Tag: montreal

Review – Onigiri Shop Montreal West

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When I was younger, here in Montreal the only options for Japanese food locally were fancy expensive restaurants or the Teriyaki Experience in the mall food courts. It was still considered foreign and exotic and not really of appeal to a broader audience. As time went on, sushi became more prevalent and easily accessible, and then the ramen wave hit, and now Japanese fast casual is a staple in most urban environments. However, one thing I’d yet to see anywhere other than festivals or events put on by the JCCCM is onigiri, or seaweed-wrapped rice balls.

Enter Onigiri Shop — an adorable local chain that serves, you guessed it, onigiri (amongst other things). There’s one quite close to my house so a little while ago I took the opportunity to check it out and grab a couple of onigiri to try out. I’m very happy I did!

The location is tiny, but has everything they need and feels very charming. It’s actually within a few minutes of my old high school and I used to spend time here 25 years ago when it was a used bookstore! Since then it’s been a cupcake shop, and Indian takeout, a Jamaican takeout, and now Onigiri Shop. I hope they last a while, as the food was affordable and really tasty. I will say there is very little seating space, as it’s definitely intended as a take-out location, but they told me they’ll be putting seating outside when the weather gets nicer.

First off, can we appreciate the tiny adorable box they come packaged in? Both the onigiri I purchased fit snugly in there and felt very secure on the ride home. I just hope if you buy more you get a larger box. One way to find out. I guess I’ll have to go buy more!

I decided to sample one fairly standard and one more unique offering; I chose one with spicy tuna and one with kimchi and avocado, and they were both delicious. The rice is nice and well-seasoned and holds together well, and the fillings are bright and flavourful and there’s plenty of it. There’s a bit more seaweed than I was expecting but it helps the onigiri keep its shape while you’re eating it so I don’t mind. It worked nicely. I do look forward to trying some of the other options, as well as their non-onigiri menu items and desserts, maybe on the patio area in the summer if I am around.

Overall, I’m quite impressed with the food, price, and convenience of this location of Onigiri Shop. I’m curious to see how other locations compare, and how consistent they are. That’s always a toss-up when it comes to chain franchises. But I’m very glad to have another tasty grab-and-go option when I’m out and about!

Montreal JCCC Fashion Show 2023

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Ooof. No, that year in the title is not a typo. I’m just three tanukis in a michiyuki when it comes to following up on things.

In the spring of 2023, I was invited to participate as a stylist and vendor in Everyone Can Kimono!, a fashion show and event put on by the Japanese-Canadian Cultural Centre here in Montreal. It aimed to encourage a love of kimono and show that it really is for anyone who is passionate about it! Being a giant awkward white woman, I was humbled and honoured to be considered. And yes, I stuck out like a sore thumb in the dressing areas, but I was welcomed openly and encouraged by all the other stylists, which was so lovely.

Sasa and Yurie did an incredible job organising everything, and helped me find some absolutely fantastic and gorgeous models to show off the ensembles I put together. I got to feature some of my favourite vintage pieces, including a few I’d never been able to use before on a person or mannequin. My models were all so gracious and enthusiastic and dressing them all was an absolutely dream.

Here are my lovely models. Due to the casual vintage nature of most of these coordinates as well as their unfamiliarity with kimono, I went with a looser and less restricted style of kitsuke, which I think worked perfectly. Don’t get me wrong, I love the tight, padded, nearly-regimented style of the modern kimono-school variety, but there’s something so effortless about more relaxed dressing that helps remind us that these used to be everyday garments.

Don’t they all look amazing and poised, and like they’ve been wearing kimono for years? They were so good!

Of course, there were plenty of other stylists who are all way more skilled and visionary than I am, and it was humbling to be included in such a talented group. Here’s a gallery of all the other fantastic outfits. It was an incredible blend of traditional, modern, and totally alternative stylings.

There was also a Q&A session at the end of the show, and I got roped into helping answer a few questions, particularly about vintage kitsuke. Some of the medication I’m on makes me particularly susceptible to heat, so behold me in all my fat sweaty glory. Yes, that is a tenugui with lemons on my head. It’s called fashion, look it up.

And some lovely group shots of all the models, as well as the whole team of stylists, honoured guests, and JCCC staff! I managed to avoid being in these because I was setting up a booth to sell off parts of my collection it was time to say goodbye to. A few pieces found good homes, and I hope their new owners cherish them like I did.

This has gone on to be a yearly event, but I’ve been in California for the past two years and haven’t been able to participate or attend. If you’re ever in Montreal in the spring, keep an eye out for announcements and definitely try to come see the show if you can! Maybe one day the timing will work out and I’ll be able to be involved again, but either way I still urge you to support small local kimono initiatives like this whenever possible 🙂

Montreal Kimono Club September Meet-Up

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Yesterday, a group of local kimono collectors got together for a casual meet-up to celebrate the end of Summer. We started in a quiet little park near my place, then to Le Petit Tokebi, a combined Korean and Japanese restaurant, for dinner. We finished up at Ca Lem, an ice cream place I love to bits because they make vegan options like sorbet and coconut milk ice cream so I can eat there and not die. I’m a big fan of not dying.

The timing of our event was perfect. Thursday and Friday were incredibly windy and rainy, to the point that nearby areas were under a tornado watch! Today is cold and damp. Yesterday, somehow, the kimono gods graced us with beautiful sun and just enough of a breeze for kimono to be comfortable. We really lucked out.

I wore my new-ish teal komon from Kimonomachi. I really love having kimono that fit me so well. Eventually I will buy a third one of these, when I have some money to spare. My initial plan was a red nagoya obi  but I realised that would have been nearly the same as the last time I wore it. I then remembered I have this cream-and-red hakata obi with asanoha that’s an absolute perfect match for the kimono! I went with fairly plain accessories otherwise, since the kimono is so bold already.

(before anyone asks – yes these two group shots were composited in Photoshop. We had nobody to capture all of us together so I cobbled together two photos)

One of the things I love about these meet-ups is the wide variety kimono and kitsuke. It’s so fun to see everyone express their personalities and personal sense of style. Kimono is so great for that – for garments that are essentially all the same shape, there’s so much that can be conveyed through colour, fabric, and motif.

Dinner was lovely too. The place was really sweet and quiet with a great atmosphere, and the staff all seemed really pleased by our outfits. There were also these adorable miniatures behind our table, and you know I had to grab some photos!

By the time dinner was done, it was cooling down a fair bit but that sure wasn’t going to stop us from getting our ice cream! I’ll be so sad at the end of September when Ca Lem closes for winter 🙁

It was a really great day, I had lots of fun with friends both familiar and new, and I can’t wait for our next meet-up!

Items used in this coordination

Pop! Montreal Marché des Possibles

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Tonight I was invited to the opening night of Marché des Possibles, a local annual event put on by Pop! Montreal. You might remember my post from last summer about the Yatai MTL! food festival, which is one of the themed weekends that’s part of this event.

They contacted me through here so I figured it would be a great excuse to wear a kimono, but it’s currently waaaay too hot for either of my synthetic hitoe and they’re really all that fit me at the moment. So I decided to improvise and wear my pink lace haori over a summery tunic with a sakura design. I love how this looks; I feel like I represented Kimono Tsuki well but felt breezy and comfortable and was I was much better able to enjoy the evening!

Marché des Possibles is held every weekend between June 22 and July 29, and features a lovely variety of local craftspeople, vendors, and restaurants. I found a beautiful pair of earrings that happened to perfectly match my dress from Mi Florcita that are made of real pressed flowers in resin, and a gorgeous crescent moon ceramic pendant by Creations Lucie Jolicoeur and you all know I can’t pass up a good moon! I think this will also look really cool as a sort of improvised obidome. I’ll be sure to try it out in the near future.

I will definitely be going back to the event on the weekend of July 19, as that’s when this year’s Yatai! is. I’m hoping to wear one of my yukata, if the weather and my body cooperate, and I’ll post lots of photos. If you’re in or around the Montreal area this summer, give this event a visit.

O-Hanami & Taiko at the Montreal Botanical Gardens

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On Sunday, a few members of the Montreal kimono club got together at the Montreal Botanical Gardens to have our own little O-hanami. The climate here isn’t ideal for sakura, but we’ve got lots of crabapples which look almost as lovely and are almost as transient and ethereal.

I had a blast. We met lots of awesome people, posed for a bunch of photos, and generally had a great time. Although it was slightly marred by me tripping at one point and pulling the hanao out of my zori. I spent the bulk of the day walking in tiny awkward steps, gripping my shoe with my toes to prevent falling off. Eventually I just gave up and walked around in my tabi, since they’d gotten dirty when I tripped initially. A bit gauche, I know, but better than spraining something. Especially since I’m still recovering from falling down the stairs a few weeks back.

This post is going to be incredibly image-heavy, because everything was lovely and also we’re a bunch of silly people who like to ham things up. Click through for kimono, taiko drumming, and a lovely ikebana show!

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