Eating (in) Japan

There is always that time after an awesome holiday where you find yourself with a mood a little bit on the depressed side. And now, as i finally catch up with my blogging it has hit me again - oh Japan, how we miss you already. Having been able catch up on work, sleep, masterchef australia and my regular living pattern, I now hope to catch up on my backlog of blogging. 
Tokyo was simply a food and fun lovers paradise.We spent 5 nights there, and it was everything we expected and more. Language was not a problem at all - our rumbling tummies did all the talking.We landed at Narita airport at about 5am Tokyo time, and by 9.30 am we were off roaming the streets with out hungry tummies! First stop was Ueno, where we decided to roam the winding streets of the Ameyayokocho Arcade - Once a WWII Black Market, now neverending maze of all things fun and japanese!

It was hard to decide which rabbit hole to venture into - between Patchinko parlours, Pubs, Gaming Rooms and love hotels, restaurants are scattered all around Ueno, tempting you with plastic food displays (handy - if like us, you cannot read japanese) Phrasebook in tow, We were so excited to have our first meal in Tokyo.

I cant tell you the name of the restaurant, or the exact underground address . It looked like a popular place for lunch, businessmen slurping away on their noodles and smoking away indoors - most importantly the food was just awesome. Just stick to the point, smile and onegaishimasu (please) arigato (thanks) system.

We succeeded in ordering a lunch special of some sort. I had some tasty tempura prawns and a side of soba noodles delicately sliced pieces of fish cake. Demos ordered the Oyakodon, which is a rice bowl with chicken and egg cooked through it. Definitely comfort eating after a long flight!

And nothing says we are on holidays then a beer before mid-day! Kampai!

Our next big meal was merely a few hours later, this time in Shibuya.  How did we find this Yakitori restaurant? We followed the tempting and irresistible smell of charcoal and meat out of an exhaust vent!

Food Safety Regulators note, they serve raw chicken! Chicken Sashimi is quite popular in japan - but we were not game enough to order this, citing fear of salmonella for obvious reasons. However, the chicken skewers below were raw in the center. We then proceeded to drink lots more of beer with the belief that beer kills all germs! With the salty flavour of yakitori dishes, and its chargrilled taste - its hard to imagine any other food that goes perfectly with beer.

Sasami - skinless chicken breast 

Garlic Rice and Tebasaki (Chicken Wing)

HaHatsu (Chicken Heart)

Tsukune (Chicken Meatballs) with an egg yolk.

Domo did not fear salmonella, he eats live chickens for fun.


p.s. I havent even finished the eating adventures of day one. Ah, I will get through the backlog of blogs.. Sayonara for tonight!