Christmas and New Year's Opening Hours

After the extended opening hours on 23rd, cafe an-an is into the Christmas holiday.

Cafe is closed between Sunday 24th to Saturday 30th.

The New Year's Eve on 31st December is Open.
The New Year's Dinner Box (advance order only) can be picked up from 12 o'clock.

No reservation for Toshikoshi Soba. We will serve either Eat-in or Take-away as you arrived to the cafe. No table booking accepted as no seat can be left empty.
The followings are the only menu we serve;
(Tanuki) Buckwheat noodle in broth with stewed deep fried tofu £4.50
(Kakiage) Buckwheat noodle in broth with Vegetable tempura £4.50
(Ebi ten) Buckwheat noodle in broth with Vegetable and prawn tempura £5.00
Inari Sushi (3pieces) £3.00
Onigiri Rice Balls (2pieces) with Pickles £3.00
                                                               
We expect the busiest time is from 12 to 2 pm. Please avoid the busiest time.

The following Wagashi will be available on the day. 
Chestnuts baked cake
Chestnuts steamed cake
Chestnuts Daifuku Mochi
Black Beans Daifuku Mochi
Flower Petal Mochi
Plum flower Mochi
Dorayaki Pancake Sandwich

The Cafe is closed on 1st January.

Business as usual fro 2nd January. From 11:30 to 14:30, on weekdays.

We are wishing you a merry Christmas!
Love from Cafe an-an staff

December Sweets & Events

Here comes the end of year, again.


It's just so scary.


One year is come and gone so quickly.


Thank you very much for ordering Osechi Celebration Box for one. Now finished taking order as it has reached to the maximum number.

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December Sweets

Mikan Daifuku　￡1.50/each　

It's Christmas time! Easy peeling citrus fruits are sweet and juicy. That goes with white bean paste really well. With a hint of cinnamon, it became really seasonal celebrating Japanese sweets. 

Kurimushi Yokan (Steamed Chestnuts Cake)　￡1.80/each 

or 1 raw （15㎝x4㎝x4㎝）£6.50

This steamed cake is steamed slowly with so much of chestnuts.

It contains Wheat flour and gluten

Kuri Manju (Baked Chestnuts Cake) £1.80/each

This chestnuts shaped cake has a lot of chestnuts mixed with white bean paste. You can enjoy aroma of chestnuts and butter if these are warmed up for a few seconds in microwave or oven. 

It contains Daily products, Wheat flour, gluten and eggs.

Kabocha (Pumpkin) Kintsuba　￡1.50/eacha 

22nd December is the Winter Solstice. We believe if we eat Pumpkin on the day we can go through this winter healthily. Cinnamon is a old remedy of Chinese medicine, too. This will be on the counter till 22nd.

This contains wheat flour and gluten.

Daifuku Mochi (smooth or chunky)　￡1.00/each

Dorayaki (Smooth, Chunky or Green tea)  £1.50/each

These contains Wheat flour, gluten and eggs.

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December Event

an-an Cafe now have the new menu. 

There are lunch & take away menu and Okonomiyaki and Night cafe menu. 

I hope you have picked it up already.

There are always request of opening longer hours... 

Open in the evening more...

Open till evening as school children wants to come...

Open in Weekend...

So I have been opening cafe a bit longer this month!

Opening in the evening more...

In the new menu, there is an application form to have casual private party for small group (6-10 people) by request. Please check the detail on the Okonomiyaki & Night Cafe menu.

Open till evening...

On Every Friday, the cafe is open till 6:30. If you are going out on Friday, please use our take away menu. If your school children wants to have something different, please pop in after school hours! 

Open weekends...

The cafe is open on Saturday23rd from 11:30 to 15:00 (can open longer) with the usual menu.

Sunday 31st is the New Year's Eve. Open from 12:00 to 17:00 to serve the special noodle menu for Toshikosi Soba only. 

So if you could see an-an is working a bit harder!!!

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Cafe is closed 24th to 30th for Christmas holiday. 

Sorry for the inconvenience.

I will put out the Christmas opening hours charts here and window.

Have a lovely Christmas💛

We start Loyalty Card Scheme!

There were some requests an-an issues a loyalty cards.... so I made one here!

If you collect 5 stamps, you can have one drink free. (ex. Smoothies and Milkshakes)
If you carry on collecting 15 stamps, you can have one meal.

How to collect the stamps?
Well, You can collect up to 2 stamps on one visit. 

If you purchase a lunch or Wagashi (Japanese Sweets) worth more than £5.00 in cash, we will give you a stamp.
There is a law change for the cash card payment. We are no longer allowed to charge the commission charge...
However, I set the menu prices according to "cash only" trade. Therefore I needed to fix the pricing in the new menu. Anyway, it was a bit odd to ask for charging whenever someone uses card for the payment. 
On the other hand, it is not right to charge the cost from the customer who is paying by cash. So I came up with this loyalty card to return it.

Therefore, we limit to give the stamp for the customer for paying by cash.

If you bring a lunch box for us to fill up, we give you a stamp.
Please bring a clean, heatproof and leak-proof container. We will fill up your lunch into the lunch box whichever on order, so need to be clean. (We cannot be responsible contamination from the container.)
The container needs to be bigger than 700ml for a Katsu curry, more than 800ml for a Large Katsu curry.
If you have this container in a deep place of your cupboard, please wash and bring it!

Recently, There are so many heartbreaking news about plastics are heard.
an-an makes Wagashi, whose design is based on beauty of nature, we have been making efforts to reduce waste.
We would like to encourage people to eat in cafe to use proper plates and chopsticks, which are not disposable.
For takeaway sweets, not only paper box, paper bags and paper cups are biodegradable, but cellophane to wrap the individual sweets are also made from biodegradable material, cellulose. We give away wooden spoons and forks.

The last problem is... the container for curry and lunches.
If curry sauce leaks... That's a disaster!
Then one of my customer brought an empty Tiffin lunch box and told me to fill this up with his order.

I thought this is the way an-an should go!

I will store these lunch box at an-an for you to purchase, but till then, please bring your own container. This stamp is our appreciations to you preventing an-an to use plastic containers.

Such a small shop, so what we can do is still very small, however, this is a big step towards a lifestyle change, I believe.

We may be not working well to deal with this new scheme. We appreciate your patience. Anyway, this starts from 27th November.

November sweets and events Part 2

November Sweets

Inoko Mochi ￡1.50/each
Sooth Adzuki bean paste inside of Mochi, mixed with chunky Adzuki bean paste. Finished with the aromatic roasted soy flour, which is organic and roasted in-house. This available till mid-November. This contains Soy bean.

Kuri Daifuku Mochi ￡1.50/each
Candied soft chestnuts with smooth adzuki bean paste in Mochi.

Kuri Manju (baked chestnuts cake) ￡1.80/each
chestnuts and white bean paste in a rich buttery pasty. This contains Wheat, gluten, eggs and milk.

Kintsuba square　1.50/each
Please choose Chunky Adzuki Bean Paste or Pumpkin paste in Mochi like textured skin. Available from 15th... This contains Wheat and gluten.

Dorayaki (smooth or chunky adzuki beans or Green tea) £1.50/each
This contains Egg, Wheat and honey.

Daifuku Mochi 
smooth or chunky adzuki bean paste £1.00/each

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November Events

Two big events already done on the 1st and 4th...
I have a bit of "burnt out" feeling.

So, the next event is...

We are planing to have Thursdays' OkonomiYaki night...
Well, I am sorry to say one on 16th is not happening any more as I am having a bit of fix on my right hand side, and I cannot flip over the OkonomiYaki very well...
It's getting cold, so come and have the hottest OkonomiYaki on Thursdays at an-an💛
You don't need any advance booking for the Take Away, but please make reservation for Eat In... You can leave a text message.

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From 20th November, we start taking order for the "New Year's Dinner Osechi box for one"

If you miss Japanese Osechi box, but you think it will be too much to make all by yourself. In the end, family won't appreciate the special meals in the box...

That was what I was feeling all the time.
This small Osechi box is for two meals (New Year's breakfast and supper for one person, or New Year's breakfast for two people).

Serving suggestion. This box is not coming with this meal.

The contents are same as usual. 
(salmon should be bigger than last year, though!)
£20.00 per box.

This is only for the customer who can pick up between 12 noon to 5 o'clock in the evening of the 31st December.
On the day, you can buy Mochi, Toshi-kochi noodles eat in/Take away. (Vegan option available.)

Please send the order by text message. 
Mention your name and £20 Osechi. It will help me a lot if you could mention what time on the 31st December you can come to pick up.

Order telephone number is 07923　900344.
30 boxes limit. the order is accepted till 15th December.

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Are you interested in Japanese style "end of year" party?
Please check the new menu some times in next week.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

November Sweets and Events Part I

It started really busy eventful week... It's been 10 days already!!!
Started with the Vegan Day and a big Wagashi Sale in Croydon Japanese School.
Yesterday was the "Ino Hi 亥の日". This is the day to eat Ino ko Mochi... Baby Boar Mochi.

In old Japanese calendar, 1st of October was the day start using a fire place for the tea ceremony in traditional tea hut. This sweets are served for this occasion at the 10 O'clock (called time of boar in old time) in the evening on the 1st of October.  The calendar was changed to the current practice, so the old 1st October moved to sometime in November. Therefore this sweet is still now eaten around this time of year. (That's my translation from what I read from Wiki in Japanese...)

This was my first challenge to make the Inoko Mochi for the Vegan afternoon tea on the other day. This was very popular! Adzuki bean paste, Mochi and Roasted Soy Bean flour... That's the best, I guess. Everyone's favorite. Moreover, the shape looks like a baby wild boar is cute🐗!

I will carry on making this sweets for a while. Please try!

Here is some feedback about the afternoon tea on 1st November.
It was no Japanese Afternoon Tea for a while, so some of you were waiting for it. Thankfully, the first two sessions were fully booked.

It was quite a challenge as I need to make every plates without anything made or related to animal nor fish. I checked and read so much about "Kaiseki Ryori" and "Shojin Ryori". Then I used Organic ingredients as much as possible.

I learnt so much, though....

At first, I served Soy milk and Pumpkin soup.
Then Rotus roots and Tofu cakes in sauce, and Chestnuts rice and Aubergine's Dengaku (sweet miso).







Aubergine and pumpkin is from Namayasai, Lewes's Organic Japanese farm. They are small, but really flavorful! I didn't need to put so much salt nor soy sauce.

The second plate is celebrating the "13th moon night". It's called chestnuts beauty moon.
We believe a rabbit live on the moon, and Dango represents the moon. Chestnuts steamed cake and pumpkin square filled up stomach a lot, I guess.

The third plate is with Nerikiri "Autumn Maple Leaf - Momiji" and "Inoko Mochi"
This Momiji is also my challenge this time.
You could see the shape improved so much even while I was making 20 of these while I was serving this sweets.

Thank you so much for those who came to the Japanese Afternoon tea. I am so happy as you smiled while you were eating my sweets. That's the best compliment for me!

If you missed this time, please try next one.... planned at the end of January in 2018... maybe...

Wow, It's time to go to the cafe!
I will do the next a bit later.

Half-term

Due to the half-term, Cafe an-an close at 2:30 till Friday, 27th. Sorry for the inconvenience. 
Okonomiyaki night won't be happen unless I receive any booking.

World Vegan Day

an-an wants to celebrate World Vegan Day on 1st November.

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It's the afternoon tea time! As I make a lot of traditional Japanese Vegan Sweets, I would like to introduce all about Wagashi (和菓子Traditional Japanese Sweets).

You can choose one your favorite Tea/Coffee or any other drink under £2.00 to go with your tea.

Then, a small Vegan Bento box (懐石Kaiseki) with many seasonal vegetable, followed by 4 of Seasonal sweets (季節菓子 Kisetsugashi) and 2 of special sweets (上生菓子Jo Namagashi) for tea ceremony. (extra £2.00 for Matcha Tea)

 　　　　　　　　　　　
　　　　　　　　　　　　

£12 per person.

Please choose the session below and make a booking.

Only 8 seats for each session available.

Morning Tea ；10:00 - 11:30

Afternoon Tea ; 16:30 - 18:00

High Tea ; 18:30 - 20:00

I look forward to seeing you on the day!

October sweets and events

It's already in the middle of October!
I thought I have just had a long holiday in Japan, but I feel I need to have another one very soon!!! 😆

After the autumn equinox, the day gets shorter and shorter...
So, it's the beginning of the long dark season in the UK.

No way! We have so many events to look forward to! So I am standing at the kitchen of an-an and cooking away comforting meals for you (almost) every day!

There are two news this month... well, one of it seems to be postponed to the next month, though...

At first, Cafe an-an had a training to serve Small Batch Coffee! Of course, it's official!

About these few weeks, I was practicing making coffee which I was trained to make with tasty Small Batch Coffee beans. Sometimes, I fell in caffeine over-dose, Sometimes had a bit of stomach clump...But I made it!

So, you may find it's funny to serve Small Batch Coffee at an-an, although there is the Small Batch Coffee Roaster around the corner?
Yes, we are at the short distance which we can smell when the coffee is roasted.
That's really handy to us.
We can get the freshest roast coffee from the roaster, anytime.
More over, our beans are from SBC, but we serve coffee from the beans different from one they serve at their cafe.
We get supply of coffee thought to go with Japanese sweets, Wagashi.
It taste less sourness and simple and deep. I like it with milk or soy milk.
I hope you find it interesting to find SBC in an-an style.

The second news is ... all about redesigning menu!
I was going to issue the new menu on thee 1st October, but ... but.. but...
I am still working on it!!!
More Vegan menu
Okonomiyaki & Night Cafe menu added
and some information about starting the an-an royalty card scheme.
It will be A3 size Jumbo sized menu!!!
Just watch this space!!!

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October sweets

Otsukimi Dango　£1.00 each
Japanese Moon Festival last until 1st November, which is the 13th night moon.
It will be different from the completely round moon on 15th night moon on 4th October. It wouldn't be round. Japanese feels a little missing moon is really beautiful. The moon was shining in the sky beautifully on 4th October, so hopefully another clear sky on the night of 1st November.

Rabbit Maju　£1.50 each
This is another sweets from Moon Festival. Japanese believe a rabbit live on the moon. Steamed wheat cake with white bean paste inside. (this contains gluten.)

Kimi Shigure ￡1.50 eacg
This steamed custard cake like sponge crumble out in your mouth. (This contains eggs)

Daifuku Mochi (Smooth or Chunky)　￡1.00 each

Dorayaki（smooth・Chunky・Green tea）　£1.50 eacg
This contains Egg, Wheat, Gluten and Honey。

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Events in October
Thursday 19th Sorry No Okonomiyaki night as private function is planned.

Tuesday 31st It's Halloween! Planning to bake tarts and sweets with Pumpkin.
You might find something interesting in front of the shop... maybe.

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Japanese style afternoon tea is planed on the 1st November.
There will be another blog to announce with the detail of the afternoon.
Let's have fun and enjoy autumn festivals for now!

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September sweets and events

I am baaaaack！
Please come baaaack！

I spent really hot summer in Japan. Sorry that I left the cafe closed for three weeks in August.
Although I just came back a week ago, I already feeling the days in Japan didn't happen in real.
I always feel the life in Japan is a bit like in another world, as if the speed of time there is a bit different from one in the UK. After I come back, the feeling I have is like..."was it a dream?". Funny,isn't it?

There were so many things I found them bizerre in Japan this time, I am going to introduce them a bit by bit here.

Well, here is a photo of the cafe door. I bought this signage in Japan this time!
Have you noticed the door of an-an cafe opens to outside? In normal British way, doors open towards inside. So most of customers pushed the door to come in and thought "closed?" as door was not opening...
So now no one would confused. You need to pull to open the door!!!
Just a small thing happened to be "very Japanese" in cafe an-an.

Cafe an-an is business as usual... from Tuesday 5th September.

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September sweets

Strawberry Mochi　￡1.50 each
British Strawberry season is almost coming to the end...
If you want to eat tasty Strawberry Mochi, now is the last chance!

Kuzu Mochi　£2.00 per case
It's been cool, but still a bit of summer left. Before it's get really cold, let's have a Kuzu mochi revival.
It contains Soy.

Ohagi　￡1.50 each
Higan is coming in mid September.
Please chose from Chunky or Smooth Adzuki bean paste, or Roasted Soy flour and smooth Azuki bean paste. It contains Soy.

Dorayaki　￡1.50 each
Please chose from Chunky or Smooth Adzuki bean paste, or Matcha Green tea paste. It contains Eggs and Wheat flour.

Daifuku　£1.00 each
Please chose from Chunky or Smooth adzuki bean paste.

Sanshoku (Three colour) Dango　￡1.50 each
It will take 15 mins to be steamed after ordered. If you are eating in lunch, please order at the same time.

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September Events

Sunday 3rd September
Okonomi yaki Day was scheduled on this day. However, due to family affair, it needs to be cancelled. 
Monday 4th September is scheduled to close.
Next opening time is at 11:30 on Tuesday 5th September.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

We have Okonomi Yaki night Every Thursday!
Please book a table if you would like to use Tabletop Hotplate.
No need to book the counter seats or outside sittings.
Take away is also available. It may take time to prepare, so I recommend to order on phone in advance.

Every other Thursday, We have delivery from Namayasai, Japanese Organic farm. Their box scheme is really reasonable and full of seasonal vegetables. The owner is keen to introduce Japanese vegetable and the box includes information and recipes. please order the box scheme before Monday night.
Cafe also have some individual vegetable on the counter or table.
Please come and chat about Japanese cooking using those vegetables.

Saturday 23rd September an-an Japanese sweet has a table top sale at Japanese School in Croydon.
Public are allowed to enjoy the table top sales full of Japanese goods, some are commercial, some are homemade...from 10 to 12 am... (Please note; 40 mins from 10:45, only pupil time, so no public can enter)

Thank you for many requests about Japanese afternoon session.
Cafe an-an will have new member from this month, I should be able to make more time for Japanese sweets...
I will let you know as soon as the date announced.
Please watch this space!!!!

arigatou! [(_ _)]

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I am still away... but I am not ”off”, though!

Here is me in Japan some miles away trying some old and new foods and trends.

I have to say Sushi is tasty as always.
MUCH tastier than ones I make at the cafe. (well, I don't mean my sushi is not tasty, though!!!)

Noodles... there are so many choice.
Not only Ramen, there are so many kinds of noodles as well as methods of eating.
Udon, Soba, Somen, etc.etc.

It's been already one week since I landed.
Although I need to travel with my children, they are low-teen and pre-teen.
I need to compromise quite a bit as they have allergy and dislike.

However here is the first report I ate so far...

 

shaved ice with Matcha Green tea ... mochi and Adzuki bean paste 

Matcha American Scone and Hojicha Latte @Starbucks. Both are a bit too sweet.

Good old Tamago (Akashi) yaki. Much simpler than Takoyaki... you only get a piece of octopus in each ball. takoyaki is often asked on Okonomiyaki night recently...

It seems to be one of the latest trend. Serving Japanese sweets in mess... @Hands Cafe.  Monaka plates with two kinds of Warabi Mochi, Azuki icecream, whipped fresh cream with a half of frozen strawberry. topped with a Dorayaki pancake. Drizzle of black syrup finishes the deco. total "pick and mix" of favorite Japanese sweets...

... the list is still goes on...

August Sweets and Events

Ok, it's the top of Summer holiday!
I hope you enjoy this.... ummm.... summer like warm weather.

an-an is a bit overwhelmed with busy day and night ... as well as weekends. To be honest, I cannot win the speed of filling up fridge/ freezer to make Chicken Gyoza, Chicken Katsu and Beef Croquets! Thanks to you all my favorite customers💛

So, this weekend is going to be the last weekend an-an is open.
...well, no worry, I will still open Sunday 3rd September, which will be Okonomiyaki Day! (Although, I have to close on Saturday 2nd, as my daughter's Japanese School in London will starts on the day.)

It will be very short, but here are some August sweets and events.

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August's Sweets

Mizu Yokan　Smooth Adzuki or Green Tea　￡1.50 each
Smooth and cold Agar Jelly with Adzuki beans or white beans with Matcha green tea flavor. Suitable for Vegetarian/Vegan.
We can serve this with a scoop of vanilla icecream at the cafe. Please request on order. (50ｐ＋）

Strawberry Mochi ￡1.50 each
I am struggling to find the right size strawberries, but I carry on making this till British Strawberries disappear from the shop shelves. Suitable for Vegetarian/Vegan.
We can serve this with a scoop of vanilla icecream at the cafe. Please request on order. (50ｐ＋）

Strawberry & Agar Jelly　£1.50 each
Strawberries in Vanilla flavored Agar Jelly. Suitable for Vegetarian/Vegan.
We can serve this with a scoop of vanilla icecream at the cafe. Please request on order. (50ｐ＋）

Dorayaki 　Smooth Adzuki bean paste, Chunky Adzuki bean paste or White bean paste with Matcha Green Tea flavor ￡1.50 each
Japanese sweet pancake sandwich with fillings. This contains Eggs, Wheat flour, Gluten and Natural honey. Suitable for Vegetarian.

Daifuku Mochi ￡1.00 each
Smooth Adzuki Beans paste or Chunky Adzuki Beans paste.
Suitable Vegetarian/Vegan.

Sanshoku Dango ￡1.50 each
this will need 20 mins after ordered, as we steam it. If you are eating in, please order with your meal.
Suitable Vegetarian/Vegan.

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August Events

Thursday 3rd　Okonomiyaki night　18:30～21:00

Sunday 6th 　Okonomiyaki Day　11:30～15:00　（Each Okonomiyaki needs more cooking time than other menu, so please don't forget to have plenty time for getting ready to attack... or please make pre-order by phone.)

Monday 7th ～ Monday 28th CLOSED

Thursday 31st Okonomiyaki night　18:30～21:00　（fully booked）

　　　　　　There are still some seats left outside or accept take away order.

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I am prepare for more improved service on my return.
So, Please, please be patient with us!
I really appreciate your supports on Cafe an-an!!!

Summer Holiday Opening Hours

Summer Holiday has started!
However, my son is still at school for two more days😁

Recently, more customers visit cafe an-an from quite far away.
I really appreciate it and am happy to serve more people, I would not know if I were not at this cafe.

So I need to make sure no one would be disappointed by this awkward Summer Holiday opening hours!
Please, please check this calendar before planing to come to my cafe.

Green is the Open, and pink is close.
Instead of opening 3 weekends, 3 Mondays are closed.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

July Sweets and Events

an-an is into the 4th year, and still very busy as usual.
Thanks for coming to the Tanabata Festival at Hove Cornerstones Church on 1st July. I could see some familiar faces there and made me so happy!
Weather was excellent and it was a success!

Well, I again didn't have time to take photos, I borrow other's. Thanks for letting me to use your photos.

Photo from Step Up Japanese 
Here is the website for Step Up Japanese



And, Wagashi ya an-an is…

Photo from Food Standard Agency

awarded !!!  °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°　
Apparently, there is no certificate, so I just got sticker... but I don't have anywhere to stick it. I don't think it's right to stick on the cafe window as this is not for the cafe, it's for my home kitchen where I make Japanese sweets...

At the moment, the cafe has got 4* because of very minor reason. I am waiting for another inspection to get back 5* with polishing and scrubbing fridge/freezer and recording temperature on the diary. Last month's hot day made the freezer overworking and build a huge layers of frost making the doors hard to closed. Now my first job in the cafe is crushing frost in the freezer every morning. Apart from it, the freezer keeps well below -18 degree and working perfectly.

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July Sweets

* If you are eating in the sweets, you can have 1 scoop of vanilla icecream with £0.50. Please request on the order.

Star Kuzu sweets　￡1.50 each *

This will be twice as large as ones I made this for Tea ceremony in the Cornerstone's event. Two stars, represent Orihime and Hikoboshi in the Kuzu Ball. Available till 10th.


Kanten Cubes with Fruits　1cup　￡1.80 *
Kanten cubes with the seasonal fresh fruits (Strawberries, Apricot pieces and Cherries etc.) in a cup. Mix with Azuki bean paste and home-made Morasses sauce.  Sorry I don't have the photo, so please come to the cafe!

Strawberry Daifuku Mochi　￡1.50(£1.80）*

The most popular sweets anywhere I go!
If you haven't tried any of Japanese traditional sweets, Wagashi, this would be the one to try!






Dorayaki  ￡1.50 each
Smooth Azuki Bean paste,
Chunky Azuki bean paste,
Matcha Green Tea flavored paste
It's contains eggs, Wheat and Gluten.

Waka ayu (Sweet Fish)  ￡1.50 each
Representing a young fish strongly swim up a stream in the early summer.
Yuzu flavored sweet mochi inside.
It's contains eggs, wheat and Gluten.

Daifuku Mochi  ￡1.00 each
Smooth Azuki Bean paste or Chunky Azuki Bean paste available.

Sanshoku (3 colour) Dango　￡1.50 each
this will need about 20 mins as this needs to be steamed on order. If you are eating meal at the cafe, please order with your meal.

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Events in July

Saturday 1st　Tanabata Festival＠Hove, Cornerstones Church 1:30～4:00pm　
　　　　(This event is finished.）
Thursday 6th　Okonomi Yaki Night　6:30pm～9:00pm　
　　　　　with Japanese savory pancake. Please reserve seats for eating in.
Friday 7th　Tanabata Festival (I am planning to do some celebration...still thinking.)
Thursday 13th　Okonomi Yaki Night　6:30pm～9:00pm　
　　　　　with Japanese savory pancake. Please reserve seats for eating in.
Saturday 15th　Summer Festival at Maeda Gakuen, Acton　
　　　　　Time：12:00～4:00pm　ticket sold at the entrance. No parking.
　　　　　Place：Queens Drive Playing Field, Queens Drive, London W3 0HT
　　　　　　I have donated a Wagashi workshop worth £100 for the raffles!
Thursday 20th　Okonomi Yaki Night　6:30pm～9:00pm　
　　　　　with Japanese savory pancake. Please reserve seats for eating in.
Saturday 22nd~ 　Changed to Opening hours of Summer Holiday.
　　　　　　Detail of Summer Holiday opening hours will be in the next newsletter.

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There are more to let you know... (don't say any more💦）
1) Card payment- No matter the amount you spend, ￡0.50 will be charged. Itemized receipt will be sent by email. Please type in your mail address. Sorry for the inconvenience.

2) Opening hours on Tuesday is changed to 11:30 to 2:30pm. It's due to school time change. It will be back to normal once Summer holiday Opening hours starts.

Thank you. See you at the cafe or in London!

Cafe an-an is 3 years old!!!

It's the 3rd Birthday of cafe an-an!

Thank you so much for all of your support! I would like to say thank you to all of you!!! To cerebrate the BIG milestone...

１）Cold Salad noodles will be served from this week.
２）A free small piece of birthday cake for everyone on Wednesday, 21st June.
３）Open on Sunday, 25th June lunch time! (possibly Okonomiyaki?)　Not on Saturday as informed on the last blog. sorry.
But, I hope to see some of you cannot come to the cafe during weekdays!

Most of all, this year's Birthday present to this cafe is a "Card Reader”！When you are paying more than £20.00, we now accept card payment. Until we are used to use the machine, payment takes a bit longer, so please please be patient.

Look forward to seeing you💛

June Sweets and Events

What a day!
Winds from Atlantic Ocean blow directly through the street of Cafe an-an... almost taking away tables and chairs!

This is always I moan...
My body cannot adjust to the change of temperature. Sometimes feeling soooo down.

I am not sure because of that, an-an is invited to the Healing Bazaar at West London. I will hold a small workshop making some seasonal sweets.
Wagashi contains a lot of nutritious ingredients and shaping in hands gives relaxation and satisfaction at the end having tea with it.

Well, I almost for got Japanese traditional sweets, Wagashi is made from the world of Zen.

I put the detail of the event. It is getting too close, so be quick if you are interested.

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Sweets in June

Strawberry Daifuku Mochi　￡1.70 each　(￡1.50 each at the cafe）

I cannot help talking about strawberries this time of year! It's the best!

Wimbledon Tennis starts means it's the season of British Strawberries. It's Strawberry & Cream on the side of the grass coats, but it's Strawberry & Mochi at an-an. ｗｗ


Kuzu Mochi  ￡1.80/cup
Using Real Kuzu from Japan. Cool and hydrating sweets in Summer.  As Chinese medicine use Kuzu, it has good nutrients and we believe it removes toxins from bloodstreams. Enjoy with a lots of Organic Soy powder, roasted by an-an, and Black Syrup.
This contains Soy Beans.

Waka Ayu (Sweetfish)　￡1.50 each

This is one of really popular sweets can go with not only Green tea but also English tea or Cafe Latte.
Mochi with Yuzu (Japanese citrus fruits) is wrapped by Dorayaki pancake, so some of you are not fond of Bean paste love this sweets. It looks cute, too.
This contains Eggs and wheat-flour, gluten.





Minazuki　￡1.50 each
Available from Mid-June. This sweets are for the event on 30th June, Nagoshi-no-Harai, started from Kyoto.
triangle shaped steamed mochi with aduki bean on top. This shape is for longing for health and warding off bad luck for another 6 months.
You can make it cool and enjoy.

Daifuku Mochi (smooth paste or chunky paste)　￡1.00 each

Sanshoku Dango  ￡1.50 each

Dorayaki（Smooth adzuki paste、chunky adzuki paste、Mattcha Green tea）　￡1.50 each

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Events in June

Thursday 8th June 　Okonomi Yaki Night　18:30～21:00

　　




Saturday 10th June　Second Book Market at Croydon Japanese School
                                     10:00～12:00　open to public
　　                               (11:00～11:45 not for public)
　　　　　　　I will prepare a lot of Summer Sweets.　

Saturday 10th June　Arbury Carnival at Cambridge
　　　　　　　　Time：11:00～17:00
　　　　　　　　Place：Cambridge Aubery Community Centre
　　　　　　　　　　　Campkin Road, Cambridge CB4 2LD
Yakisoba, Chicken Karaage? Many Japanese foods and crufts workshops! The profit will go to the Japanese toddler group in Aubery. If you live near there, please pop in!

Sunday 11th June Healing Bazaar　Speical No.4

As well as Wagashi Workshop, I will bring some sweets to sell, and seasonal sweets to be enjoyed in Tea ceremony.
For the detail, please go to this link.
https://healingbazaar.wixsite.com/events
If you would like to join the workshop, please apply from this link.
There are so many kinds of Healing you can try. Please pop in if you are interested in.


Thursday 15th June Okonomi Yaki Night　18:30～21:00
　
Monday 19th～Friday 23rd　Cafe an-an's 3rd Birthday week!
I am planning free birthday cakes and Japanese afternoon tea sessions during the week. I will issue another newsletter near the time.

Thursday 22nd June Okonomi Yaki Night　18:30～21:00

Saturday 4th June　Special Weekend Open💛Umm... I want to do something special though...

Thursday 29th June No Okonomi Yaki Night. Sorry for the inconvenience.  Lunch service business as usual.

Saturday 1st July　Summer Festival of Japanese Toddler Group, Ohisama Ahaha!.
　　　　　　　Place：Cornerstone Community Centre
　　　　　　　　　　Church Road,, Hove BN3 2FL
　　　　　　　Time：10:00～16:00
The profit will go to Ohisama Ahaha! There will be free Japanese class trial, Origami and Face Painting and, so on... Of course, you can enjoy Japanese lunch and snacks, too.
There will be another announcement near the date.

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I am really shocked to see what's on the list. 
well, my daughter's birthday do will be added on top of this list, too. 
I just don't have any moment to waste...

Then, an-an will come to West London again on 15th July, at the Summer festival of Maeda Gakuen.

Note:
I need to go shopping trip to Japan in Summer.
Cafe will be closed from 7th to 27th August. Sorry for the inconvenience... 
Once Summer holiday starts, I will open Cafe on Weekends. I hope it's ok...

May sweets and events

It's already half way of May!!!!
I am so sorry I thought I have published this English blog on the 1st day after I translated...
But it was still in the "Draft" box for 15 days...

To be honest, the last 2 weeks was to busy! I have been making sweets non-stop.
On top of that, My husband had been absent for a week in Germany for business... leaving two kids for me to chase their bottoms 24/7.

Anyway Okonomiyaki week was well received! now I know how much people love Okonomiyaki!!! I will do the Okonomiyaki week again sometime in Summer, so till then, please come to enjoy Okonomiyaki on Thursday evenings.

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May Wagashi sweets

Kashiwa Mochi　　￡1.50 each
Koshian (Smooth adzuki bean paste),
Tubuan (Chunky adzuki bean paste) with Japanese mugwort,
Misoan (Miso flavored smooth white bean paste)
* limited numbers left. as soon as the leaves are gone, this will finish.

Strawberry Daifuku Mochi　￡1.50 each
Popular one! British Strawberris are on season! They are soooo tasty in Mochi.
I try to make it everyday, but may not available if I could not find the strawberry in right weight and shape grown locally...
.＊please order in advance (2 days at least) if you would like to buy more than 5 on the day.

Wakaayu (Sweet fish)　￡1.50 each
Yuzu flavored mochi is wrapped in Dorayaki pancake.
If you don't like bean paste, this is the one! It goes so well with Coffee, too!
contains eggs and flour (gluten)

Dorayaki Pancake sandwich　￡1.50 each
Please chose filling from Koshian, Tubuan, Matcha Green tea.
contains eggs and flour

Daifuku Mochi　￡1.00 each
Tubuan or Koshian

Kusa Daifuku Mochi　￡1.20 each
Tubuan in Yomogi (Japanese Mugwort) flavored Mochi.
a hint of minty aftertaste.

Sanshoku Dango　1.50 each
Please give us 15 min. to steam after order at the cafe. If you are having meal first, please order with your meal.

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May events

Tuesday 2nd - 5th May
It was Okonomiyaki week!
Thank you for enjoying Okonomiyaki for lunch.
We will do this more in Summer!

Thursday 18th 18:30～21:00
Okonomiyaki Night
Please book table/seats. Seats are still available.

Thursday 25th 18:30～21:00
Okonomiyaki Night
Please book table/seats. Seats are still available

＆　There will be  a delivery of Namayasai(Organic Japanese Vegetable) at luch time. If you are interested in purchasing a box (please ask the contents nearer the time), please order at cafe or on line by Monday 22nd.

Monday 29th
Closed for Bank Holiday

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Cafe an-an will be 3 years old next month!!!
We would like to celebrate and thank to all our favorite customers!!!
What shall I do? is there any request???
Please let me know.

At the same time, I am planning to improve the shop front...
I hope you will see it very soon.
xxx