Now, let’s get to my favorite part of our trip. You know I love food and trying new foods. It’s one of the wonderful things about travel. Sure, it’s tasty and pleasurable, but it’s also exciting to try new flavors and textures that aren’t the norm in your region of the globe.
If you read my first Tokyo post, you’ve seen these photos already. This meal was such a stellar experience, it was worth posting them again. We struck up a conversation on our first day in Tokyo with a local man named Wilson who ended up taking us to a neighborhood restaurant for an unforgettable meal.
In Japan, you can’t really go wrong with food. You’re going to find good food most places you look, even in the convenience stores. We knew this going in, particularly the famous 7-Eleven egg salad sandwiches.
Egg Salad! I am very neutral on egg salad. It is not something I ever crave, make, or order at a restaurant, but if someone made me an egg salad sandwich, I would happily eat it. That did not stop me from being very excited about trying all manner of Tokyo convenience store egg salad sandwiches. I found the Family Mart egg salad to be my favorite; creamy without being too mayo-y, yolk heavy on fluffy white bread. Phil has absolutely no interest in egg salad and was borderline grossed out at my enthusiastic search for it.
The convenience stores have so many delicious things to try; sandwiches, noodles, a hot bar with all kinds of yum yums plus sweet treats, salty crunchies, and many alcoholic and non alcoholic beverage offerings. Everything is also very fresh tasting. Below is a photo from one of our hauls.
The soy sauce and may potato chips were, surprisingly, my favorite. The sweet potato and salty butter (chips? I guess they were chips. They weren’t crackers. They were delicious.) were another standout. I must have eaten at least 3 bags.
A lot, and I mean a lot, of the pre-made convenience store sandwiches have wasabi in them. The problem is, this is not often mentioned on the label. I do not like wasabi or its cousin, horseradish. It’s not the spice, it is the flavor. This does bring me shame since, as an adventurous eater and food lover, I really want to like it. All this to say, if you are visiting Japan and also do not like wasabi: heads up, it is in many sandwiches and dishes.
Ramen! You kind find ramen all over Tokyo. We enjoyed some at a small little restaurant when we were exploring the Kawagoe area of Tokyo. It was the best ramen I have ever had in my life. We weren’t specifically seeking out ramen at the time, we just passed the spot and decided to go in. If you were on a search for well-known or “best” ramen spots in Tokyo, don’t fret if you don’t find it, most any that look decent, I am sure, will be mind blowing.
Sushi! We had sushi a couple of times and the most memorable was here. Sushi-no-darihan was a spot that Phil had saved on our map (likely from a Tik-Tok recommendation). It was fairly close to our hotel, so we walked there hoping to get a table. We’d read that there was often a line. There were also a mixed bag of reviews regarding service to non-Japanese patrons, but we had a great experience. We were there relatively early and snagged one of their last tables. The menu was entirely hand-written on paper, so Google translate could not help. Luckily, they had a small, English language menu, with pictures, that we happily ordered from.
French (Japanese inspired)! meal #1 at Maison Cinquante Cinq. Phil and I happened upon this restaurant on our way to visit the Tokyo Mosque (Phil writes about that travel day here). We were hungry and had planned to find a place to eat before our visit. We exited the train station and crossed the street when we saw a woman waiting outside of the cute looking little spot. They had a prefix multi course lunch for only $25 a person. It was 11:55, so we waited with the woman for five minutes until they opened the doors and we were seated. It was all delicious. The small plate of a variety of appetizers was my favorite.
French meal #2 Hill House 33: For my birthday, we’d made lunch reservations at the posh Hill House 33 restaurant in the high-end Roppongi neighborhood; the restaurant was on the 33rd floor. Going in, I didn’t realize that it, too, was a French restaurant. I knew it had awesome views of Tokyo Tower and that it had really great reviews of the food.
While we did not travel to Tokyo to eat French food, both restaurants incorporated traditional, Japanese ingredients into traditional, French cooking style and dishes to create unique plates of delicious food.
Tonkatsu! We ate at a delicious Tonkastu restaurant in Shibuya. Traditional tonkatsu are pork cutlets, breaded in airy and fluffy Japanese panko and deep-fried until juicy, crisp, and golden. We had a plate of all kinds of delicious meats and seafood breaded and fried to perfection paired with a refreshing cabbage salad that helped cut the richness of the fried delights. It was absolutely dee-licious. It may have been my favorite meal, food-wise, that we had. I am still thinking about it.
This is certainly not an exhaustive account of all we ate in Tokyo, but highlights and favs. If you travel to Tokyo, you can’t go wrong with wherever you eat. It is all amazing and delicious and delightful. I can’t wait to go back and eat more! …and see more of the beautiful and interesting country, of course!
Jess Barrington Travels 