A week of eating

Since I like food so much, I thought I'd show you my week of good food in Tokyo and Kanagawa. ^_^ Prices are approximate since I don't really remember.

From Tonkatsu Wako (a chain)

This is tonkatsu - deep-fried, breaded pork. This set, which cost about ¥1200, came with ro-su tonkatsu (pork loin), two ebi fry (shrimp), rice, shredded cabbage, miso soup and pickles. This particular picture was taken in Kawasaki's underground mall, Azalea.

When you eat here, there are staff on hand to refill your cabbage (although it's quite a mound to begin with). I don't know why but I find that funny.

From Khazana, on B1F of Queen's Square in Minato Mirai, Yokohama

Mmm! There is a lot of good Indian food in Japan, mostly in small shops run by Indian staff. This particular place has a lunch buffet for about ¥1200 (1400?) yen per person. A good deal, because it's delicious. ^_^

From an Italian restaurant in La Citadella, Kawasaki

Italian food in Japan is a mixed bag. In general, foreign food in Japan is quite good - Indian, Thai and Chinese, for example - but there are loads of 'cafes' with really dismal, insipid pastas (not to mention pastas with really strange ingredient choices). If you find a real Italian restaurant that is trying to serve proper Italian food, however, the food is often quite good. Pizza, in Japan, is often really nice - simple, with fewer toppings (so long as you avoid the Domino's-style monstrosities where they top pizzas with entire hot dogs, wheels of Camembert cheese or foie gras -_-).

La Citadella in Kawasaki is an 'Italian town' with several good Italian restaurants. In this picture, the pizza and pasta were about ¥1000 each.

From Sawasdee, outside Daiei mall in Yokosuka

This Thai set meal was only about ¥800 and included the main (gapao), salad, noodle soup, dessert and a drink. I'd certainly recommend this restaurant if you're in the area.

From a restaurant near Fujisawa station

This is part of a Chinese meal I shared with a friend. You can get these sorts of dishes anywhere; there are masses of Chinese restaurants in Kanagawa. Each dish was about ¥800-1000. That pork and 'piman' (small peppers) dish is one of my favourite dishes to order.

From a soba restaurant in Atre, Ebisu

Finally, some more Japanese food. This is 'zarusoba', served cold and topped with nori (seaweed). Soba is a good accompaniment for tempura, since it tastes so wholesome, while tempura is more greasy. This particular tempura dish includes a prawn, okra, eggplant and fish. You take the soba and dip it in sauce before eating it. This is a very standard sort of dish; I got it for perhaps ¥1000. Note that cold soba is a very typical summer dish, so that in winter, there may be fewer of them on the menu.

From a department store around Yokohama station

Speaking of soba, here's soba in a different form - hot, in broth. This was a 'mini oyakodon set' which cost about ¥900. Oyakodon is a donburi (rice bowl dish) with an egg/chicken mix on rice. The 'oyako' in 'oyakodon' literally means 'parent child'. I know, it's a disgusting name!

Oyakodon's flavour is really nice and the juice flavours the rice underneath, but oyakodon often has the problem of using really fatty chicken pieces. This particular oyakodon was quite hard to eat. -_- Also, despite the title 'mini oyakodon' - where both the oyakodon and soba are in serving sizes smaller than normal - this was a huge meal!

These last three are examples of izakaya food. Izakayas, you may recall, are Japanese-style restaurants where you order lots of little dishes to share, and booze flows freely. A typical dish is ¥400-600 yen. I couldn't post all the dishes we had, but the first one is mackerel sashimi, the second edamame (soy beans) and the third is deep-fried tofu.