Fancy dango

We put it off as long as we could, but if I was going to sew bags as part of my son's school supplies, I needed to get to a fabric store.  Unfortunately, my local CraftPark closed a while ago.  It was the only fabric store in town except a tiny shop inside a department store a short bike ride away.  However, that shop has a very limited supply and didn't have what I wanted.

So, we headed out to Nippori, Tokyo's famed fabric town.  Since most people are sticking close to home, it wasn't too crowded.  I have a love/hate relationship with fabric stores.  Fabric shopping is never particularly relaxing for me.  It can be very stimulating and fun, with a dose of being overwhelmed at the same time.  I love to see all the fabrics as my brain fills with possibilities.  But, I hate the crowds and the cramped aisles.

After finding what we were looking for, my family needed a little break before braving the trains back home (which is also very stressful these days).  We spotted a dango café and decided that would be a lovely place to re-energize.

Habutae Dango has been treating people to the "taste of Japan" since 1819 with their confections made from rice flour.  They primarily serve dango sets with matcha.

There was something so welcoming about the atmosphere in the café.  It was a tight fit between the two communal seating areas (a large table in the middle of the room, and a counter that went along the street side window), but it was warm and inviting.  We were seated looking out the window and handed a fairly thick menu.  I was surprised to see how many choices they offered.

We ordered our son a mini dango set with just two balls of dango, two balls of ann dango (dango covered with a sweet red bean paste), and matcha.  Typically, I wouldn't order matcha for a kid, but my son loves it!

My husband ordered strawberry zenzai.  Zenzai (zen-za-ee) is a dessert soup with red beans and mochi.

I couldn't resist their most stylish plate with three types of dessert, plus matcha.  I had two strawberry petit monaka, sweetened red bean paste wrapped around a tiny ball of mochi, topped with a strawberry and sandwiched between two crisp rice flour wafers.  There was also a small ann dango rolled in kinako (roasted soybean powder that tastes a bit like peanuts).  Finally there was also a mini yaki dango, or grilled dango, wrapped in a dried sheet of nori, or seaweed.

Everyone was super pleased with their treats.  It was also a nice little break from the chaos of fabric shopping.