Tempura, sun rainbow, oxtail soup

We were curious about Tempura Ichidai,  part of the Gokoku, Cafe Lani sister restaurants.
We used to go to a tempura bar in Ginza and loved it so we  were excited because this looked like it might be one from outside.

But, aside from watching the food being cooked, it was a bit different.  We were expecting something like a sushi counter where you can order your ingredients as you eat and the cook will place it on the counter as he fries it.

I asked what kind of oil they used and the cook said Canola.
I think tempura cooks can also blend other types of oils-like rice oil-to make a lighter batter too.
There were not a great variety of ingredients.  Missing were things like konyaku, mushrooms, shiso, ginnan, yuba...
There was a chicken tempura course, and kisu, eel, and snapper were also included.

The kuzukiri dessert was too chewy and hard.

                                                                        **********

On a tastier note, the soba at Inaba ( had the gomadare or sesame soup) was good.  They have started a breakfast service from 6:30, so someday we'll go for a Japanese style breakfast.

Today at around 11:30 a.m. there was a pretty rainbow around the sun.  The clouds were wispy and pretty too.

I walked to the Mall from our gym to meet R.  It was a very short (8 minutes) and pleasant walk along Piikoi by the new soon to be opened Nordstroms (March 11).

I like how they have started a living wall to add greenery to the area.

R and I shared a ham and cheese sandwich at Blue Hawaii.
Their Acai Bowl is popular among Japanese tourists.

Tonight, I made Oxtail Soup from the very clean oxtails I found at Wholefood Market.  My first attempt and it turned out well.
I remember when my mother tried this recipe when I was in school and I didn't want to eat it because of the name.
It calls for mustard cabbage but I used Collard Greens.
Also I didn't have the Seagrams whiskey it called for so had to use Sapphire gin instead.