Japan – Page 6 – mmm-yoso

Otaru: Sankaku Fish Market and Lunch at Ajidokoro Takeda

June 19, 2016 mmm-yoso Hokkaido, Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Seafood, Travel

After sampling a few brews at Otaru Brewery we walked back to the JR Station. Just to the right of that station stands a rather nondescript street and a very discreet doorway. Behind that door is Sankaku Market. It really doesn't look like much from the outside, but walk thru that door and you'll enter a bustling little market.

Full of some of the most wonderful seafood I've ever had a chance to see.

Opposite the stands are restaurants….more like stalls with tables. One of them had a crazy line of people waiting to eat. I looked at the menu and saw that it was the cheapest place in the market.

Right before that stood another shop, this one was also busy, but we decided to just take a chance. The woman in charge gave us a paper with a number and we stood off to the side to wait.

I went for a walk to the loo….which is how I noticed that the crowds here gather around the area where the restaurants were.

After about 15 minutes, the woman in charge found us and we were seated and a little bowl of ika; which looked like it was colored with squid ink was placed before us.

We were given menus and here's where I'm glad I took a photo of the menu since folks here don't believe the prices we paid for lunch.

Not realizing how much rice was in these bowls we ordered three! Later on during the trip, Kat mentioned that we could order half portions of rice. Which we'll do when we return.

We shared the three bowls. The first to arrive was the most expensive one (2000¥) a bit less than $20. Geez Louise, look at all of that sweet crab!

Which I thought was the weakest item in the bowl. The salmon was nice and mild in flavor, fatty, with a wonderful texture. I've had Hokkaido Uni before and thought it to be very briney and intense in flavor, but this was so creamy, slightly sweet, with the wonderful flavor of the ocean. Like you took a bite of the cleanest, sweetest, water of the Pacific. The ikura were perfect, briney, not overly salty, with a wonderful snap to them. For around twenty bucks!

We also ordered this which cost 1300¥. More of that wonderful ikura and those scallops were super sweet.

The ebi were tender, but very mild in flavor and not particularly interesting….but that ikura.

I was curious what a 980¥ (about $9.50) bowl of salmon would look like. Sheeesh……

10 pieces of fresh and delicious salmon. I'm very cautious about getting salmon in restaurants; but the stuff in the market looked so fresh and of good quality. We really didn't need the wasabi as everything tasted clean and fresh, just a bit of soy sauce for the salmon. We did feel bad having so much rice left over, but we'll know what to do in the future.

This was one heck of a meal for under forty bucks….remember, there's no tipping in Japan. I came back and mentioned how good the Hokkaido Uni was to Tommy at Catalina…..which he wasn't too happy about, but what the heck.

Ajidokoro Takeda (In Sankaku Fish Market)
3-10-6 Inaho
Otaru, Hokkaido

Man, we left fat and happy. We managed to get back to Sapporo and squeeze in a nap and a nice walk before dinner, which was to be at the oldest crab specialty restaurant in Sapporo. We sure were eating well!

Otaru: A Stroll Down Sakaimachi Dori, Sampling Sweets at LeTAO, and a Stop at Otaru Brewery

June 18, 2016 mmm-yoso Beer, Caffeine Fix, Desserts, Hokkaido, Japan, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

Leaving the Shako Festival and the Canal area behind us, we headed to Sakaimachi Dori, a lively streets with European/Western style buildings dating back to the days when Otaru was a major port city.

Full of historic buildings that are now glass and souvenir shops, tons of restaurant, and a little sweets kingdom known as LeTAO.

We loved the charming streets, the buildings just gave off a nice vibe, especially since things weren't especially busy.

We were getting a bit chilly, the warming effects of the umeshu was wearing off, so we decided to stop in at this charming little coffee and tea shop built in the former location of the Kubo Store, which was built in 1907.

The Missus got a nice cup of matcha and I a well made pour over, very smooth, but with enough of a nice kick for me.

The barista was a wonderfully dignified looking woman, who just rocked her lavender highlites perfectly. A study in aging well, gracefully, but with just the perfect amount of hipness and edge.

Refreshed and energized, we ended our little walk at LeTAO, which several folks told me I "had to" visit when going to Otaru.

This a multifloor deal, with a sweet shop upstairs, a very popular hot chocolate stand….but the item that LeTAO is known for is their cheesecake.

The cheesecake portion of the shop actually looks more like a jewelry store.

For some reason, I wasn't too keen on the stuff here, but of course, I don't have much of a sweet tooth.

LeTAO
7-16 Sakaimachi Dori
Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan

We headed back around and took Rinkosen Street back to the canal area. There was one last stop I wanted to check out before heading to lunch. I'd enjoyed the bottle of Otaru Weisse I had in Hokkaido. I also recalled Kat's post on Otaru Brewery, so I thought we'd give it a try. The place has quite the Bavarian Beer Garden look and makes some interesting claims on the English menu.

Hmmmm…..not hangover with the beer here, eh? Well, let me have at it! I ordered the Dunkel, which had quite a head. The finish reminded me of caramel-burnt sugar with a touch of stone fruit mixed with a bready yeasty fragrance. Not bad at 5.2 ABV….clean finish, sugary flavors lingering, not too bitter.

The place filled up pretty quickly as most folks were starting up on lunch. Several large parties; all Japanese came in, and a couple looked like they were doing some kind of brewery tour finished up as well.

For some reason, I just wasn't motivated to eat here…..we were in Otaru and I wanted to finish up with some seafood.

The Missus got the Weisse and like the bottle I had previously, it had that banana thing going on. I read that in addition to the classic Weisse wort used for the product, it's also sticking to the traditional brewing method and tightly controlling the 4 VG level (4-vinyl guaiacol), hence the increased banana flavor (iso-amyl acetate) and less of the spicy clove that I'm used too. It's quite a pleasant beer, easy to drink, light, high carbonation, very nice overall.

We enjoyed stopping here, it was relaxing, though he place started getting really busy when we left.

Here's an interesting Japan Times article on Otaru Brewery.

Otaru Soko No.1 Brewery
5-4 Minatomachi
Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan

Leaving the brewery, we headed back to the JR Station, ready for lunch.

I think these guys were ready for lunch as well…….

A Revisit to My Favorite Restaurant – Suzunari (Tokyo)

June 14, 2016 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

I have a few acquaintances who love the Michelin Star/Best Restaurants in the World kind of thing. And earlier today, one of them sent me this link, telling to look at #13….it was Maido, where we had just eaten last month. What I thought was a bit strange was that Maido was several notches above Azurmendi. Just goes to show you the fickle "sport" of ranking restaurants and also why, while I take all those things into consideration, in the end, I try to figure out the food, how the place suits us, both in cuisine and service (those restaurants where staff is constantly hovering is not for us), before making a decision. A few hours later, "SomTommy" who sometimes comments, sent me an email mentioning the same thing. I replied that I thought this was both interesting and surprising. He then asked me what my favorite restaurant in the world was. What really surprised me was how easy it was typing out my reply; it was Suzunari which we visited during our first trip to Tokyo. The place just suited us; Kaiseki, perfectly prepared, elegant, but not fussy, without pretense, in a casual atmosphere, the customers were all Japanese. Oh, and while it was basically a husband and wife team, with one assistant, this tiny shop had acquired one of those "star" thingies.

Funny thing was, we enjoyed our previous experience so much we returned the last time we were in Tokyo. So I thought I'd do a quick photo post, out of chronological order, but it seemed somewhat timely. We had our good friend Reiko make reservations for us before our last visit; we also insisted that she come along. Even though we knew the pacing of the meal, pretty much in line with traditional Kaiseki, it was still fabulous.

From the steady silent interactions of the chef, his wife, and the assistant. To the sincere service, we loved sitting at the bar, and watching the flawless execution.

The Hassun, just fantastic.

Reiko, a Tokyo native told us that this was the best meal she's ever had and we were so glad to have been able to share it with her.

I'll always remember overhearing some advice from a Japanese National who advised the young couple that if they really wanted a "true" experience, to bypass the multiple Michelin Star Kaiseki places and work a bit harder to find the places that Japanese would go to when they had a nice meal. This lead me to researching a bit and finding Suzunari. My favorite restaurant.

Suzunari
7-9 Arakicho, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo

Later during the morning I sent an email to Ed from Yuma and Cathy regarding the list. Ed's response was priceless: "Rereading the post you did, it is amazing that the place had so many little shortcomings. But you are picky." I really don't think I'm picky, but I do know what I like, and after all these years, I think I'm pretty good at mentioning those things I don't care for. Funny thing about places like Maido. These places take chances, are innovative, they have a vision, and move toward that vision. There might be items that aren't your cup of tea, but, at least for us, the highs are amazingly high.

I'm still of the opinion that the Egg from our Hens, Cooked Inside Out and Truffled from Azurmendi, might be the best single bite I've ever had.

Still, while this was a genuinely great experience, "experience" being the key term; like Disfrutar, I'm not sure we'll ever go back.

Urasawa? Not really sure……

Maido, or even Etxanobe perhaps. Suzunari? I'm pretty sure we'll be back.

But it's a big world and we've only been to 23 countries. The Missus has told me that the US can mostly wait until I'm old and decrepit. Which might be anytime now. And while all these places are great….even the occasional banquet or two…..

Or something super delicious and different, that I wish they served here…..

Or maybe a bit more challenging?

Or maybe not…..

I think I'll settle for a nice bowl of soup.

After all, it's sometimes these simplest things that we love.

Thanks for reading!

Asahikawa: Otokoyama Brewery and the Flagship Store of Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

June 9, 2016 mmm-yoso Hokkaido, Japan, Ramen, Travel

After a nice and filling breakfast, we walked to Sapporo Station and got our tickets for our destination on this brisk morning. We'd been planning this side trip from the time we decided to travel to Hokkaido. I hinted at the destination in my previous Hokkaido post as being the place where the coldest temperature in the history of Japan was recorded and that temperature being close to where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet; which would be -40F. The coldest recorded temperature in the history of Japan at as -41 degrees Celsius (-42F), was recorded in Asahikawa on January 25th, 1902.

And no, we weren't headed to Asahikawa for the weather, which was actually pretty nice at about 36 degrees Fahrenheit when we left Sapporo, but for more hedonistic endeavor.

The weather changes quickly here….from the mild near freezing drizzle and the rainbow above, to the sudden snow during our 90 minute ride to Asahikawa.

But things had cleared pretty quickly by the time we had arrived.

When we mentioned visiting Asahikawa to folks who knew about the city, the first thing mentioned was Asahiyama Zoo; though they really couldn't fathom going there at the end of November. And when they found out what our real purpose was….well, they kind of thought of us as being a bit, well, as my Mom would have said, "きちがい".

To get to the first destination, we had to leave the train station and cross several streets to one of the many municipal bus stops. From there, it was me, using my terrible, quite limited Japanese, to ask if the bus passed the destination. Once on the bus, I used Google Maps with pocket wifi to figure out when we were getting close. Lucky for us; the wonderful and friendly driver remembered that I had asked about the place and made sure to let us know. And when we started walking in the wrong direction, stopped, opened the door of the bus and pointed us in the right direction. You gotta love Japan!

So where was this? Well, while I have a favorite splurge sake that I enjoy, my favorite (not) everyday sake is made by Otokoyama. If my liver could only speak. Sam used to call me Mr Otokoyama ages ago and Ed from Yuma and I really enjoyed our Otokoyama in our younger days eating at Sakura.

So a visit to Otokoyama Brewery was a must.

The sake museum was interesting, I didn't know that Otokoyama has been around for almost 350 years!

You get to see the brewing facilities, a collection of scrolls, and vintage brewing tools.

Loved the various displays of various awards and the world wide distribution….heck, I even recognize some of these places!

And then of course, there's the tasting area……

Just when we started tasting various sake, a busload of Chinese tourists invaded. The Missus was laughing as many of them complained about having to use the steps to go upstairs! We decided to take a break and sit at one of the desks; which had a collection of reading glasses of various magnification….I don't recall seeing anything like this before…..

When things calmed down a bit, having tasted most of the free samples, we went to taste the "good stuff" which you had to pay for.

My favorite was the Kitamiduki.

Apparently, Otokoyama uses spring water from Mount Taisetsu, which is known as "The Water of Long Life". We saw folks coming in with jugs, filling them up in front of the brewery.

There's also a little faux spring from which you can taste the water. The Missus went to have a sip, but when I went to get a taste, the water stopped flowing! Oh-oh, I might be in trouble here!

Otokoyama Sake Brewery & Museum
Nagayama 2 jyo, 7 chome
Asahikawa, Hokkaido

We had a great time…though waiting for the bus on the chilling sidewalk wasn't too much fun.

Eventually the bus did arrive and we headed back.

We got off a few stops short of where we started. A set off to find our second destination.

Regular reader know that Santouka makes our favorite ramen in San Diego. The Missus even had Her senses dulled when we last visited Japan, convinced that the ramen served at Santouka in San Diego was every bit as good as what we had at places like Ippudo, Rokurinsha, and Nagi Ramen. She was a bit misguided, I ended up calling this "the Santouka Effect". But now we were in Asahikawa, where Santouka Ramen started. I did some research and found the "Flagship Store", what I understand is the original location.

It is a tiny shop, a few simple tables and bar seats.

As with most ramen places we've been to in Japan, you help yourself to the ume and pickles.

What did we order? Well, that was a no-brainer. Shio Toroniku style of course. Which was delivered in the signature thick sided donburi, designed to keep the broth hot during your entire meal.

There some slight, though significant differences with regard to the ramen. The noodles were even more chewy and just had a wonderful texture. The pork cheek was sliced much thicker than what we've had here in San Diego, and yet started to fall to pieces when dipped in the broth. The big difference? The broth tasted less salty, but had a mild seafood flavor, this totally reminded me of the flavor of Sanouka's shio broth when they first opened. I don't really pick that up in recent bowls in San Diego.

Since we'd had a rather large breakfast, we shared the single bowl, and also ordered a boiled egg and some rice, which was cooked perfectly, and went well with the pickles.

One constant between Santouka here and Santouka in the states is…..the boiled egg is still mediocre as it's hard boiled. At least this one didn't have that sulphuric tasting green ring around the yolk that indicates a terribly overcooked boiled egg.

In regards to the ramen, the Missus claims this is the best bowl of ramen She has had to date. Me? Well, I'm not so sure….. Still, I can now say I've been to the original Santouka.

Ramen Santouka Honten Asahikawa
8 Chome-348 1 Jōdōri
Asahikawa, Hokkaido

We walked back to the train station with bellies full of warm ramen.

The train was pretty empty, I guess it was the slow time of the day.

My friends actually did pretty well, since I bought them a bottle of the Otokoyama Kitamiduki, which I was told you can only purchase in Asahikawa. They told me it was delicious. For some reason, I think that we'll return to Asahikawa one day. After all, the Missus loves Santouka!

Thanks for reading!

Sapporo: Dosan-Shokusai HUG Mart, Le Petite Boule Chocolatier, and Breakfast at the Hotel Monterey Sapporo

June 4, 2016 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Buffets, Chocolate, Hokkaido, Japan, Travel

After having our hybrid late lunch – early dinner at Ramen Zero, we decided to check out the Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade which is almost a kilometer long. Along the way we passed by this interesting looking market.

This shop had two parts; one side a small collection of eating establishments called "HUG Eat" and the other half a market selling Hokkaido produce, dairy, and other Hokkaido food products.

Yes, I said dairy. Hokkaido has a sizeable dairy industry and you might be surprised to find items like Hokkaido milk, yogurt, and yes, cheese are quite popular.

Some of the produce had photos of folks I'm assuming are the farmers who grew the product. It was kind of charming, even though some of the photos looked like mugshots.

I really enjoyed this shop and will definitely drop by if I'm ever back in Sapporo.

Dosan-shokusai HUG
Tanukikoji 5-chome
Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Japan

We made our way to the other end of the shopping arcade, then decided to head back to the hotel…..

Of course we got joyfully lost along the way. Finally ending up at this chocolate shop.

Where the Missus bought a couple of treats for Her mom and a few for Herself.

Le Petit Boule Chocolatier
8-2-7 Kita 1-jo Nishi
Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Japan

In spite of not having a sweet tooth; I really enjoyed the snacks in Hokkaido. New Chitose Airport was "sample heaven" and I loved this particular melon flavored corn and chocolate snack that I normally wouldn't have given a second glance to.

Darkness had fallen quickly, and even though we got turned around a couple of times, we ended up at the Daimaru located next to Sapporo Station.

Which was close to our hotel.

We finished up the evening with some snacks and another thing we picked up in Hokkaido; really flavorful black bean tea!

One of the reasons Akiko had recommended staying at the Hotel Monterey was for the buffet breakfast, which the Missus loved.

I'm usually not a big buffet fan, but this was a bird of another feather. There was a section with typical Western style breakfast items; then some typical Japanese items like chicken karaage and such. Of course there was Hokkaido dairy products and I had a chance to sample the milk and yogurt. It was the selection of more traditional items that we really took to. The Missus discovered that She loved mentaiko, shiokara, and other items She deemed "too fishy" here in the states. As an egg lover, She blissfully consumed the onsen tamago. I loved seeing the Missus enjoy eating this way.

I'd never had black bean natto before and we both found it delicious. I felt totally at home having these items for breakfast. I did notice that most of the younger folks; all Japanese went for the Western pastries and such and the older folks (I guess I'm an old fart) took to the more traditional items.

Good call Akiko! We loved the breakfast buffet!

And we needed a healthy start to the day. There were small snow flurries the night before, but it had all melted in the morning sun. Still, the temps were in the mid-30's.

And we were headed to the city where the lowest recorded temperature (think of where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet) in the history of Japan was recorded.

See you there!

Sapporo: Sapporo Noodle Zero and Nijo Market

May 13, 2016 mmm-yoso Hokkaido, Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Ramen

Our flight from Seoul to New Chitose Airport was perfectly uneventful. The airport is about 30 miles from Sapporo. It might easily be one of my favorite airports….there are a number of shops selling; well, everything! It's not a large airport and easy to maneuver….and good lord, the samples! We ended up buying a load of snacks for my MIL…..so much, that we ended up mailing it Sapporo! As regular readers will know, I'm not much of a snack person, but I was totally taken by this Hokkaido corn snack, which was light, refreshing, and not too sweet. More on that in a later post. After sampling a load of stuff and buying some snacks, we activated our JR Pass and got to Sapporo Station in no time. Our good friend Akiko had made our hotel reservations at the Hotel Monterey Sapporo, telling me that I'm "going to love the breakfast buffet". It was a nice choice, just a five minute walk from the station.

After checking in, freshening up, and relaxing for a bit, we headed out. First stop; the ATM at 7-11, the easiest, most convenient ATMs in Japan. Be it 7-11, Lawson, or whatever; the snack selection and prepared food at these shops are something to be reckoned with.

In spite of it being close to Thanksgiving, it wasn't too cold….yet! So of course the Missus wanted to walk to our lunch destination. Which wasn't so bad after putting in all those miles walking in Seoul. That's the Sapporo TV Tower located in Odori Park.

Strangely, we didn't come across too many people during our walk….perhaps it was a bit cold? Or perhaps folks were just a lot smarter than us and used the subway, which ran just a block from our hotel.

I'd read about Nijo Market before our trip and it was along the way to our destination so we decided to take a look around.

Seeing all that seafood and knowing we'd be around here for a couple of days really got the Missus excited.

The prices were no joke!

But it did get my heart beating a little faster since I knew we'd be looking for some crab for the Missus…….

The Missus had declared this to be a "discovery of ramen and yakitori" trip. Our last stop before leaving Narita for Seoul was for some Seabura (pork backfat) Ramen at Miyamoto. So it only made sense that we'd try some ramen here in Sapporo. It only made sense that we visit a place famous for what I heard called their "flame torched chashu", Ramen Zero, which, being in the Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade was really easy to find.

We entered……and of course came across the ramen ticket machine!

As with most places in Japan, the folks here were really nice……most of the labels didn't have kanji characters, but a young lady came out and we made it through punching the right buttons with a combination of really bad Japanese…at least I know what we wanted and could order it in Japanese……it was a matter of finding the right buttons.

We were in Sapporo; so it was only right that we get a Sapporo Classic "Only in Hokkaido". A light Pilsner, easy to drink, great head, with a sweet finish.

So, like I said, Ramen Zero is known for this……

Will you look at that piece of pork belly. This obviously wasn't one of those one thin slice of chashu places. I really liked the pork, which was tender, but not falling to pieces, smoky, with a nice pork flavor. The Missus thought they put too much black pepper on the beast. She also got a nicely soft boiled egg and some rice, which was just perfect.

Since this was Sapporo, I got the Miso Ramen….with the pork of course!

Man, that pork…plus the bowl was about $11 US and totally worth it. The noodles were nice, of the thicker variety,, curly, and firm. The broth was the most un-miso, miso broth I've ever had. It was very mild, slightly thick, with a touch of sweetness, and we made out what seemed like a rather strong ginger flavor. In other words, everything took a back seat to that pork.

As you can tell, we didn't leave hungry. It seems we lucked out as I heard the place often sells out of items early in the evening.

Sapporo Noodle Zero
Minami 2 Jōnishi
Chūō-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan

Due to the season, night was falling like a curtain as we left. Still, we had a bit of exploring to do before heading back for the evening.

Stay Tuned!

Narita: Naritasan Shinshoji Temple and Seabura (pork backfat) Ramen at Miyamoto

December 7, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

It was nice to see Narita by daylight as arriving anywhere at night makes things a bit mysterious. The vibe of the city seemed quite relaxed, it's quite hard to believe that over 35 million people pass through an airport just a few miles away. Looking out from the window we had our first glimpse of the colors of the season. Something we don't get here in San Diego. Since our shuttle back to the airport wasn't until 940 and it was only 6am, we decided to do a bit of exploring and find something to eat.

Things seemed quite calm as we walked through the JR Narita Station, which is nearly right next to the privately operated Keisei Narita Station next door. We could make out some of the streets that we thought were so confusing the previous night. There were quite a few small temples tucked along the side streets.

We decided to visit what is probably the most popular site in this part of Narita; Naritasan Shinshoji Temple which is easily found by following the signs. The street heading to the temple, Omotesando, is lined with shops and restaurants, which were all closed at this time of the morning.

The street were very quiet except for schoolkids headed off to class. One particularly feisty little girl marched off quickly in front of us. Everytime we'd speed up, so would she, when we started catching up, she broke into a full on sprint….she refused to let us pass her! It seems we had become part of the morning entertainment.

The temple grounds were quite a bit larger than we anticipated. There's was a good amount to see. Sorry to say, my photos of the Main Hall were among those that were corrupted and unrecoverable form one of the SD cards. Still, there were quite a few distinct structures like the Three Story Pagoda.

For me, the most interesting structure was the Shakado Hall, which looked both grand and imposing at the same time. This was temple's main hall until the 1960's when the larger main hall was built.

Workers were taking down plants and flowers from an autumn flower show which had concluded the previous day.

There's also a large park. The cloudiness in the photo below is not an artifact, but the mist coming off the spruce as the environment warmed up.

We climbed up the stairs next to the Shakado Hall and were greeted by folks as they walked down past us.

The Missus read a sign that basically said, "shortcut to JR East Station", so we followed the trail. And wouldn't you know, we somehow quickly ended up quite close to the station.

We started looking for something for breakfast. And according to the Missus, "a pastry and coffee is not going to cut it!"

We circled around a bit, then ended back at Keisei Narita Station, and noticed a 24 Hour Ramen place. This seemed to fit the bill of the Missus wanting "as much ramen and yakitori" as we could possibly find on this trip.

There was one person manning the shop and one customer in attendance. The typical ramen ticket machine in the corner. The Missus couldn't make out some words and the proprietor (his photo was on the posters adorning the walls) was nice enough to point to different photos on the walls so we could correlate them to choices on the machine.

The Missus read some of the signs and said this place serves "backfat" ramen…….that would be "seabura" ramen. So what the heck, I went whole hog (no pun intended) and ordered the large bowl.

The Missus went with the Tenkasu-don – those crispy bits of tempura batter on top of rice, drizzled with a tentsuyu type of sauce, along with a raw egg. She added another boiled egg for good measure.

When my bowl arrived, I could see what looked like rice porridge on top of the ramen. It quickly became clear that these were silky little minced pieces of fat. Some of which melted away, some not. It added quite a bit of richness to the broth, which, in spite off all this fat, never became greasy. It added a different dimension to what was pretty much a ubiquitous bowl of ramen. The tonkotsu broth (minus the rendered pork fat) was fairly light and on the salty side. The noodles were done adequately…the Missus said the boiled eggs were decently flavored, though a bit on the over-cooked side for Her taste. There was a huge amount of beansprouts, I enjoyed the textural contrast it added to the ramen. The broth wasn't quite hot enough for us, which would have ended up in an even richer bowl of ramen in my mind.

While not an excellent bowl, this was still good enough for us. Would be in the top 2 in San Diego……is San Diego ready for backfat ramen?

Miyamoto (宮本)
814-5 Hanazakicho (Next to Keisei Narita Station)
Narita, Chiba

Plus it sure beat out McDonalds at Narita Airport.

Which had the longest line! Sheesh. Well, at least the portion sizes looked a bit smaller……

Belly full of ramen……we were ready for Seoul!

Thanks for reading!

Narita: Sumibi no Uttori

December 5, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

Even though we had an amazing time during our trip to Japan last year, our time in Kyoto was limited because of Typhoon Vongfong. That was among more than a handful of reasons we decided to head back; the Missus had always wanted to see the fall foliage and She had gained a real affection for Yakitori (and ramen – remember the Santouka effect?). Also, She needed a use for the $$$$ Burberry overcoat She had bought….. So we decided to head back to Japan. Our trip was scheduled for 17 days and we had a 14 day Japan Rail Pass, so we needed to figure out what to do with those extra days. Seoul seemed like a good idea and that ended up being the plan. We arrived at Narita Airport quite late in the afternoon……man, the sunsets here at like 445pm! I decided that we should just the evening in Narita, before heading to Seoul the next morning. We stayed at the Narita U City Hotel, which is a bit dated, but very close to the JR Station, has a friendly staff, and even a free shuttle to the airport.

After settling in, the first course of business was getting something to eat. Of course the place I'd been looking forward to eating at was closed, even though Tabelog said they were open on that day. So we passed through the JR Station and started exploring, up and down the somewhat confusing side streets of Narita. Until we came across this busy little shop.

And the Missus did want to eat a lot of yakitori on this trip, right? The place was a hoot; the young man who managed the front of house would loudly greet guests as they entered and shout to find seats for customers. In this photo he is shouting upstairs to find a table for some customers. The staff were friendly and quite boisterous. There was an English menu, but we decided to ignore it and take a walk around the counter to see what we wanted.

That combined with the Missus's ability to understand some Kanji helped us make some good decisions.

Of course we started with a couple of beers.

It seems like the place also did a bustling hot pot business, but we were here for grilled meats. In looking at what was being ordered we quickly noticed that pork was really popular here, so we ordered mainly pork influenced items, even though none of them were on the English menu.

The Butahorumon (pork intestine) was very tasty. Smoky, with a crisp exterior, it had that nice savory slightly musty intestine flavor I love.

The Missus favorite was the delicious Yamaimo (mountain yam) wrapped with Pork.

Crunchy, slightly sweet, the thinly sliced bacon added a nice touch of smokiness. Just the right amount of salt made this quite tasty.

The Renkon (lotus root) was also wrapped with bacon.

It wasn't quite as pleasing as the yamaimo though.

Veering away from swine, we just had to try the Tsukune (chicken meatball), which was just ok, too many hard bits, not too flavorful.

The Pork Skin was seasoned well and had a nice deep smokiness, but was a bit too rubbery, with hard bits for our taste.

I ended with a nice Yaki Onigiri, grilled quite well.

This ended up being a nice little meal to get us started. I recall the prices as being quite reasonable as well.

The Missus had wanted to eat a lot of yakitori, right?

Sumibinouttori
533-13, Hanazakicho
Narita-shi, Chiba, 286-0033

Where in the world are we? Part 4

December 2, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Kyoto

Well, this is the home stretch. We're (hopefully) home by the time this gets posted. It's a place where Mother Nature intervened the last time we were here, so we wanted to take care of some unfinished business.

Which we managed to do. Along with enjoying the colors of the season.

We managed to revisit a couple of our favorites.

And got to meet up with one of my favorite food bloggers and catch up on things.

And try a few we had on our list as well.

We even made a side trip to a place with ties to San Diego!

So please enjoy Cathy's and Ed from Yuma's posts while I regroup.

Thanks for reading!

Where in the world are we? Part 3

November 30, 2015 mmm-yoso Japan, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We're on our way to the final stop on this trip. The last few days have been great, even when the weather didn't cooperate.