Ducky Duck

***Update 3/29/2019***
Daie/Aeon mall is now closed!!
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Rating: Not great
Meal:  Lunch
Price:  1500 yen
Payment:  Credit cards accepted
Dishes:  Gochisou (feast) Pizza
English Menu:No

Smoking: No

Ducky Duck is an odd...place.  The last restaurant on the 2nd floor dining area of Daie mall that I will be reviewing, I've only eaten there once before.  It's  got a very prominent cake making area and a huge case of cakes.  They advertise being all about pasta and cake, but they also have omu rice and curry.

The last thing I had was a pasta dish and it was not impressive.  So this time I decided to go all out and get the gochisou pizza.  This translates to a Pizza Feast!  It's a 28cm pizza covered in processed cheese with a mound of salad topped by thinly sliced raw ham.  Looked pretty good, so I went for it even though it was pretty spendy at 1500 yen and way too much food for one person, but I was hungry!

It was pretty good, for a Japanese pizza.  Probably one of the cheaper options here in Japan.  Something like that would cost about 4000 yen from Domino's.  But still...not very good.  It was lacking in flavor, and there was nothing on the table to help (not even a salt shaker).  I don't think I'll be back any time soon.

Tamaki

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Updated:  1/4/2018

Sadly, Tamaki closed a few months back.  However, a new Vietnamese restaurant called Bamboo Vietnam Kitchen opened up in its spot, so yay!

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Rating: Very good
Meal:  Lunch
Price:  800 yen
Payment:  Cash only
Dish:  Minced Tuna Bowl with cold soba
English Menu: No
Smoking:  Possibly

Izakayas commonly server a small snack

Tamaki is an izakaya (Japanese bar) on the same block as our apartment building.  I've never eaten there before today, but I've been wanting to forever.  I found out recently that they are open for lunch, and since I am home from work today with a sketchy back, I figured I'd check it out.

I picked #1...next time will be #2

First of all, I'm not terribly fond of izakayas, because honestly I'm more interested in the food than the alcohol.  But this place seems to be about the food too, so that's fine with me.  It's very Japanese inside, and I didn't see any sign of an English menu.  The menu I did see was all in Japanese with no pictures...so a bit tricky to navigate.  Thankfully there was a lunch special menu with 3 options, so hard to go too wrong.  I picked the tuna bowl with cold soba (you can have hot or cold soba).  Unfortunately, I didn't recognize the word that followed the kanji for tuna, which is tataki (minced).  I am not fond of minced tuna...the texture isn't my favorite.  But oh well, live and learn.  Next time I'll opt for #2 - mixed tempura.  The 3rd option was ika (squid) which is not my favorite unless cooked adobo style (adobong pusit...how I miss thee).  There were lots of other pages where presumably you could order variations on tempura and soba noodles.

Great ambience

Judging from their flyer, they take their soba very seriously, and it was delicious.  Chewy in texture, round in flavor.  The sauce was good too, with a nice smokey undertone.  One odd thing was they didn't give me the noodles separate from the sauce.  I *think* I was asked if I wanted that, but they probably guessed I'd do better with a simple bowl with sauce and noodles together.  A pity...I do like dipping.  Next time.  The minced tuna wasn't terrible, aside from the texture, but the amount of rice was miniscule, so I got some dessert afterwards (see Tokoroten).  There was a special bottle of soy sauce for the fish and rice, which I dipped into.  It was...soy sauce.  Guess my tastes in that area have yet to be refined.

Minced Tuna Don with cold soba

Overall, I was very pleased with the place, despite my poor choice.  Despite that, I really enjoyed it and am confident it deserves the Very Good rating I'm giving it.  I'm looking forward to returning and trying their various other items.

Maruhan Mikasa

******Update 11/9/2018******
Last month this neighborhood fixture closed down.
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Rating: OK
Meal:  Dessert
Price:  110 yen
Payment:  Cash Only
Dishes: Black filling round taiyaki
English Menu: No

Smoking: Probably not

So, I'm pretty sure Tokoroten is not the place's name, (edit:  it's Maruhan Mikasa) but it's the most obvious thing I can read when I come up to the place.  Tokoroten is apparently some kind of agar jelly noodle eaten with a sweet sauce, so I have no doubt they probably have the dish there, but this place is more famous for the round-style taiyaki (not shaped like fish though) that the proprietor is constantly cooking out front.

There appear to be other types of desserts available inside, and possibly some Yokosuka Navy Curry (I saw a sign for it), but the main draw here will always be the round things.  I wish I knew their name, but no amount of googling helped me and I forgot to ask.

Personally, while I don't mind them, they don't blow my mind.  They are quite dense though, and not terribly sweet, so they would make a good mid-afternoon snack, or for filling out a very small lunch (as in my case today).  I do appreciate that the batter appears to be a bit less refined than the usual taiyaki batter.  It's a little less pancakey.

Mos Burger

***Update 3/29/2019***
Daie/Aeon mall is now closed!!
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Rating: Not great
Meal:  Lunch
Price:  380 yen
Payment:  Cash Only
Dishes:  Tonkatsu Burger
English Menu: Yes

Smoking: No

Mos Burger is probably the most famous Japanese fast food chain for burgers.  Lotteria may be close competition, but I think it is actually Korean in origin.  I keep feeling like I *should* like Mos Burger, but then it always disappoints.  It is *slightly* better than DomDom, but not enough to move it up a notch from Not Great.

This time I tried a tonkatsu burger, thinking it might just be an approximation of a small deep fried pork loin.  Unfortunately it was smothered in some kind of tonkatsu sauce, which is usually a bit vinegary and I dislike to put on my actual tonkatsu.  The bun was highly process, and oddly toasted on the inside, which made for a very hot bun indeed.  It didn't really improve the flavor much.

Dom Dom Hamburger

***Update 3/29/2019***
Daie/Aeon mall is now closed!!
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Rating: Not great
Meal:  Lunch
Price:  390 yen
Payment:  Cash Only
Dishes:  Avocado Burger
English Menu: No

Smoking: No

DomDom...this was my first time eating here.  It has never appealed to me, and I almost didn't bother until I spotted the avocado burger on the menu.  I am a sucker for anything with avocado, so I went for it.  There are actually 2 DomDoms in Daie mall, one in each 1st floor food court.  Amazing really.

It's cheap, I'll grant it that.  As with most Japanese fast food hamburgers, it's so small as to be almost a slider.  But hey, it was very cheap, so can't complain.  I was impressed that the avocado was real!  I think it may have been treated chemically in some fashion to preserve it green and fresh "looking" but nonetheless, it didn't taste awful.  The buns are typically nasty highly processed white bread.  Otherwise, nothing you wouldn't expect from such a place.

Shiotetsu Ramen

***Update 3/29/2019***
Daie/Aeon mall is now closed!!
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Rating: Not great
Meal:  Lunch
Price:  780 yen
Payment:  Cash only
Dishes: Spicy ramen
English Menu:Yes

Smoking:No


Shiotetsu Ramen is another unremarkable ramen place in Daie's first floor food court.  I tried it once and was unimpressed, but it was a while ago and I don't want to give it a rating yet.  Not sure if I'll ever feel like going back honestly.  Here's their menu:

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Well I went back today and it was pretty much the same.  The noodles are thinner, more like hakata style, but that's the only similarity.  I had the spicy ramen and I will hand it to them, it was quite warm.  But there was no flavor to the broth underneath it.  The prices are a bit high for what you're getting I think.  I can't really recommend this place.

Kentucky Fried Chicken

***Update 3/29/2019***
Daie/Aeon mall is now closed!!
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Rating: Not great
Meal:  Lunch
Price:  390 yen
Payment:  Cash only
Dishes: Spicy Chicken Sandwich
English Menu:Yes

Smoking:No


The Colonel gazes down upon us in Japan too.  Actually KFC is very popular and can be found everywhere.  I have been known to get a craving for fried chicken and eat here on occasion.  But it's not exactly something that needs reviewing.  On occasion they will have special things that you can't get outside of Japan.  Perhaps I'll review one or two in the future, but for now I'll just put this placeholder up.

One thing that has become a bit of a family tradition is the Christmas chicken bucket.  It's been a Japanese tradition for many decades for KFC to offer special Christmas chicken packages, and it's one of the few times you can get a bucket of chicken here.  We've done the fancy package with a whole roasted chicken and the special plate before, but since then we just opt for a lot of fried chicken.  It makes Christmas dinner a very simple affair.  My wife has her "special foods" she is responsible for making, and I just make sure we have fried chicken and french fries (the fries at KFC are quite good IMO).

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Update:

Today I had several small sandwiches at various Daie spots and KFC was one.  They had a new "spicy chicken" sandwich and it looked like it might be good.


 Unfortunately, it wasn't very good at all.  The bun looked like a ciabatta but was just white bread molded into that form.  The chicken patty wasn't very spicy or very chickeny.  It was textured more like a fish burger.  So, no good.

 If it had been crispy, really spicy, and the bread a bit crunchy, I think it might have been good.