What’s great about Japan is that everything is fancy and there are always something new. “season specials”, “limited edition”, and almost all shops and restaurant would highlight “No. 1”, “No. 2”, “No. 3” popular items for easy reference. These are all marketing gimmicks but they work!
Shinshu soba (buckwheat noodle) is a not-to-be-missed type of food when travelling to Nagano Prefecture because that’s where one of the best buckwheat noodles origins with the right climate and environment for growing high quality buckwheat. There are always many choices of soba restaurants every where. Takamitei is a 100-year-old soba restaurant locating near the Karuizawa station, since 1907.
Fancy a modern Japanese style afternoon tea in Osaka? Kanmi Koyori (かんみこより) is a nice place to have a lunch/afternoon tea break in Umeda shopping area.
Soba (bulkwheat noodles) is one of the traditional Japanese food with hundreds of years of history, dating back to 300 B.C. when soba was consumed in non-noodle form like dumplings. Then it was cut into noodle form called soba kiri during the Edo Period (1603-1868). While there are many theories about the origin of soba but surely there is a record of soba kiri developed in Nagano Prefecture. With the rich volcanic ash soil and the temperature range in highland, Nagano Prefecture has a vast area of wonderful natural environment for growing buckwheat and many other agricultural products. The Shinshu produced soba is considered one of the best in Japan. If you go to tourism office and ask for recommendation for soba restaurant, the answer is: “They are everywhere. All good.” I stayed near the Nagano station, there are 2 soba restaurants in Midori shopping mall.
Looking for Japanese food around Wakayama JR Station, a big billboard writing “Baby Sea Bream” on a building caught my eyes. Then I found this restaurant right at the station and gave it a try.
Of about 800 species of fish in the Sea of Japan, 500 species are caught in Toyama Bay, in addition to about 50 species of crabs and 600 species of shell fish, making it one of the leading inshore fishing area in Japan. So if you come to Toyama, don’t miss the Shinminato Kittokito Market at the Shinminato fishing harbor. It is not as easily accessible as other fresh seafood markets in Tokyo, Hokkaido and Kanazawa. But if you would like to have fresh seafood right by the fishing harbor and willing to make a trip, you won’t be disappointed.
Ramen is one of the most popular foods in Japan. It’s quick and easy. Starting in Fukuoka in the 60s, Ichiran has been one of the most famous ramen restaurants and now have branches in many prefectures in Japan. There are about 14 branches in Tokyo, more than the number of branches than it’s home base Fukuoka.
Before the move of the world’s largest wholesale fish and seafood market to Toyoso in November 2016, I took a chance to enjoy another nice lunch while it remains in its convenient location in the center of Tokyo. This time, I am not going to any of the 24/7 sushi restaurants nor the ones that are crowded with foreign tourists. I prefer somewhere nice and quiet with good quality of food and service.
Chayamachi is Osaka Kita’s most popular downtown area for young people. It’s a modernized area with trendy stores such as Loft, NU and NU+ shopping malls, HMV, coffee shops, boutiques and many eateries. There is a good mix of young culture and business people. I like this area because there is a good wide variety of things to see, places to shop and eat.
Tofu cuisine is one of the famous delicacy in Kyoto. Like many other types of food, tofu and beancurd (Yuba in Japanese) are cooked in many different ways to create a variety of food. The most common types are tofu in hotpot and beancurd meal. If you like good food, always make a reservation in the famous restaurants, particularly for dinner at the weekends or high seasons such as the cherry blossom period. It’s quite challenging to find the restaurant you like without having to stand in a queue for over an hour because every one wants to have dinner at the same time: after sightseeing and shopping. One of the best possible option is to head over to the JR station (in key cities) which always have some connecting buildings and department stores that have restaurant floors. I noticed that many of the restaurant chains have branches in key JR stations, making it easy to have decent food from well-known restaurants.
