Japan: eating melon bread, ramen and omurice in Tokyo
NB This is an edited version of an article posted on our previous site The Copper Boom back in early October of 2018 after a whirlwind week in Tokyo. Though TCB is now closed, the food memories of Tokyo live on. We were supposed to visit again this Spring and it was sadly, but inevitably, cancelled. We’re still a bit gutted about it and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about Japan and the food the country has to offer so I wanted to bring it back for our new readers, and if you were a TCB reader you get (our eternal thanks) and a refresh of delicious Tokyo food. I hope you enjoy it, and please remember that this was in 2018 and we of course haven’t been travelling during the pandemic.
Sarah and I landed in London from Tokyo on Saturday afternoon and now that I've slept, showered, unpacked and been thrown back into the real world, I'm missing the city already. And I'm missing the food too.
I'm a bit of a fussy eater, and I always have been, but while in Tokyo I was determined to leap out of my comfort zone and try everything that Tokyo had to offer. Tokyo is home to the most Michelin starred restaurants in the world, but we wanted to experience the food that the Japanese eat every day. And, boy, did we eat well during our week in the city.
Pomme no-ki, Shibuya
Shibuya was our first stop after dropping off our bags at our hotel. We'd been awake for over 24 hours and were slightly delirious. Oh, and starving. Luckily, Sarah had done her research and steered us to Pomme no-ki for omurice. Omurice is basically an omelette stuffed with sticky rice and covered in a sauce. It was simple and cheap and deliciously filling for two very tired travellers.
I had a sauce of bacon, corn and cheese and a raspberry cola which, quite frankly, I want through an IV please and thank you. I was honestly a little dubious about how the omelette/rice combo would work, but I loved it. We both found it very interesting that this meal is seen as Western food by the Japanese - I couldn't imagine eating this in London. And that's a shame!
It was also a very popular spot as we queued to get in and there was an even larger queue when we left, and everyone seemed to be locals too. Don’t be put off local spots if you’re worried about the language barrier; the Japanese are so kind and accommodating and there’s always a way around the language barrier if the server doesn’t mean speak English, and Google Translate gives you a rough idea too.
Yakiniku Tojai, Takashimaya Times Square, Shinjuku
We headed to epic shopping centre Takashimaya Times Square in Shunjuku for a nose around the shops, but mostly for a visit to Yakiniku Tojai on the 12th floor. We'd seen recommendations for this restaurant on YouTube and even though it was a tad pricey, we KNEW it would be worth a trip for a bit of a luxury lunch.
It ended up being my favourite meal of the whole trip. Each table has a built-in grill and when your server takes your order they switch it on and it starts to heat up so that when your platter of raw meat, vegetables, rice and condiments arrives, you're ready to grill your own lunch. It was out of this world. And so much fun, too.
We went for one of the set lunch menus and a soda each which came out at around £20 each. For the freshness and quality of the meat, the views from the restaurant and the experience, it was entirely worth it.
Ichiran Ramen, Shinjuku
Our last day on Tokyo called for a day of excellent food, and we saved some of the best until last.
Ichiran Ramen is a chain that can be found all over the city, but we opted for one of the branches where we were staying in Shinjuku. It was actually my first ramen and it's clear to me now that was a terrible plan because I loved it and ramen is never, ever going to taste as good as it did in Ichiran.
The Ichiran Ramen is a rather unique ramen place. You select your meal on a vending machine, pay and then are shown to an individual booth. You hand over your receipt from the vending machine to a disembodied hand and are served your meal to eat and enjoy alone. Eating in a public place but knowing that no one can see you is a very strange experience, and a rather freeing one when slurping up ramen.
Tokyo Disney Sea
Disney is a place of magic and wonder and rides and merch and FOOD. I'm not going to lie, we were giddy with excitement for our Disney day. As soon as we arrived, we jumped into the Fast Pass queue for Toy Story Mania, had a ride on Tower of Terror while the queue wasn't too bad and then headed straight for the snacks.
After watching a video by Kawaii Arcade Masters! on YouTube, I already knew which Halloween 2018 snacks I needed in my life.
In the mug is a pumpkin pudding and in the tub are a strawberry and red bean custard cakes. The strawberry cake was gorgeous and I really enjoyed the pumpkin mousse - I think it was actually my first proper pumpkin experience!
I'd be lying if I said that the main motivation behind our Disney snacks wasn't the Halloween souvenir options... I mean, just LOOK at this mug that the mousse came in!
For lunch we headed to Sebastian's Calypso Kitchen for a burger with a purple bun! And the Halloween souvenir bag that you could get with it....
Neither Sarah or I are massive seafood fans, but we put on our big girl pants and tried the 'Creamy scallop croquette sandwich with ratatouille-octopus sauce'. I didn't manage all of mine and scarfed down some pop'n shrimp instead which were rather excellent.
And we obviously had to pay the extra 50 YEN for a melon soda. It was so good. So, so good.
Harajuku Gyoza-Ro
On our first day we went in search of this gyoza place as we'd heard it was the best in Tokyo, but the queue was huge so we went somewhere else. On our final day we headed back to Harajuku, desperate to try these famed gyoza. Luckily we only had to wait about fifteen minutes and we were in.
Our final meal in Tokyo and it was up there with the best.
The gyoza at this place is out of this world, the queue outside will tell you as much. ••• A short wait and then we were in. I love that it's a small, unassuming place and getting a prime spot at the bar surrounding the kitchen is like getting dinner and a show! A bit different to the bright, rainbow food you can get on Takeshita Street but still stunning nonetheless. ••• We're gutted we didn't order the beansprouts with meat sauce as well because it looked delicious. Nom nom nom.</a></p>
It's a tiny little restaurant where you sit around the bustling chefs making your gyoza fresh. There are only 5 items on the menu and the place is shockingly cheap. We paid 1054 YEN for 12 gyoza and two pints of Coke. That's under £8. Criminally cheap. Throughout our whole trip we were amazed by how well you can eat in Tokyo on a budget. If you ever find yourself in Harajuku, queue for the gyoza.
L'Occitane Cafe, Shibuya
Sarah and I have a bit of an undying love for L'Occitane. Some may call it dedication, others obsession. But regardless, we couldn't not pay a visit to the cafe for a mid-afternoon desert.
Nestled in the heart of Shibuya, the upper floors of the restaurant look over the famous Shibuya Crossing and it's rather lovely to watch people scramble across the road while enjoying a to-die-for crème brûlée with the best lemon ice cream I've ever tasted. It was expensive; you'd have thought we were in Paris... But it was totally worth it.
Takeshita Street, Harajuku
You can't go to Harakjuku and not sample some of the delights of Takeshita Street. The famous shopping street in the district is crammed with everything you could possibly want. Think Brighton's Laines to the power of 100.
This candy floss was bigger than both of our heads put together. And it was easily the best candy floss I've ever tried - each colour was a different flavour. Sarah got very, very excited that the purple one was grape flavour. She loves a grape flavour. The Totti Candy Factory also sells tubs of candy floss, cake pops and pick'n'mix. Basically, a shop of temptation...
After giving up on the queue for gyoza on our first trip to Harajuku we decided that a crepe was the only option. We definitely made a good choice. Chocolate ice cream, custard, cream and a gorgeous, soft crepe. We'd been up for nearly 30 hours with only an hour nap at that point so eating sugar was the only way forward.
Snacks!
We also raided the 7 Elevens and Family Marts that were on every corner for the best snacks during the week. We both developed a few obsessions...We also did some serious stocking up to stash in our suitcases.
For Sarah the big obsession was Fanta Melon and for me it was Galbo. Galbo are basically flat, square, chocolate covered biscuits and I'm not even going to tell you how many packets I brought home with me...
It's safe to say that we enjoyed eating our way around Tokyo.
Fingers crossed we make it back to Japan next year! Have you ever been?
Written by Sophie
