This is not a food blog, but I love food. And Japan really knows their food. From the start, we were excited simply by the idea that we would have access to former favorites including Starbucks, McDonalds and Subway. But that was just the beginning, evidenced by the fact that out of those three we only made it to Starbucks (twice).
Beer:
This is a sore spot for us, as Jeff and I are both lovers of good beer. I would never turn my nose up at a Blue Light of course, but give me a delicious IPA any day. In Cambodia, the beer choices are limited to the lukewarm, watery cousins of Miller Light and PBR. Japan, on the other hand, offered us a glimpse of our old, hoppy, flavorful, cold, beer-drinking lifestyle. They have a decent number of craft breweries and we went to three different craft beer bars. Despite the steep prices (about $9/beer), it was well worth it for those tastes that we have craved for ten months. Lower Depths, watch out. We arrive home in less than a month and we are coming for you...
Snacks:
Rice balls covered with tempura flakes, seaweed and sauce. Steamed pork buns. Green tea Kit-Kats. Turkish gyros. Pork and veggie gyoza. Baby octopus on a stick with dipping sauce. Vanilla soft serve smothered in yuzu honey. You name it, it was plentiful. And indulge, we did.
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| Pork buns and tea in the geisha district of Kyoto. |
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| Weird looking, but surprisingly delicious fish-ball in Tokyo. |
Sushi:
Every student I have taught in the past five years has known with certainty my favorite food: sushi. It is one of those questions that you eventually get to when teaching elementary school. At first, sushi was the primary reason why I was so excited to go to Japan (I know, I should be ashamed). Upon arrival, we found that their sushi was mostly just a piece of raw fish served over rice, instead of the variety of sushi rolls (maki) that I am used to. However, the fish was so fresh that it was just as good, if not better.
Our favorite sushi-eating experience occurred in Tokyo. We had paused on a street corner near an incredibly busy section of the city, known as the Times Square of Tokyo (or maybe we just called it that), and were perusing our map, trying to locate a sushi place from our guidebook. A Japanese man in a crisp suit, briefcase in hand, stopped and asked if he could help. Seconds before he looked like he was rushing to a meeting, I swear, but in Japan the most unlikely-looking people stop and help all the time. He was unable to point us to our desired restaurant, but did us one better and suggested his own personal favorite, about three blocks away. What we arrived at minutes later was an actual sushi conveyor belt (pictured below). Dreams come true people, dreams come true. We sat at the bar and as the plates came by, grabbed whatever we wanted. In the end, the cost was determined by the number and type of empty plates we accumulated. Horse meat was on the menu, but we didn't try it. We each had six or eight dishes and came in at right around $8/person. It was such a cool experience.
Fast food:
Even Japanese "fast food" is delicious. Their manner of ordering involves entering money into something that looks like a slot machine, choosing your menu item by pressing the correct keys and then handing a welcoming, smiling waitress the ticket that emerges. You then choose a seat and your piping hot meal arrives within seven minutes. Since Japan is pretty expensive, especially compared to Cambodia, we tried to budget on lunches to save money. We ended up at a few chain restaurants and were more than pleasantly surprised each time. From their steaming bowls of veggies and thick noodles with broth, to their roasted pork fillets over sweet rice with a side of soba (pictured below), we ended up full and happy for less than ten bucks. (And as you can see, the portions were almost always big enough that we couldn't finish everything.)
Japan, I miss you. Sushi, we will meet again soon.
