Japan - The Food

Let me just say that I am now ruined for sushi. Having experienced the freshest and best prepared sushi in Japan will make me forever miss that place. Sushi wasn’t the only thing we’ve tried, of course, but I must admit that pretty much everything we ate was excellently delicious and always fresh.

Japanese are big fans of having their food cooked in front of them or cooking their food themselves. Having to cook my own food at a restaurant was certainly a new concept, but I loved it. The ingredients were always so fresh and it was just such a neat experience.

My personal favorite and an absolute must was conveyor belt sushi. It’s exactly what it sounds like — customers sit around a conveyor belt that carries delicious goodies, round and round. You can grab whatever is on the belt (the plates are color coded according to price), or you can order off the menu. I loved this little hole in the wall place in Ginza — Sushi Ginsen. I think we spent around $10 per person for dinner, including drinks. You can’t beat that price, especially in Tokyo.

My personal favorite was the Ikura roll — giant fish eggs rolled up in seaweed.

Besides the best sushi ever, I also experienced shabu-shabu, which was amazing. You are seated at a table that has built-in stoves. You get a big pot of broth and then you choose what you want to cook. We usually went for beef and pork plus vegetables. The meat is sliced very thin and cooks quickly. One of the best meals I have ever had. The salad bar alone blew me away with the variety of mushrooms, seaweed, and other veggies I didn’t even know existed. Unfortunately, I was so carried away by this deliciousness that I took no pictures. Shame on me. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

Another new and exquisite Japanese dish I discovered was okonomiyaki or Japanese pancake. This was absolutely amazing. Again, this is cooked right in front of you and is fun to watch. First, batter is mixed and poured, then ingredients of your choice are added in and a dome is placed over the pancake to help it cook faster. Then, you wait. And salivate. It’s all so worth it.

Another one of my favorite meals was a traditional Japanese breakfast we were served at a ryokan in Kyoto. It was quite a heavy breakfast which included rice, seaweed, miso soup, sweet beans and some other things I don’t know the names for. It was heavenly.

And then there were noodles. Lots and lots of noodles. In Nagoya, we had udon noodles that were so, so delicious.

And then there were these ramen noodles that were amazingly delish.

In Nagoya we had a variety of dishes that were absolutely luscious. Here are some shiitake mushrooms:

And more ikura:

Some sashimi:

And finally, some fried tofu:

Last but not least, all over Tokyo vendors sell these crepes that can be filled with crustard, fruit, cheesecake, ice cream or even noodles and other lunch choices. A favorite treat of mine, for sure.