A serious bowl of ramen in Shinjuku, Tokyo

Passed by Shinjuku today to grab some ramen before Raf and I head off to Hakone.


This ramen joint is very different from the last. It's heavier (can you believe it?), the noodles are different (hand-made every day), and it can kill you. Seriously.


Look at this fatty bowl of ramen! It's loaded with fatty pork, salt, garlic, cabbage, and bean sprouts.


It was f'in delicious but I felt like I ate a ton of prime rib and potatoes afterwards. HEAVYYY.

The guy stirred the fatty pork broth with that big wooden thing.


Oh my god, I don't remember the last time I was so full. We all felt like we were going to explode. Was it worth it? Probably. =)

Shibuya, Tokyo

On our way back home from Yokohama, we stopped by Shibuya. Crazy place - and as Luigi calls it, organized chaos. It's so crowded here in Tokyo but no one manages to bump into each other. It's amazing. I love it. I will upload the videos once I get back to the states. I'm in China right now and they block youtube.



Here's the famous loyal doggie - Hachiko. What a sweet story. (I really miss Ginger.)


On our way to Starbucks


At Starbucks


Then we went to get some cold soba.


We struggled with the menu a bit since none of us read kanji, but Luigi got us through it by chatting it up with the waitress. =) It was so refreshing.


I heard the waitress say "yaki onigiri" at another table, so we ordered that too. It was made with a different kind of rice and filled with all those little fishies the Japanese use quite often. (What is that called, btw?)


If you look closely, you can see the little eyeballs of the fishies. Ummm, yum yum!


On our way back to the subway

Yokohama, Japan

Spent the rest of the day in Yokohama with our new friend, Ai whom we met at Barefoot coffee while she was visiting California.

Had tonkatsu in a restaurant in the mall/subway station.


Walked around and saw very expensive red and white strawberries.


Did a ton more walking all over the city. We walked through this shopping mall - I wanted to take a pic of Raf. Then Ai and Yuichi took pictures of him. All three of us stood around him taking photos so the Japanese started staring thinking he was someone famous. It was so funny! Luigi was like "George Clooney!"


Then we took a cab up and grabbed some tea on top of the hill.


Matcha matcha matcha! Can't get enough of it.


Ai's orange/black tea


It was great seeing Ai again.

Boulangerie Lyon - Narita, Japan

In Narita! This place is amazing. I LOVE IT!


I normally don't like butter cream, but the butter cream they make here is fabulous. They have delicious cheese bread, Japanese sandwiches, tons of red bean buns and baked goods. Delicious fruit tarts. Luigi is lucky to live close to here.

Narita fish market

7am














And now off to eat the fish market sushi. At 7h30 ! Awesome!


Look at the size of these suckers. 1500 yen/15$(includes all the sushi + soup)

Bakuya ramen

Of course we are going to eat ramen the first night in Japan! Luigi and his friend Felix brought us to a local ramen shop called Bakuya about 10 minutes from his place. It was fantastic.



Here's how we ordered the ramen which is typical in Japan.






I opted for the Tsukemen noodles. It's served with thicker noodles, with a thicker, very rich, sauce-like, pork broth.


Look how dense this "broth" is.


And that pork... perfection.


Everyone else got the pork ramen.


It was really interesting to watch them prepare the broth. They added a spoonful of some type of sauce, then added broth, and other condiments. The thick broth I got with my tsukemen was so interesting, dense, and flavorful. It had an interesting pork flavor mixed with seafood flavor. Beats anything I've had thus far and this is probably just your above average ramen shop. I need to find myself a ramen apprenticeship...

A good start so far.

Afterwards, Luigi and Felix took us to the big mall across the street to show me the market and other various goodies. It was great to walk off a belly full of noodles.

Here is Luigi on the 16th floor of his building.


CHEEZU

All Nippon Airways

What's for lunch?

I chose unagi with rice.


Cold noodle "kit" with nori, wasabi, and of course "cold noodle sauce"




We made it! Luigi picked us up at the airport. Raf's first trip to the East.


In front of Luigi's apt complex.


Totally getting in the Japanese CHEEZU habit


Local bathhouse. No tatoo allowed! That means me =( ...

Caffè del Doge

Finally found my little Italian café... with drinkable espresso. And crema.



Originally a nice café found in Venice. It literally is straight from Italy. Unlike Barefoot, it has clean tables, clean utensils, happier baristas, and crema on their espresso. And of course, free wifi. Will frequent this cafe more if I am in the area.

Caffè del Doge
419 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA
Tel: +1 650-323-3600‎

Kaiseki

Had a two-day trial in a well-known Japanese restaurant here specializing in kaiseki. Unfortunately, I left the details of the dishes at home (I am in Japan right now!) but check out the pix.

Sakizuke (starter). This was made of a type of seaweed.


Takiawase (slow-cooked dish). I'm bummed I didn't take a picture of this when it was full of the fish broth. You can get an idea though. Veggies include daikon, potatoes, carrots, yellow peppers, broccoli rabe, baby fern tip, and sansho pepper leaf (in Chinese - sichuan pepper leaf).


Sashimi/Hassun (assortment of flavors)




Uni, yuba, and cod steamed together.


Then a sauce added.


Chef added the little pink, green, and white rice cake bits in honor of the rice cake season (symbolizing humanity) that has started in Japan.


Simple yet delicious pound cake. Sweet sticky rice filled with red bean.


And of course, real wasabi root. (Amir was bugging me to find out if they used real wasabi and how they prepared it - with a shark skin). The taste is really that of wasabi minus the strong, burning sensation through the nose you normally get with the paste.


I forgot to take a photo of the grilled trout dish. I was in charge of the slow-cooked dish as well as helped out with the grilled dish. It was only me and the chef on hot foods, two other guys on cold. Tiny kitchen, but extremely nice environment. Probably one of the nicest I have worked in. This was the first time I have been exposed to kaiseki (less formal version). I was lucky to have been able to taste everything. Good stuff. I can't wait to eat kaiseki in Hakone!