Come Away with Me

Palatable Delights

One of my main purpose, besides showing my family the various first time 'must-go & must-see' around Tokyo, was to feed them with lotsa food everyday of the trip! The good thing about traveling in small group (and 4 is a just nice size I think)is that you get to try a little of everything that's being ordered.

The thing is there were simply too many things I wanted everyone to try but just not enough time and stomach space! From Japanese fast food restaurants, convenience stores sweets and bentos, departmental basement food shopping, Japanese-style western food to the real, traditional Japanese fare you name it. And these are not even inclusive of those little snacks and local goodies that are sold at every tourist location all over this country...

Given the limited time, we did our best to eat something different for every meal and the photos below are thus proof of our hard work and perseverance! :P


We had a delightful lunch buffet at this popular restaurant called Ume no Hana (梅の花) which specialized in various kinds of tofu-centered dishes. There are the usual simmered fares, tofu chawanmushi, puddings, croquettes and a lot more.

I have to confess that I did not like tofu at all. Almost a year in Japan and I am a convert now! I used to find it bland and couldn't understand why anyone would find eating something that is almost tasteless appealing. Now this is precisely what I find tofu to be an amazing food these days. You can eat it whatever way you like! I've had it hot or chilled, in soup or grilled, sweet or savory etc. It takes on whatever qualities of the food you eat it with. In fact one of my current favorite way to eat tofu is to have it as a dessert, all you need is a little cocoa and cinnamon powder and some honey or maple syrup, it's really good. The best part is it's also one of the healthiest and low calorie food around!

Sorry I got carried away exulting the benefits of tofu... So anyway, not surprisngly my younger sibs squirmed at the mentioned of eating tofu for lunch. To many I suppose, tofu somehow relates much to vegetarian diet perhaps but this is Japan we are talking about, where the idea of being a vegetarian is quite unfathomable so whatever tofu dishes that are served are almost always accompanied by some other meat or seafood ingredients. The verdict: Well mom and I had a good time eating tofu anything. Jac was pretty cool about most of the stuff there too, she even picked out a few favorites towards the end. As for Robo, well,let's just say that he's just a guy after all. :P


Being the ever caring sister, I knew what would get my brother to sit up. A good cup of thick latte and some good old sinful donuts at Mister Donut, a popular chainstore one can easily find all over Japan. I was never much of a donut fan and thankful that I still am not. Somehow the idea of deep-frying lumps of dough and devouring these sugar laden stuff has never been my idea of a good snack. But just for Mister Donut I sometimes make an exception. Alvin loved this place when he visited and I know many other friends who do too. Well one donut starts from something like ￥１２０ (they have special weekend promotion where it get as cheap as ￥100), you have to admit it's not too bad a deal. These Japanese donuts are not as huge and oily as some of its western counterparts which probably explain for its popularity. As suspected, Robin was ecstatic at the sight of the racks and racks of donuts in all flavors imaginable and loved every bite of it. :D


This is the other place which got rave reviews from everyone, a Japanese fast food restaurant called First Kitchen selling your usual fast food staples like burgers, fries etc. What makes it stand out from the others is that this place serves the most amazing variety of ice-cream floats and what they called 'flavor potatoes' (equivalent of McDonalds shaky fries). The highlight would have to be the range of sauces for dipping those fries (just check out the photo!). As for burgers, I would say it's still best that you stick to Mos Burger..Really I could hardly recall the last time we sat around munching on fries together like this. My family, with the exception of Rob (who else) has sort of severe most ties with the fast food business. But that night at Odaiba, everyone let their hair down for a bit of the guilty treat...


Another fast food chain but this one sells typical Japanese meals like your donburi (rice bowl dishes) and miso soup for busy city folks who are always on the go. For those who do not already know, yes we have this at home too. This is how most Yoshinoyas in Japan look like, quite different from those nicely lit and spanking new look that most of those in Singapore have isn't it? Even the menus are quite different too, the most obvious one being that pork is served in the restaurants here. I thought it to be about the same though Rob insisted that the Japanese portion is bigger, cheaper and yummier, hmm..


This place is worth a mention because I was only supposed to try it later this year when I visit Ros in Hokkaido. She swears she's quite certain I will like it, especially the all vege dish. It's called Soup Curry and as you can tell from the picture, it is a little different from the usual Japanese curry one has in mind. It's a lot more watery and you have a choice of the level of spiciness. I didn't quite go searching for this place, in fact I wasn't even aware that they have it in Tokyo. We were strolling along the the nook and cranny of Shinjuku when it just appeared right in front of us. I wouldn't mind having it again this summer in Sapporo though I would definitely up the spice factor from a 3 to 4 this time round!


And here's an afternoon where we ate from a packed lunch of bento bought from a little shop near our hotel. Now don't quite underestimate the power of these lunch boxes for bentos are quite the heart and soul of a typical Japanese lunch. They eat it anywhere and in various occasions, from school lunches to office; during cherry blossom viewing and any outdoor party or gathering for the matter; on the trains or buses while commuting; during the interval of plays and musicals etc. Some are more expensive being intricately designed and prepared in the kitchens of upmarket hotels while some are simple, homecooked ones filled with love of the person (usually the mother of course) preparing it. Indeed, a bento is not merely a packed lunch to satisfy one's hunger but it's a symbol of love for many as well.


Jac and Rob had no intention of eating pizza and spaghetti during the trip. I had never heard of La Pausa either. This was one place we discovered as a result of chance. It was raining pretty heavily while we were at Harajuku and desperately needed a place to stay away from the downpour, plus it was also nearing lunch time. But like most foreign fares that are serve in most foreign countries, the pastas and pizzas were sort of altered somewhat to suit the Japanese palate. Here we tried mentaiko and mochi pizza (fish roes and rice cakes being typically Japanese ingredients) and shiso flavored risotto. Given our intial slight hesitation, this place turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise.


I like the name of this restaurant, it's just so simple and straightforward, no pretense whatsoever. '私と卵' literally translating to 'Me & Egg' or 'The Egg & I' whichever way you like it. It specialized in one of the most celebrated yoshoku (洋食)of all times among the Japanese, 'omuraisu' or omelette rice. Yoshoku means western-style cooking in Japan. And while there is the authentic kind of Western cuisine available in the country (the real French, Italian restaurants), the word yoshoku generally refers to Japanese-style western cuisine that has been adapted to suit Japanese tastes and are often cooked at home as part of everyday cooking. So omelette rice, as the name goes, are really fried rice wrapped inside fluffy eggs and are usually eaten with ketchup. Review for this little shop tucked away in a secluded corner in Shibuya? The faces in the picture says pretty much everything doesn't it.


That's mom posing with a panda-faced red bean pau and everyone sharing a pack of grilled squid served with supposedly some secret sauce recipe. These are some scenes from Ueno Park. Like in most parks, you find many of these stalls around that sell your typical Japanese snacks like takoyaki, fried noodles and oden. They are essentially like our local pasar malams. These stalls are colorful and really add to the park's atmosphere but that's about it really. The standard and hygiene of the food sold varies and depends on the hawkers. So it's really eat at your own peril I would say.


One of the many food related activities included dropping in at one of those countless coffee joints or cafes all over the place. From good old Starbucks to local Japanese coffee places, we were really spoilt for choice. Being the coffee lover we are, with the exception of Jac perhaps (and Rosie back home), nothing perked the tired traveler up more than the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.


And lastly, this is the usual scene of the food basement in the major departmental stores. As with many eating places in Japan, we were all spoilt for choice when picking up something for our alfresco lunch when we dropped by the newly opened Tokyo Midtown one of the days. Till today, my sibs still hadn't got over the joy of stepping into a Japanese convenience stores. The variety of stuff you find inside these establishments is really second to none. So much so that they can't bear to step inside the 7-11s back home anymore.

I know these are many food to digest in a single entry (and single trip) perhaps but then again part of the fun of traveling is about getting to know and learn about the country's culture. And what better way to it than through indulging in the local cuisine don't you think?

posted by テレサ @ 7:51 AM