hana yori dango means "dumplings rather than flowers" |
Besides sake and beer, I brought some maki rolls and Japanese buns filled with BBQ pork, curried beef, tuna, and other savoury fillings from the Japanese bakery Furama Cake and Dessert Garden on Spadina in Chinatown, as well as assorted kim chi, seaweed, and Japanese potato chips at P.A.T Korean market on Bloor. Joel had caught a steel head trout on the weekend and home-smoked it to make a smoked trout, cream cheese avocado roll. Way to go Joel!
Joel's Smoked Steel head Trout Avocado and Cream Cheese Maki |
Assorted Kim Chi and Seaweed Pickles |
I also bought some cherry brandy to make a special cocktail for the occasion. It's simple and delicious
Sakura Cocktail
1 part cherry brandy
4 parts sake
top with club soda
ice
serve in a wine glass with a cherry garnish
The park was packed that afternoon, but we found good spot under one of the cherry trees and ate, drank and people watched until the sun went down. It was a great time and I plan to do it again next year. For some more photos of the day check out my photoblog http://adventurefoodiephoto.blogspot.com/2011/06/sakura-hanami-in-high-park.html