If there ever was a reason to go back to Japan for me (y'know, besides seeing family and visiting "home" and what not), is all the food. I cannot tell you in my limited vocabulary how GOOD the food is back there. And cheap too! ...if you know where to look.Being back there for only a week this time 'round, I didn't get the chance to have "everything" I wanted. But I made damn sure I had what I really wanted.
Ramen - You cannot go to Japan without having some ramen noodles. Depending on which area of Japan you go to, you'll get different flavours of it. But being a Kyushu-boy, the Kyushu-style pork-stock flavoured "Tonkotsu" ramen is the best there is.
Now this one place that my uncle to me to, they had the tasty ramen EVER! When it was served it wasn't steaming at all. I'm like what the hell? But the bowl was certainly hot. I soon discovered that there was a layer of oil on top of the soup, which kept the temperature entrapped. So no matter how long it took you to touch the damn thing (but why delay), it was as hot as it could ever be. It was damn large bowl too. All for just 500yen ($5AUD more or less).
Yakitori - It translate literally to grilled chicken. But it's so much more. Everything will come on skewers and cooked right in front of you. Every part of the chicken is available, the skin, liver, wings, breast, you name it. And all grilled to perfection. But you can also have your choice of other meets including but not limited to pork shank and pork ribs, etc. They are sooooo good and go for about 70-100yen per skewer (70cents - $1AUD).
Okonomiyaki and yakisoba - Now the best of these can be found it's origin of the Kansai area. But where ever you get it in Japan (mostly) it's sure as hell beats anything you get in Australia. Again cooked right in front of you with your choice of toppings, usually a selection or all of pork, squid, lettuce, egg, etc. The Okonomiyaki is a glorified pancake. Topped with some mayo, sauce, green seaweed and fish shavings. Eat it while it's hot! Yakisoba is fried noodles, essentially cooked on the same pan as the Okonomiyaki, adding that extra flavour to it. It comes wrapped in an omelet. Depending on what you have 500-900yen ($5 -$9AUD)
Ah, crap I'm getting hungry typing this. I'll finish with one more...
Sushi - Now, this is the only thing that wasn't "cheap". It goes for a decent price, BUT it's worth every penny/cent/yen/dollar/all the currency in the world! Now you would expect raw fish to taste all that different right? WRONG! OMG how wrong we can be. The Toro (the fattiest part of the tuna, almost light pink-ish in colour), is THE BEST sushi/sashimi you can have. It quite simply melts in your mouth! And it's so full of flavour, every time I ate it, it made me smile (but I'm weird like that). 5,000yen - 10,000yen ($50 - $100AUD) for a platter depending on what you order.
And there you have it. It's quite a misconception that Japan is expensive. With the dollar as strong as it is now, Japan is relatively cheaper...well, at least in terms of food and groceries. You could live of about $15 dollars a day on food I reckon, if you don't need to eat large. You can get really good lunch boxes at 7-Eleven or similar convenience stores (of all places) for about $5. And trust me when I say, they are REALLY good.
Anyway, I reckon I gained about 10kgs whilst on my trip. A kilo a day, that's not bad, eh?
Anyone wanna come with me on my next trip back? ...when ever that'll be... :P
Peace,
Ippei.
