Birthday party at Lotus in Omotesando

There was a mini Tokyo bloggers party last week as we belatedly celebrated Alanna's birthday. Finance issues, health issues and the obligatory Tokyo work issues conspired to keep us apart but the reunion was worth it. With Nicola  rounding out our terrible trio, we spent ages trying to decide where to go and then twice as long trying to find somewhere that had tables available on a Friday night.

We finally found refuge at Lotus in Omotsando, a modern, airy restaurant with prices cheaper than the fashionable location would suggest. The evening kicked off with an oh-so-hilarious photo shoot.

Little Miss Tired of Tokyo

Little Miss Milk Tea

Birthday Princess VivaRilakkuma

Then it was time for birthday presents and what did we get her? Let's just say it starts with Anna, ends with Sui and might just be the prettiest thing you've ever seen.

Next up, drinks! 

A round of drinks to start with

Gimme that minty goodness

Yeah, I can relate

This was definitely one of the better mojitos that I've had in Tokyo. A lot of them don't sweeten it, which makes for a bitter and dentist-invoking concoction. Question: if you eat the mint leaves in a mojito, does it count as one of your daily portions of fruit and veg? Does that mean we can have daily mojitos? Inquiring minds want to know...

Praise pork in all its glory

Tasted even better than it looks

The food was just as wonderful as the drinks. Alanna and I both had the slow-cooked pork belly, while Nicola seemed entirely happy with her her pizza. I've only had pork belly once before so I'm far from an expert but it truly tasted flawless. "Melt in your mouth" is such a cliche but that's what it was. The rice was cooked with ginger (though not as spicy as the waitress warned us) and I could have eaten a second helping without hesitation.

Another factor to not was how friendly and polite the waitress was. We were three foreigners who speak Japanese but obviously don't speak it natively. If we ask someone to repeat what they said, it doesn't mean "translate into broken English please". Our waitress at Lotus was full of smiles and didn't mind speaking a little slower when we asked her to. She didn't make us feel stupid by refusing to communicate in Japanese. It's a small point but respect is important and it guarantees that I'll be back for coffee or (hopefully) MOAR PORK!

So happy birthday to Alanna,  praise be to pork and congratulations to the three of us for having good friends in each other. Tokyo is nothing without people who can accept you for who you are.