

3. There are so many veggies side dishes you can try. They are always different from time to time, so if you wanna sample tastes of Japanese home cooking, this is the chance!

For the volume and quality you will get, you only have to pay around 1,100 yen in average. But personally, I think it is worth it! Not having to feel guilty about food that you just ate plus enjoying every bite of it? This is so much better than munching on tasteless salad from convenience store, no? If you’re on a mood to reward yourself, looking to lift up your mood in a blue day, or having a girl talk over hours, look for this restaurant in your nearby department store and you won’t be disappointed. 🙂

Source: check out in details here! http://obon-de-gohan.com/about/

How to avoid overeating at dinner party：ディナーパーティに食べ過ぎを防ぐ方法！

Maybe you’re on a diet and are doing pretty well during breakfast and lunch. But when it comes to dinner, you may find yourself fall into the traps of hunger and self-rewarding. You end up eating too much and feel guilty afterwards for ruining your diet routine. Don’t worry! Because there are many techniques you can try out to prevent yourself from overeating IN ADVANCE!

1.  DO RESEARCH. Find out in advance where you’re going if you have a date with friends or are invited to a party. Check out the restaurant’s menu in advance and see if anything is harmful to your diet or is there anything you can eat. Even better if you can be the one who chooses the restaurant!
2. EAT CLEAN. If you know that there’s gonna be a course menu or big party meal during dinner, make sure you have CLEAN breakfast AND lunch. NO SKIPPING MEAL here. “Clean” just means regular meal with enough protein and nutrients. Try to avoid any fatty fried food or high-calorie items during the day.
3. HAVE MID-AFTERNOON BREAK. This is really important! See what time you have to meet up and have the following snacks in BETWEEN your lunch and the dinner.
   – high fiber : dried figs or dates or fiber drinks/jelly
   – Yogurt : if possible greek yogurt, which would fill you up with protein, helping you stay full longer
   – fruits : those like apples (lots of fiber), grapefruits (no.1 weight-loss fruit), or anything that’s not so high in sugar. You can grab some cut-fruits (カット・フルーツ) in combini
   – nuts : I rely on almonds! I usually eat about 8-9 almonds max. These little nuts really help stop your hunger!!
   – soy milk : chose those without added sugar. Stay away from the fancy colors and flavors and stick to the plain old soy milk that will give you high protein!
   – water: Okay, last method… if your stomach is still empty, just load it up with lots and lots of water!!
4. WEAR TIGHT OUTFIT. This is just my optional advice. Wear your skinny jeans or something with right belts, or form-fitting top. You will be naturally aware of your appearance! Wearing tight jeans could REALLY WORK because you will kinda stop eating after you feel super uncomfortable. Just listen to how your body feels.
5. DESSERTS?? Maybe it’s your friend’s birthday and you need to take responsible for a piece of cake. Don’t worry! Several tricks would work here:
   – ask to cut your own piece and get a slim slice.
   – if handed a plate, receive it but take off the whipped cream. Cut it by half and ask if anyone would gladly share it with you. (normally there would be someone who loves to share!)
   – just refuse it nicely and say “I’m sorry but I’m really full.”
   – NEVER SAY YOU’RE ON A “DIET”. People would try to get you off track by saying “one day won’t hurt.” Instead, say “these days I’m taking serious steps to take care of my health.” (Nobody would ask you to not take care of your health ;P)
6. BE CHOOSY. During dinner, just stick to the commonsense of diet principles. Veggies, lots of protein, no creamy dressing or fried food, and no beer or cocktail. Wow, that sounds tough but…you need to be conscious. One way to do always leave a small pile on your dish so that you would feel like there’s always something left on your plate. A glass of wine is fine but a series of soft drinks (including juices) is not. Be careful of liquid; the calories can add up fast.
7. FOCUS ON TALKING. In the end, you’re there to talk to people. Just enjoy the company of your friends and focus on having fruitful conversation. Take your mind of food and you might be less tempted!

Hope these tricks would help you to survive the next birthday party!

My favorite organic restaurant&cafe “From Hand to Mouth” : 「フロハン」というオーガニックのカフェ

Soooooo THIS IS MY NUMBER ONE CAFE OF ALL TIME IN TOKYO!
Whenever I had to go back home for a couple of months, the place I missed the most is this cafe with a funny name “From Hand to Mouth”. In Japanese, this would be soooo long that people shorten it to “Fu-ro-ha-n” or 「フロハン」(for From Hand..).

It’s located a few steps away to Nishi-waseda bus stop (if going by Toei Bus 学02), just at the corner to the west gate of Waseda campus of Waseda University (Yes my own uni!). If you go at lunch time, you might find it hard to find places to sit sometimes as this is one of the most popular hang-out, chatting, afternoon-tea-ing, catch-up-with-old-friend, spending-quality-time-alone place of girls! I hang out here nights and days during my time in uni, brought sooo many friends, ate almost all the dishes on the menu. I went there so much that I am currently at my THIRD membership card. If you are a member, you’ll get 50 yen discount for lunch time and after you complete one line on the card, you either get discount or exchange with something on the menu.

Enough for the advertising (actually no, but I guess you guys want to know now what’s amazing about it), let us go see what food it offers! First up, Lunch….3 main menus. (all for 880 yen – 830 yen for members)
A. Soup lunch: a daily soup filled with veggies and good-for-you protein, a BIG heap of fresh salad and original olive oil dressing, freshly baked on the day bread (which is different daily) and scrambled eggs. Oops! I forgot a piece of fruit (either apple or orange). Can’t ask for more. HEALTHY. CHOICE!

B. Curry lunch: Behold, this is NOT the typical Japanese curry since this is filled with beans and veggies on top of brown rice (with a mix of seeds and different kinds of wheat). A little portion of mango chutney is also placed neatly on one corner. A piece of fruit has its own place to wrap up the meal. This is very suitable for those who are extremely hungry and want something filling but good and hearty for the stomach.

C. Crape lunch: Maybe the most popular of all menus. Made to order crape (buckwheat flour) with 2 different fillings (changed daily too), topped with creamy yogurt dressing and black pepper. One would be Japanese filling and the other is a bit more Western which would definitely incorporate CHEESE!! A big heap of salad!!! and a piece of fruit. Oh goshhh sooooo amazing!

I can’t begin to say…Lunches here are equally tasty and nutritious so it really depends on your mood on the day. The dinner time also has sooo many more menus. My favorite is “Locomoco-don”（ロコモコ丼）890 yen. Two burger pieces made with different kinds of wheat and seeds mixed with minced beef (1/4 of the burger) topped with sweet-sour-tangy sauce (which…I’m telling you…is extremely addictive) together with big heaps of salad and small half-done sunny side-up egg. Nothing will ever win over this dish. I even dreamed about it once. Lol I went there and ordered this menu so often that the owner (who I frequented with) already knew what I were to order. I also changed the menu a little bit by asking for less portion of rice and volume up the salad with balsamic dressing instead of the yogurt dressing.

Check it out here! http://www.cafe-fhtm.com/index.html

This is the Lunch set B: Crape lunch

And….as you can see the bottom left and top right are the curry set, the bottom right is the soup set.

Give this place a try!!! AND YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! EVER!
PS: it is closed on sundays.

Love it!