Over the weekend I visited one of my favorite places in San Francisco, Japantown. It's less touristy than Chinatown and offers some unique dining and shopping options. Here's how I spent the day there.
On my to-do list was to check out Yakini Q, a Korean BBQ restaurant/cafe. I actually wasn't there for the food but for the drinks. I heard a lot about their sweet potato lattes and had to try one. We got one iced with soy milk and one traditionally made hot with milk. Both were delicious but I think I liked the hot latte best. It was like drinking a warm sweet potato pie. . . .mmm.
My second stop was at the Kinokuniya bookstore. I managed to leave the store with just one Japanese craft book. The book is all about making tassels with embroidery thread and wooden beads.
I stopped at Ichiban Kan, it's kind of like a Japanese dollar store and very similar to Daiso. I picked up these cute pencils for some favors for a birthday party. I love that they have dangling heart charms and bows attached to them (so girly).I also picked up a little something for a giveaway. I'm hoping to have that post up later this week so stay tuned.
6 comments:
I love going there to browse through the stores. Their dollar store is the best! I really miss the ones in Japan. They were one of the great perks of being stationed in Japan!
Actually, the whole country is just wonderful!
Melissa,
What's your favorite store to visit in J-town?
I love the $1 stores on that side of the mall - both are fun. I like traveling to the other side for books/magazines and cute stuff!
The embroidery book is a good buy. The ideas and aesthetics represented within are so inspiring.
Cute pic of you! Love all the cutsie stuff too.
I was in San Francisco earlier this year and stumbled upon Japantown, I was late for a tour and decided to turn back and explore this area. There were some interesting shops that sold Japanese dishes including an antique store in one of the malls. I found the mochi store my brother told me about, so many choices and boy were they amazing! Rainbow mochi was sure pretty but the one filled with red bean was my favorite. The staff was super nice, when asked about a good and reasonable place for lunch they directed me to Kui Shin Bo. Their lunch menu had many choices, everything was freshly made. I had squid tempura, pork tonkatsu which came with rice, miso soup and salad, it was absolutely yummy and filling.
Another highlight was a small store in one of the malls where I discovered numerous wind chimes, I think they were all under $10 but it was the sounds they made that I found delightful, so light and cheerful. They came in many shapes of birds, bells, flowers etc, I can still remember the details of those wind chimes, they were well made.
I thought about you and your posts about Japantown when I visited the area. Thank you Jessica for sharing this special place in your wonderful city.
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