mbreally: JAPAN BONUS 8: Food In Japan

One of the greatest things about travelling is eating. This aspect of
travel is only better when you ARE NOT in the USA. I love Asian food,
and Japanese is easily my favorite with Chinese and Thai and Korean
all tied for 2nd. So, naturally, I did a lot of taking pictures of our food
and drink.

I guess we can talk about energy drinks first. In Japan, energy drinks are popular. They sell
various levels and types, some cheap, some expensive. Tom and Kris tried a bunch.
****Some photos by Tom.

I had this one twice. Works good, and I was tired.

Ahhhh, Asahi Super Dry. Japan's Budweiser, only good.

"American" style food we ate in Kyoto, awesome.

Cold sake in Kyoto.

Ice Cream in Kyoto. The yellowish flavor is sweet potato...and it tastes awesome.

Freshness Burger. Jim, Tom and I ate lunch there one day. The burgers were greasy gut bombs,
but man were they good.

This is train food I got at the station before we left Osaka for Tokyo. Look how nice it is.

Mmmm.

This is a lunch I ate somewhere. Whole splayed fish, charbroiled to perfection.

One of the nice things about Japan, is that most restaurants display the type of food they serve in
plastic form in the windows outside their stores. VERY, VERY nice for us gaijin because otherwise
we would have no idea what kind of food we were getting into. This was a very elaborate plastic
display dish. Had to snap a pic.

They love them some octopus in Japan.

Here's a little hot coffee from a machine, and a Belgian waffle from Maneken. Having been to Belgium
before, I can tell you that Belgian waffles as American's know them, is wrong. This is a Belgian waffle.
Damn, so good. They get it right in Japan.

I fell in love with Okonomiyaki in San Francisco's Japan Town after we moved out West. So, one
of my primary goals was to eat Osaka Okonomiyaki, the birthplace of the dish. If you don't know
what it is, do a wikipedia search. Its yummy.
OMG my mouth waters. How I long for you, oh sweet Okonomiyaki!

Just look at that. Art.

Like the windows, most Japanese menus are laid out with glorious photos of each dish. Very helpful.

Loco Moco, divine.

Let me tell you something, the Japanese love their sweets. There is no shortage of ice cream, crepe,
cake, cookie, pastry, donut or candy thing in Japan, and they are all top notch gormet treats.

Miso soup as you know it is 10 times better in Japan. Usually, our miso soup is just that, with some
mushy tofu in it. In Japan, you will get clams, or shrimp heads or whatever in there flavoring it up
nicely. Loved it!

OMG the sushi. Melts in your mouth. Nuff said.

I tried a veriety of sushi I have never seen before. These pieces are on the list of sea creatures I have
never partaken in. So good.

After about 6 days of eating Japanese, I'm not gonna lie. You do get a little "fished out".
First Kitchen, much like McDonalds, is a Japanese fast food chain. But unlike MickeyDs,
First Kitchen serves awesome food that tastes awesome, like this double cheese
burger with an egg on it. Hits the spot when you are craving something like this.

This is as close to a McDonalds I got. I made it a point to not go in one. I did however go into a KFC, but
only to use the bathroom.

Not 100%, but I am pretty sure this is Unagi pre sushi-fied.

Big, glowing menu out front one restaurant.

Here are a couple shots of the Family Mart refrigerators. A nice selection.

OK, Tom fancies himself as a culinary adventurer, much like Andrew Zimmern. I'll pretty much eat
anything, but raw red meat is not for me. This is basashi. Look it up. I did not try.

I did taste the pork hearts though, they were cooked and sauced. They tasted ok, but nothing to write home about, imo.

Chicken on a stick. This was another thing I didn't care for. I think in many Asian cultures,
cartilidge is enjoyed. Personally, fat and cartilidge are two textures/flavors I do not care
for. Quite honeslty, they disgust me. I think these chicken kabobs had bits of cartilidge
mixed in.

OK this is cool. First off, most, not all, but most Japanese restaurants seat you, and then leave you
alone. At the table you find a buzzer button. You press the button when you want service. Bam, waitress
is there ready to take your order. How cool is that? No annoyingly attentive waiter, no non-existent
waitress that leaves you hanging. And this place took it one step further. A small touch screen LCD
attached to the wall with the menu and your tab on it. You just pick through the menus the stuff you want
and order it via this device. You can see your bill at any point and add stuff to your order when you are
ready. I'd go back to this place tonight if I could.

We did some drinkin.

Here we are eating sushi at the big fish market. This.is.fresh.

Those orange things, what are they? I had them, can't put a finger on the taste. But good.

More sweets. These are filled fish pastries.

I only had one Boba Tea while I was there, and it was awesome.

From the Moomin Stand.

Beer Lao. First time I ever had Laotian beer.

This is the last lunch I had in Tokyo. This came from a place where you
put money in a mahcine at the entrance, choose your meal, get a ticket and then
get your meal cooked to order.