Takumi with Ms. Laura

After a failed attempt to hit JCPenney's optical center, Laura and I decided to indulge in Takumi. I've blogged about this place before, but I still can't get over how great the food is and how affordable the prices. Don't be deterred by the fact that it's plunked in a strip mall out by the mall. Inside, it's tastefully decorated, and you'll feel right at home.

Who are those gorgeous grrrrls?

Laura started with fried tofu, and I started with a warming miso soup. We both had cups of their green tea, which is so unusual. It's unlike any green tea I've had before in that it has a sort of toasted barley taste to it. It's a wonderful addition. Next time, I'll ask the waitress or waiter about it.

Seaweed salad

I really need to learn how to make seaweed salad. Do you need fresh seaweed? And what type? Must do some research. It seems rather simple once you have the right ingredients, but perhaps it's deceptively complex. Dunno.

Spicy tuna roll

 My spicy tuna roll has a marvelous slight crispness to the tuna that was marvelous.

Dragon roll

Takumi and the snow rabbit

I completed my grueling (ha!) two-day workweek with flying colors. After work, L. and I swam some laps at the gym and then tried Takumi, an unassuming Japanese restaurant on the east side. I'd heard good things about it, but its location in a strip mall had always made me leery. Surprisingly, once inside I forgot that I was in a strip mall. Its tasteful decor is welcoming and doesn't venture into swanky bistro territory. The food was satisfying and simple. We had miso soup, age (fried) tofu, ika kara age (fried squid), seaweed salad, a California roll, and the crunch 2-in-1 roll.

I'm slowing re-acclimating to winter. While I was getting ready for work on Thursday morning, I spied a sweet little bunny perched on a snow bank in the backyard. Not sure what s/he was doing there--just chillin', as far I could tell. He could have been hatching sinister plans to steal Bob's identity (Bob is the bunny who lives upstairs) or contemplating his own existential dilemma, I suppose. But I'm pretty sure he was just chillin'. I snapped this wretched shot of him before startling him away with my second attempt. (So much for the career as a wildlife photographer. :))