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Food Theme Parks

torakris

By torakris
in Japan: Dining

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  • 11 months later...
Allura

Allura

Posted
Posted

So what are these food theme parks? It looks like they're a food court focused on a specific type of food? I mean, when I think "theme park", I think of something like Disney World or another type of amusement park.

Joanna G. Hurley

"Civilization means food and literature all round." -Aldous Huxley

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torakris

torakris

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So what are these food theme parks?  It looks like they're a food court focused on a specific type of food?  I mean, when I think "theme park", I think of something like Disney World or another type of amusement park.

Yes basically they are just one large food courts that focus on one type of food, not nearly the size of Disney World.... :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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and Namco's newest, Tokyo Panya (bakery) Street

a bread theme park....

This is going to be high on my list for the next time I come to Tokyo!!!!!

When me and my BF were in Japan last year, we went into every pan-ya we saw.... and bought pans in practically every one!!!

I remember when I first came to Japan, I loved the panya-sans. Lunch almost everyday was something picked up from a local shop (in Yoga, Tokyo at that time), kare-pan was probably my favorite. 15 years later I might venure into a bread shop a couple times a year.... :sad:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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  • 11 months later...
okinawaChris

okinawaChris

Posted
Posted

I'll be heading up to Tokyo next month for the FoodEx Show and would like to visit one of the Food Amusement Parks for some professional research. My time will be short so I'll have to pick only one. I've heard about the Curry Museum in Yokohama as well as Gyoza Stadium. Are there any others? What would be the concensus of the best one to visit.

On another note, I am planning on also going to Tonki for their tonkatsu. Is it still the best in Tokyo? Is it difficult to locate for someone not too familiar with the city? I may also hot Inakaya if funds hold out ;-)

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torakris

torakris

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Hiroyuki,

Thanks for those rankings! The comments especially were very interesting. Chris, I don't know how much Japanese you read so if you need help let us know.

One interesting thing that came out of both rankings sites comments was that Jiyugaoka Sweet Forest is very young woman (20's) oriented and one male commentor said it could be uncomfortable for men .... :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Tim Anderson

Tim Anderson

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It's not in Tokyo (but only a 40-minute train ride away), but if you can only go to one place in the area it has to be the Shinyokohama Ramen Museum. I went to eight or nine different food museums/food theme parks while I was in Japan doing research, and the Ramen Museum was hands-down the best one, with the possible exception of the Kirin Yokohama Beer Village (but I only liked that one so much because of the little free nomihodai they had at the end of the tour).

The museum itself is awesome - they've constructed a nostalgic vision of a 1958 street scene with painstaking detail - and the FOOD. Oh my good god the food... they've got outposts of eight different legendary ramen shops from all over Japan there, and each one is delicious and unique. You can order mini-ramen from each shop for about 500-600 yen, so you can sample many shops' ramens in one day without feeling sick to your stomach afterwards.

If you go, you must try Keyaki's Sapporo-style ramen and Komurasaki's delectably garlicky Kyuushuu-style ramen. They're heavenly. Between meals, you can peruse extensive collections of ramen bowls and instant ramen packaging, learn about how the noodles vary from region to region, and view cup ramen commercials from the '60s and '70s. It's a good time.

The museum's English page: http://www.raumen.co.jp/ebook/e/e/webt/wys...win_viewer.html

Unfortunately it doesn't display correctly in Safari (if you're a Mac user), but Firefox works.

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torakris

torakris

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and the Ramen Museum was hands-down the best one, with the possible exception of the Kirin Yokohama Beer Village (but I only liked that one so much because of the little free nomihodai they had at the end of the tour).

Here is some information about Kirin Beer Village tours in English

and

a previous thread on similar factory tours

and don't forget the ISO thread if you might want some company.... :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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  • 1 month later...
robyn

robyn

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Could someone please translate for me any remarks about Gyoza Stadium (or give me any personal impressions). I've read about it and it looks like fun. We are getting together with the son and daughter-in-law of some friends of ours (they live in Tokyo) - and I have suggested that it might make for a nice place to get together for lunch (they've never been there). Note that we would be going on a Saturday or a Sunday - and they will have small children with them (place looked like it gets very crowded - and it might not be a great place for a couple with young children - kind of like going to Disney in high season!). Robyn

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torakris

torakris

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Could someone please translate for me any remarks about Gyoza Stadium (or give me any personal impressions).  I've read about it and it looks like fun.  We are getting together with the son and daughter-in-law of some friends of ours (they live in Tokyo) - and I have suggested that it might make for a nice place to get together for lunch (they've never been there).  Note that we would be going on a Saturday or a Sunday - and they will have small children with them (place looked like it gets very crowded - and it might not be a great place for a couple with young children - kind of like going to Disney in high season!).  Robyn

This is the kind of place where the kids might have more fun than the adults!

In the same place are also Ice Cream City and Chou Cream Field (cream puff theme park!)

I read though the reviews and they were all very positive including one woman who said her kids had a wonderful time. The only negative was from a person who went there during Golden Week (one of the 3 major Japanese holidays) and said it was so crowded they couldn't find a table.

The weekends will definitely be crowded, my suggestion is to get there early(before 12) or plan to eat between 2 and 4. As someone who travels everywhere as a family of 5 I can tell you that trying to get a table for more than 4 people in these kinds of places can be difficult.

There is a fee to enter 300yen per adult and 200yen per child.

It sounds like a lot of fun and I might try to take my family there this summer.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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MakeLifeFun

MakeLifeFun

Posted
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My wife and I have been to the Gyoza stadium. We both enjoyed it! It really is almost a theme park. Kids will love it! Come hungry.

BUT

We went during a non-holiday, 2pm on a Wednesday. It was STILL packed. Most lines were only a few minutes but there WERE lines. Tables are hard to find, too. It's quite crowded. Probably not good for kids if they're not old enough to fend for themselves in a crowd.

We really enjoyed the gyoza though!

Shoucream-land wasn't as crowded but also not as tasty.. surprising because I like shoucream. But I think I was just unlucky.

The gyoza stadium is inside a huge, huge shopping mall (surprisingly rare for Japan).

I have walked PAST the Yokohama curry museum many times but have never eaten there. It's on a wonderful shopping street, probably my favorite place in Yokohama. I plan to actually try the museum, probably when we return to Japan next month. If you do go to the curry museum, afterwards, you may want to walk about 3 extra blocks down the shopping street (away from the station) and find the coffee shop "nan ban ya" on the left hand side. It is EXCELLENT.. perhaps my favorite kisaten in the world. Get their "cafe chocolat". Their iced coffee is great too, with kohe cori (coffee ice cubes!) so your coffee doesn't dilute as they melt. :-)

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Akiko

Akiko

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This is the kind of place where the kids might have more fun than the adults!

Yes, yes, and yes. It was packed the day we were there too. And in my opinion the gyoza was just okay. I didn't think this was a "culinary destination" but a more of a novelty.

Whereas, I've actually heard really good things about the ramen museum in culinary terms.

Amedama on the Go Go!
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