Category: food & drinks

  • Tokyo Food Diary part 2: beer, izakaya

    Tokyo Food Diary part 2: beer, izakaya

    This is part 2 of a series of posts which is about tasting authentic versions of Japanese food that we have been eating outside Japan – all in the one week we had in Tokyo. Part 1 is about noodles. Part 2 is about drinks and snacks. We spent half a day at Skytree with…

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  • Tokyo Food Diary part 1: Ramen, Tsukemen, Udon

    Tokyo Food Diary part 1: Ramen, Tsukemen, Udon

    On this trip, we wanted to taste the authentic version of various genres of convenient Japanese food that we have been eating outside Japan. For more traditional fare, we had during our ryokan stays (click here). We had only about a week in Tokyo and managed to eat ramen, shabu-shabu,  tonkatsu, Japanese curry, izakaya dining, yakimono,…

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  • Sushi Matsue 松栄, Ebisu 恵比寿, Tokyo

    Sushi Matsue 松栄, Ebisu 恵比寿, Tokyo

    We had about a week in Tokyo and wanted to reacquaint ourselves with as many different genres of authentic Japanese food as we can. We managed to have sushi (see below), yakimono, wagashi, ramen, shabu-shabu, tonkatsu, localized chinese, french and italian, japanese curry and izakaya snacks (see later posts). We had lunch with IT’s friend who…

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  • Jomon no Yado Manten 縄文の宿 まんてん, Yakushima 屋久島

    Jomon no Yado Manten 縄文の宿 まんてん, Yakushima 屋久島

    Jomon no Yado Manten (JNYM, 縄文の宿 まんてん) was our lodgings for 3 days on Yakushima 屋久島. It is 1-minute walk from the airport, basically just across the 2-lane main road that circumnavigates the island. The airport is really an airstrip and it closes after the last flight left or landed in late afternoon. Between the two ryokans that…

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  • Yakakutei 野鶴亭, Kirishima, Japan

    Yakakutei 野鶴亭, Kirishima, Japan

    During our 2-week vacation, we stayed at two ryokans (traditional inn). The first is Yakakutei 野鶴亭 (wild crane pavilion) located in Kirishima霧島 (literally, fog island) in southern Kyushu. Half-board is usually the only option for staying at a ryokan and we were happy to indulge ourselves. And indulged we did. Every night was a kaiseki-ish…

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  • Cafeteria at Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Venice

    Cafeteria at Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Venice

    A short break at the La Biennale Giardini site (56th International Art Exhibition), near the shop, we found this cafeteria. We were, by that time in late afternoon, quite tired from all the walking and gawking. It was a welcoming sight even it looked totally chaotic at first. While the patrons and their snacks and coffees were discernible,…

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