First of all i want to apologize for spamming food pictures in puasa month. I’m writing this after buka puasa today except i cannot really control the timing you read this, so sorry T__T.
Anyway, after part I, i had another week in Japan so this is part II of it!
Also i received a lot of requests for my fav food guide in Tokyo. I can’t possible recommend all my favorite food because it will take years. Here’s a mini one! It’s listed by food category.
1. Ramen
Want to know my favorite Ramen shop??
All my Malaysian friends seem to like Ichiran the best when it comes to Japanese ramen. I love Ichiran very much, but my absolute favorite is actually not tonkotsu ramen (pork bone based), but shio ramen (salt based). And it is by 俺流 (Oreryu).
The soup is really really thick , and strangely it has a soya bean taste in the soup, even though it is not made of soy at all.
Their karaage and gyoza are soooo good toooo
2. Yakitori
Good ones are very expensive, we normally don’t go to those, because the usual random ones are super good for my taste too lol. Here’s a random yakitori shop we walked into in Shibuya.
Simmered pork, nankotsu (chicken soft bone)
Quail eggs, capsicum , chicken thigh and liver.
Is there any food i don’t eat in Japan?
OMG YES. I JUST FOUND OUT. The danna ordered this, it is called Myoga, it’s a type of Japanese ginger. I cannot. It’s not as bad as parsley but close lol.
3. Sushi
There are a lot of 100 yen sushi, and for the freshest of course everyone goes to Tsukiji Fish Market to queue up at 7AM. We went there at 11AM, there was still a 20 minutes queue. Mostly foreigners!
It’s very, very very good, but it’s also very expensive. I feel it is kind of not worth the price, because indeed it has become a little too touristy. We have had better and waaaaay cheaper sushi somewhere else, but it’s too far from where tourists will usually go.
4. Healthy food
My friend Marina recommended this restaurant to me. Remember i said in a previous post about bitter gourd is my Bodhi Tree? I’ve been practicing lol. This is a vegetable bar, where you pay 800 yen (about RM26) for a vegetable buffet.
There are a variation of veggies, like raw cabbage, cucumber, picked vegetables, sauteed zucchini, and a few other things i cannot name. Also free flow carrot juice. The zucchini tempura is soooo gooood.
Comes with miso soup and two onigiri too!
I love it!!! It’s really yummy and makes you feel good for making effort to be healthy 😀
5. Budget eats
On a tight budget? Best bet is Gyudon shops. You have a selection of: Matsuya, Yoshinoya, Sukiya, and a few less popular ones. I can eat this everyday!
We went to Yoshinoya because it was near our apartment! Here’s the menu and price list!
My Negi Pork rice bowl is probably 380 yen? (RM12)
Danna’s gyudon (beef rice bowl) is 280 yen (RM9)
Super cheap right??? Sometimes in Malaysia also dunno can find as cheap or not nowadays unless go for mamak.
6. Cafe and sweets
There are many cafes i love but cannot list them all down TT
If you love chocolate you can go to Lindt. It’s quite atas one, one set (a drink and two macarons) costs like RM30-40!
Rose flavor and strawberry flav.
If you like cute pastries, they are EVERYWHERE. Don’t even need to put effort to find lol.
If you like roll cake, 76CAFE omotesando is my favorite! I don’t usually like cream but the nama kurimu (fresh cream) is sooooo fluffy and light, i love every flavor!
7. Supermarket
Sometimes the supermarkets have discount on ready-to-eat food after 7PM, so you can buy whatever items you like, go back and eat it with rice (from convenient stores). This is Iwashi mentaiko. Stuffed fish with mentaiko inside!
Soooo yummy
8. Snacks
I don’t really like Takoyaki because i generally don’t like Osaka taste. It’s the sauce they used (tastes like Wocester sauce?) that put me off. But the danna loooooves takoyaki, and we went to Mitama Matsuri (a Japanese summer festival) and saw this:
SUPER HUGE TAKO!!!
Never seen Takoyaki with overspilled tako tentacles one! THE REAL DEAL lol. Was also super yummy surprisingly, the octopus was so soft!
9. Nabe
No ah i didn’t scold you wtf. Nabe means “pot” in Japanese. Although hot pot is generally a winter must-have, this summer i was craving for Motsu-nabe sooo bad. (Already explained what motsu is in past entries!)
Motsu below , topped with lots and lots of negi and cabbage. Japanese cabbage really tastes sooo good!
As you cook, the collagen in motsu will dissolve and thicken the soup!
In the end you can make porridge like this. You won’t regret it 😀
10. SPLURGE!
If you have the money, *cough*.
We never went to super atas restaurant before, never even dare to step our foot in Ginza before lol.
But we had this awesome opportunity to try out a one star Michelin restaurant called Katsuzen in Ginza, as a wedding celebration by a few good friends. It’s run by a family they know so they probably received a huge discount too. Otherwise can never afford T_T.
But if you really want something luxurious, this is really an experience of a life time. I guarantee this would be the best katsudon you will ever eat in the world wtf. (Even the danna said so)
We went for a course meal.
First of all we had honey lemon juice.
You can also get from Old Town for like, i dunno, RM4.90. But this. This honey lemon is no normal honey lemon. It was… magic honey lemon wtf. I don’t know what magic they put in it, but it tastes… i dunno how to explain!!! I saw them squeeze it freshly and mix in front of me, it was nothing special leh! So it must be magic *__*
Iberico ham marinated with earl grey (?!)
The green thing looks like grape right???
IS NOT! It’s green tomato!!! *___* Has the texture of a juicy grape!
Next is roast beef and duck (cold dish)
And then is Tuna tatare in sesame sauce.
And then this, wait.
Wait wait wait. Don’t call PETA yet. This ain’t shark fin.
Guess what it is?
guess
guess
guess
.
.
.
Potato.
Obviously it won’t magically taste like sharkfin la lol. But done in a manner that mimics the delicacy of precious shark fin soup. We asked the chef, bewildered, how was it shaped like that???
He just said, “Just slice it, one by one, really thin.”
一刀一刀切出来的。T___T
And then he said this is not in the menu yet, (although it tasted AMAZING), and we asked why, he said, “it takes too much time to prepare, one by one”.
T____T
The next dish is simmered fish in this crazy yummy sauce (which amazed all of us that we saved it for later to pour in white rice. CANNOT waste even one drop lol what saucery is this!!!)
This is egg plant stuffed with minced meat. The texture is fluffy like cotton *____* Really never tasted egg plant like that in my entire life.
I know i sound like i’m exaggerating everything but really every food experience in Japan was like a whole new achievement unlocked!
And then comes the finale: Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet)
The name of the shop is Katsuzen, so obviously it’s a Tonkatsu specialty shop!
Doesn’t look any different from the usual tonkatsu.
But.
I just ate in silence.
Speechless. Just speechless. Juicy, so juicy. Haha.
This time i don’t want to say i tear already because already not convincing lol. How can so dramatic every time lolol.
And then there was also kaki hotate fry (fried oyster + scallop)
I don’t like oyster but this was *______*
Creamy. So creamy lol.
We were so impressed by the quality of food (so so different from the usual ones we have in restaurant, one Michelin star well deserved!), we asked the family what’s their culinary secret, and the chef thought for awhile,
“Hmm, nothing much, it’s mostly because the materials are fresh and good, that’s all.”
Got people so humble one *__*. The food is good not because his skill is good, is because he owed it all to nature. T_T
Later we also found out one interesting facts about the mother (chef’s wife): she has never eaten McDonald’s or any fast food in her life. @__@ She is so dedicated to home-made meals that it became her life.
We talked a lot, and had a wonderful night. I love this restaurant so much.
Before we left we also had last dessert!
They are right, every single ingredient they picked are of premium grade, so i guess that’s their skill too!
12. Airport
You will not be disappointed at Japanese airports. We flew via Narita this time. It isn’t my favorite airport, but i looooooooove the JAL Sakura lounge (for JAL members).
Because.
Of their buffet.
Curry rice with scrambled eggs
AND
Infinity mentaiko.
And marks the end of this post.
ALso because it is now 1AM. I’m sorry if you get hungry at odd hours reading this!
There are Sukiya branch stores here in KL! There’s one at Paradigm mall and one at USJ Taipan. The normal gyudon is RM9 as well! And they have other varieties. Check it out! 😀
I don’t usually comment, just drool. But wow, I’m impressed!! Got bitten by the travel bug so bad!! 🙂 thanks Cheesie
OMG, the food looks delihihihiiiicious!! Oishisou!!nnLindt <33 the best chocolate ever 😀
wow…namazingly realistic potato ‘sharkfin’… and you had me with the last photo, mentaiko :D~
many of these food looks familiar.. must have seen em in my whatsapp T_T
Lolol
Haha go for ittttt all yoursss
Is it!! I never know how to appreciate chocolate haha
Ya I heard!! Yay yay yay
i just finished lunch but then now im hungry againT___T
How can lol
*drooling* nThe takoyaki looks soooo good! and super HUGE hahahhaa. nReally feel like eating takoyaki now 🙂
Ooh what’s the super cheap sushi place? =D
It makes me so curious about the taste of mentaiko! Definitely must try if I ever got the chance !
OMG everything looks extremely delicious! my mouth’s watering :Q___
Now i know why the Osaka takoyaki taste weird….. I only had it once when I was in Osaka…. and it taste like a cabinet that has been left empty for months – like wooden taste.. dunno how to explain.nnStill prefer the ones from Jusco supermarket in KL… hehehe
Everything looks super tasty!!
lolololol that’s so funny!!!
love Yoshinoya – someone should bring it back to Malaysia. And RM9 … so cheap!
Omg I love Yoshinoya – I always go for their 牛鍋丼 with salad and kenchinjiru <3 But my fave food has to be anything nabe and izakaya fare (with lots of drinks to go with lol) Too bad I’m always on my own and one often has to be two or more to order XD I really miss Japan, I don’t really care much for food but in Japan you can’t be helped but be enthusiastic 😀
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Hi, may I know what camera did you use to snap these photos? They look great. 🙂
There’s a lindt cafe in Japan!! I must go when I go to Japan next time! 😀
Lumix GF6!
That’s nira on the motsunabe, not negi 🙂 SO JEALOUS OF EVERYTHING ON THIS POST
Hi! Chanced upon your blog while researching for my upcoming trip. Could I find out the name of the vegetable buffet bar? 🙂 Thanks!