First off, if you don’t care about food that is ok, but don’t read any further. This post is all about our food experience here in Japan so far. Spoiler alert, it has been awesome.
We started our Japan experience in Sapporo so I feel it best that I follow our route with the food as well.
Our first dinner in Sapporo was at a tiny Ramon restaurant. The broth was incredible in this Genghis Khan miso dish and the joy, yes the joy of the staff made it a truly memorable dinner. Also the gyoza were yummy.We quickly learned that ordering was a matter of picking whatever little dishes you liked best. It reminded me of ordering tapas.We learned very early on that many restaurants have gone to using tablets to facilitate the ordering of food. It is a lot easier as most have an English language button on them, however I did miss the human interaction that they take away.
Sometimes when we are travelling for an extended time we really don’t want to have to go out and have breakfast. Japan accommodates this issue very well.
And who knew you could get pancakes with the syrup already in them. I still had to go down to get Karen a hot coffee in the morning. We have learned to love 7-11 and Lawson convenience stores.If we choose to go out for breakfast, this is typically what it would look like. Sometimes just with buttered toast, but the cheesy option was rather tasty.The budget lunches tended to be similar to this. Some type of protein and a beverage.Speaking of beverage, if you were feeling like a bit of a nip, there was sake to go in your own little sippy box.It is not unusual at restaurants to get an appetizer dish (which you are charged for). I have no idea what this one was (Google lens couldn’t even help), but it was quite edible.This one was delicious, but I did have to work on getting by the slimy stuff the tuna was in. It is all about getting out of ones comfort zones.The sake experience in Aomori was great. We learned how to pour it properly, and the difference it makes when you order the good stuff.He also did an awesome job with the crab appetizer. Watching him prepare the food for his 6 customers was very interesting. The man works hard and still had time to make us smile.I never thought I’d enjoy a nasty looking urchin. But here I am loving it. By far the best sashimi experience of our life. It was so good.The dessert was sushi roe. Very good.If you aren’t into sashimi, fair enough, I chose to bypass the horse sashimi we saw on several menus. But it would be worth the effort to try some different varieties. This tuna was very tasty and felt just fine in the mouth. One item that shows up on nearly all our dinner bills is gyoza. Probably Karen’s favourite menu item. The skewers were tasty as well.Oyakodon. How can you not laugh when you order a dish that translates to “Parent and Child” and it’s egg over your chicken. Love it.I went for the pure carnivore choice of Yakitori.As you get further south the items on the menu start to change. One item that showed up was “Monja”Maybe it was the restaurant, but Monja was not a huge hit with me. It was ok, but nothing to write home about. It is cool that it is cooked on the table in front of you.The big deal in food in Tokyo and south to Hiroshima is “Okonomiyaki” We had this at, at least 5 places. Suffice to say, we liked it.The presentation changed from city to city.I quite liked this one in Kyoto, but honestly, the cabbage stole the evening. Delicious. After a walking tour in Hiroshima we went to a little shop on the 3rd floor of a building at the recommendation of the guide and had the best okonomiyaki we have had thus far.The place was packed, and for good reason.Part of the joy is watching these fellows cook the meal in front of you.The end results were excellent.One of the bonuses is you get to catch up on your veg consumption as well.When we need to rest and write in our hotel room we have found these cocktails and sake to be an excellent accompaniment. Thank you to 7-11, Lawsons, and Family Mart for always having these vitals in stock.
We still have a few more days in Japan and plan on coming back for a week or so in a couple months so I’m sure we will have more food experiences. Overall there are so many options for food here you can’t honestly complain. We had burgers last night just to balance things out. But look, it is time for dinner, off we go.
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