Food in Japan

  Oishi ! 

 I don’t know if it is a psychology thing or what but everything in Japan taste so Oishi ne ~ I bought a piece of KFC back for my sister (she is a “collecter” for KFC) and she cliamed that it “was the best she has had”.

I always enjoyed the “eating” part during my trip. Although i am not very adventurous with what i put into my mouth… but i am not fussy (most of the time).

I am ashamed to say this but i don’t take Sashimi. Yes i heard you, loud.  I reckon that i will be asked “Did you eat the Sashimi at Tsukiji Fish market?” a thousand times and that made me to at least try to eat that raw, cold, slimy thing. hehe.

My first encounter with Sashimi

Many a time, someone will try to tell me how good a salmon or tuna taste in an attempt to make me take my first bite. But i was never convinced. To me, just by looking at it and i can already know how it taste. 

But like they say… “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” and in my case, it is “When in Japan, eat what the Japanese eat”

 

I am sure you are drooling now. This was the Lunch i had when i joined the Sunrise Mt Fuji & Hakone tour. It was Japnese set meal. On a side note, my friend had warned me beforehand that their lunch sucks because they brought them to a Chinese Resturant…that try to cook Japanese food.  It was indicated on the broucher that the lunch was a “Japanese set lunch”. (There is a choice of tour with lunch or without). I was LUCKY because they brough us to an authenic place for Japanese lunch. This was hardly filling but i love the varieties. Look at what’s on the top right corner. It’s a piece of Tuna !

I put it into my mouth and start chewing. Hey, i think i like it leh. It was smooth and there was no fishy smell. I am no fan of fish by the way. Except for Filet-O-Fish.   Okok, perhaps it was just a tiny piece, so i better don’t judge first.

  

conveyor belt sushi

Salmon sushi. Can you see that the thick piece of meat is COVERING the rice? In Singapore, the flesh is incredibly miserable ! (Ok, i am bias again, sometimes there are huge ones as well lah)

 Did you know? The correct way of eating sushi is to dip just the tip of the fish into the soy sauce, keeping the rice dry. The Singapore way to  eat is to mix whatever that is avilable together (wasabi, ginger, soy sauce) and soak the rice in it. Wah…Shiok.

Nah, of course i have to do it the Japanese way. I dip the fish with the sauce and place it on top of the rice. I took a bite cuting it into half. It has a lil fishy smell and smooth. Hmm…not too bad i thought. As you should know, for some reason Sushi seems to be the must-eat food in Japan. People said that if you did not eat Sushi while in Japan, it is as good as you’ve never been to Japan. Like the logic if you didn’t take a photo with Merlion while in Singapore, it’s as good as you’ve not been to Singapore. (haha, i thought it was rather a funny way of explaining).

Anyway Sushi , Salmon, Tuna. Checked.

Sushi Belt is avilable easily. Sometimes it can be quite intimidating to step into one. My first attempt was this place with “closed doors”. You can’t see what’s inside. But from the price stated outside, it seems quite reasonable. Okie, i went in and it was “counter seats” with 3 sushi master in the middle. They welcome me warmly in a alien language. It was full house. There was a couple ahead of me waiting as well, they were seated down waiting. I just stood there awkwardly. I pretended to take 1 of their broucher, look at what’s inside and walk out of the door. I am glad i did. Because in counter seat like this, you have to place order to the master and they will make you your request. All freshly made on the spot. Needless to say, i will have problem ordering.

and that's me

Anything that is free in a land of expensive things can bring tears to my eyes.  All restaurants/ eating bar i went to provide free ice water !!! I am the sort who need to match my food with a drink, so this is definitely cost-saving for me. You can have unlimted serving because there was a jar at every table. You don’t have to ASK for it. I was so touched that i say i must take a picture with the free ice water.

food ordering machine

These “food ordering machine” (sorry, i can’t remember what is the term for such machine) can be quite helpful at times. It is especially helpful if there are pictures of the food shown, like the one above !

Put in money

get the ticket and hand it to the person at counter

photo credit

 

Here are a few SOS tips on how to order food in Japan (if you don’t speak the language):

 

1. I will usually try to match the wording on the machine with the pictures of the food that i saw pasted on the wall

2. If there are no pictures on the wall, i will choose whatever that comes first on the menu. I reckon that it must be “first” for a reason . Else, i will choose whatever that has the character “天丼” it will mean tempura.

3. Call for the waiter. Point to someone who is eating what you want to order. Say simple words like “Order (then point)” I have to say that i am quite good at that.

4. If all else fail and you have not eaten for 3 days, go to fast food joints . Just point at what looks good and say “OK” to whatever question the server asked.  

 

Sometimes it can be quite a surprise when your food arrive. It is not what you have in mind. tsktsk

 

In some places, you can see display of “fake food models” on the glass window outside the restaurant.

 

What you can do is to take a snap shot of the model that you want to order and show it to the waiter. They will get what you mean.

 

Pick up some simple Japanese food phrases. Because i don’t take beef (for religious reason) i need to know the word “Gyun niku“. I will double-confirm with the waiter that there is no Gyun niku in my food. They all seems to understand what i am saying. I told you i am good.

 

Popular ramen outlet near Oakwood

    

Mongolia Ramen

long que~

Ok. Bad example. You should not be taking pictures of random people on the street, without their permission. As you can clearly see from the picture, a few are staring at me and at one point of time i felt that my life was threatened. So i action that i was just “playing with my camera”. I want to capture the long que~ mah . Ok, Don’t do it seriously, it’s rude. Haha.

 

Anyway, this looks like a popular place with the locals. It is near to my apartment and i will walk pass everyday and there seems to be a que anytime. So one day, i did what most Singaporean would do, to que when there is a que. Note that is was not even opened when i que, i was second in line. Wah, that popular meh…i thought to myself.

 

This is what i ordered. It is dry ramen and i have to dip the noodle into the “red” soup. I tell you, IT WAS FREAKING S.P.I.C.Y.  Warning: Not for the weak heart

There were meat pieces in the soup. i asked the waiter before i order if there was “gyun niku” he said no. When i saw the meat, it did look like like thin slices of gyun. So i asked him again and he replied no, it’s “buta” (pork)

Those who were seated next to me come and go. I was still there struggling to finish. I mean i can have the choice of NOT dipping it into the hot soup but i guess…i love to be challenged.  tsktsk

It was my first meal of the day. My Breakfast.

 

I guess my stomach was kind of screwed after eating because i vomited later on. I still suspect that is might be gyun. Nevertheless, it was too tough for my stomach to handle.   

 

Japanese Curry rice was one of my Favourite Food of All Time. I tried a couple of curry rice outlet and i liked the one in CoCo Curry House  

 

 

The cutlet is very crispy and the sauce was enough to be finish with the rice. (Don’t you hate it when there is not enough sauce?) The sauce was spicy enough to handle. Oshi ne !

I also tried eating curry rice at a eating bar located in one of the train station. There were no seats and you have to eat standing up ! It was quite an experience for me. They finish up their food very quickly and mostly came alone. It is like a quickie meal before you head home after work. Try it !

 

 

Tenya tempura

This is also one dish on my Favourite Food of All Time. The outlet Tenya is a popular tempura “fast food”  chain. The cost is about 700Y ( $10) for a bowl like this. There is a sauce over the tempura which i felt “ruined” the crispness, but it still taste good!

 

Other random food which i ate:

 

Hotdog bun from Macdonald

KFC

 Of course i also have to try their MOS burger, The place it originated from.

 

MOS Burger

Soba

 How can i not complete the trip with Soba ! I had this at Narita Airport :p cost Appx SGD 12 for a set  (quite worth it yea?)

Price Breakdown

Someone once told me that a cup of coffee in Japan cost SGD20. i don’t know where did he have that coffee. But it was really an isolated case. I find that food in Japan are generally reasonably priced. Of course i am not talking about high-class, 5 * places lah !  I mean on general eating places. The first question people usually ask me is “are the food expensive?”

So here i have a list of estimated breakdown on the prices of food

- Typical rice/noodle (eg: Udon, Tenya)  700Y – 1000Y ($10 – $15)

- MOS burger (not set meal) 300Y – 350Y ($4.50 – $5)

- Ice Coffee in Exclusive (similar to starbucks)  360Y ($5.50)

- Soft drinks/mineral water in Vending machine 130Y ($2)

(calculation based on estimation and my exchange rate at that time, 15.552 )

 Next up: My self indulgence pictures and “Remember to Buy in Tokyo” !