Sri Lankan Restaurant and Cafe LAMP

I have passed this place a few times on my way to Mominoki and I have been wanting to check it out.

I finally got my opportunity yesterday. I found myself driving to Mominoki in search of some snow for a photo shoot I was doing and as I drove past this place, I knew where I was having lunch. Good thing my client was also my really good friend, Tani. She knows about my food obsession and she is always up for a foodie adventure.

We walked in and we liked it right away. After picking a table by the front window and putting our stuff down, we asked if we could look around. It's not that it was a large space for us to explore, but he did have some spices and teas for sale that we looked at (I picked up a bottle of chili powder that smells amazing). We also wanted to see what the view was out the back window. It was beautiful! He said we could open the back door and go out if we wanted to, but he wasn't sure if it was a good idea with all of the snow. We looked and he was right. Not a good idea. So we decided to sit down and look through the menu.

The first thing I saw was the pumpkin curry. Tani and I decided we should order two different types of curry and share. She picked the dry chicken curry and I picked the pumpkin soup curry (big surprise). The owner then told us that we needed to order rice or roti separately if we wanted some to go with the curry. Roti?? I have no idea what that is so I ask and he kindly explains that it is a Sri Lankan bread that you eat with the curry. So... we ordered one rice and one roti. Of course.

When he brought the pumpkin curry out and set it down, the smell was amazing. I couldn't wait to dig in!

It was really like a bowl of soup and it was just as yummy as it smelled. I loved the chunks of pumpkin that were in the soup curry, and I loved the fact that it wasn't spicy at all for me. I'm a wuss when it comes to spicy foods so I asked about it when we ordered. He said the normal spice had a little bit of a kick. I can handle a tiny kick. This curry didn't really seem to have a kick to me so you can order it spicier if you like a big kick. I can't really explain how wonderful the flavors were in this curry. You will have to go and order it. It's the only way you will know.

The chicken curry looked and smelled delicious too!

I have to say the chicken curry threw me off just a little bit. It definitely had a little bit of a kick, but what got me was that it also had a slight sweetness to it. I wasn't expecting it so it was a surprise. It was pretty tasty.

The bread was also very good. I think getting one of each was perfect because the curry was really good with both the rice and the bread.

There should be a couple of weeks left for sledding season so head on up to Mominoki Park and make sure you stop here for lunch or dinner on your way back. To get to this wonderful wonderful restaurant, jump on Route 2 and head towards Otake. Turn left onto 186 and head towards the Yasaka Dam. Once you pass Yasaka Dam stay on 186 and continue on heading towards Yoshiwa. Turn right onto 488 (if you turn left you can go to Megahira for some skiing). Follow the road until you see the restaurant on the left (maybe 10 min). If you want to go sledding first, just keep driving past the restaurant until you see an entrance sign for Mominoki Park. You certainly don't have to go sledding to enjoy this restaurant though. You can do a little hiking at Three Peaks (Mikuradake) and then go enjoy a nice lunch here. You can also jump in your car and just drive to LAMP, eat delicious curry, and drive home. I would definitely make the drive up just to eat here.

LAMP is open from 1100-2100 and the phone number is (0829)77-2773.

The Lockup

Last night I went to a really fun restaurant in Hiroshima called The Lockup.

I heard about this place from my friend Kazumi a couple of weeks ago. All I knew was that it was a restaurant with a prison theme. Ahhh....she had me at theme. I'm the type of person who needs to know what I'm getting myself into though so I jumped on the computer and Googled it. After reading a few blog posts about it and checking out their website, I couldn't wait to go! I was slightly confused about a few things though. It is a prison theme, but there was something about monsters and ghosts... so I thought, maybe it was a haunted prison theme.. ? Then I looked at the menu and the drinks are served in beakers and test tubes. So...is it a haunted prison with a mad scientist lab? Now I REALLY couldn't wait to go.

The restaurant is located on the 4th floor of the building that is located right across the street from the Don Quijote store. Their phone number is 082-546-2550. Their address is Granporuto Bldg 4F, 6-1 Shintenchi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi. If you know where Molly Malone's is, it's about a 3-minute walk from Molly Malone's.

We arrived at the building and took the elevator to the 4th floor. When we stepped off of the elevator, we weren't really sure what we had gotten ourselves into. This sign was posted on the wall, telling us to push the button so we did..

You can't see the button in the picture, but it's below the sign.
Soo...we pushed the button, and we waited.
















I wasn't sure what to expect, but a guy dressed up like a police officer came out with a clipboard and asked if we had reservations.

Once he verified our reservations, he opened a door for us and told us to go in. We walked into a dark room and listened to a recording that was basically welcoming us to The Lockup and telling us to enter at our own risk... the voice was kind of creepy. I think we were told to wave our hand over something, but we didn't really pay attention so I don't think we quite did what we were supposed to do (oops!). The door then opened and we were told to come out. Once we stepped out we were asked who in our group had done something bad. Well....we all pointed at our friend Cynthia (sorry Cynthia!!). You will have to give up someone in your group. I won't tell you what happens to the person who is thrown under the bus....but it's pretty funny. Well, it was funny for us. Maybe not so much for Cynthia.

After that we were taken to our table, which was in a cell. Complete with bars! They have cells in different sizes. Ours was big enough for a party of six, but the cell across from us was only big enough for two people.

We had pre-ordered a set that included all-you-can-drink, but you can also order from the menu once you get there. That is what I plan on doing the next time I go. There were some items on the menu that I really wanted to try that weren't included in our set. The items we did get were pretty tasty though and we were happy with the amount of food we got too.

The bag was full of delicious french fries and the black things looked like burnt fried chicken, but they didn't taste burnt at all. To the left were some takoyaki (balls of dough with a chunk of octopus), but there was a catch with these. There was one out of the four that had tabasco sauce in it. They don't tell you which one has it so whoever gets it, gets a little surprise when they eat it. Luckily, I did not get the one with tabasco sauce in it.

One of the things I would have loved to try that wasn't included in our set was this -

It's a tuna and avocado spider! There were quite a few interesting dishes throughout the menu. I should let you know that they do not have English menus, but there are pictures of everything.








Aside from having interesting food items, they also have some really interesting drinks. Complete with eyeballs....

After we had been there for almost two hours, the lights went out and sirens started to go off. Someone was announcing that the monsters had gotten loose and were invading the prison. WHAT?!?! What does that mean??? Well, you will have to go see for yourself because there is no way my description of what happened over the next 10 or 15 minutes will do it justice. I will say that the monsters probably won't forget us.... there may or may not have been some dancing in our cell. Ahem...With one of the scary creatures...

Reservations are highly recommended if you plan on going on a Friday or Saturday night. Definitely a fun place to go to with a group of friends! They will also do a little something special if you let them know ahead of time that you have someone celebrating their birthday in your party. They didn't seem to have anyone who spoke English so you will probably need some help to make reservations and you'll have to be a little adventurous when you eat there. Don't let that stop you though. It's definitely a must try!

This might help a little when planning your dinner at this fun place! Sorry I forgot to include this in my original post.

Hours -
MONDAY - THURSDAY 1700-0100
FRIDAY & SATURDAY 1600-0500
SUNDAY & HOLIDAY 1700-2400

Japanese Grocery Stores - The Basics Part 1

Hmmm.....I probably should have written this one before I started writing the one on sauces. Anyone who knows me though, knows that my brain is all over the place and doesn't function the way normal brains do (what is "normal" anyway???), so I'm sure my friends are not surprised by this at all. Ha!

So, you've moved to Iwakuni (Welcome to Iwakuni!!) and you've checked out the commissary. Hey. It's not as bad as it used to be. I think our commissary does very well with the limited amount of space they have. With that being said, I do buy almost all of my fruits and veggies out in town. I also definitely buy all of my chicken and eggs out in town. I prefer fresh chicken and have had issues with freezer burn in the past. I also love ground chicken and I can get fresh ground chicken out in town too. As for the eggs..... I think once you try it you will see why I only buy Japanese eggs.

One thing you should definitely know before venturing out to the Japanese grocery stores. Carry cash with you just in case. Some of them (especially little stands and smaller stores you might happen upon as you explore the area) do not accept credit cards. I've also heard from some people that they had problems when using their credit card so I try to make sure I have some cash on me when I go.

Be sure to take a shopping bag with you too. Almost every grocery I have been in does not offer free plastic bags anymore. You will have to ask for one and you will have to pay for it. It's usually 5yen or less, but if you take your own you won't have to ask for one AND you'll be helping the environment. Not the end of the world if you do forget though. I'll be the first to admit that I have a lot of shopping bags that never seem to make it back into my purse or back into my car. If you're like me and forget to bring one, just ask for a "fukuro" (bag) when you are checking out.

Do you want to buy some fresh fish, but don't want to cut the head off and gut it? Yuk. Me neither. Many grocery stores offer these services for free.

I took a picture of this sign that is posted in Fresta. You can just point at what you would like them to do for you and they'll take care of it. For free!

I know there are quite a few lactose intolerant people out there who drink soy milk so I checked out the soy milk section at Fresta and I was impressed by the many different flavors! They have banana soy milk!!

Some of the flavors in this photo are grape, yuzu (a Japanese citrus that is delicious), mango, and vanilla ice cream.

They also have organic soy milk -

If you're in a pinch and need some cottage cheese, you can find it out in town. It is pretty pricey though. This one in the picture was 378yen and it was a pretty small container of it.

I hope that this helps you feel more comfortable as you navigate your way around the grocery stores off base. In part 2 of my grocery store series I'll talk about point cards, sale days, and more! Let me know if there is something in particular that you want more information about.