Arashi Parfait and Vegetarian Ramen

This is a food post. I hope you don't mind.

Wandering around Shinjuku station this past week, I came across a parfait that is very relevant to my interests.

An Arashi parfait named after one of my favorite songs??? HECK YES I NEED TO EAT THAT. I went with my dears Tracy and Marissa to partake of the epic dessert. Cafe Est! Est!, home of this parfait, also bills itself as an establishment that employs very handsome j-boys. I'm not sure what else I could ask of a cafe.

Comes to your table with a sparkler!!!
As sparkly as MatsuJun!

OM NOM NOM!!!

Yes, that is an upside-down ice cream cone on my parfait.

And a slice of chocolate cake.

Hidden bonus: the cream puffs are filled with vanilla ice cream~

Our chocolate cake took a fatal spill.

Delicious~ and worth the 1250yen omg. The cafe made us order one item each, so we also ordered happy face fries to cut the sweetness and I got a milk tea. I do have one complaint -- my milk tea came to me as regular tea and the pretty boy handed me a non-dairy creamer to make it *milk* tea. Cheap bastards. But if you want to pay them a visit, go to the Odakyu department store in Shinjuku station.

Onto something savory~ There's a ramen shop chain, Kagetsu Arashi, that has a special limited-edition vegetarian ramen on their menu. Since it's very difficult to explain any sort of dietary restrictions to Japanese people, I was interested to try it. I'm definitely a carnivore and I was not expecting to enjoy this dish at all (I even ordered a side of gyoza in case it was a bust), but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was!

I've had their tonkotsu ramen before and I thought it was okay by Japanese standards, but the noodles were a bit thick for my tastes and the broth left my mouth feeling dirty. The vegetable ramen managed to keep an unmistakable ramen flavor with a lighter broth and thinner noodles. Aside from one very aromatic vegetable I couldn't identify, I liked the veggie ramen a lot more than the tonkotsu ramen.

Standard tonkotsu ramen for comparison. My new coworker had that one.

My Nana vegetarian ramen! Smelled like salad lol.

I have no idea what's in this!

Mmm vegetable broth~

Green noodles~

Seriously, it was delicious. It's a little pricey at 780yen a bowl, but OM NOM NOM GO EAT IT.

SPAM BONUS: This Lawson near Shinjuku station is clearly advertising SPAM MUSUBI.

Spam Curry~

I love Spam. Many people find Spam to be strange and inedible, but I grew up eating it and I think it is just delicious. It compliments so many different things - rice, eggs, noodles, pancakes, green beans. Oh, the combinations are seemingly endless!

And it comes in so many different varieties! They don't just come in blue cans, you know. I've tried most of the ones in this picture:

Spam spread - bought a can, but was too afraid to open it.

Spam Lite - no flavor!
Limited Edition Hawaii can - Hawaii can made it more delicious~
Reduced Sodium Spam - my favorite! I can even buy it in Japan.
Garlic Spam - amazing.
Spam with Cheese - I will admit this one was kinda weird.
Turkey Spam - do not want! Strange texture and flavor is lacking.
Limited Edition Monty Python and the Holy Grail Honey Spam - Saw the Broadway production and bought a can, but didn't open it. Might be too old by now, but I'd still save the can.
Bacon Spam - I'm actually going through a can of this right now. My two favorite meats in one!
BBQ Spam - I did not know this existed before I found this photo. BUY ME A CAN SOMEONE PLEASE.
Spicy Spam - my 3rd favorite. They make a spicier version for southeast Asia.
Hickory Smoke Spam - my 2nd favorite, so smokey~

So knowing how much I love this mystery meat, you must imagine my utter glee when my dear friend Tracy gave me a box of Spam Curry!

Supamu Kare-!

Seriously, she sent me a photo of it sitting on a combini shelf and I told her YOU MUST BUY A BOX FOR ME. I warmed it up last week when I was too lazy to go to the store.

I'm sad to say that I was slightly disappointed. The curry totally covered up the deliciousness of the Spam, so it was like eating any other packaged curry I've ever had. How dare they ruin my Spam! But it was otherwise a satisfactory dinner, even if I couldn't fully experience the Spammy goodness. Maybe this would be good for Spam novices, who need to become accustomed to the unique texture of Spam before taking on the flavor.