http://www.city-cost.comTue, 16 Jun 2026 12:32:01 +0900City-Cost is an interesting new way to find and share useful financial and living information in Japan. Make your life easier and help others with City-CostenCopyright © 2015 - 2026 City-Cost All Rights Reserved.webmaster@city-cost.com (CC Team)http://img.city-cost.com/static/blog_campaign_icon.pnghttp://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/zVX8k-foodAs a vegetarian who is trying to be as vegan as possible in Japan, I’m always on the lookout for vegan products. Since veganism hasn’t arrived as trend in the Japanese health industry yet, vegan substitute products are still hard to find. I’m not saying that we need heaps of them, but it still makes me happy when I get the option to buy a vegan version of something I like.This plant based “cheese” doesn’t quite have the melting properties of real cheese, as shown in the picture (real cheese left, vegan "cheese" right), and of course it also doesn’t really taste like cheese, but I found it still satisfying to eat and have been repurchasing it for several months now. I’d say, while not a perfect substitute, it’s still nice to use on pizza, bread or pasta bakes.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/zVX8k-foodSat, 10 Apr 2021 16:59:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/zVX8k-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MPPeW-living_moneyI came to Japan on a working holiday visa and found a part-time job at Sushiro through the website yolo-japan.com. According to the website, they didn’t require any Japanese language skills and jobs were offered in heaps of venues all over Japan. Since Sushiro is Japan’s biggest conveyor belt sushi restaurant chain, I guess they were just aimlessly mass hiring. Setting up the interview was very easy. After applying through the yolo-japan website, I received an email with a link to a Sushiro website where I could schedule the interview with some online bot. The whole process was in Japanese, but I just used google translate to get through it. When I went to the restaurant for the interview, I was first guided to a table by one of the staff to wait there. Then they brought me a small tablet computer to input all my details. First I didn’t notice, but there was a button to change the language settings to English, which made it a lot easier for me. After that was all done, it was finally time for the actual interview with one of the shop managers. Even though they didn’t ask for it, I found it very helpful to bring a Japanese resume to the interview, so they had something to read and look at without me having to explain everything about my work history. Since I was an absolute beginner in Japanese, I could barely understand and answer any of the questions during the interview. For some reason I still received a phone call three days later from the manager, telling me that I got the job and asking me to come in again to sign the contract. Of course this was also in Japanese and I only got the message because my Japanese friend was with me when I received the phone call, so Japanese was very necessary.To sign the contract I had to bring my passport including visa designation, residency card, JP bank card (it needs to be JP bank, they can’t transfer salary anywhere else) and my hanko. It was a pretty long procedure to input my information into the tablet computer again and take pictures of all the document to upload them into the system. When everything was done I received some information on restaurant hygiene, my new uniform, instructions on how and where to buy work shoes, as well as a little vial with an envelope for a stool sample. They asked me to collect the stool sample at home, send it to the lab and call them when it’s done.About a week later my work shoes had arrived and I got a call from the manager telling me that they got the lab results and that I was ready to come in for my first shift. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MPPeW-living_moneySat, 09 Jan 2021 17:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MPPeW-living_moneyhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GOWmO-foodEven though IPAs are usually not my thing, COEDO is still my favourite Japanese brewery and I was curious to see if I could find a difference between normal India Pale Ales and this India Pale Lager. Like all of COEDO’s beers, this one does exactly what is says on the bottle, it’s exactly what you expect an IPA, or in this case IPL, to be: hoppy and bitter. First of all, it smells like putting your nose into a bag of fresh hops (which I found quite pleasant). The flavour is also super hops forward, since hops was basically all I could taste, but at least I got a somewhat interesting flavour development from fruity hops to just bitter hops with a very bitter aftertaste. Even though this beer is a little too bitter for me personally, I can definitely see how people who like IPAs would enjoy this a lot. Since I'm also not an expert on IPAs, I couldn't really see what the 'lagering' did for the beer, but it's supposed to create a cleaner crisper finish compared to normal IPAs.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GOWmO-foodFri, 06 Nov 2020 17:00:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GOWmO-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/G0vxr-foodAnd another wonderful fall ice cream I had to try! After having tried the other new Häagen-Dazs flavour, Mochi and Chestnut, I was curious to try this one as well: Mochi with Kinako and Kuromitsu. The ice cream itself is kinako flavoured and you get the kuromitsu as separate thin layers of sauce in between. The mochi is on top with a nice dusting of kinako. I really liked the ice cream as it had all the great roasted nutty aromas you would expect some good quality kinako to have. The aroma reminded me rather of freshly roasted sesame than soy flour. The mochi and extra kinako on top were adding a nice texture to the whole thing and were making it more fun to eat. My only critique is that there wasn’t enough kuromitsu, since the layers where very thin and in my case most of the sauce had collected at the bottom.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/G0vxr-foodFri, 06 Nov 2020 16:25:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/G0vxr-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/z83D7-food_autumnfood2020As far as I know, ‘Zenzai’ usually describes a sweet red bean soup with small mochi in it. I had it a few times before, but never liked it because it was just too sweet for me. So I had kinda decided that Zenzai was simply not for me. That was until I stumbled over a cute little café in Nikko that was advertising Murasakiimo (Japanese purple sweet potato) Zenzai. Of course I had to go in and try it! I instantly loved the combination of warm soup and cold ice cream with the mochi adding another dimension of texture to the dish.I don’t know if Murasakiimo Zenzai is actually a thing and I just don’t know about it or if this was a somewhat special dish, but I liked it so much that I decided to recreate it at home. Since I couldn’t find a recipe online, I just made my own version of this wonderful fall dessert and thought it might be interesting to share, in case there are more sweet potato lovers out there who don’t like the traditional sweet red bean soup and are looking for alternatives.My version is not very sweet, because I didn't want to overpower the sweet potato flavor. Instead, the ice cream adds sweetness and creaminess to the whole dish. The mochi make it more fun to eat and were also slightly sweet in my case.So here is my Murasakiimo Zenzai recipe, inspired by a small café in Nikko:Ingredients for about 3-4 servings1 large (=320g) purple sweet potato (紫芋 – むらさきいも)1 tablespoon brown sugarsmall pinch of saltToppingsSmall mochi (I used frozen)Vanilla ice creamInstructions 1. Cut the sweet potato into small cubes (you can peel it if you like, but I don’t think it’s necessary) and place it together with the sugar and salt into a sauce pan. 2. Add water to the point where the sweet potato is not quite covered and simmer with a lid until the sweet potato becomes tender. 3. Mash with a potato masher or fork until it reaches your desired consistency. I left mine a little chunky. 4. Taste your zenzai to adjust for sugar if you like it sweeter and transfer to your serving dish while it’s still hot. Top with ice cream and mochi and enjoy!Notes • The recipe probably also works well with the normal satsumaimo (さつま芋), since satsumaimo and murasakiimo taste fairly similar, but I haven’t tried it. • I used unrefined dark sugar (黒糖), which added another nice flavor dimension to the dish. • You can use any ice cream flavor you like, something like plain milk or rum raisin would also be a good match. Mine was homemade cinnamon rum ice cream, which was an awesome combination.This is the little café in Nikko where I ate Murasakiimo Zenzai: お茶処 三天甘太郎 〒321-1405 栃木県日光市石屋町420-1The shop owner is a lovely old man who is very happy to chat with customers and give recommendations about where to go in the Nikko area (only in Japanese though).To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/z83D7-food_autumnfood2020Fri, 23 Oct 2020 16:27:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/z83D7-food_autumnfood2020https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wrVZ3-food_autumnfood2020Here’s another one of my new favorite ice cream flavors: Sweet Potato!This flavor is the latest addition to Meiji’s “Sweet’s” premium ice cream range and well worth trying. The ice cream itself is obviously sweet potato flavored and has two different shades of yellow, but I couldn’t taste any difference in the two layers. On top is another sweet potato flavored sauce, which is topped with soft and delicious butter cookie crumbles. The whole thing is not too sweet and with the three different textures fun to eat. The 172ml cup was ¥218 including tax, so it’s more expensive then the normal flavors and the serving size is slightly smaller than Meiji’s standard 200ml cups, but I like that the packaging is almost all paper and the only plastic part is the little foil between cup and lid.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wrVZ3-food_autumnfood2020Tue, 20 Oct 2020 17:43:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wrVZ3-food_autumnfood2020https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GOWjv-food_autumnfood2020I’m usually not much of a fall person, but out of all the seasons I’ve experienced so far in Japan, food-wise fall is my favorite one. After trying and loving the Häagen-Dazs ‘Pumpkin’ and ‘Sweet Potato’ flavors, I recently found this new one in the supermarket: Mochi and Chestnut!The ice cream is chestnut flavored with chestnut sauce swirled through and topped with soft mochi as well as more chestnut sauce. The whole thing is dusted with powdered sugar, which gives it a nice snow look. The texture is interesting as well, since you are getting a bit of sauce, chewy mochi and dense ice cream in each bite. My only critique is that it’s quite sweet and with about ¥200 for 90ml rather expensive. I think it’s still well worth the experience and I’m looking forward to trying the other mochi and kinako flavor!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GOWjv-food_autumnfood2020Mon, 12 Oct 2020 16:19:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GOWjv-food_autumnfood2020https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/zVPLp-foodThis saison style beer is the product of a collaboration between the Japanese craft beer brewery COEDO, the New Zealand craft beer brewery Garage Project and the American winery Coppola. It has been brewed with Japanese plums, hops from New Zealand as well as America; and aged in Chardonnay wine barrels. There is a lot of complexity going on in this beer and it is certainly one of the most interesting beers I’ve had in Japan. The first thing that hits your nose is the fruity and sweet plum aroma, but don’t be deceived by the sweet smell! The actual taste is a lot more sour (as you might expect if you've had Japanese plums before). The flavour takes you on a wonderful journey starting with the bitter yet aromatic hops, through chardonnay barrels, all the way to the natural sour plum taste. It then leaves you with a mild sour sweetness in the aftertaste. Overall an incredible and refreshing beer that makes Japan's rainy season a lot more bearable.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/zVPLp-foodWed, 22 Jul 2020 00:04:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/zVPLp-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MYmd6-foodAs far as Japanese Craft Beer goes, Coedo is probably my favorite brewery. They have an amazing range of not particularly unique styles, but incredibly well made beers. Hefe Weizen (literally translates to “yeast wheat”) is a traditional German beer style with a large share of malted wheat in its grain bill that makes for a full bodied flavor profile. As a German, this beer made me very happy. It has everything I expect from a good wheat beer. A fruity aroma, a rather strong yeast flavor and a mild bitterness that balances out the sweetness from the wheat. It pours with a nice head and has the classic cloudy appearance due to the yeast that remains in the beer after bottling. I think it is a little sweeter that most German wheat beers, but it still leaves you with a craving for more. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MYmd6-foodWed, 08 Jul 2020 20:46:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MYmd6-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MvjxX-foodI love all melons, but so far Japanese melon- flavoured foods and drinks have been rather disappointing. Nevertheless, I had to give it another shot and picked up this melon ale at the local liquor shop. It is a sweet honey melon flavoured drink with 5% fruit juice and 5% alcohol, but has nothing to do with ale in any sense of the word. There is no maltyness or bitterness, only the aftertaste kinda reminds you that you are not drinking a softdrink. After all my ale- expectations had been thoroughly ruined, I readjusted my taste buds for a sweet softdrink-with-alcohol-type of beverage and enjoyed the rest of it a lot more. The melon flavour is not artificial, but very sweet, so one of those 300ml bottles is plenty for me. Definitely a drink that’s easy to enjoy on a hot summer day.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MvjxX-foodMon, 29 Jun 2020 00:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MvjxX-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MJPrV-foodI tried the Ginga Kogen wheat beer before and liked it very much. It’s not quite the same as a German wheat beer, but so far one of the best ones I have had over here. So when I found the Ginga Kogen Original pale lager, I was super excited to try it.The beer has very fine carbonation and is a little cloudy, so it still has some yeast left in it. The initial taste is very bold with strong crisp fruity hoppy aromas. There is only a very mild bitterness as most of the flavor reminds of a rather bananary wheat beer. Unfortunately the flavor profile is rather short and the beer becomes watery very quickly. After that initial fruity punch it only leaves you with a mild yeasty aftertaste. Overall, I really enjoyed the Ginga Kogen Original. It is very easy and refreshing to drink, so perfect for the coming summer months. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MJPrV-foodMon, 18 May 2020 13:28:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MJPrV-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wZ325-foodYebisu is definitely one of my favorite Japanese lager beers, but until recently I was not aware that there was more than just their standard beer. So when I found the Yebisu Meister at the supermarket I naturally had to give it a try and did not get disappointed.Much like their standard lager this one is also very easy to drink while being quite aromatic. I mostly got the bitter flavor from the hops, which were complimented by some delicate non-sweet malty aromas. Overall it is a very well balanced and light bodied beer, that can certainly be enjoyed with all kinds of foods all year round.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wZ325-foodSat, 16 May 2020 14:35:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wZ325-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wrVy3-food_teaSo far, my experience with Japanese tea in general has been very limited. I have been drinking lots of different teas from all around the world for years, but this is my first time trying green tea from Shizuoka Prefecture. When I went to my local grocery store to get some, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of affordable teas from that area. This limited edition green tea from Shimada City in Shizuoka finally stood out to me due to it’s JGAP certification (at that point I had no idea what that meant though…). It was also only ¥678 for a large 300g bag, which I think is a very reasonable price.Back at home, I first researched what that JGAP thing was all about. JGAP stands for ‘Japan Good Agricultural Practices’ and is a set of certification standards by the Japan GAP foundation to ensure the quality, safety and sustainability of agricultural products. The control criteria comprise factors like soil, water, fertilizer, pesticides, sanitation and radioactive substances. In addition to monitoring food safety, JGAP also considers occupational safety with strict regards to human rights. So far so good, but what does this apparently quite ethically and sustainably produced tea taste like?From my first brew I got some nice notes of freshly cut grass and quite a bit of bitterness. That is most likely owed to the fact that I didn’t use a timer to time the recommended 30 seconds of infusion time. I also noticed the rather pale green colour of the brew and the dark sediment of tea debris at the bottom of my tea pot.After finishing the first round and giving my pot a quick rinse, I had now learned from my mistakes and payed more attention to the preparation of the second batch. The result was well worth it! That time I got a very different beverage, with light and refreshing flavors, perfect for spring and summer. It reminded me of the scent of a rainy summer day after a period of drought. It’s incredible how the flavor can change with multiple infusions and a few seconds difference in infusion time.I sure hope this limited edition green tea from the Harada tea plantation is not too limited so I can get more when I run out. But I am also looking forward to trying more different teas from Shizuoka and expanding my tea horizon. This post is supported by Shizuoka Green Tea Guide, one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wrVy3-food_teaMon, 04 May 2020 09:58:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wrVy3-food_teahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MgaXA-food_shoppingIf you wouldn’t call yourself an expert on sake or can’t read kanji fluently, don’t worry! You will still be able to get some good information from a bottles’ label, just by knowing what all those numbers mean.The Rice Polishing RateAlso called Semai-Buai 精米歩合, is the percentage of how much of each rice grain remains after it has been milled before fermentation. This number is the strongest indicator for knowing what the sake will taste like. A higher number means that more of the rice grain remains and it will have more robust characteristics of brown rice. It also means it has a lower grade (which is unrelated to the quality of the sake as I will explain later). A lower Semai-Buai means that less of the rice grain remains after milling. Hence, the sake will have more delicate flavors, as well as a higher grade.So what do those grades mean? GradesDaiginjou 大吟醸 is the highest grade with a polishing rate of 50% or lower (so only half or less of the original rice grain remains after milling) and has delicate floral flavors. This grade is usually best served chilled and paired with lighter food like sashimi.Ginjou 吟醸 is the middle grade, has a polishing rate of 50-60% and offers more tropical fruity aromas like banana, pineapple or melon. This one is also usually best served chilled and goes well with most dishes that you would otherwise pair with a white wine.Junmai 純米 and Honjouzou 本醸造 are the lowest grades and have rice polishing rates of 60% or higher. The flavor will be more robust with nutty and honey aromas, which is why they can go with many different dishes and can usually also be served at room temperature or warmer. Junmai means ‘pure rice’ and also refers to the category of sake that has no brewers alcohol added to it. Honjouzous do have some brewers alcohol added to them to lift certain aromas, resulting in a more flavorsome and lighter bodied end product. Even though Daiginjous tent to be more expensive than the other grades, it is important to understand that higher grades are not ‘better’ than lower grades. They are just different and which one is ‘better’ depends on personal taste and preference.Sake Metre ValueSMV 日本酒度 refers to the specific gravity of the product and can lie between -2 and +10, with most sakes being at +4. The specific gravity measures the sugar content of a liquid and the lower the number, the higher the sugar content. However, you need to keep in mind that many different factors, like acidity for example, affect taste. That means a sake with a high sugar content doesn’t necessarily have do taste sweet if it is also high in acidity.Alcohol Content アルコール分The alcohol content is usually around 15-16% ABV (alcohol by volume). Since sake is commonly fermented up to 20% ABV and then diluted with water to bring out certain aromas, the alcohol content might also be higher in some cases.Amino-Sando アミノ酸度The amino-acid level is an indicator of the beverages’ umami and can lie between 0.7 and 1.4. A higher number means the sake will be more full bodied and a lower number indicates a rather watery beverage.Knowing about these few indicators will surely help you finding the right sake for your palate. Have fun exploring!Reference: 'Demystifying Sakè' by Wayne M Shennen https://ja.rangitototokyo.com/demystifying-sake-e-book To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MgaXA-food_shoppingTue, 21 Apr 2020 15:25:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MgaXA-food_shoppinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wk5m7-foodThe Sorachi 1984 is an amber coloured ale beer, made with the unique ‘Sorachi’ hops variety from Hokkaido. Most aromatic hops have tropical fruit and citrus aromas, but this one is completely different. It took me a few sips to figure out what it tastes like, which made the whole drinking experience quite exciting for me. The beer is very hoppy with strong pine aromas upfront and a bittering hops dominated aftertaste. It is as refreshing as a nice walk in spring through a pine tree forest, while being full bodied at the same time. The carbonation makes for an almost creamy mouthfeel and perfectly compliments the flavor. The Sorachi 1984 is probably the best Sapporo beer I have had so far (and I really like Sapporo beer) and I will definitely go back to get more of it!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wk5m7-foodThu, 16 Apr 2020 13:32:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wk5m7-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/z4228-foodI have to admit that I was mostly intrigued by this one because I am German and it said ‘Special German Style Beer’ on the can, so obviously I had to try it.It is a clear wheat beer and therefore I would categorize it as a ‘crystal wheat beer’, which is a filtered style of wheat beer. Since most traditional wheat beers are unfiltered and cloudy with strong signature yeast flavors, you only get a very mild yeast aroma in this filtered style. Otherwise it is very banana forward and very sweet, with only a hint of bitterness. The aftertaste is quite watery, which makes the whole beer too light bodied to satisfy my personal expectations of a wheat beer.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/z4228-foodFri, 10 Apr 2020 14:42:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/z4228-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GyPy7-foodAfter becoming a massive fan of the EchigO rice lager, I now have managed to get my hands on the EchigO Stout.It is a very smokey beer with a mild underlying malty sweetness. There is merely a hint of bitterness that comes in midway, but gets very much overpowered by the smokey aromas. It kind of tastes like burned caramel (in a good way!) without being too sweet. For a stout I find it too watery and the flavor profile is too short for what I would expect. You merely get a short smokey aftertaste and that is it. But if you told me that this beer was a dark lager, I would be quite happy with it.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GyPy7-foodTue, 07 Apr 2020 12:26:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GyPy7-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GR1qg-foodMaster’s Dream is a premium lager from Suntory’s ‘The Premium Malts’ range and caught my eye because it is one of the few bottled Japanese beers.The first thing that hits your tongue is a hint of malty sweetness, which quickly disappears into some very light non-sweet malty aromas. The predominant flavor of this beer is bittering hops and the bitterness pervades almost the whole short flavor profile all the way to the aftertaste. A pleasant feature of this beer is the noticeable fine carbonation which makes for a very nice mouthfeel. Altogether, Master’s Dream is a very good and easy to drink lager that almost feels like a German Pilsner.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GR1qg-foodSun, 05 Apr 2020 20:11:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GR1qg-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wNWYj-foodI like fruity things and I like wheat beer, so I had to give this one a try. The first sip feels a bit like a raspberry sherbet punch in the face. It is very sweet and the slightly artificial raspberry flavor overpowers everything else. Ok, now that we are prepared for the kind of beer that awaits us, the second sip comes in a lot nicer. There is still the initial sweet raspberry sherbet flavor, but then we also get some mild hoppy and yeasty notes which remind us that we are drinking a fermented beverage and not raspberry soda. What stays is a pleasant aftertaste of yeast and still slightly artificial raspberry. Even if it only has 3% alcohol by volume, this is by no means a light beer. It is a sweet full bodied wheat beer that doesn’t offer a lot a flavor development, but is still fun to drink.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wNWYj-foodFri, 03 Apr 2020 22:59:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/wNWYj-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MYmLm-foodThis lager beer was a lot better than I expected it to be, so I thought it might be worth reviewing here. The first thing that hits your palette is a rather sharp bitterness from the hops, followed by some mild and not sweet malty notes. With that, the main part of the flavor development is already done and you are left with a pleasant lingering aftertaste of hoppy bitterness. The only thing that bothered me were the large bubbles which make for a rather unpleasant mouth feel, but I guess that is something you would expect from a canned lager beer.Overall it’s a nice and easy to drink beer that reminded me of a slightly watery red ale. I am not a big lager beer drinker, but would enjoy this one again as a refreshing summer beverage with some light food.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MYmLm-foodMon, 09 Mar 2020 12:07:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MYmLm-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GRq62-foodThis is probably the best Japanese rice lager beer I have ever had. The flavor profile is rather light and delicate, but is includes all the right notes. You get some very pleasant honey like sweetness together with that distinct fermented rice aroma which reminded me of sake. There is almost no bitterness to this beer and the hops aroma that you do get is rather on the fruity side. The malty tasting notes are unsurprisingly subtle, but are still adding a nice body and richness to the whole beer. The mouthfeel is unexpectedly creamy for a lager beer with a very fine bubbly carbonation.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GRq62-foodMon, 17 Feb 2020 16:46:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/GRq62-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MY59o-foodI am generally not a fan of these soda-with-alcohol-type of drinks, but since I am a big fan of watermelons I had to give this one a try. The sweetness is on the expected soda-level and it does taste like watermelon. The watermelon flavor itself however is too artificial for my taste and reminds me more of watermelon that has been cut up and then left out for a while until it almost tastes a little rotten. Even though you can get used to the flavor as your drink your way trough the can, I don’t think you should have to.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MY59o-foodSat, 15 Feb 2020 15:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/MY59o-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/G0VNK-foodUnlike a lot of Japanese lager beers, the Asahi Dry Black offers a very pleasant flavor development. The little journey starts out with rather strong roast aromas that evoke associations of freshly roasted coffee, which soon disappear to make space for a fine hoppy bitterness. The following mild malty sweetness dominates the lingering aftertaste and leaves you with aromatic notes of dark caramel.Overall, this is a very well made dark lager beer. It is very easy to drink if you like dark beers and definitely suitable as a summer and winter beverage. If you are in the market for a dark beer, I can definitely recommend this one.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/G0VNK-foodThu, 13 Feb 2020 18:00:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/G0VNK-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/ME8N1-foodDashi is one of the main ingredient in the Japanese cuisine and in most cases made from fish. As a vegetarian and passionate home cook who only recently moved to Japan, I thought I would not be able to recreate and enjoy most Japanese dishes at home, since I do not want to consume fish. That was, until I found out about kombu dashi which is made by soaking kombu seaweed in water. It is also possible to buy these little instant stock sachets in every supermarket. Having not tried fish dashi before it’s hard to compare the flavor, but everything I have cooked with this instant kombu dashi so far has turned out very well. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/ME8N1-foodWed, 12 Feb 2020 18:48:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Kanuba/ME8N1-food