Eating Our Way through Nippon Land

This might just be the post that gets me back on track with blogging. =P

In view that memories fade fast and I might soon forget what was once so fresh, just wanted to share more about my adventures in Japan which kept me out of Singapore for most of December.

Must confess, when I started out planning for Japan, there was more excitement from friends about my impending trip than the actual traveller. Japan has never been one of my must-visit places and we were not planning to either until a series of events led to this unexpected outcome. Firstly, we were not able to get tickets to Italy/Spain which was a real blessing in view of the snowstorms that arose. Secondly, Ed was called to Tokyo for a business trip. Weighing our various options, we decided to ride on this opportunity and grab tickets to Tokyo which were still available thanks to SQ's new launch of additional flights to Tokyo (via Haneda).

AND we are glad we made it! It was an awesome adventure and we happily woke up early every morning, eager to embrace the day and experience something new. It's amazing how there can be potentially so many varied experiences in one country ranging from the fast pace city buzz to a more languid appreciation of beautiful scenery and lovely architecture. It was an incredible two weeks and the full action can be found in my facebook here.

Moreover, it was a good break for us and we appreciated the time spent together as we worked around each other's travel style (what to see, what to eat, how early to start our day). According to Ed, we did such a great job nagivating across and within cities that he felt we could potentially participate in Asia's Amazing Race. *Ee's incredulous look*

For a start, will focus on the gastronomic feasting and the key highlights:

Acknowledging everyone's "I told you so" looks, agree that the quality and consistency of their meals is laudable. However, I like to think that the price I pay warrants this quality in view that a no frills meal starts from $16 per person (1000 yen). The one thing that was cheap though was the sake ($8 for a bottle) and we never failed to leave with happy and warm bellies.

Our best sashimi/sushi meal was as expected at Tsukiji market (bottom 2 right pics) and Ikura (salmon roe) will never be the same for me again...



As a lover of fried food, tonkatsu is my favoured option (next to ramen) and most of the above choices never failed to impress. My favourite ten don (bottom left) was at Takashimaya in Tokyo while the oyster-don (my own name for the dish) and kaki furai at Miyajima Island was the most value for money meal.

  

Teppanyaki wise, the best experience would arguably be in Kyoto (top left 4 pics) where we encountered an English speaking chef who was able to explain each dish and how best to eat it. It was also the restaurant where we washed down our meal with excellent bamboo sake and the kimchi kamemashi was a great complement. Next up was the very very fresh grilled oysters with a dash of sea salt at Miyajima Island once again. Also, for someone who has never desired to have an onigiri, they were generally scrumptious and it was great fun sampling the many different types of fillings like oyster and eel.

   

In Hakone, we enjoyed the kaiseki experience and the simple homecooked fare was something we looked forward to at the end of a busy sightseeing day. The freshly made tofu was a delight and the delicious steamed pork as well as the chicken stew (with collagen ball) was great for a cold winter's day. Breakfast didn't fail to disappoint and the miso mushroom soup (centre right side) helped kickstart our day.

    

In terms of hot snacks, there was more food than stomach space. Most memorable street snacks were Shinjuku's red bean pancake while the soft serves esp the green tea ones were marvellous. This was a genre of food where I had many firsts: eating the whipped cream within the crepes (which I usually hate), ingesting alot of takoyakis (which I am not hot about in Singapore) and taking soft serves (which I usually skip since my only reference before this was Macs).



While I am usually doubtful about fusion food or localised foreign cuisine, the Western Japanese food was surprisingly good. The scallop pasta I had was really yummy and I enjoyed the peppery sauce. Generally, most of the cafes/bakeries offered above average pastries/breads and even Starbucks' sandwiches seemed to taste better there.   

Best meals


Within a decrepit (some might say quaint) building, there housed the bestest ever unagi. Ed had the unagi-don while I was attracted to the fluffiest egg topped unagi rice. Pretty presentation aside, the lovely smoky aftertaste of the unagi kept us spooning for more. *happy hops*



In terms of most fun meal, we were brought by our Osakan friends to a local hangout. For the record, cooking takoyaki is no mean feat and it was tough getting the balls proportionately sized and shaped. Such interactive cooking however helped enhance the overall flavours and we had alot of fun devouring them after. 

 

Next up was Okonomiyaki at President Chibo in Dotonburi, Osaka. Granted that it was an expensive, to put it plainly cabbage pancake but the special order we had was generously laden with loads of other ingredients like beef tendon, shrimp etc. The side order of beef tendon was also really scrumptious while the Yaki Udon (Japanese hokkien mee?) disappeared in no time. We couldn't bear to waste anything and forced ourselves to finish every bite.

   

Finally, we rounded up our gastronomic adventures at the Sukiyaki restaurant at Haneda airport. Notwithstanding its 1 hour waiting time, the marbled beef (grilled medium rare) and Sukiyaki made me forget my grumpiness. I now know how to eat Sukiyaki correctly thanks to the informative leaflet each table got while adding the leftover egg into the sauce for pouring over our rice was a great way to end the meal.

While most meals were excellent and we just adored the sashimi/sushi, street food as well as ice cream (green tea soft serve rocks!), I do think that the ramen standards in Singapore are good enough and Tampopo/Miharu  can deliver the same quality. Either that, or I'm expecting too much from a bowl of ramen.

Nevertheless, life will never be the same again. *sigh*