Denny's

デニーズ
There's a Denny's a few blocks down from our apt building but I'm sure they're scattered around Tokyo. Everything is decently priced and there's a big selection covering Western, Japanese, the usual breakfast lunch & dinner and seasonal desserts.


Above are the Pumpkin Milk Pudding Mini Parfait（３９０円） and Chocolate Mini Sundae（３５０円）.　Lisa liked the sundae enough to order it twice in a row. And I'm neither a fan of pudding nor one of parfaits but thoroughly enjoyed かぼちゃparfait. The pumpkin icecream has great flavor and texture. Sandier than the vanilla that sits below it but sandy in a good way.





This is the 400円　パパイヤ　
I have talked myself into thinking of it as a healthful investment.

Pineapples

鳳梨 are really delicious, really common, and really various in Taiwan




金鑽鳳梨
Roughly translates to Golden Diamond Pineapple, which is a much bolder yellow/orange that is somewhat transparent and reflects light along its facets--like diamonds! The taste is in perfect accordance with its looks; still a pineapple, but more daring and sharp.

牛奶鳳梨
Milk Pineapple, which is grown under generous nursing of the cow teets (teehee). It's not fair to give the taste away after I waited two months for this to be in season. Plus, I can't think of anything witty to say...so you just go try it if you're in Taiwan.

牛奶芭樂
They also have Milk Guava

Durian milk

For all the people who love durian but can't stand the smell. You might try durian milk as an alternative because there is no smell to it. I am assuming that somewhere between the milking and the pureeing the smell dissipated and didn't come back. And if you don't like durian at all you still might want to visit this fruit store because they sell cute bottles of freshly made watermelon juice, hemp berry juice, mango milk, avocado milk, and like things.

"King of fruits"

a.k.a. "fruit that tastes like pure fat" ^^



Address

永康街, past Yogurt Me

Ba Jiao

The plantain (芭蕉) in Taiwan wields ephiphanic qualities to me and like creatures. Plantains common in the states are large, green and tough. They go largely unappreciated because most Americans don't know what to do with them and will often move on after stopping to cop a feel. I know only one way to eat these plantains and that is how my mom does them. In her kitchen the plantains are thickly sliced and lightly fried until golden on both sides. They are generously salted to taste while still in the pan. She then let's them "cool" (will-burn-you-->still-pretty-darn-hot) before smashing them into cm-thick disks with the side of a knife just as she learned to do in Dominican Republic (a.k.a. my birthplace).
Hot. Damn. Delicious.


nearest depiction [not my photo]


But it looks nothing like this.

Apparently I have heretofore been missing out on the other plantain. These are shorter, thicker, and denser than their sister fruit, the banana. There is a chewing gum-like elasticity to its bite that makes you want to make that annoying smacking sound with ur mouth+mouth contents. But that doesn't work, sorry.


Cut to abrupt conclusion:
Not hot but still Damn Delicious.