One of the questions I kind of get stuck on answering is always "What do you like to do?". I'm always thinking what do you mean? like, as a career? oh... you meant on my free time.. It's kind of like asking someone what do you cook? or what's your signature dish? I want to get a pan and whack someone every time I get asked that. It can't be something simple either. If I say steak and white rice, I get this "Oh.." Umm sorry? were you expecting me to say some fancy bouillabaisse?
So day off. What do I like to do. To be extremely honest, I love to go grocery shopping. But, on a really good day, you will find me here at Tokyo Central. It's fantastic. It has the best meats you can find for shabu shabu or a night of sukiyaki. If you want to crank up some yakitori, they sell shichirin and coals for you to do so at home. If you want to make sushi, they have a great fresh variety of seafood as well as different oshinkos and tsukemonos for you to make a spread. From different shoyu to different tare, you will also find tons of Japanese snacks to host at your next sports fare.
Oh, don't ever forget to stop by their liquor selection. From a wide range of sake and shochu, they also carry a few Japanese whiskeys that's worth some fancy quarters to put on your top shelf. But, hurry before they sell out.
What I love about Tokyo Central, like many Japanese markets, have a pretty kick ass food court. Tokyo Central in particular, has a pretty glorious sushi bento selection. From decadent chirashis, to cute little nigiri boxes, to your basic cut rolls and colorfully stuffed inari. With that being said, you cannot beat the price. They focus mostly on sushi for their bentos, though they do a few bentos with salmon shioyaki, katsu bentos, curry and some pasta.
Cutting to the chase. Me. Super hungry. Need food now.
I can't pass this up. Once I got my eyes on this, the anxiety of walking around the selections thinking someone might snatch this box got me feeling a bit uneasy and violent. What is also included in this bento besides ikura and uni, is ika. And if you don't know what any of these are: uni=sea urchin, the best mother f*cking tasting part of the ocean. Ikura = salmon roe, pops in your mouth with sweet sea salty pockets. And Ika, squid, snappy and slightly slimy as you chew it. But flavors are mild and slightly sweet.
But what's the kicker here. I obviously mentioned the price before. But you can't even guess. $7.49. I mean I can stop there, or I can keep going about how f*cking awesome it is. The uni was extremely fresh and creamy, exactly how it looks and why I was drawn to it. If you don't know, uni and ikura are like a match made in seafood heaven. You can't beat these 2 together, ever.
Ate this with some wasabi, soy sauce, and some citrus ponzu. By the way, a shiso was hidden under the ikura (normally the case). A lot of you don't know what shiso is. I don't even know, but I can tell you how it taste. It's citrusy and slightly spicy in a not hot in your mouth way (kind of like arugula spicy), but people don't normally eat this. Your life is missing out. Eat the shiso with the ikura and a bit of rice and you will have a mouth explosion.
So that is my hobby. And one of the things I love to do. Not just shopping for groceries, but going to specialty markets like Tokyo Central to enjoy a great experience.
1420 S Azusa Ave, West Covina, CA 91791