Good day my fellow Ibarakians! This post is going to be a long one so strap in. Today, I am going to talk about two events that took place in Tsukuba last weekend. Stick around to the end of the post to find out about two upcoming events. One event that happened last weekend was all about the bread, and the other event was a friendly farmer's market. Both events were fun and there was a lot of delicious food and coffee to be had. One event was the Tsukuba Bread Festival and the other was Village Market Tsukuba.
Village Market Tsukuba
For my two event adventure, I was unfortunately alone. My wife was working and couldn't join in. I decided to check out the village market first and then hit up the bread festival.
Village Market Tsukuba was located close to Tsukuba center at Oshimizu Park that day, but it seems to change locations depending on the date it is held. It was about a 3 minute walk from the center. I immediately got a good vibe from the place when I arrived. Families were playing in the park, the produce owners were very friendly, and there were a lot of delicious looking food cars. While walking around, I spotted something that I have rarely seen in Ibaraki.
Dippy Dip Hummus
Hummus! This place had hummus! Something almost impossible to find in Ibaraki. I immediately bought the basil flavored hummus and couldn't wait to try it later at home. The staff asked me if I would like to try the original and spicy hummus. They gave me a pita chip and I tried the original hummus first. It was delightful and legit hummus. I was in hummus bliss. The spicy hummus was delicious with a small spicy kick to it.
Later at home, my wife and I got to try the basil hummus. I don't think I have the words to describe how glorious this hummus is. I do know one thing for sure, I am definitely buying more hummus from Dippy Dip.
Grichee's Ham, Cheese, and Egg Sandwich
I was hungry while walking around the village market, so I decided to grab a sandwich at grichee. Grichee is a sandwich food truck that had a variety of sandwich selections. I decided to go simple, with a ham, cheese, and egg sandwich. The staff were really friendly and gave me more information about the market while I waited for my sandwich. Once my sandwich was done, I found a seat and took a bite.
Not a lot of cheese in the sandwich but the fried egg with the ham was fantastic. I would have liked the sandwich to be grilled a bit more, but I was very happy with my sandwich.
micro farm family
I hadn't had my morning coffee that day so I was looking for a coffee vender when I came upon micro farm family. There were a lot of different beans on display and they all looked interesting. I went for the Cuban roast and got it iced.
While waiting, I had a nice chat with the owner of micro farm family. I came to find out he is one of the main organizers of the village market. We talked about coffee, different places to eat around Tsukuba, and the market.
When my coffee was ready, I took a sip. I have ranted a raved that the Coffee Factory in Doho Park is the number one coffee place in my book. Micro farm family is now in the running for that position. The Cuban iced coffee was so smooth and flavorful, not a super strong coffee but not too weak either. Just perfect.
I was recommended to try the Ethiopian Queen City Harr blend. After trying the amazing Cuban roast, I trusted this master of the coffee beans completely and took a bag of that home.
I walked around for a bit more and then decided to head over to Tsukuba center to try some of Tsukuba's famous bakeries.
Tsukuba Bread Festival
To say that the bread festival was crowded would be an understatement. If you wanted bread, you were going to wait. I saw lines that rivialed those of Disney rides. I wanted to grab a burger from M.S.B. Burger, since they had a tent up. When I got to their tent, I saw the line and decided to grab something sweet instead.
Gokujoo Canelé
I love canaeleés. The chocolate somewhat hard outside with that soft warm cake like texture on the inside. Eating one of those is like being wrapped in your favorite blanket. I was shocked to see a canaelé tent at the bread festival because I had never seen a canaelé tent anywhere before. This tent was called Gokujoo Canelé. I believe gokujoo means "the best." I was going to put that to the test. I got in line, waited five minutes, and then grabbed three canaelés. Regular, strawberry, and caramel.
When my wife got home later that night, we tried all three canaelés for dessert. Were they the best canaelés I have ever had? No, but they were damn good.
The strawberry was the weakest of the three but still delicious. The regular flavor was well balanced and tasty. The caramel canaelé was amazing. Very flavorful and a perfect dessert to any dinner. Not bad Gokujoo Canelé.
My Take Home Bag
I know what you are thinking. "You went to the bread festival and got no bread?" Fear not dear reader, I did take home some bread. You see, I predicted that all the bread would be gone by noon, because that is what happened at the first bread festival. Knowing that, this year I preordered my bread from the bread festival's website. This was a sure fire way that I would go home with some baked goods. There is a catch though. I couldn't select any of the bread or bakeries, it was all preselected. When I got my take home bag, I had no idea what was in it.
My Bread Bounty
This is what was in it. Three bakeries put in two different baked goods.
First bakery up: Pain de Megumori
This bakery brought a cinnamon sugar roll, which was delicious but a little too hard.
It also brought a walnut chocolate pastry which was honestly OK. A bit dry but the walnuts were nice.
Second bakery: Boulangerie Ensoleille'
This bakery brought a scone, which wasn't too bad. A bit weird because it was fluffier and softer than usual scones I have had.
A pumpkin roll which was heavenly and my favorite out of everything I got. It wasn't too heavy on the pumpkin flavor but not too light. It was fluffy perfection.
Lastly: Pain Atelier Cr-essen-t
This bakery brought an apple cinnamon puff pastry, which was very tasty. Apples tasted really fresh but a little too light on the cinnamon.
Next was the dried sweet potato bread. This bread wasn't too bad. It had small chunks of sweet potato in it which was expected but still nice.
I had a great time last weekend at both events. But if you asked me to choose one, it would have to be Village Market Tsukuba.
I did have a good time at the bread festival and I met some really nice people from the coffee stands on the bottom floor. But the bread festival was mostly lines and sold out bread.
Village Market was full of friendly people, different varieties of food, delicious coffee, and they had hummus. THEY HAD HUMMUS! I was really happy I decided to check out the village market and I plan on going this Sunday. The market will be in the kenkyugakuen area and it will be Halloween themed. Can't wait!
Hope to see you there!
For more information on Village Market Tsukuba, check out their website:
Even though the bread festival is over, you can still check out the website:
Event Announcement
Tsuchiura Fireworks Tournament
One of the biggest firework displays in Ibaraki is happening next Saturday in Tsuchiura city. I am talking about the Tsuchiura Fireworks Tournament. A two and a half hour show where firework teams go head to head to see who is the best fireworks maker of 2022. The launch point is on the Sakura river by Tsuchiura AEON mall. There will be a lot of food stalls and places to watch from there, but there are a lot of other places around the city where you can get a good view of the fireworks. The show starts at 5:30 and runs till 8:00. Highly recommend you come by train since there will probably be no parking and traffic will be horrific.
Hope to see you there!
One more thing!
Drunken Duck Halloween Party
The Hitachi Naka Drunken Duck Halloween party is tonight, October 29th! The beer will be flowing while we listen to spooky Halloween music and enjoy a mummy meat pie. If you do decide to join the party, look for Bob from Bob's Burgers and say hi. Hope to see you there!
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