Raw chicken. Most people are shocked or alarmed when told you can eat chicken raw in Japan. Especially Westerners. Especially Westerners who eat strictly breast meat bought pre-packed from a supermarket.
Hana Sushi Omakase
This was a reminder why sushi chefs are so celebrated. And why it’s so hard to get a seat at top sushi houses in Japan. Even if you’re willing to pay most of the time. Hana was an Omakase experience…
Motsukichi Shibuya
One of the best meals I’ve had on this trip. Beef offal soup, slow cooked liver, rare heart, a menu that tantalises the taste buds. Without seeing it and a booking on Tabelog, I would never have known this place…
Oreryu Shio Ramen Shibuya
We had just arrived back in Tokyo from Yuzawa on a much longer drive than expected – 5 hours instead of 3 because a blocked motorway forced us to take the mountain pass: Route 17. As it was somewhat colder…
Basashiya Masashi
Basashi or horse meat is one my favourite. It’s mostly eaten raw in Japan from what I’ve seen. Now, I know many people are repulsed by the idea of eating horse meat. I get it. I love horses too. But…
Asakusa Unatetsu
The birthplace of Asakusa hitsumabushi. From head to tail without waste. That’s how Tabelog describes Unatetsu and they are not wrong. One of the key reasons this restaurant remains a favourite is because they serve all parts of the eel.…
Sushizanmai Asakusa
An old favourite. They have several outlets across busy areas in most big cities in Japan. And they have had the most consistently good food so far among sushi chains I’ve tried. This was my first time trying the one…
Sakana Ryori Enshuya
A fish specialty izakaya in Asakusa. We had a large-ish sashimi platter, some grilled wild caught grouper, some grilled eel and eel liver, and some shabu shabu with slices of wild caught yellow tail. Added a few sticks of tsukune…
Musashi Yakitori in Central Nagoya
An izakaya serving yakitori I would totally recommend. As I remember, we were looking for some other restaurant when we found this place, and what a find!
Kitchen knife from Master cutler in Seki
Seki is one of three great knife smithing cities in the world. Sollingren in Germany and Sheffield in the UK are the other two. As Seki is driving distance from Nagoya, I decided to head there and buy a knife…
Monet No Pond
A pond reminiscent of a Claude Monet painting. A little far from the nearest large city Nagoya (about 2h drive). Since we were only 45min away in Seki where I wanted to buy a kitchen knife (I did buy one!),…
Ghibli Park Nagoya
Not to be confused with Ghibli Museum in Mitaka off Tokyo. Ghibli Park is massive with lifesize replicas of the most famous Ghibli buildings and sets, including Howl’s Moving Castle.
Legoland Nagoya
That probably was the highlight of our trip to Osaka and Nagoya. After a miserable time at Universal Studio in Osaka, Legoland was a breath of fresh air. No need to turn over your wallet to them and queue incessantly…
Unagi Nosuke Restaurant
One of the best unagi you can try in Osaka. I especially love places where you can eat the eel innards, in this case the liver I believe. I’ve had the head and intestines before and they are so good…
Sakanaya Dojo: an izakaya to satisfy all your cravings
Nothing beats food variety in Japan as in an izakaya. Not far from the JR Nagoya station, Sakanaya Dojo truly delivered with excellent tuna sashimi, basashi and kani miso.
Sanpomen: Nice ramen in overly touristy Namba, Osaka
Osaka has some of the best food in Japan but the food around Namba station consistently disappoints. Mostly. Sanpomen Ramen which seems to be a chain in Japan has some excellent ramen – Tsukemen and Tonkatsu.
Bincho: delicious unagi with crispy edges
Hitsumabushi is a local specialty in Nagoya and it shows with multiple options everywhere. The one at Bincho near Nagoya station didn’t disappoint.
Best yokocho in Tokyo
Tokyo has some of the best nightlife in Asia. One of the most pleasant experiences though is also one of the simplest. Go to one of the many old alleyways or yokochos and join salary men and locals for a drink.…
Majestic Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi
This post about our trip to Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi has been such a long time coming. It’s been a year now since I was there. As memorable as the cities we visited were – Osaka, Kyoto, Miyajima, Hiroshima, Takayama, Kanazawa and…
Shirakawago: Rural Japan
We made a brief two-hour stop at Shirakawago en route to Kanazawa from Takayama. While we wanted to maximize our JR Pass, the place is not accessible by train. Thankfully they had the option of a one-way ticket from Takayama…