Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Feasting My Way Through Japan


rarerollingobject

Recommended Posts

I couldn't stand it. I had sushi yesterday for lunch, at a restaurant which has had good sushi in the past, and has moved from its old location to a nice new one.

 

Sushi was...not so good.

 

Sigh. I want to go back to Hanamaki, spend hours each day in the hot mineral baths, and eat seafood, both cooked and raw, three or four times a day.

  • Like 5

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, helenjp said:

That's because you're polite. I am always tempted to cross my eyes and drool...

 

Not a single polite thing about me! I do like making them uncomfortable in return though; in Japan, that really just takes flashing them my most dazzling and inviting smile. That doesn't so work well in the West..

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A busy day of festival-hopping for today - I set off early for the, um, fertility festival at Kanamara Shrine. OKAY, OKAY - it’s a penis festival.

 

And it was quite fun, though as usual I was more interested in the people who take part in festivals than festivals themselves. They had all manner of penisphernalia, including (food-related) penis-shaped kebabs, deep fried potato penises, and penis-adjacent radishes.

 

Though I really had trouble with the sight of tiny kids all over the place being given life-size penis lollipops to suck. Cultural differences notwithstanding, I work in child protection and in my world, that smacks of normalizing/grooming behaviour..

 

Anyway, one enterprising stall also sold vulvas, and not, as I felt the need to correct a pack of about 20 American teenage boys, vaginas.

 

I’ll attach two pictures here for reference, but if you want to see the rest (that are in varying degrees of NSFeG-ness, but nothing actually RUDE, they’re here.)

 

IMG_4079.thumb.JPG.90649aa1fd4c8cca90bda4bf5be959a4.JPG

IMG_4109.JPG.18f42be5ffe34721f2c103e36b9680e4.JPG

 

Then I hopped back to Shibuya, ate a bit of sushi: 

 

IMG_4130.thumb.JPG.e17853d92ab686098bf457826c320c4a.JPG

IMG_4132.thumb.JPG.d341e5966c1c71a8471ce706b041e523.JPG

IMG_4133.thumb.JPG.4ef99d2dfcb7f7bd52f738cda8d0d476.JPG

IMG_4134.thumb.JPG.ccefec09c18799a791110323621ba401.JPG

IMG_4135.thumb.JPG.56e175374078df92d355700c0030a6fb.JPG

IMG_4131.thumb.JPG.53eec23615e805c4767f38891acc66b2.JPG

 

And moved on to Yoyogi Park, for a double whammy of the Japan Paella Association Festival (and competition!

And free paella- I had three bowls; oyster; salmon roe; and squid ink):

 

IMG_4122.PNG.7707fcb39d9e7a0e632ff3c1b1f912ce.PNG

IMG_4137.JPG.3cd9d7e6bc082908dcc4b3e0794c25ed.JPG

IMG_4136.JPG.2106a28c53693d01ab27452393547759.JPG

IMG_4126.PNG.b8e4a7a38b44780b28a1dc1c1a0558b2.PNG

IMG_4128.PNG.ccb6444dfefc593fd580109429019062.PNG

IMG_4129.PNG.82d48bc93b4620dd4b1c3bc11ca38a21.PNG

 

And the happy craziness of hanami parties in Yoyogi Park:

 

 

 

No dinner. After penis-potatoes, three bowls of paella, and all that sushi, I am CARBED OUT.

 

Am now home, drinking sake, and flipped the TV channel over to a Japanese food channel..to see Alice Waters, talking about how lettuce “speaks to her." 

 

IMG_3889.thumb.JPG.d6e5940c16a54dcbde526d171cf5430a.JPG

 

Which is exactly the sort of thing I expected her to say as soon as I saw it was Alice Waters! Haha. 9_9

 

 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a mission today, to go and find Ame-shin - a shop I’d read about for awhile now that sells traditional Japanese hand-pulled sugar craft.

 

Nothing traditional about the shop itself, though - a young dude, at the ripe old age of 23, decided to single-handedly revive the dying craft. He makes EXQUISITE gold fish, frogs, octopus, squid..you name it.

 

IMG_4237.PNG.c91f4cf92a73b8d362f632367f9a0f27.PNG

IMG_4238.PNG.abd57d21d441ab6a250d39501b3e15d9.PNG

IMG_4239.PNG.989f62820a7d237de118ed6003f60cbb.PNG

IMG_4240.PNG.1bf3696b9ec49e502f69a2e262ee6934.PNG

IMG_4253.thumb.JPG.e2aff646f85e9cb2504357f87a8410b2.JPG

IMG_4254.thumb.JPG.248da43b7fa59c47883f888657cc8742.JPG

 

 

I bought the goldfish and the koi (the top two photos), and a bunch of beautiful circular lollipops as gifts.

 

IMG_4285.PNG.846ffb71f580d645a122bd9e9e634a7e.PNG

 

And no, I’m not going to eat them..I’m going to admire them, study them, and maybe give sugar-pulling a go myself, eventually. aren’t they lovely??

 

Here he is:

 

 

After that - ubiquitous sushi, at the shoutiest sushi train I’ve found so far in Tokyo (it’s a Hokkaido chain, and shouting is kind of a Hokkaido thing.)

 

Video (needs sound):

 

 

IMG_4204.thumb.JPG.083779180e27ba1b4893f37655668af3.JPG

IMG_4205.thumb.JPG.46c0b3b4aa8fa2ddc1ff42d5e7891259.JPG

IMG_4206.thumb.JPG.4705ddb32a3230689c9151a6976a918f.JPG

IMG_4207.thumb.JPG.b1a7f247bdc28c485069b7d81c421c13.JPG

IMG_4208.thumb.JPG.46a8f8b364b0c5b510f780fbc4cd007e.JPG

IMG_4209.thumb.JPG.477e4efd66b3b346999425147d690326.JPG

IMG_4210.thumb.JPG.4f86fcb7e9b34e5afb58538be6f32f0f.JPG

 

 

This food court (!) also had an incredible wagyu beef place, and I was SERIOUSLY tempted by the 5 cheese tonkatsu, but given the cheese-in-eye incident I had in Kyoto, I decided not.

 

IMG_4229.thumb.JPG.8bb24fc70a2411430297b41d8291b7b9.JPG

IMG_4256.thumb.JPG.6a36b5f9f15a186f5a8d7cf9b1715484.JPG

IMG_4280.thumb.JPG.8306baf81269b8dbd4bcfc75b7a990c9.JPG

IMG_4281.thumb.JPG.b3045eed68fd96cedbd01870bc0d73be.JPG

 

Then I went and spent a zillion dollars at Issey Miyake, and the less said about that the better, and then on the way out, I saw this lovely modern blue-and-white plate, so I um, bought it..

 

IMG_4275.thumb.JPG.bcec1a78763635e2567a84001baae973.JPG

 

Dinner - Japanese curry. A black curry from Kanazawa, with a tonkatsu fillet buried in it, because of course there is.

 

IMG_4277.PNG.70084d727e299bed126d9063e1736e9c.PNG

IMG_4293.thumb.JPG.ea55858d9cf20740951e2c1f9069a0b8.JPG

IMG_4292.thumb.JPG.9fa3e4ceb8d3bc668e9493d110516647.JPG

IMG_4291.thumb.JPG.a02d72094e6868fa3b8cb130d2abe4c1.JPG

 

Incidentally, @helenjp, it seems to be another kind of place only men eat in. At least, the dude at the back there visibly jumped and gasped when he saw me, and nudged his friend. WTH? Where do all the women eat in this city?! xD

 

Edited by rarerollingobject (log)
  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Candy craft! I often walk past a tiny shop making amazing pulled candy - I really like that they go to the trouble of running a stall with fun and affordable bits (not "bits" as in the festival you went to, though!) at a local temple festival too.

Where do women eat? I can't help myself, I always do a male/female rundown when I'm in a restaurant. At chains like Obon de Gohan (Meal on a Tray) there are always more women - maybe because they can mix and match more freely, there are plenty of side-dishes, and the food is quite light. There's one in Terminal 2 at Narita if you want to try!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry for the minor delay in communications..blame Blether and sake.

 

I’m home in Sydney now, but my last day in closing was: pastry, a hot yuzu tea from Starbucks, sushi, shopping (more lollipops! skull-shaped sugar cubes! wasabi and sake-flavoured KitKats!), coffee, hanami in Yoyogi Park, one last drink in my hotel's lounge with an incredible view, and home.

 

IMG_4425.thumb.JPG.37cc6f5ab05255fd555b0fa5ba4bd663.JPG

IMG_4428.thumb.JPG.6b5c894c04f10f8827479a2972f76437.JPG

IMG_4426.thumb.JPG.320a6df6556b4c53842104c04d378fe3.JPG

IMG_4435.thumb.JPG.55e0ad3a0144c0a944781714559db546.JPG

IMG_4427.thumb.JPG.6dcd42d1745ed6ff040c5bb5c38b0a72.JPG

IMG_4429.thumb.JPG.a6a4104542b5cb0bc1b6b6508c0954fc.JPG

IMG_4430.thumb.JPG.61d765b27a7f5e2ae8df682e116c10d1.JPG

IMG_4431.thumb.JPG.db8d24d6c18d8434ab638b76bb57d3dd.JPG

IMG_4432.thumb.JPG.d456375933043512f01caa5630dfdccc.JPG

IMG_4433.thumb.JPG.ef2e628c6abe17d6d10bdd64cc107949.JPG

IMG_4434.thumb.JPG.74e9bae755237425b7d3163cf7b57c1f.JPG

 

IMG_4406.thumb.JPG.1c9c75a6d3a9d1d2179eec38a202afbd.JPG

IMG_4414.thumb.JPG.1db909b07688c49f106efe0e76d7908f.JPG

IMG_4424.thumb.JPG.af61b5908c391a73e1703137037a5d31.JPG

 

IMG_4385.thumb.JPG.098103ae99d98c92ba68fad3c2139b4a.JPG

 

So, farewell from your erstwhile correspondent (shown here in utter mastery of the Tokyo subway system, despite being extremely hungover to boot), and thanks so much to everyone who read along and commented! 

 

IMG_4436.JPG.1c6d552d2f60d63df0eba54f6e57a558.JPG

Edited by rarerollingobject (log)
  • Like 18
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks so much for posting this!  Loved it!  I still can't imagine what sake flavored kit kats would taste like though...  if you have time can you talk about sushi prices?  Did you go to "average" sushi places, or more high end?  It all looks like great quality...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Much appreciate you taking the time and making the effort to share your experiences with us all.

 

Many fail to realize the amount of WORK it takes to upload all these photos and share your stories - so kudos to you.

 

It was very enjoyable and quite frankly my local Japanese haunt have benefited (as a result of my recent increase in patronage) from your drool worthy sushi shots.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Absolutely fabulous, @rarerollingobject.  Thank you!

  • Like 1

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonderful trip. I'm lusting with the desire to get back to Japan. Have begun looking at possibilities for next year. I need more time in Kyoto than I've had before. And a trip to Hanamaki for the hot springs. And Tsukiji. And...and...and...

 

Those last photos of sushi -- dear sweet baby Jesus. Just astounding. And the lollipops!

 

Thanks for taking us along!

 

  • Like 2

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What an amazing trip, Rarerollingobject - WOW!  I bow down to your powers of eating & drinking - I am lusting after all that gorgeous, beautiful sushi!

 

Japan is on my bucket list, of course.  Thank you for the virtual trip!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

just wow. Thank you for sharing this, and at such a rate. I am also now having some serious sushi cravings and mentally planning our return to Japan (though it probably wont be for a couple of years yet). I do have to wonder if the fish lollipops are ever eaten as they are glorious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
  • 4 months later...
×
×
  • Create New...