Japan food thread

[feryl]

man... u just gave me craving for sushi.

btw i noticed something in Japan. when shops serve unagi, they usually are speciality shops, specializing in doing unagi and unagi alone. anyone knows where can get the best unagi ?

i read the lonely planet guidebook and it says something like in Narita town (the city close to the airport) you can get good unagi. tried some there. pretty ok but nothing fabulous. what do u guys think ?

You mean the ABSOLUTELY BEST or just very good unagi?

Frankly, we probably can't tell the difference between the top 20 unagi restaurants...make that top 50. There are some good unagi places in Asakusa and Ueno, that grills the unagi live only upon order. But cheapest set would be around 6000-10000 yen.

as for where is the ABSOLUTE BEST? My bet is that it is some place no tourist will ever know about. You probably need some well-heeled Japanese to introduce you. Like the best ryokans and kaiseki restaurants.

1) 尾花 - A few blocks south of Minami Senju station.
2) 鈴木 - prob one of the best 'known' places in Tokyo itself, located 20 mins from Chofu station. west of Shibuya/Setagaya
3) 色川 - Cheaper option (about 5000 yen) a few blocks south of Asakusa stn, east of Tawaramachi Stn.

 

[stars87]

You mean the ABSOLUTELY BEST or just very good unagi?

Frankly, we probably can't tell the difference between the top 20 unagi restaurants...make that top 50. There are some good unagi places in Asakusa and Ueno, that grills the unagi live only upon order. But cheapest set would be around 6000-10000 yen.

as for where is the ABSOLUTE BEST? My bet is that it is some place no tourist will ever know about. You probably need some well-heeled Japanese to introduce you. Like the best ryokans and kaiseki restaurants.

1) 尾花 - A few blocks south of Minami Senju station.
2) 鈴木 - prob one of the best 'known' places in Tokyo itself, located 20 mins from Chofu station. west of Shibuya/Setagaya
3) 色川 - Cheaper option (about 5000 yen) a few blocks south of Asakusa stn, east of Tawaramachi Stn.

the ones i tried at Narita was about 2.000 yen. ahh ok ! got it will try at least one when i m there next year (hopefully)

damned , my school offered a 7 days homestay exchange program to hiroshima, but i didnt take it up because i simply cant speak languages. i m terrible at languages. i always end up slaughtering any other language aside from english.

in any case. just some good ones would do. bro ! thank you ! appreciate it

lol, seriouslly. i think you should compile a small book or something and publish it. probably will sell. no guidebooks for japanese food in particular i can think of (good excuse to go japan and do food research trips too )

feryl's foodie guide to japan : good food for everyone

 

[feryl]

the ones i tried at Narita was about 2.000 yen. ahh ok ! got it will try at least one when i m there next year (hopefully)

damned , my school offered a 7 days homestay exchange program to hiroshima, but i didnt take it up because i simply cant speak languages. i m terrible at languages. i always end up slaughtering any other language aside from english.

in any case. just some good ones would do. bro ! thank you ! appreciate it

lol, seriouslly. i think you should compile a small book or something and publish it. probably will sell. no guidebooks for japanese food in particular i can think of (good excuse to go japan and do food research trips too )

feryl's foodie guide to japan : good food for everyone

When i first searched for unagi in Japan, i thought it was expensive, coz i couldn't find any place selling it below 2000 yen, which was about $30. I tried it anyway, the cheapest one I could find. My god, i never ate unagi in Singapore again, it is just too different, so much so that it should be a crime to sell unagi the way restaurants do in singapore.

But of coz, I am still a budget traveller. This time round, though, I am certainly going to whack one of those 6000 yen unagi, just to know what the big deal is about.

What!? Is it too late for you to apply!? You should just go! Homestays are for you to learn the language and culture! Don't worry about what you do to the language, the Japanese are really nice people. Half the time, they are more worried about whether you understand what they are saying! That said tho, Hiroshima isn't a very interesting place. Outside of Miyajima, the atomic site and maybe its Okonomiyaki Square, it's quite devoid of japanese heritage. Not surprising coz the bomb levelled everything...

As for the guide, I am seriously underqualified! I have never eaten much of those things, I just find them on the net. If the day comes when I have enough money to eat all those goodies....those kind of research projects are reserved as hobbies for those earning 10K a month.

 

[stars87]

When i first searched for unagi in Japan, i thought it was expensive, coz i couldn't find any place selling it below 2000 yen, which was about $30. I tried it anyway, the cheapest one I could find. My god, i never ate unagi in Singapore again, it is just too different, so much so that it should be a crime to sell unagi the way restaurants do in singapore.

But of coz, I am still a budget traveller. This time round, though, I am certainly going to whack one of those 6000 yen unagi, just to know what the big deal is about.

What!? Is it too late for you to apply!? You should just go! Homestays are for you to learn the language and culture! Don't worry about what you do to the language, the Japanese are really nice people. Half the time, they are more worried about whether you understand what they are saying! That said tho, Hiroshima isn't a very interesting place. Outside of Miyajima, the atomic site and maybe its Okonomiyaki Square, it's quite devoid of japanese heritage. Not surprising coz the bomb levelled everything...

As for the guide, I am seriously underqualified! I have never eaten much of those things, I just find them on the net. If the day comes when I have enough money to eat all those goodies....those kind of research projects are reserved as hobbies for those earning 10K a month.

haha.. no honestly, look at K F seetoh. the dude's been running a little business empire from his foodie passion. he has a show on the asian food channel, a book publishing franchise monster and Tv programmes raking in big money for something which is really simple and direct in terms of programming.

can one! lol i sure support !

nah.. aside from the language barrier, i dont feel comfortable with the idea of homestay. quite ridiculously priced too. they expect us to take JAL and pay something like 1.7k to JAL for organizing it. its pretty cool but dont think its quite worth the money.

another 1~1.5k more and i can be planning a 2 week stay in japan OTOT for me

yea. the way they do the sauce (is it shoryu sauce?) for the rice and the way the make the unagi, is nearly an artform. really really uber.

btw why are u still up at this time ? hamilton just won F1

 

[feryl]

haha.. no honestly, look at K F seetoh. the dude's been running a little business empire from his foodie passion. he has a show on the asian food channel, a book publishing franchise monster and Tv programmes raking in big money for something which is really simple and direct in terms of programming.

can one! lol i sure support !

nah.. aside from the language barrier, i dont feel comfortable with the idea of homestay. quite ridiculously priced too. they expect us to take JAL and pay something like 1.7k to JAL for organizing it. its pretty cool but dont think its quite worth the money.

another 1~1.5k more and i can be planning a 2 week stay in japan OTOT for me

yea. the way they do the sauce (is it shoryu sauce?) for the rice and the way the make the unagi, is nearly an artform. really really uber.

btw why are u still up at this time ? hamilton just won F1

Seetoh was a professional photographer. He started food photography first, then ventured into the gourmet thing to widen his profile and earn more easy money... and furthermore, he's doing it locally. It isn't too costly to eat hawker food 24/7. Flying 400km across the oceans and spending 80 bucks a meal in order to chart an entirely different country, well, is VERY costly.

well, it's the experience of staying with a japanese family. My wife went for one in her youth and never forgot her memories there. and that was more than 15 years ago!

Yes, it's the sauce, the freshness of the eel, how they kill/cut it, the charcoal, the heat, the amt of time they grill it on charcoal and broil in oven and at which juncture (and how many times) they dip it into the tsuyu (sauce). Most traditional shops claim to have been using the same pot of sauce for centuries... i can't decide if i should believe that. There are also shops that only sell shiroyaki unagi or plain grilled unagi. Apparently, they boast that this method highlights the chef's skill at presenting the fish at its best, without the need of extra flavouring.

going to sleep soon. and you read my mind, i was just wondering who won the F1 coz I saw it on the news earlier. catch up tom. gdnite.

 

[stars87]

Seetoh was a professional photographer. He started food photography first, then ventured into the gourmet thing to widen his profile and earn more easy money... and furthermore, he's doing it locally. It isn't too costly to eat hawker food 24/7. Flying 400km across the oceans and spending 80 bucks a meal in order to chart an entirely different country, well, is VERY costly.

well, it's the experience of staying with a japanese family. My wife went for one in her youth and never forgot her memories there. and that was more than 15 years ago!

Yes, it's the sauce, the freshness of the eel, how they kill/cut it, the charcoal, the heat, the amt of time they grill it on charcoal and broil in oven and at which juncture (and how many times) they dip it into the tsuyu (sauce). Most traditional shops claim to have been using the same pot of sauce for centuries... i can't decide if i should believe that. There are also shops that only sell shiroyaki unagi or plain grilled unagi. Apparently, they boast that this method highlights the chef's skill at presenting the fish at its best, without the need of extra flavouring.

going to sleep soon. and you read my mind, i was just wondering who won the F1 coz I saw it on the news earlier. catch up tom. gdnite.

right. cya tomorrow !

drinking tea at 11pm is not a really sound decision. leaves you on a caffeine rush

 

[smallkuku]

sorry to burst ur bubble, if japanese wanted to get really good unagi they would go to minami senju to obana.. undisputed..

this is a better blog to check out
www.potatomato.com/seat

interesting that you want the best, because when i talked about best people think i wash my mouth with michelin.

 

[stars87]

interesting that you want the best, because when i talked about best people think i wash my mouth with michelin.

not really. i wont like to go into definition of best or not. bad territory for a discussion.

what i meant was, somewhere they has good unagi, above-par or normal standards of unagi. As long as its good and affordable, i think its ok.

is there a michelin star rated unagi anyway ? since we are on the issue of unagi. for the sake of curiosity.

 

[dreamer75]

inflation

ya...heard the prices went up recently too.

saw one shop selling 95 yen in Ameyoko....not sure whether is it for all?

 

[dreamer75]

i m not a foodie, but i love the kaiten sushis.
cheap and good is my motto in japan.

Yuan Qi Sushi?

 

[dreamer75]

bro !

i think from kanda~akihabara (alight at kanda and just follow the train track, walk straight)

along the way there got quite a few 100 yen sushi stalls.

the ueno-akihabara yamanote track below also have a few such sushi places IIRC

wah....i missed your post.

next time i will try but i need the details
thanks bro!

 

[stars87]

wah....i missed your post.

next time i will try but i need the details
thanks bro!

welcome anytime bro.

how was the trip ? good ? ?

 

[dreamer75]

welcome anytime bro.

how was the trip ? good ? ?

fantastic!

njoyed a lot!

 

[snap99]

Yuan Qi Sushi?

this one at the ueno entrance to ameyoko ... directly opp the ueno akihabara

 

[dreamer75]

this one at the ueno entrance to ameyoko ... directly opp the ueno akihabara

saw it selling at 95 yen (?) but dun dare to go in

 

[w3nGaL]

ermmmm sushi resturants like those chain types we see in sg (like sakae) is easily found in tokyo? are they expensive compared to sg?

those cheaper sushi (chain resturants), Macdonalds, yoshinoya etc, bento in supermarket, i think that makes most of my meals i guess. hee

not very much into fine dining or too raw food.

 

[ajninknaw]

^much more exp . i ate at a random sushi restaurant at omotesando . ate about 7 plates . consisting of unagi sushi .. chanwanmushi .. 2 raw tuna sushi . 1 cup of coke . cost me 2000 yen

and yes they are easily found

 

[gundamhamtaro]

unagi and tuna is almost always the more ex type of sushi, can easily around 400yen per plate depending on place. chawanmushi also think will cost around 250-300 yen? cheaper sushi will be salmon, cucumber roll, beancurd skin etc

 

[w3nGaL]

erm well. really must save enough to enjoy the yummy food there hee!

 

[ajninknaw]

hmm yea . must eat alot of good food in japan to compensate for all the unhealthy food we are eating for so many years .

anyways . anyone know where in singapore sells otsukeme ( i think correct spelling ) ?