It was drizzling when we awoke after a fun evening in Ebisu with our friend Reiko. We decided to just hang around Tokyo on this day; which didn't mean sitting around and doing nothing….but just enjoy a nicely paced day.
We headed out and along the way passed what I believe are the offices of Ajinomoto Corporation, who had their Christmas gift sets out on a on display.
We headed into the "underground Tokyo Station City", which is an apt description of the floors, street, and underground passageways that surround Tokyo Station. We needed something small to eat and decided to stop in at this little udon shop in the underground.
There was a gentleman making udon in the window, obviously a good draw for the place. But what made us stop was the sign….I asked the Missus, who can read Kanji, "does it say what I think it does"? And She said yes; "Udon, all the broth you can drink, all the tea you can drink, and rice ball….325 yen." That's like $3.25…… Okay…..
The set-up is cafeteria like; I got the special, plus extra cup of tea, and some veggies for like five bucks….really!
A simple dashi based broth (we saw folks going back for more), nice chewy noodles, onigiri, and tea……….more than a decent breakfast for us. I'm not sure when I spent five bucks for breakfast for two……
When we got back, I tried to find out what the name of this place was…to no avail. Thanks to the help of FOY (Friend of Yoso Kat - who recently celebrated her eleventh year of blogging) Kat, I actually managed to find the place. Which is located right at the corner of……
Mugimaru Yaesu Minamiguchi
八重洲2-1
八重洲地下街南1号 B1
Chūō, 東京都 〒104-0028
Japan
Like I've said, you can eat for 300 yen or 30,000 yen in Tokyo….it's your choice.
Interesting little note; we'd never exited on the Maronouchi North Exit of Tokyo Station, which was (when we were there) being renovated. There's a European feel to the façade.
Since we decided on hanging around the Chuo and Chiyoda area on this day; we headed off to the Imperial Palace which was fairly close by.
The East Gardens are open to the public.
This was the location of Edo Castle and you can easily see the fortifications that once protected the Tokugawa Shogunate.
These days, the East Gardens are open to the public which include portions of the the honmaru ("main circle") and ninomaru ("secondary circle") of the palace grounds.
The "ninomaru" is hwere the Japanese gardens are. It's amazingly tranquil, especially on a rainy and quite day as when we visited.
Though a quick look above and you realize you're in a major metropolitan area.
It was a nice relaxing way to spend the morning…..
But before we knew it; lunchtime had arrived…..
It was time to head off to lunch!
Thanks for reading!