Tokyo: Food Experience
I love traveling for a number of reasons. The first of which is the chance to get to experience other cultures, see amazing, beautiful places, and meet new people. But there is one reason that trumps all others…*drum roll* …THE FOOD. Honestly, food takes top priority when I’m in a foreign country and I love trying new cuisines. It’s always interesting to learn about new foods and taste authentic food from its origin. While in Japan, I had the opportunity to visit a handful of different districts and different restaurants. Here is a short list of my favorite food experiences in Tokyo:
1. Rishiri Ramen – If you’re looking for one of the most delicious ramen places in Tokyo….then this is it. Rishiri is a well-known top-rated ramen restaurant in the Shinjuku area! The noodles were handmade and you had the option to choose the level of spice and the soup base (either miso or soy sauce). The portions were HUGE – as seen in the picture. The bowls were filled to the brim and had toppings of bean sprouts and mushrooms. The best thing about the huge meal was that it was SUPER affordable. Each bowl was only 1,069 YEN ($10)!! The price alone was such a selling point especially since eating out in Japan can be pricey. John loved the ramen so much we came back here again for our last night! --And he didn't have to twist my arm to have me go back!
2. Ribayon – When I was researching bars to go to and describing them to John, the moment I said the word Ping Pong – he was sold. This bar was in our neighborhood of Taito, so it was a short walk. The bar was super chic with low tables, pillows for seats, and a giant floor to ceiling window overlooking the river.
When John and I entered, we promptly took off our shoes, put them in the shoe lockers, and slipped on the plastic slippers that were lined up by the door. We just started to settle in on our cushions when we noticed a Japanese couple playing ping pong in the other room. John didn’t even touch his beer before he was walking over and chatting them up. He challenged his new friends Aya and Kai to a game of doubles and before we knew it, we were off swinging. John and I hadn’t played since we were in Arlington, (we have a ping pong table in the house) so we were a little rusty. Aya had really hard hits and Kai used a penhold grip on his paddle (which is quite intimidating to us Americans). We lost the first game but then won the next three games straight to win the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Lol no, but it’s always a blast playing ping pong and getting to play with Aya and Kai was so fun! After our heated game, we relaxed on the cushions in the cool ambiance and enjoyed Asahi beers and popcorn! I totally recommend going to Ribayon or to any ping pong bar while you’re in Japan! It’s definitely going to be good vibes and a great place to meet people.
Another tip: if you see shoes lined up by the door you should double check if they’re for wearing inside… Remember earlier when I said John and I put on the slippers that were lined up by the door? Well the waiter ended up coming up to our table later in the evening, kneeling down and taking the slippers back. He told us these were the BATHROOM shoes. The horror. The EMBARRASSMENT. We’d been walking all over the bar, playing ping-pong in the BATHROOM shoes. Everyone looked at us and probably thought were so dumb! "STUPID Americans wearing the bathroom shoes." After the waiter walked away with the slippers, John and I looked at each other with our eyes big and just burst out laughing.
3. Ramen-Kai -- This was a small ramen restaurant near our Airbnb that sat 8-10 people. The shop was super trendy and sleek on the inside. The place was floor to ceiling with white tiles and only had counter seating (which is quite common in Tokyo.) You ordered your food through a vending machine and each button corresponded to a food item. After pressing a button, a tiny ticket printed out. You handed the ticket to the chef behind the bar and voila! The ramen was so delicious! The noodles were handmade and tasted so fresh! In my opinion, these were the best noodles I’ve ever had. I ordered the clam based soup and it tasted very light. It was nice to have a ramen that wasn’t too rich or too spicy. A good thing to keep in mind, is that a lot of the ramen (if not all) come with meat. It can be quite difficult trying to explain to take off the meat so I usually just order the food as is and give John the slices of meat!
4. Sushi -- I’m sad to say we didn’t get a chance to get sushi while we were in Japan. We researched some places for sushi but a lot of them were super pricey (Literally $20 for a tiny piece of sashimi) or not very nice (AKA dungy and not worth the risk of one of us getting food poisoning!) Since we’re traveling more and trying to spread out our money across our trips, we figured it’s not economical to spend over $100 trying to get full on sushi. And after all, we need an excuse to come back to Japan again! So, in summary, I think that if you’re on a budget or backpacking, sushi is not the best option!
5. Not Mexican Food – Enough said.
The food in Japan was amazing and exceeded all my expectations. A few general things to know about Japan is that a lot of Japanese people don’t speak English. It’s definitely a culture shock because you’ll have difficulty eating out and ordering food. The menu’s and signage are all in Japanese so you might have a hard time finding a place to eat if you’re just strolling the streets. I find that it’s best to look up places beforehand and get an idea of the food they serve. But some places do have English menus or at least menus with pictures! Worst case scenario, you can find a restaurant that has the vending machine style ordering and just gamble by pressing any button! Beyond that, there's the tried and true method of pointing at the pictures on the menu when the waiter comes by!
All in all, Japan completely blew me away with its unique culture and delicious food! Beyond that there is the tried and true method of finding a menu with pictures and when the waiter asks you for your order just point to the best looking meal you see, smile, and nod (they will probably get the idea.) Finally, say arigato and pray whatever comes out tastes good.