To all the food we've loved in Japan...
22nd October to 4th November 2016
About halfway through our Japan trip, we realised that even though food and drink are huge interests of ours, and something we really wanted to write about, we were doing a terrible job of photographing it for the website.
So, in week 2 we upped our game and tried to take photos of as much as possible. The disclaimer here is that many of the photos here come from my phone, hastily snapped so as not to be that tourist spending 10 minutes getting the right Insta-shot while the food goes cold. Also, there's only so long I can leave food in front of me without eating it...
Sushi
The perfect place to start. Our first Japanese sushi experience was a small, conveyor belt sushi joint in Shibuya.
They had very little English, we had hardly any Japanese, but they welcomed us in and sat us down at the conveyor belt. We watched a bit, trying to figure out their system, and started tentatively to pick plates off the conveyor belt. Zing! Tasty, fresh and really satisfying sushi every time.
Our sushi workshop in Tsukiji Fish Market was definitely the freshest sushi either of us had ever tasted, with the added bonus of learning more about the best way to eat sushi, and a sake tasting session. (More on that here...)
The best breakfast we had in Tokyo was at a sushi restaurant near Tsukiji fish market.
Ramen
We had a couple of ramen bowls while in Japan, but one place completely knocked the socks off everything else.
Kyoto Gogyo serves burnt miso ramen and burnt soy ramen. I read about how good this was on Peeking Duck's blog, and we decided to give it a go.
Wow... just wow... soft, melty noodles hiding in a smoky, black soup that reminds you of all the great barbecues you've ever eaten. On top, slices of tender roasted pork and a perfect soft-boiled egg. I could have eaten this every day.
Note - if you're going to check this out in Kyoto, keep an eye on the opening hours. It's closed from 3pm until 5pm, which we discovered with broken little hearts when we went back at 2.50 on our last day in Kyoto.
Gyoza
Gyoza are my own personal brand of crack. I daydream about these tasty little dumplings sometimes.
We ate several lots of gyoza while in Japan, but the best were undoubtedly at Gyoza Lo in Harajuku (thanks for the tip little grey box!). This is a popular spot with always a queue outside, but don't let that put you off. It truly is fast-food, so the queue moves fast. We were only waiting 5 minutes during the lunchtime rush.
We had a batch of the original gyoza and a batch of the garlic and leek variety - both completely divine. We also had some cucumber in a kind of satay-ish sauce, which worked really well with the gyoza.
To top it off, you can see the gyoza being cooked while you sit at the counter. They have it down to a fine art here, and it's a bit mesmerising to watch.
Tonkatsu
We stumbled across this fantastic restaurant while roaming the streets of Kyoto trying to decide what to eat and it ended up being in our top 3 food experiences in Japan (that's saying something!).
You order the kind of katsu you want (tonkatsu, the most popular, is a pork fillet in breadcrumbs, but you can get prawns and veggie dumpling ones too).
It's served with a picnic of other foods including shredded cabbage, a little potato salad, barley rice, and of course, miso soup.
You make your own sauce by grinding toasted sesame seeds with a pestle and mortar, and then adding the original or spicy tonkatsu sauce to the mix. There's also a delicious yuzu (japanese citrus) dressing to go over the cabbage, and some pickles.
Go here with an empty tummy, ready to be filled with delicious katsu items! It's a little pricier than other places, but worth it if you want something a bit special.
Kaiseki
Kaiseki is a style of dining in Japan that is made up of many courses filled with small, perfectly presented dishes of food. It's usually very expensive, but we enjoyed a really reasonably priced kaiseki meal as part of our rate when we stayed at the gorgeous Kamesei Ryokan.
This is something for those who have adventurous tastes and want to experience all the different tastes that Japan has to offer. I say adventurous tastes because you'll be served a very wide selection of dishes, and the best way to enjoy kaiseki is just to go with it and try everything.
We wore our yakutas (relaxed kimonos) to dinner, so I had nothing to photograph the meal with, but we took our little apple pie dessert to our room for tea afterwards, so here's a snap of that.
Udon and Tempura
We had surprisingly little tempura in Japan, but what we did have was really tasty. Tempura batter is so light that you don't feel stodgy after eating it.
Ours was in accompaniment to a big, hearty bowl of udon noodles in broth. These giant, soft noodles are particularly satisfying if it's a little cold outside.
Takoyaki
A speciality in Osaka, these small globes look really appetising, but you'd better like octopus.
We tried some while at Osaka Castle, and while the dumpling bit was tasty, the octopus was too tough and crunchy for me (I'm all about the texture of things, me). Nick soldiered on though and finished the rest of the takoyaki, but I think it wasn't really for him either.
Bao
These steamed pork buns were lifesavers for a tasty snack when we were on the move. They come in at around 300 yen and we just loved them.
Okonomiyaki
Our very wise friend, Darina told us how okonomiyaki was one of her favourite things to eat in Japan, and that we should definitely try and have some while there. Yes Darina, yes it was just as fantastic as you promised! We had okonomiyaki for dinner 3 nights during our trip to Japan, making it our most frequent dinner, so definitely recommending this one.
It's a kind of pancake made with shredded cabbage and batter. You choose the filling (pork, cheese, veggies, fish etc.), and the chef will cook it up for you on a hot plate while you wait, drooling in your seat.
The very best okonomiyaki we had was in Osaka (Chibo?), but Chabana in Kyoto came a close second, so either of these places is worth checking out. Chabana is the more wallet-friendly of the two.