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Trip to Japan in February

Hayley Casarotto

By Hayley Casarotto
in Japan: Dining

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Hayley Casarotto

Hayley Casarotto

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi all,

As the topic indicates, I'm off to Japan on holiday in a couple of weeks. It's far from being my first trip, but last time I was there in winter I pretty much survived on Meltykiss :hmmm: I've made a list of must-eats, but I'm hoping for some input on things I've missed.

I'm only doing the touristy route this time (I'll be with a group of friends who are Japan newbies) so unfortunately there won't be any opportunity to try any regional fare (but I'll be in Kyushu later in the year, which will be new and exciting to me.) Anyway, we'll be in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka primarily.

Here's my list so far:

-Oden

-Okonomiyaki

-Takoyaki

-Teuchi udon (we are spending a night in Fujiyoshida)

-Shojin ryori

-Sushi/sashimi from around Tsukiji

-Wagashi (I'd like advice on this - all I have down so far is nama-yatsuhashi. What are the February seasonal motifs? I would guess ume, but I don't know for sure)

-Other various yatai (I am pretty sure we will have a few opportunities for yatai - what are your winter favourites?)

As you can see, I don't really know much about any seasonal specialties other than oden. Any comments or suggestions would be welcome :)

**Edit - should I have put this in the other Japan subforum? Oops :(

Edited by Hayley Casarotto (log)
smallworld

smallworld

Posted
Posted
Hi all,

As the topic indicates, I'm off to Japan on holiday in a couple of weeks.  It's far from being my first trip, but last time I was there in winter I pretty much survived on Meltykiss  :hmmm:  I've made a list of must-eats, but I'm hoping for some input on things I've missed. 

I'm only doing the touristy route this time (I'll be with a group of friends who are Japan newbies) so unfortunately there won't be any opportunity to try any regional fare (but I'll be in Kyushu later in the year, which will be new and exciting to me.)  Anyway, we'll be in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka primarily.

Here's my list so far:

-Oden

-Okonomiyaki

-Takoyaki

-Teuchi udon (we are spending a night in Fujiyoshida)

-Shojin ryori

-Sushi/sashimi from around Tsukiji

-Wagashi (I'd like advice on this - all I have down so far is nama-yatsuhashi.  What are the February seasonal motifs?  I would guess ume, but I don't know for sure)

-Other various yatai (I am pretty sure we will have a few opportunities for yatai - what are your winter favourites?)

As you can see, I don't really know much about any seasonal specialties other than oden.  Any comments or suggestions would be welcome :)

**Edit - should I have put this in the other Japan subforum?  Oops :(

February is a nice time to come: winter cuisine still reigns but spring-time food will be starting to appear. Winter must-eats are oysters, kan-buri (the winter variety of yellowtail), monkfish, and most types of crab; spring food includes asari and hamaguri clams, vegetables like takenoko, fukinoto, fuki, udo, and taranome. And strawberries. You'll find one of the most popular wagashi to be ichigo daifuku.

The best winter yatai treat? Amazake!

Some regional foods I'd add to your list would be kushi-katsu in Osaka, yudofu in Kyoto and monjayaki in Tokyo. A monjayaki lunch in Tsukishima might be a good way to follow a sushi breakfast in Tsukiji.

My eGullet foodblog: Spring in Tokyo

My regular blog: Blue Lotus

Forest

Forest

Posted
Posted

I just got back from a trip to Japan this month with fellow eGers Little Miss Foodie and Tall Drink of Water. They've been blogging about the trip (with some nice pics of food). We hit both Tokyo and Kyoto and had some really great eating experiences (low, medium and high end). Wendy's much better about remembering and detailing the food, so you might want to check out their blog. They only have the Tokyo meals up so far, but Kyoto should be coming. Of course having been there in Jan, we were only getting winter fair and didn't get anything springish...so I'm sure you'll get lots more info from the active Japan forum regulars. But, it's worth a look at the pics of what we ate...some impressive stuff.

enjoy your trip!

52 martinis blog

@52martinis

prasantrin

prasantrin

Posted
Posted

Are you willing to take a little trip into Kobe? The best okonomiyaki I've had outside someone's home has been in Kobe. It's a nice place to walk around, and there are some great pastry shops (French-style, some with Japanese influences), too. It's only about 30 minutes from Umeda in Osaka (Hankyu train, express), or one hour or so from Kyoto.

For shojin-ryori I'd suggested going to Koya-san. It's such a lovely place, and it really gives the impression of "old Japan".

In Kyoto there are a lot of places to try different wagashi. The Gion area is a great place to walk around and just stop by any place that has Japanese sweets. There's also a beautiful high-end tea shop that has Japanese sweets. It's owned by the Tawara-ya Ryokan people. I can look up the information if you're interested.

I also love warabi-mochi, and there's a place sort of near Yasaka Shrine (I think), that has the best warabi-mochi. It's so fresh and soft. If you're interested, I could get that info, too.

buffy

buffy

Posted
Posted

Hiroshima has great okonomiyaki, very different from Kansai-style, and is also famous for oysters. If you are on a rail pass, you can do an easy day trip from the Kansai area if you don't feel like staying the night.

  • 1 month later...
Hayley Casarotto

Hayley Casarotto

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for all your responses. I had hoped to reply before we left, but we had a few last minute family crises and time got away from me.

I tried to fit as many of your suggestions in while we were there, and as a result I came home a little heavier than when I left :hmmm::biggrin: I didn't see as many spring foods around as I had expected, which was a little sad, but everything was so yummy that I didn't miss it too much.

Some of my favourites:

-Monjayaki in Tokyo. Noone else wanted to try because of its looks, but it was great.

-Yudofu and yuba in Kyoto. Again, noone who was travelling with me wanted any. More for me!

-Lots of different wagashi. Nama-yatsuhashi, ichigo-daifuku, warabi mochi, sakura mochi and many many more.

-Seriously good ramen at a little hole-in-wall place around Shibuya. Totally unexpected, which probably made it taste even better.

-Shojin ryori on a very cold day at Koya-san.

-Kan-buri sashimi

-Piping hot fresh taiyaki on a cold wet day

-Okonomiyaki in Osaka. We didn't make it to Hiroshima, so we ordered on Hiroshima style as well as Osaka style. I'm still trying to decide which I liked better, they were both so good!

-Houtou in Kawaguchiko

-...my first Krispy Kreme :wub: Trashy, I know.

-My husband's favourite - yakitori that was all skin. He bought one, dubiously, then went back and bought five more :biggrin:

I'm certain that I've forgotten lots of really great stuff we did. But anyway, the point of this post is just to say a huge thankyou to everyone for your input! It really enriched the trip to try things we hadn't thought of. Thanks again!

prasantrin

prasantrin

Posted
Posted
-My husband's favourite - yakitori that was all skin.  He bought one, dubiously, then went back and bought five more  :biggrin:

I love the skin, too! He should have tried chicken butt. Seems gross eating a chicken butt, but it's sooooo good!

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