Bento, Taiyaki, Takoyaki, Onigiri Rice Ball, and Mitarashi Mochi at Tamon Tea, Berkeley USA

Bento Box $6-7
Upper Left:
cherry blossom denbu (Ground Seasoned Codfish)
chopped egg
marinated ground beef
all those ingredients above over rice

Upper Right:
cucumber and picked daikon (Japanese radish)broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot
Bottom Right:
eggplant with miso sauce (super yummy!)
tomatoes
spaghetti

Mitarashi Dango, Rice cake with sweet sauce $1.95

I really like this little hidden gem in Berkeley. It gives me all the tasty Japanese snacks I want. I came to this place pretty often, and tried out many of their snacks. (Check out my previous post to see what other snacks I've tried.)



Today, it is the first time I tried their bento. I can't believe how great everything tasted! Even the broccoli that looks like they are raw and tasteless, they are actually cured. The 3-color ingredients over rice is very popular in Japanese bento. They are sakura denbu, egg, and ground beef. Denbu is ground seasoned codfish, and the pink color usually came from food coloring. Everything else are very delicious, especially the eggplants! They are very soft and taste absolutely amazing when seasoned with miso sauce!

Mitarashi dango is simply rice cake balls served in a skewer with this chilled sweet thick sauce. It is a very filling dessert, but quite addicting after the first dango ball! ($1.85)

Taiyaki is a fish-shaped cake. It is freshly made here and always very adorable to look at before eating! Their red beam paste inside seems like the ones that are freshly made with very little sugar. Loving it! ($2.25)

Actually, the main meal in Tamon Tea is their onigiri rice ball. Hear from my foodie friends, their onigiri rice balls are pretty authentic and affordable at the same time.

As you can see above, there's a plastic layer that wraps around the dried seaweed. It is to avoid the heat from rice to soften the seaweed. There are directions at the bottom of each onigiri to teach you how to take it off. For me, it takes a few times to make it work! :(

Takoyaki, Octopus Balls $5

Tamon Tea Address: 2055 Center St, Berkeley, CA 94704  Phone: (510) 647-9370 Hours: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday 10:30 am – 7:30 pm 10:30 am – 7:30 pm 10:30 am – 7:30 pm 10:30 am – 7:30 pm 10:30 am – 7:30 pm 10:30 am – 6:00 pm Closed Website: http://www.yelp.com/biz/tamon-tea-berkeley-3 *TIPS:  Visit early to avoid sold-out items  Sometimes, they close an hour early too