Let me just start by saying, I am so in love with Kamakura. I think I could live there. It is only an hour’s train ride from inner Tokyo, but it has a totally different vibe. Like, parents send their elementary aged children to ride the train to school by themselves. It is just so homey and adorable and chill.
Dandelion Chocolate Cafe
I was extremely thrilled a few minutes after leaving the train station to happen across a little cafe owned by Dandelion Chocolate company. A few years ago I was very interested in trying chocolates from all around the world and Dandelion was one of my favorites. They originated in California but now do a large portion of their production in Tokyo! おいしいです！Pictured above is their Kamakura hot chocolate, which actually contains hōjicha. It sounds like an odd combination but it really works! Go check out this place if you are ever in Kamakura-shi.
Rice Bowl Restaurant of Forgotten Name
While walking along a popular shopping alley in Kamakura we came across a rice bowl (ochazuke) restaurant that I didn’t bother to remember the name of. I ordered a baby whitefish and salmon bowl. I had never tried whitefish before, but I thought it was delicious. We don’t have it in America because, as a friend of mine said, Americans don’t really want to eat fish with eyes. Well, y’all are missing out. Those tiny eyeballs were delicious!
The rice bowl could be enjoyed as is or you could pour the tea/broth over it to experience a new flavor. On the side it came with kombu, a steamed leafy vegetable that resembled spinach, and a carrot smoothie for cleansing your palette. 
Zushi-Shi Katsu Restaurant
One station away from Kamakura is the town of Zushi, where we stayed two nights. We found a laundromat and while our clothes were going we walked around the neighborhood. We saw the FLUFFIEST cat in the world. Well, to be honest I think it was a combination of being chubby and having a lot of fur, but it was so cute and it seemed used to getting attention from people.
When our clothes were finished (and by the way – my clothes were the cleanest they’ve ever been after that laundromat), we went looking for some katsu. We found a local diner-type place where an elderly Japanese woman took our order. The food that emerged was holyfreakingcow so delicious. We ordered the fried rice, pot sticker, and chicken katsu. It was so flavorful and juicy I almost cried.
One of the struggles I was still having on this day was figuring out how to say “ありがとうございます” (thank you very much) fast enough for it to not be awkward. Many Americans do not know this, but the “ありがとう” (“arigato”) is actually not the important part. The key word you must manage to speak is the “ございます” (“gozaimasu”) and many Japanese people shorten the phrase by just saying “ah-ございます.” Without having realized that I could do this too, I’d been saying the un-shortened phrase all day. When our waitress refilled my water I mumbled the whole phrase again feeling overly formal and awkward. She giggled at me as she walked away. I asked Shohei why. “Well, she thinks you’re cute because you didn’t look at her when you said thank you.” Ah, lesson learned. Eye contact and just say the shortened version. Less of a mouthful!
Xoxoxo, hope all you Americans are having a lovely Christmas season. 😘
