Our first meal in Tokyo was taken by a waiter who spoke to us in broken Mandarin. Somehow we ended up with yakitori for six, at about $6 USD per person. Food, not English, should be our universal language.
They love food here. In the district of Asakusa, where our hostel was, a constant aroma of ramen, tempura, and God knows what else, caught us blindsided. It was a glorious mishmash.
I was in food nirvana for five days. Here are my highlights:
1) Set Menu at Sushi Daiwa
This is by the Tsukiji Fish Market. Our original plan was to show up for the auction at 5am, but a late arrival the previous night put an end to that. We still arrived relatively early to catch the sushi while it's fresh.
Daiwa is next to the famous Sushi Dai, but the line for that looked...long. Well, the lines are long at both places, so we tried our luck at Daiwa.
We waited close to an hour, which may seem long, but I heard about times of two to three hours.
They're not keen on the guests taking photos. I guess that just prolongs your stay there. They want you in and out.
The set menu is fantastic, especially the toro (fatty tuna). Definitely worth the wait.
*Haha! Take THAT, Sushi Daiwa!*
2) Wagyu at Yakitori Alley
Yakitori is basically chicken parts on a stick, grilled over charcoal. Yakitori Alley, which lies in the district of Ginza, is a smoky avenue of open-air restaurants, each serving chicken wings, chicken hearts, and chicken livers.
At the place we went to (sorry, can't remember the name, we just went where it was most crowded), in addition to chicken, they served Wagyu. And WOW...One of the best food experiences of the trip, hands down. All topped off with a mug of Asahi.
*Obligatory beer pic*
3) Tonkatsu Ramen at...Random Ramen Place
My friends Reub and Susie found a ramen place by our hostel. They said the ramen was "SOOOO GOOOD".
Problem is, that place opens at 11am, and we had train to catch around noon. So, at 9:30 in the morning, we wandered the back streets of Asakusa, and followed our noses to this:
Asakusa is full of ramen joints, as well as sushi, yakitori, tempura, donuts (for real), udon, soba, and did I mention ramen? It's worth mentioning twice.
4) Beef Bowl Set at Yoshinoya
Don't sleep on the Beef Bowl! I posted on Facebook that this was my last meal in Tokyo. It was met with disbelief and disgust. I've never had Yoshinoya in the US, so I couldn't tell you if it's better there than here. But I can tell you that this hit the spot. I can never go to a Yoshinoya in the States, ever.
There were other dishes I tried, and there were dishes that I never got to (okonomiyaki, anyone?). These four alone were enough to put me in food heaven. And then I went to Hong Kong. But that's another entry.
4 comments:
Yeah.. Yoshinoya in the US most definitely does not look like that.
Mmmm, everything looks SO good. Did you get to eat some takoyaki or yakisoba in Osaka?
Was not able to visit Osaka, but it's definitely on the itinerary for the next trip to Japan.
And there will be a next time.
Ooh...I took a picture of the menu at the yakitori alley...I'll get it to you. :) I'm hungry, Eman!! I miss Japan (and Hong Kong)!
Amy Huang told me about a place where we can make our okonomiyaki in the South Bay and we can have a trip reunion.
There's some decent takoyaki in Little Tokyo and the South Bay too.
Post a Comment