Ueno - Tokyo Rewind

Ueno, a city that houses an insane amount of sneaker & clothing shops... and in between these shops were "Izakaya" style restaurants/bars. The popular food and drink stalls were filled with people who came after work to let out steam with the best cure; food ... well it did look like a lot of alcohol was involve too. The bright neon lights and strong smell of food was your free invitation in to those shops. The hard question was which one?

We took a train down to Ueno, to meet one of Yoshi's old schoolmate. Her schoolmate recommended Watami - a casual chain restaurant. I was pretty disappointed at first, going to a boring chain restaurant, we might as well meet in McDonald's. I had my mind set to get into one of those izakayas, digging into some yakitoris.... However, I was wrong Watami turned out to be alright...

We got some fried rice to start, which wasn't that bad.

Then we got the Oyster Nabe, and I can say they are generous with the Oysters...a nice big pot of warm on a cold winter's night. Definitely the dish that made me like this place.

The last dish we got was this one, raw meat... take a guess... what? beef.. wrong.. Tuna...wrong... mmm... maybe veal? not!!!

It's Horse! or basashi ...

well they say when in Rome...

so what the weirdest thing you have eaten?

Pray For Japan

After the delicious Tempura-Don, our kind friends took us to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo; basically the emperor's crib. Although we were not lucky enough to go in,but the view from outside was pretty good. The Palace , surrounded by a beautiful garden of trees and a pond.

After walking around the park, we headed to Tokyo tower. The sun soon fell, and the stomach started to rumble. Our friends gave us a few options for dinner, we narrowed it down to two. a) Iron Chef Kenichi's Restaurant or b) this oldish ramen shop called Taishoken which was famous for tsukemen. Ahh... which one to choose? I was and still am a massive Iron Chef fan, and Tsukemen was the dish that made me fall in love with Japanese cooking.

After contemplating, I said , Taishoken! It is!. Tsukemen translated to English means dipping noodles; basically cold noodles served separate from the soup with lots of dipping and slurping action. This place is said to be the place which invented or the origin of Tsukemen. So I had to try it. When I was younger, I didn't have much exposures to Japanese food. Then I met Yoshi, she introduced me to the wonders of Nihon Yori( Japanese cooking). One of the first dish she got me to try was Tsukemen. Coming from Malaysia, we hardly had cold food... most Malaysian food are served hot; It took a little convincing to get me to try it at first, but now; I have no regrets.

Its been a while since I had Taishoken's Tsukemen. Every other ramen I have had since has not been good enough. It seems rather selfish, talking about indulging in food, when many in Japan do not have much. But this post is a tribute to the people of Japan and a testament to their will power , resilience and dedication to everything that they do including their food

The terrible earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan of recent is the worst I've seen in my lifetime. I pray to never see anything like this again. Japan has been strong , and I hope they will recover.

If you have a spare dollar : RED CROSS

If you don't : Pray For Japan

Asakusa - Tokyo Rewind

A while ago, I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to continue posting about my trip to Japan Tokyo . Well here it is, a little late, but as the saying goes...better late then never.

We arrived to Tokyo after our trip to Toyama via train. We couldn't find the hotel that we booked and it was fairly late at night. Dragging our large backpacks and luggage, we gave up looking for our hotel and just got a room at a random hotel near the train station.

In the morning we headed to the Kannon Temple or Senso-ji in Asakusa. Through the big gates of the Senso-Ji we walked under the large 400kg lantern. Instantly you could see the rows of stalls selling souvenirs, crafts and food. The smell of fresh dorayaki's being made and other sweet smells filled the air as we made our way to the main area.

After walking around, admiring the great architecture of the temple; as usual I got hungry. We headed to a hundred year old Tempura shop called Tempura Daikokuya (tendon).

We entered the shop around noon, just before lunch time and we had to wait for a few minutes as there was 3-4 people in front of us waiting to get in. I thought to myself, this place must be pretty good to be this packed at noon. We walked up stairs and the decor was all wooden; sort of Edo period style. Seated on the tatami mat, we ordered their famous tendon. There was a reason the place lasted for 100 years +, this has got to be THE BEST tempura I had. So crispy , not too oily and so fresh...

After devouring the food , we headed out and realised how short the line we had before. As when we got out the line had gone around the shop.

Do you know of any places like this? Do share..

Where: 8-minute walk from Asakusa Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Toei Asakusa Line,Tobu Isezaki Line and Tsukuba Express(TX).

Restaurant :Tempura Daikokuya

Address;1-38-10 Asakusa, Taito-ku

Phone; 03-3844-1111, (for reservations; 03-3844-2222)

Hours; 11:10am-8:30pm(weekdays & sunday), 11:30am-9:00pm(saturday & national holidays)

Taste: OMG!

Nippon Journey - To be Continued

We bid farewell to Toyama and headed on to our next destination, Tokyo. This is one huge city, full of interesting places and food. However I'll take a break from our Nippon Journey for a little while,but will promise to continue it soon... stay tuned!

Nippon Journey - Toyama Tranquility

After spending four days in the Kansai area, we headed toward Yoshi's Hometown; Toyama. We got on to the train, ordered our bentos and three hours later... we had arrived. This place far exceeded my expectations, I thought it was going to be just an ordinary small town but I was blown away with the beautiful temples, great food and great people.

Train Bento

Zuiryu-Ji Temple

Abiko: Fujiko Fujio (A) - One half of the Doraemon authors

Kagechiyo (影千代) from Ninja Hattori-Kun from authors of Doraemon

Toyama is also the birth place of the Doraemon manga authors, an area of Himi City is dedicated to Fujiko- Fujio A and also has a small Ninja Hattori Kun museum. Close by to the musuem is a small fish market by the sea...

Squid - XL size

Long Leg Crabs - XL size

Masuzushi

Fried Buri

In the market , there was a small restaurant serving Buri; Known as the King of Toyama Bay, this fish’s name changes with each stage of its life. “Kan-buri”, the yellowtail caught in the coldest season, having just the right balance of fat and caught just before spawning season is a special delicacy. If you are ever in Toyama, this is a must... as the juices in this fish is mad!





The night before we were treat to a massive meal; comprising of the infamous Fugu fish, crab legs, soba noodles, tempura vegetables and tempura shirako or fish sperm. That was no typo...Yes..I ate FISH SPERM! I do not have any pictures of the shirako as I did not know that is was fish sperm till the next day.


So whats the weirdest thing you have eaten ?

Nippon Journey - Kyoto Daze

We only had a day to go around Kyoto due to our tight schedule and our ambition to see as much as we could in 2 weeks. This leg of the journey although short was my favorite; Kyoto has got to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is crazy how breathtaking these places are, no wonder it has 17 UNESCO world heritage sites. (picture above is at Kiyomizu-dera)

Shoren-In Temple

The ever so beautiful maple trees

Arashiyama - a place where mothernature and a little help from gardeners blend really well. Above is at the bamboo forest. This place is defanately worth a visit, at night the colourful lighing highlights the bamboo growth and also mountains. Day or night this place is magical.

Gion - Most famous for the Geishas

Stepping into the Kyoto, makes you fall into a daze, the beautiful architecture of the traditional shrine and temples; the peaceful arrangements of the garden blends in like a was still in the 1800. Then suddenly you will smell food... which will make you hungry... and wake you up from that daze...

Pickle shop - in Gion

The Candy Man - Hand made candy

After a long and tiring day of sight seeing our stomachs started rumbling,we step into Kyousuishin , a small and almost posh looking restaurant specializing in Kyoto ryori or Kyoto Cooking.

Squid and Tuna Sushi

Sliced Beef Nabe - Beef Stew

Kyoto Beef - Not quite Kobe Beef but still delicious

Kyoto is one of my favourite places I've been to.What is your favourite place?

The Nippon Journey - Osaka Strut

A while ago, both me and Yoshi did a mad trip to Japan. We went from Osaka to Kobe to Kyoto to Toyama to Tokyo and back to Osaka. Although we rushed around like headless chooks...It was the best travel experience I had. Let me show you our Osaka leg of our Journey.

Osaka - Jo - Osaka Castle

Somewhere out site the Osaka Castle grounds

AmerikaMura - is where the cool cats of Osaka hangs out

Dotonbori - is where all the hungry cats hang out. This place is MAD!!! the variety of food here is intense. As Osaka is well known for their food, here would be THE best place to start.

Being born and bred in Malaysia, I was lucky enough to enjoy the diversity of culture and food of the local scene. Malaysia is well known for the great mix of cultures like the Chinese, Malay and Indian. When I was younger, I hardly was exposed to Japanese food, mainly because it was quite expensive and it was not as common as it is now. When I met my fiance, she introduced me to the magic of the Japanese cuisine and their wonderful culture.

Takoyaki (octopus balls)- This place, is a DIY takoyaki joint. Place the octopus, then the spring onion , then the flour mix, then the pickled ginger.... then wait... then roll them balls...

Taste : Superb;If you find it not tasty, its your fault,because you made it!!!

Location : Takontetsu (Pizza Ball House)1-9-20 Maru Bldg Umeda 1 Chome

P.s : Look for the red octopus squeezing its face.

Dango - A mochi-ish Dumpling (rice balls)

Ramen - My favourite Japanese meal!!! from top left - shoyu ramen , top right - tonkotstu ramen with tempura , at the bottom - tonkotsu ramen




Okonomiyaki - Japanese savory pancakes/pizza.

Location : Somewhere in Dotonbori ; near a karaoke place. (sorry for the poor info)

Set menu - Katsudon Set (deep fried chicken with rice)
Location : Again I'm not sure...

Deep Fried Anything!!!! - from asparagus with bacon to zucchini with livers

Location : Dotonbori... this one is a hard one... Just use your nose to smell out the deep fried stuff

Well that is just some of the places that we went in Osaka... Whats your Osaka spots?