Hokkaido Soft Cream

After my gross lunch today, (see below), I had to get something special to wash away the sadness. My solution? Hokkaido Soft Cream. Hokkaido is Japan's 2nd largest island behind Honshu. It is the big one just north of Honshu. Hokkaido is synonymous with milk and milk related products. I guess the climate up there is good for herding cows, and cows there produce a very creamy tasty milk. People in Tokyo go crazy for Hokkaido Soft Cream. I mean, I have never seen people line up for something like that before but I can totally understand why they do it. Most soft cream in Japan is made with lard or vegetable shortening or something else gross...but not Hokkaido Soft Cream. It is super creamy and clean and in my opinion, the plain milk flavor is the best. Today I got a swirl of Melon and Milk and it was pretty good. So good that that salaryman in the background is staring at my cone.

Hokkaido is also known for their beer. The biggest city in Hokkaido is Sapporo which of course, makes a very famous beer. A few years ago, milk consumption was dropping so a company in Sapporo decided to mix their two biggest exports and create Bilk - Milk Beer. I am hesitant to write about this only because I get a little tired of the "wacky Japan" articles picked up by mainstream international media. (I'm looking at you New York Times!) Yes, there are weird things in Japan (dudes having relationships with dolls and figurines, vegetable flavored chocolate, etc) but most of the weird things only represent only a super tiny portion of the population. Yes, there is a vending machine in Tokyo that sells used ladies underwear, but that is 1 vending machine out of god knows how many in Japan! Ok, I'm just venting now...my point is, those articles are always super entertaining but now that I've moved here, I realize that they probably do more harm than good. Although...this one is a classic.

July Flavors @ Momofuku Milk

Attention! New soft serve flavors at Momofuku Milk Bar! I have to admit, when I first read the new flavors (Rosemary, Lemon Verbena, Blackberry and Apricot), I was a little disappointed. It was hard for me to say goodbye to the classic candy flavors because to me, combining candy and soft serve is the ultimate treat. However, I ate my words and my whole soft serve cup when I tried the Rosemary Soft Serve with Pretzel Crumb topping. Salty and subtle, it was an addicting and unique flavor. I was a little jealous of my friend's Apricot/Rosemary swirl with Olive Oil Cake topping - but now I just have an excuse to go back for more.

The Sweet Side of Momofuku

Make no mistake about it, I'm a huge Momofuku fan. Unless you're a vegetarian or a member of PETA, there's no way you can't love his food. I can't really afford to eat at Momofuku meals every week but thankfully, Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar opened a few months ago and I'm pretty much a regular here. The Cereal Milk Soft Serve was my gateway drug into Milk Bar heaven. Cereal Milk is basically milk steeped with sugary childhood favorites such as Fruity Pebbles and Lucky Charms, then mixed into super creamy soft serve. Yeah, it was awesome. Then I read this article about their head Pastry Chef/my hero and decided that I had to try every single one of their cookies. I am really hoping David Chang puts the recipe for the cornflake-marshmallow-chocolate chip cookies in his upcoming book.

Since Milk Bar has opened, there have been 3 different soft serve themes. Cereal, donuts and currently, they're serving up candy flavors. On my last trip, I tried the Atomic Fireball flavor because when I was little, my sister and I would get them on road trips to LA and see who could keep it in their mouth the longest. (I'm pretty sure that was just a game my parents made up to shut us up.) There's something really weird about eating cold soft serve that tastes exactly like something completely familiar. Your brain is like "Huh?!" and your mouth is like "Say what?!" and then eventually, they come together and sing at the top of their lungs "THIS IS CRAZY!!". Ok, I'll admit, it's not the best soft serve in the world, but it's playful and fun and it keeps me coming back. (JUST LIKE DRUGS!!!)

At this point, I've eaten at all the Momofukus except for Ko and you better believe I'm online every morning at 10am to check for reservations. Needless to say, this post is to be continued...

Midday Treats in Midtown

I subscribe to Midtown Lunch since I do in fact, work in midtown and need to eat lunch everyday. In my opinion, no one should be envious of those that work in Midtown because well...it's midtown. But since I've started reading ML, I've found myself longing for an office relocation north of 42nd Street. Dumpling trucks! Dessert trucks! Ramen! With the exception of K-Town, my lunch options are limited to 4 different Guy & Gallards, Chipotle, McDonald's and something called Maui Tacos.

In the spring and summer, things get a little better since longer lunches to enjoy the sun are more acceptable. My go-to midday treat of late has been Cafe Zaiya's soft serve - specifically, their black sesame flavor. For those of you that just puked in your mouth at the thought of black sesame sweets, I beg you to reconsider. This is a classic Asian flavor - subtle and not too sweet. Black sesame seeds are naturally sweet and very healthy. They're a good source of calcium, magnesium and protein, so according to my calculations, it totally offsets the negative effects of eating ice cream. I guess I could see how you might think it looks gross, but it's not like I'm asking you to try Durian soft serve. I would never do that to you.