Tokyo Tastes

So… sadly it has been a few years now since our epic whirlwind family visit to Tokyo. Like, my kids grew up since then – ack! But Japan – we will be back! It is still one of our absolute all time favorite visits with the family and at the very top of my list to revisit for the incredibly kind polite people, artful and delicious food, striking contrasts of deep tradition and cutting edge, and surprises around every corner. I am soooo not finished with this incredible country!!! Here are highlights from our last (but not our final) visit:

SHOPPING

• 100 yen shops (about $1US) – amazing what you can get at the dollar store in Japan!
• Candy stores are mind-blowing! Even if you don’t have a sweet tooth, it’s like browsing for jewels.
• Azuma Minamoto No Masahisa – This family business has been hand forging knives and other cutlery for over 150 years (and swords before that!) Tsujiki and Toyosu
• Loft – This amazing multi-level home goods store is full of cool things, with the ground floor devoted to stationary and crafts. It’s a great resource for gifts and non-touristy souvenirs Shibuya
• Kyukyodo – An epic paper store in business since 1633, features many floors of beautifully crafted Japanese paper goods.    Ginza
• Akomeya – OMG gorgeous Japanese rice and specialty foods store is like a high end Japanese Williams-Sonoma meets Dean & Deluca!  It’s not large but it’s beautiful and totally worth finding down a little alley in Ginza.  It’s a great resource for ingredients you will not find back home. Don’t neglect to go upstairs for ceramics and kitchen goods, and don’t miss the little café in the back.  Ginza
• Itoya – Browse many floors of stationary, paper, crafts, sleek office supplies and more on your way to the little café at the top.    Ginza
• Hakuhinkan Toy Park – multiple floors of every kind of kids’ toys including a floor featuring beautiful Japanese dolls and a full track for toy race cars.    Ginza
• Daikanyama T-Site – Tsutaya Books has been called one of the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world, with three connected buildings and a book-lined cafe in the middle where you can lounge on luxurious leather couches and enjoy the full bar made out of stacked books.   Shop her for vintage magazines, art books, videos, vinyl records, a whole section on cars and motorcycles, English language titles, paper products, and more and more and more.  The surrounding neighborhood is full of great little boutiques including Okura, a store featuring clothing dyed in pure indigo, and made from Japanese paper.   Shibuya (a bit of a walk from the station – Naka-Meguro station is much closer)
• Shopping streets:
  • Meiji Dori – Walk from Shibuya Station up to Omotesando.
  • Takeshita Dori – Start at Yoyogi park on the weekend for a glimpse of Tokyo’s teen culture, and find lots of trendy little shops, but keep going for more interesting boutiques you cross Meiji Dori and wind back to Omotesando Harajuku
  • Nakamise Dori –  This busy street leading up to the Senso-ji temple in Asakusa full of little souvenirs, chopsticks, fans, kimonos, and more.  Go early to beat the crowds.

EATING:

Fun game: Ask anyone who has ever been to Tokyo for their favorite food destination list, and then see if any of them even overlap by even one restaurant. With thousands to choose from, it’s really challenging to make dining decisions. The good news is that it’s hard to have a bad meal in a city so obsessed with making even the most mundane exquisitely beautiful. Here are a few of our recommendations. Yup we missed a bunch and so will you but it’s not sad:

• Definitely patronize the Hot/cold vending machines with milk tea, coffee, green tea everything, hot lemonade (that my son swears he will cross the ocean to drink again), breakfast waffles, cheese waffles, and even beer!
• The Shin-Marunouchi Building near Tokyo Station (accessible underground from the station) has more than 65 restaurants.  Seriously… Even crazier is that this is apparently not that unusual for Tokyo!  It’s great for hungry sight seers as there is literally something for everyone…  You can just wander the floors and pop in anywhere that looks good to you (based on the pictures – there is very little translation).  We spontaneously had one of our best meals of the week at Teppan Yaki Ten Honmaru with a beautiful view of Tokyo station from our table. Chiyoda City
• Fish for your own dinner at Zuao restaurant which has several branches around Tokyo.  Grab a fishing pole and catch fish from your table, which are then prepared to order.  http://www.zauo.com/en/shop/ 
• Serenya for Shabu Shabu. Set in the tippy top of a skyscraper overlooking Tokyo this elegant spot offers top end beef for you to cook in boiling broth at your table.  A splurge but delicious. Ask for a seat by the window when you book!  Shinjuki
• Namiki Yabu Soba – If you’re touring around Asakusa duck behind a little sliding screen door to find tatami mats, saki from a barrel in the corner, the best soba you’ll probably ever eat in your life and not a lot else.  You’ll have amazing hand made soba in a delicious smoky broth – you choose the topping like duck and meatballs, tempura, etc.    Asakusa
• Tatsukichi – Take a seat at the tiny bar of this elegant kushiyagi restaurant and watch as chefs prepare delicious morsels on a stick for you to pair with individual sauces.  http://www.shinjuku-tatsukichi.com  Shinjuku
• Aoyama Flower Market – This beautiful florist has an ethereal little tea room in the back serving elaborate desserts, and floral teas and cocktails.  Omotesando and Aoyama Street intersection just outside Omotesando station
• Tanagokoro Tea Room – Find your way to the third floor of the super zen Tanagokoro charcoal store where hushed birdsong soothes as you sip delicate teas, nibble tiny sweets and gaze out the window at bustling Ginza shoppers below.    Ginza
• Ramble through the super narrow streets of Golden Gai or “Memory Lane” in Shinjuku, each jammed with teensy restaurants and bars. Shimmy in for a saki and something fresh off the grill. Shinjuku
• Food Halls – Like Harrod’s on Japanese steroids, these gorgeous basement food halls feature every international and Japanese luxury food you can think of and many you have never heard of, plus bountiful grocery stores, takeaway sushi, bakeries, sweet shops and on and on… You can literally get lost in the gourmet fray.
  • Tokyu Food Show – at the exit of Shibuya Station     Shibuya
  • Isetan –  Possibly the greatest food hall in the city can be found in the basement of the Isetan department store. Shinjuku

Fun foods to try checklist:

• Okonomiyaki – Japanese savory pancakes with batter, veggies and sauces on top that you cook at your own table.  Locals make their own, but first timers are recommended to ask the restaurant to assemble and cook them for you (no shame they’re used to doing it for guests).  Monja is the Tokyo style pancake which is chopped a bit thinner.
• Soba – buckwheat noodles served hot or cold with or without broth.
• Yakitori – grilled chicken skewers.  There are yakitori restaurants but also good street food.
• Tonkatsu – breaded fried pork cutlets, usually served as a meal with miso soup, rice, etc.
• Mixed katsu – we saw this on the street.  It’s basically breaded fried everything including mashed potatoes, ground meats, fish cakes, veggies, etc.  A great two-bite snack!
• Shabu shabu – Japanese hot pot eaten family style.  Can be homey or very elegant/expensive with kobe beef.
• Ramen is practically a religion among enthusiasts.  Do some research and try different kinds. Here is a great Tokyo ramen blog: http://www.ramenadventures.com for some updated recommendations.
• Marinated boiled eggs – these are soaked in the pork broth base for the ramen soup and then served as a topping for ramen.  I recommend asking for yours half cooked (soft boiled) so it is oozy in your soup. 
• Kushiyage restaurant – sit at the bar and watch as individual meats, fish and veggies are breaded in panko, flash fried and served one at a time each with their own little sauce.  You eat whatever comes your way until you are full and then they count your skewers to tabulate your bill.  We had to jump, but I think they even do deep fried chocolate??
• Sparkling cold sake.  Try it!!
• Plum wine
• Kaiseki restaurants are basically high-end beautiful multi course tasting menus.  We didn’t try one, but there are several famous and very fancy ones around town to find!
• Isakaya – like a mixed restaurant that serves a bit of everything
• Sweet potato – a staple veggie often seen in
• Miso soup briny with tiny clams
• Freshly grated wasabi
• Tempura on the street – pretty much anything you can think of is turned into tempura and served with a delicious dipping sauce.  Try the maitake and the lotus. 
• Takoyaki – a regional Japanese specialty of fried octopus balls with toppings
• Raw shrimp sushi – even for sushi we usually have our shrimp cooked in the US, but the shrimp is so fresh and sweet in Japan it’s delicious raw.
• Sea urchin – the briny succulent roe is such a delicacy for most of the world, but it seems to be much more commonplace in Japan.  If you love it, it’s a great place to get your fix.
• Myoga – little flower like veggie sometimes called Japanese ginger (although it tastes nothing like ginger).   Only the pretty flower is used and is usually sautéed or used as a garnish. 
• Burdock root – This nutritious root veggie shows up in all sorts of dishes. It was recommended for us to try cooking them at home – peel, cut into matchsticks, soak, drain, and sauté with carrot, sesame oil, sugar, mirin, sake, soy sauce and sesame seeds
• Kogomi – fiddlehead ferns – these tender shoots are just around in the early spring.
• Cold rice cake with tofu skin – an easy handheld kid pleaser of a snack
• Maitake mushrooms – the name means “dance” maybe because they’re so good you want to do a jig?
• Oden – Vegetables and fish cakes poached in a soy and fish stock
• Yakiniku restaurants – a spreak of beef and pork that you bbq yourself at a special table.
• Pickles – do not miss trying the myriad Japanese pickles you’ll find all over!!  Each is different and salty, briny, savory and deliciously fun to explore.

TOURING:

• Rickshaw This guided ride through the charming little back streets of Asakusa was one of the highlights of the trip!  The “driver” was super knowledgeable about this beautiful historic part of town and great at capturing every photo opp for us.   The rickshaws operate in other parts of town and in Kyoto too.  Asakusa

• Street food walking tour – One of the most interesting, delicious and memorable days of our trip was spent wandering street food stalls in the Sunamachi area near Ginza with a local guide to decode the many unfamiliar offerings for us. 

• Sumo stables – Technically this is not for kids, but our older ones were allowed.  This is a VERY special behind the scenes experience, very close up with the wrestlers as they go about their morning training, and not generally open to the public.  You have to be quiet like mice, and you have to get up early and travel a little to get there, but if you’re up for the effort it is unforgettable. 

• Samuri Show (formerly the Robot restaurant) – Multimedia psychedelic kitch craziness. It’s for ages 18 and over, only because it’s in a new venue that offers adult cabaret later in the evening.   Shinjuku

STUFF WE MISSED BUT WILL DEFINITELY HIT NEXT TIME!

• Asakusa – exploring the little streets around and behind the temple, and walking along Kappebashi street where they sell all the plastic food you see displayed in Japanese restaurant windows. 
• Spend time in Ueno Park and all the cultural institutions there.
• Check out Yanaka near Ueno Park, a traditional older neighborhood of Tokyo, and visit the Tokugawa cemetery where the shoguns are buried.
• Go up the SkyTree tower.
• Visit the Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum
• See part of a show at the Kibuki-za Theater in Ginza – they have English language translations and although the multi-act shows go for several hours you can apparently just go see one act and get the gist.   Shows at 11am and 4:30pm each day.  http://www.kabuki-za.co.jp
• Take a cruise under all the iconic bridges on the Sumida River. The Sumida River Line runs from Asakusa to Hama Rikyu garden (35 minutes, 740 yen, about 10 boats per day). The dock at Hama Rikyu is located within the garden’s paid grounds, so disembarking means that travelers also have to pay the garden’s entry fee (300 yen)

TIPS:

• We got SUICA cards and took the subway everywhere. It’s really not hard to figure out even though people warn you it’s complicated.  If you have kids, take your passports to the ticket window for discounted SUICA cards for them.  SUICA cards are good for buses and Japan Rail too, and you can buy awesome stuff from the vending machines with them!! 
• Ninja wifi – We rented this router for the week so we could all plug into the wifi from anywhere around town and didn’t have to use data on our phones.   Super easy pick up and drop off points at the airport, and it was a major convenience! 
• 7/11 banks – many Japanese banks and ATMs do not take U.S. bank/credit cards to get cash.  Bring cash, and plan to take money out at 7/11 (yes randomly they are all over Tokyo).
• Drink lots of water – Japanese food is SALTY!

TOILETS:

I’m sure this will be my only blog post ever where toilets get their own category, but in this case they deserve it! Every toilet in Japan is a new surprise.  Almost anywhere moderately nice has toilets with heated seats, air and a bidet,  some have an ingenious feature where a built-in sink turns on when you flush and the water fills the bowl as you wash your hands, and one even played me an ambient waterfall and birdsong symphony when I entered the stall.  My own potty seems so plain now, sigh…

USEFUL VOCABULARY:

• Konnichiwa – hello good day
• Konbowa – good evening
• Ohayou (sounds like Ohio)/gozaimasu – good morning/formal
• Arrigato/gozaimasu – thank you/formal
• Yashaimase – can I help you (what shopkeepers say when you enter)
• Suimasen – excuse me/sorry
• Onegai shimas – please
• Siyonara – goodbye
• Oishi – delicious!!