Thursday, April 29

Food tripping in Japan

Our very first taste of Japanese food came straight out of a bento box. No kidding.  On our way to Odaiba, our oh-so-polite tour guide handed us nicely wrapped bento box for merienda (snack).


Umm yeah, if this is what they're trying to pass off as merienda
it's no wonder I keep gaining those unwanted lbs!


Right after we checked in on our hotel, we were treated to Salmon Sashimis at a near-by restaurant in Shinjuku.  I wanted to get its name, but it was written in Japanese and silly blogger can't even master remedial Chinese after 12-years of schooling, so any lame attempt to learn a new tongue twisting vernacular on this trip was immediately met with a resounding Hell-No!


Super fresh salmon sashimis make my heart melt!

  

I was a bit wary at first, but the squid was way too yummy to resist.

  
Sake! 


Despite gorging on the yummy spread in front of us, Dear Hubby grew restless about an hour or so after dinner.  Evil Wifey me thinks I should have his stomach stapled soon! *schemes schemes*   But for now, EW took pity on his tummy and we headed over at Piss Alley also within walking distance from Shinjuku Station.  Here you'll find rows and rows of ramen, yakitoris and other deliciously grilled street foods at rather affordable prices (Y500-Y1000).



Hotel breakfast at Hilton, Tokyo. (At least we get a break from Japanese foods during breakfast, cause Hilton mostly served American/Chinese foods)


The next day, after random tourist activities, the Hubby and I proceeded with our favorite past-time: trying out local Japanese cuisine over at Nakamise Dori.  Nakamise Dori is a convenient five steps away from two famous tourist attractions in Tokyo: the Sensoji and Asakusa Kennon Temple.  Everything was mostly around Y200 or a hundred pesos.  Definitely worth going around and tasting the many street concoctions their crazy minds have thought of.


  

Too bad that we were on our way to lunch just a few minutes after our side trip to Nakamise Dori.  Silly blogger had a field day with all the street food that its hard to make more room for anything else.  To top it all off, our lunch at a local restaurant in Ginza (near Shiodome SIO-site) was yet another Eat-All-You-Can type of restaurant.  Yikes.  *1 pound, 2 pound, 3 pound....*




The only time I ever regretted spending my Y$Y in Japan was when we ate at upscale Takashimaya Times Square (hmm reminds me of a very tall and much swankier Greenbelt 4) .  Sheer exhaustion from way too much walking has left my cheapo-guard down, hence I agreed to eat at Sushi Gen inside the mall. 



But it was definitely NOT worth the money.  
Imagine paying Y5,100 for just this?!?!


But for that one bad meal, karma food gods decided to pay us back with a multitude of satisfying sumptuous 'Edo style' (authentic taste) sushis that now forms part of our new standard of measurement for any Japanese restos.  

  
Dinner Cruise at Shinigawa Pier that'll give you a sweeping view of Tokyo Bay


  

Dinner at Yatsugate Royal Hotel in Hakone.  
Geisha show + traditional Japanese dinner = heart melt


 

 

Over at Hiroshima, you need need to try their famous Japanese Pizza Pancakes or Okonomi-yaki's.  This represents Hiroshima's culture and is a definite MUST-TRY!  Just downstairs from Hiroshima Station, you will find a food theme park with over 860+ stores where you can enjoy delicious okonomi-yaki sizzling on the iron griddle.

 


 

Over at Nikko Edomura, we were treated to a D-I-Y lunch meal courtesy of Okariba Restaurant


  

It was excellent.  Really yummy. But I'm pro'lly one of those lazy-a$$ people that want their food served to them when eating out.  The whole Yakimix/Cooking-your-own-food concept is not for this silly way gluttony not to mention a tinsy bit lazy blogger.

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Osaka is the place to be for those searching for the perfect Japanese bite.  With over 10 gigantic malls lining up one area (near Osaka Station) one can just go a tad crazy from restaurant-choosing.





In Kyoto, there's The Cube and Porta for yummy, affordable yakitoris and omu rice fixes.  Most meals are around Y990 - Y1200 per plate.

 

We were able to eat at a local rotating sushi place in Ginza (just a block from H&M and near Yurakucho Station).  We thought everything was Y100 per plate. Turns out only one colored plate was worth that cheap. Go figure.  Since we couldn't understand Japanese we just replied on the plate-price decoration they  had going on their wall.


Pepper lunch spotted near the Godzilla Statue (Ginza area)


Something funny. Hee hee. Japanese-English translation sometimes take on the very literal forms!


3 comments:

  1. delicious food and looks like so much fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. really really great food! and you're right, we had a blast with this particular food tripping :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. this is exactly WHY manongski has become Mr. Walking Sushi... :P

    ReplyDelete