Yesterday's visit. At Kaladi, they had Christmas sweets lined up, so I bought some. Things tend to disappear once December rolls around. ★ Kopernik Turnski "Pierogies" A traditional Polish Christmas sweet with cinnamon, ginger, and other spices mixed into a treat that's like a cross between bread and cookies. I like the flavor. Similarly, I've bought German Wicklin's Cinnamon Stars at Kaladi before, and it has a similar taste. ★ Decasell Maple Syrup Grade A Amber. It's 100% additive-free. 250ml. I was drawn to the bottle and bought it. It was a sweetness that goes well with pancakes. Just going to Kaladi puts me in the Christmas spirit of the local area. It's November, but lol.

I went to the so-called "Nishi Ion" in November 2020. It's a popular place, Ion ♫ There is a bookstore, clothing store, shoe store, toy store, and everything you need is available at this convenient Ion ♫ It's the Ion that Celine Dion used to advertise as "Celine at Eon." Just kidding. As an apology, I will sing a lie from Kiyoshi Nakajo. Oh~ even though it's only been half a year of love ♫ So, it's "Kaldi Coffee Farm Asahikawa Nishi Store." It's an exciting store just to look at, but the aisles are narrow, so it's a bit difficult for chubby people. I will buy some affordable wine and coffee beans. Redwood Cabernet Sauvignon is 480 yen. It's not Red Snake Camon, just kidding! (laughs) It's a slightly sweet red wine... I want to say it's refreshing, but the sweetness is a bit off-putting. It's okay for the price. Italian roast coffee beans are 262 yen for 200g on half-price day. It may taste a bit bitter, but it's not bad. Well, it's cheap... (^_^;)

I went to Ion Nishi store and... there's no way I can leave without stopping by♬︎ KALDI has the usual items but also many interesting and unique ones...♪*ﾟWhen you take a closer look, before you know it, your basket is already full (￣∀￣)【Sliced prosciutto】♬︎ It's my favorite that I always keep in stock♡ It's cheap and delicious...♪*ﾟSince I'll freeze it anyway, I ask for the one that's frozen the hardest (*^ω^*) Yuzu pepper, the usual one too♬︎ I keep it in the freezer to maintain its color and aroma until I use it up! On this day, I also bought a few new and interesting items♬︎ They have started selling eco bags as well~(^_-) Looks like I can enjoy various snacks♬︎ Thanks for the meal~( * ॑꒳ ॑* )

I bought 2 packs of "Salt Lemon Pasta Sauce @124 yen" at the Kaldi Coffee in Ion Mall Asahikawa Nishi store. This pasta sauce has a refreshing acidity and a strong lemon aroma. It has a unique taste with a hint of bitterness from the lemon peel, which may be a hit or miss for some people. Personally, I like its simple and refreshing flavor. I tried the sauce without adding any ingredients this time to taste its original flavor, but I think it would also go well with tuna and other ingredients for various combinations. Anyway, it's very affordable, so give it a try at least once.

I went to Aeon Asahikawa Nishi. It was crowded because of the Golden Week. There was a crowd in the hall on the first floor. I thought something was happening, but it turned out that Executive Uesugi, also known as Wesugi, was doing a voice check. He will be having a mini live performance a few hours later. I have seen Executive Uesugi in Kitami city a few times before. He is filming a show where he asks people about their alma mater and eventually aims to visit the principal's alma mater. It was really interesting. Now, here is "Kaldi Asahikawa Nishi Store". Whenever I see Kaldi, I always end up stopping by. And of course, I end up buying something. I bought "Rustic Brie" for 378 yen. It is a white mold cheese from the Brie region in France. It has a creamy texture, richness, and relatively mild flavor. It's delicious. I also bought "Cava Mas Rock" for 1663 yen. It is a sparkling wine made using the same method as Champagne, with secondary fermentation in the bottle. It comes with Kaldi's original "Ajillo pot", so I couldn't resist buying it. Next time, I'll try pairing it with Ajillo.

I love browsing around at my favorite store, Kaldi! And there, I discovered something new - "Shiitake Sauce"! Since I love mushrooms and the label indicated it was soy sauce-based, I decided to give it a try. I poured it over pork sauté and it was delicious! The sauce has finely chopped shiitake mushrooms and is full of umami flavor. It's not just the taste of shiitake, but the richness of umami that stands out. The sauce is thick and coats the food well, with a smooth and not too salty soy sauce flavor. It seems like it could be a versatile seasoning. I'm thinking of adding ginger to this sauce next time to make a ginger pork marinade. With its strong umami flavor, it could take the ginger pork to the next level. If you come across this sauce, be sure to try it out!

Caldi is really fun! They have a lot of unusual items, they give you coffee, and you can stay there for a long time. The staff is knowledgeable about the products and even offer black coffee for tasting. I found the "Iburi Gakko Tartar Sauce" there, which has been a topic of discussion online. I thought that when making tartar sauce, if you don't have pickles, you could substitute with pickled radish or pickled turnip, but it was different! Iburi Gakko is smoked, so this tartar sauce has an intense smoky flavor that goes really well with it. It's a bit addictive! I'm on my second bottle already. It's a new taste experience for me! The photo is old and the expiration date has passed, but please forgive that. Lately, they have been out of stock of many items, so if you love tartar sauce, I highly recommend trying this if you come across it. I forgot the price, but it's not expensive. Delicious tartar sauce, bon appétit!

Had a relaxing lunch with friends at the mall. Normally, I would grab a coffee from this shop and shop around, but I'm too full now. Oh, look! This is what I was looking for - Hamlet Belgian Crispy Chocolate Milk for 410 yen. I was disappointed when I couldn't find it in bulk at Costco before. It's a chocolate with rice puffs, similar to Chips Ahoy but smaller. I first tried it as a gift and fell in love with its delicious taste. It's smooth and easy to eat. There are four other flavors available - Dark Noir, Caramel, Orange, and Strawberry. The price is reasonable for the quality. I also bought coffee beans to enjoy at home - Mild Caldi 200g for 496 yen. I usually only have coffee in the morning, but on weekends I grind my own beans for a special treat. The aroma is different and delightful. My family thinks I'm noisy when grinding the beans, but it's worth it for the taste.

▼Location▼ Located on the 1st floor of Aeon Mall Asahikawa Nishi along Arashiyama Street (Hokkaido Route 1124). ▼About the Shop▼ Kaldi Coffee Farm Established in 1977 as a wholesaler of coffee beans. A popular chain that specializes in selling coffee beans, imported food products, and processed goods. The Asahikawa Nishi store opened on April 28, 2004, coinciding with the opening of Aeon Asahikawa Nishi. ▼Menu▼ Offers various coffee beans for sale, as well as a wide selection of imported processed goods and wines. ▼What I Ate▼ - Mild Kaldi, 200g for 496 yen (January 2018) The coffee served in small cups as a sample at the Kaldi store. This particular type features Brazilian beans, with a soft and mild taste profile that is easy to drink, with subtle acidity and bitterness. ▼Impressions▼ (January 2018) Kaldi is a nationwide chain store that sells coffee and various imported processed goods. It is popular for offering unique imported food products and their proud coffee selection, often found in large commercial facilities like Aeon. The Asahikawa Nishi store opened in 2004 along with Aeon, and I used to visit it frequently for groceries and seasonings. Although I don't shop at Kaldi as often now, I recently visited this Aeon and decided to try their Mild Kaldi coffee, which was reasonably priced and had a simple and pleasant taste. Next time, I would like to try purchasing some food items from there.

In July 2016, a new Caldi store opened in Asahikawa, so let's stop by before heading to the lounge. I got a sweet iced coffee and went inside the store. When I asked, the staff said they also serve black coffee. I was looking for Follow Me dressing, but they were out of stock. They had truffle salt (black, white) and prosciutto available though. Should I buy the yuzu salt ramen? It's a well-known product from Moheji. The pasta sauces are cheap, so I'll stock up on those! Caldi is a place where you end up wanting a lot of things while browsing around. I'll definitely come back again!

◆May 2016◆ There is a shop on the first floor of Aeon Asahikawa Nishi store that sells coffee beans and a wide variety of imported food products. They also sell my favorite Thai curry and imported beers, so I always make sure to stop by when I visit Asahikawa. I highly recommend their sliced leftover ham, which is much more affordable compared to other stores. I usually buy about three pieces and enjoy them with bread and wine. Another handy product for making curry is the Indian food curry powder, which is not available locally, so I always purchase it when I visit. Just browsing through the store is enjoyable and time flies by. There is a similar shop called Jupiter in the Aeon near the station, but personally, I prefer the selection at Kaldi. I wish they would open a store at Aeon Kitami too.

I went to Asahikawa for White Day. I wanted to visit other shops while I was there, so I also went to Aeon. I like Caldi Coffee, so I wanted to buy some things there. I didn't take many photos because I thought there were already reviews of this store. I wanted to buy some cut-off prosciutto, which I had been thinking about for a while. Also, I wanted to buy some Blue Cheese because a friend from Sapporo is visiting, so I also bought some red wine. I eat the prosciutto with chopped onions. I tried it with onion dressing, olive oil, and plain, and it was delicious no matter how I ate it. The prosciutto is not expensive, but it is very delicious for me. The red wine is from Spain, and I generally like wines from Spain or Portugal. It is not an expensive wine, but it has a unique taste that becomes enjoyable as you drink it. When you first open it, you can taste a bit of acidity, but as you drink it, you realize it is a delicious wine. I will definitely go back again!

There is a coffee specialty shop in the Ion Asahikawa Nishi Shopping Mall. Not only do they have coffee beans, but they also have a wide variety of imported foods that will make you excited just by looking at them. The prices are very reasonable. I mainly buy pasta and olive oil here. The pasta is much cheaper here than buying the same thing at a supermarket, and you can choose from a wide variety. The olive oil selection is also extensive and cheap! I also get spices to put in curry here. Additionally, the prosciutto sold here used to be very delicious for the price, but when I went there recently, the variety had changed. Did they change their supplier? The price remained the same, but I felt like the quality had dropped. They also offer a wide range of foreign sweets, tea, seasonings, and alcohol.

Sometimes I bake bread myself, and when I made a German pretzel, I realized I didn't have anything to dip it in. So, I went to a store called Kaldis and found some comb honey. It was crispy and delicious. I was impressed that Kaldis sells such things. The honey was a bit light in color, and when I put it on the freshly baked pretzel, it was quite sweet for my taste. It had a hint of honey flavor but also tasted like syrup. I don't dislike it, but I prefer honey with a stronger flavor and color. By the way, making pretzels is not time-consuming, but there are other steps involved like chilling the dough in the freezer and boiling it in water with baking soda before baking. Sometimes I forget to sprinkle rock salt on top. Bon appétit!

KALDI is a store that handles various popular products on SNS. In Asahikawa, there is only one in Nishi Aeon. I had been wanting to try a certain product for a long time, but it was so popular that it was always sold out, and I rarely got to see it. However!! Finally, I was able to purchase the product I had been searching for! It's so exciting to come across a product you've been looking for. KALDI is fun. I was so happy that I even took a photo the next day. When I found it, I bought it immediately. But... I forgot to take a picture of the appearance. So, the next day, I went specifically to take a photo of the appearance haha. And guess what... it was already gone. The other products from the series I wanted. Paint it and bake it, and it becomes curry bread. And coffee whipped cream. That's all that was left. In fact, there are other products as well, such as the one from Yamaya in Hakata, the almond spread to put on Delta bread with flavors like sugar toast, kinako fried bread, and more. KALDI's website is here. A melon bread you can make at home that has been a huge topic on SNS! The product is so popular that it's hard to find in any store. I really want to try this! By the way, KALDI's originals are this and curry bread. I'm curious about the curry too, but I think it would probably taste better fried than baked... on bread. When you say melon bread, it's that half-sphere-shaped bread, right? But there's no bread that only has the melon part of melon bread, and it doesn't exist. However, that shape is meant to evoke the image of a melon, and as long as it tastes like melon bread, it's not a problem. Creating a product that replicates that shape with bread is wonderful. By the way, when you eat only the skin of melon bread, it's like a super fancy way of eating, but I can't do that because I'm poor haha. A while ago, it seems that Yamazaki Pan released a product called "We only baked the skin of melon bread," but I couldn't find it in Asahikawa (ノД`) Sniff... I see. When you open the lid, there's a seal. And it explains how to eat it. Spread the cream, place it on an oven dish, and bake it in a toaster. Is that all? With this, can you bake that melon bread? Amazing. The cream is stored at room temperature, so it's easy to spread on the bread while it's soft. It really looks like you're spreading normal cream. However, if you store it in the refrigerator and then spread it, it will become somewhat solid. But even so, it's not difficult to spread. It says to avoid high temperature and humidity for storage, but it doesn't say to put it in the refrigerator, so maybe I didn't have to put it in the fridge... It stretches more. The first time, it stretched more cleanly and was easier to spread. This is the second attempt. The cream of the melon bread that was put in the refrigerator. It's a little solidified, making it harder to spread cleanly. It doesn't stretch as easily, but it's not impossible to spread. In fact, this way, you can spread plenty of cream, so it might adhere well to the surface as the skin. And inside, there's something like a cookie. The ingredients include sugar, maltose, cookies, vegetable fats, whole milk powder, melon juice powder... There's melon juice in it too. And what I saw when I spread it was indeed a cookie. It's baking. I peeked at it a little while it was baking. And the bread has a little ear at the end to try to make it closer to melon bread. But, it doesn't really look like the melon bread you know haha. Well, the taste, the taste! If the taste is like melon bread, it's okay. It's baked. It baked nicely. But I don't think anyone would look at this and think it's melon bread!! By the way, when I put mayonnaise and cheese on it and baked it, it turned out like this. But... the smell of melon at this point is no joke. By the way... this is the one where I spread the cream and baked it before putting it in the refrigerator. If you compare them, you can see that the cream doesn't change even when stored in the refrigerator and solidified. I'll leave the remaining cream in the refrigerator for now. Oh no! It's melon bread! Now, time to eat! Ah, yes yes yes, it's melon bread. However, it's quite soft...

In Asahikawa, there is a store in West Aeon that sells imported food and products called KALDI, and I sometimes go there because it's fun. So, I bought two items that are said to be must-buy because they are so popular right now. Here they are: on the left, there is a frozen croissant. It's a product from a French manufacturer called OSCAR MONDO, imported and sold by a company called Sanyu Foods. I wonder where else you can buy it in Japan besides KALDI. It's also available for purchase online, and I have included a link at the bottom. The seller is Sanyu Foods, and I feel like I've heard of them before. When I looked it up, I found out that they import various products and also sell domestic products. When I looked at their catalog... I saw that they also handle products from the Hokkaido Otemon series, it was interesting. Besides the Ocean Mondo croissant, it seems like they have other products as well, but the croissant is incredibly popular. Whenever I go to KALDI, it's often sold out. If you find it, you should buy it and try it right away. It's made with European fermented butter, authentic French frozen croissant dough. So... if you don't have an oven at home, you can't make it. To defrost it, first, you need to thaw the frozen dough. In summer, it takes 20 minutes, in winter, 30 minutes. Gently press the dough until it sinks slightly. To prevent sticking, place the dough on a piece of kitchen paper and leave some space between them. As it bakes... I used the Helio-kun that I bought last year with the relief money. It has been mentioned in my blog posts a few times, and it's been quite useful. Of course, it's also very useful with the oven function. I opened it to take pictures, but you should never open it... 180 degrees for 25 minutes. It's baked... but it failed. The one on the left is properly baked, but the one on the right is sunken. The color hasn't developed yet. The reason is probably that I opened it midway. Well, let's pretend the failure didn't happen and I ate it right away. It was extremely hot and soft... I read the instructions, and it said to let it cool for about 10 minutes before eating. The dough was still soft... and yes, that was exactly the case. Success! The croissant that failed was disposed of in my stomach for evidence concealment... Haha, I succeeded, the croissant is baked. I did a good job, it's nicely baked. Moreover, it's quite fragrant, whetting my appetite. In an instant, my house turned into a bakery. It's so delicious... When I cut it in half for the photos, the butter got all over my hands because it's so moist. The outside is crispy and the inside is soft and fluffy. The dough itself is sweet and delicious. The fragrant taste of butter is irresistibly delicious. I love croissants, so I eat them occasionally, but being able to eat freshly baked ones at home is truly a blessing. And the taste is also delicious. This is sure to become popular. I'll buy it again next time if they have it... Frozen cinnamon roll. This is also said to be popular, so I bought one. But just one. First, take it out of the bag... it's hard!!! Even though you can eat it as it is, it's still frozen. It's incredibly hard. Of course, it can be heated in the microwave. Even if you don't have an oven at home, you can use the microwave for this. At 500W for 70 seconds, at 600W for about 1 minute. Personally, I think it's better to heat it for a longer time. If you are going to eat this, please take note of the heating time. By the way, this is sold by Camel Coffee Co., Ltd. Of course, it was sold at KALDI. The Helio-kun is very active. Earlier, it was used as an oven. This time, it's being used as a microwave. However, when you try to use the microwave function after using the oven function, it says that the inside is still hot. Please wait for it to cool down a bit before using it... it even gives a clear explanation like "Leaving the door open will help it cool down faster"... I found it amusing. It's heated up. I thought the sugar on top would melt, but it stayed intact, and the cinnamon roll was delicious. I cut it in half for the photo, but normally you would just take a bite, right? But even when I cut it in half, the sugar on top made my hands quite sticky. The taste was great.