Tokyo, Osaka, & outings

[chinchi]

Just came back from Japan. A few meals to report, though most outings were hosted and I spent more time chatting with friends than documenting my food. Other meals fell in the 500yen category (cheap rice bowls, sushi, sashimi, conveni, etc.).

Kabocha ohnabe in Yamanaka (day trip from Tokyo). A local specialty filled with vegetables (kabocha, of course,local mountain veggies, shiitake, taro, carrot, potato, snow peas, scallions, gobo…), hand cut wheat noodles, and a flavorful (but not heavy) miso broth.

Cheap lunch with my friend near our apartment in Shibuya (Tokyo) at Sushi-Daidokoya

DJed an event at my friend’s bar Corner Stone (Osaka) and there was a guest chef and menu for the evening. Really enjoyed my dinner set with octopus quiche, chicken liver, young bamboo with konbu, cured mackerel sushi, potato salad, and sweet potato with lemon.

Amazing crab lunch in Osaka at Crab Dishes Amimoto Bekkan.

Korean food in Osaka near our apartment. Here’s a cheese and kimchee jeon. Also tried different jeon varieties, mandu, japchae, and gimbap. Really vague, but I think the restaurant name was Aunt somebody or other

Tonkotsu ramen from Ramen Zundoya Kobe Motomachi (a Kobe outlet of this chain). I ordered light broth and it was still a pork fat bomb

Akashi-yaki, Akashi’s namesake dish (daytrip from Osaka). Similar to takoyaki, but eggier. Apparently what takoyaki was modeled after. Served with dashi for dipping. My friend said Akashi is a tako town

Back to Tokyo and an upgrade in accommodation meant my favorite hotel breakfast buffet at Hotel Metropolitan in Ikebukuro (disclaimer - the only hotel breakfast I’ve had in Japan).

For my final vague entry, we had a going away dinner at my friend’s friend’s yakitori restaurant in Kichijoji. Great atmosphere and delicious skewers. All veggies were bacon wrapped (asparagus, mushroom, tomato, eggplant, bell pepper with cheese) aside from the zucchini. Also had bacon wrapped mochi (my favorite kind of yakitori), chicken thigh with skin, tsukene (chicken meatball), chicken skin, rare cooked chicken (a first for me), quail eggs, heart, beef (I think), and whole fried fish (with a bonus of eggs in her belly!). Also tried horse for the first time in the form of carpaccio. No pics, sorry

I’ve been to Japan many times, but this trip had quite a few food firsts for me. Hope to return again soon!

[TheCookie]

Good report chinchi!

Delicious and interesting. Aside from the markets and street food - which have a distinct look - you can also tell by preparations, plating, etc. that these are not Japanese restaurants in the U.S.

What are these?

They look tasty.

This is about the third time this month someone has shown a picture or wrote of fish bellies full of roe, milt sacs, etc. Is it spawning season?

Horse!

[chinchi]

Those are called akashiyaki, and they sure were tasty!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashiyaki

[TheCookie]

Delicious

[chinchi]

In addition to the cheap sushi & sashimi bowl above (about $5 US), here are some other cheap eats from my recent trip:

Udon & tempura from chain Marugame Seimen (the branch we stopped at was in Osaka). I went with cold udon topped with daikon, green onions, and yuzu. From the serve-yourself tempura line-up, I picked, tempura shrimp, soft cooked egg, and sweet potato. The latter was sadly dry and hard. Easy to rack up the price when adding tempura (came to about $9 US).

Stopped at the Matsuya near our Shibuya apartment on a couple occasions. Not exactly Food Talk Central worthy, but fast and cheap. Another chain with plenty of offerings in the $5 US range

Not exactly cheap (I can’t quite recall, but I think AYCE lunch was about $15 US with one drink), but you can stuff yourself silly with Sakura Tei’s all you can eat okinomiyake in Harajuku (Tokyo). I wasn’t impressed with this place, but it did the job of filling our bellies

And some shots from Kobe’s Chinatown. We were so looking forward to some street eats after visiting a friend’s bar, but all the stalls shut down by 9 Snagged a $1 US pineapple spear on the way in though.

[raihan]

I’m going to Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo next month. So thankful for this thread! If anyone has additional recs that haven’t been addressed since May, I’d appreciate them.

Thank you <3