Japan is a peculiar island. It’s where future meets tradition, unbeatable manners excuse the lack of English, and endless junk – wrapped in trash – fills the cities that need no trash cans.
The food scene is also peculiar. Not what I expected of Japan. The island’s cuisine is known worldwide. Who hasn’t heard of matcha, mochi, soba, or sushi? I even felt smart for knowing what Okonimayaki, Dorayaki and Anpan were before our trip. All these foods definitely belong to Japanese classics. However I didn’t expect sweet potatoes, fruit sandwiches or pizza toasts to represent Japan in the same way.
So instead of only writing about handcrafted noodles in Tokyo or identifying Kyoto’s trending umami glue (aka Matcha), I thought of sharing our unexpected food finds of Japan. This idea has now translated into every food find. Japan is peculiar enough. Get ready to read about all we ate.
All We Ate in Japan
I don’t know where to start.
By Ingredient? Seafood: grilled oysters, oil dripping fish cakes, fried octopus balls, dried bonito flakes. Soy: fermented goo, BonSoy barista mylk, minoka, tea, roasted black. Noodles: thick, globbery, white, soft, thin, hard, brothy, handmade, curly, buckwheat . . . Bread: melon pan, chiffon cake, pizza toast. Veggies? Pickled radish, roasted sweet potato, sweetened greens, pickled radish, roasted sweet potato, pickled radish, pickled radish, pickled radish. Sweets: white bean soup, Saké KitKat, cheese cookies, Wagashi.
By Location? In Sapporo, I would like to guide you through comforting curry places. In Hiroshima you should feast handcrafted piles of noodles and cabbage. Kyoto desperately needs an ultimate Kissaten vs. Matcha vs. Specialty Coffee Guide. You can find a summary of all detour-worthy suggestions on the maps below.
TOKYO // KYOTO // HIROSHIMA // SAPPORO
It might be all you need, but maps are only a fraction of the fun. The next few thousand words and pixels make this trip tangible. I arrived in Tokyo. So let me start there.
Tokyo’s First Bites
Breakfasts
Our first breakfast was supposed to be Soba. But the line was too long, already before it opened, so we ended up with curry from a food truck. Delicious. Warm, fresh, and the last time we saw brown rice.
Unfortunately Yakumo Saryo was completely booked out. That didn’t make breakfast choices any easier the next days. But luckily Japan has 7-Eleven. Onigiri, sweet potatoes and huge apples turned into daily saviours.
In between we hydrated from paper cups: filled with Hojicha or disappointing BonSoy “flat whites”. Oh and fermented lice milk. “Lice?” “Yes, Lice”. “Lice milk?” “Yes, lice milk” No. They meant rice. Fermented rice milk. Sweet but refreshing.
Dinners
My first dinner highlight was the wasabi. A green root served with a grater, like ginger. We freshly disinfected our raw fishies. Another day we found real soba, 100% buckwheat noodles, made on sight. Not bad. But my favorite dinner in the metropolis was on Tsukishima Monja Street. Surprise, we had Monja! It’s the local, gooier version of Okonomiyaki. Chop cabbage and stuff, add broth, let thicken, add broth, let thicken, flip, don’t burn your tongue.
Monja was followed by melon pan. A spontaneous find, later we learned one of the best in town: Kyuei. Freshly baked at 11pm. Still warm. Fluffy and delicate inside, crispy outside. Hmmmm.
Farmers Market @ Unu:
Lastly we swung by the Farmers Market @ UNU. There I tasted fermented black garlic, juicy-as-apple-juice apples, and peanuts as rich as peanut butter. Seriously. I’ve never had such juicy apples or buttery peanuts before. All organic. Some shades of greens too. Occasionally even not wrapped in plastic.
Three days in Tokyo. Gray and bustling. Organized but overwhelming. I recommend: Don’t get lost in food courts. Try to find the biggest parks over the biggest train stations. But eventually do head to the train station and stamp off the first day of your Japan Rail Pass. We did, heading to Kamakura.
Kamakura’s Cookies & Crackers
One speedy hour later the bullet arrived in this buddha town. Not bad to see him. We warmed up in a tea house and missed the opening hours of Japan’s oldest wooden shrine. Got to save some sight for next time.
We did try Hato Sabure though, the Kamakura dove cookie. Dedicated to the dove shaped spelling of shrine, and French butter. Couldn’t have tasted more like a cookie. Freshly baked, but wrapped in plastic. Other tourists were walking around with black, green and purple ombré soft serve. But still cold, we tested a steaming octopus cracker. Made on sight. Not warming, but crispy. Dinner was tea and rice, together in one bowl, that’s official. Topped with sour Umeboshi plums. Another one of those foods which makes you smart and strong. Like everything nowadays, if you ask the right person. The specialty matcha soft serve shop closed too early for dessert. We should have tried the purple sweet potato soft serve after all.
Hiroshima
A bullet later we landed in Hiroshima, where we stayed for three days.
Okonomiyaki
Hiroshima is a city where to feast on Okonomiyaki – Hiroshima style. Traditionally, the Japanese go to Kentucky Fried Chicken on the 24th of December. But after three hours of indecisiveness we followed our locals’ recommendation this Christmas Eve.
Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki (vs. Osaka style) has a heap of noodles (and possibly oysters) layering the cabbage pancake that’s topped with mayonnaise, barbecue sauce and dried fish flakes. Merry Christmas!
Filter Coffee
The mornings promised cups of excellence at Obscura. Perfectly poured, bloomed, cupped and served filter coffees. From fruity Kenyans to “Christmas blends” – each was prepared with utter most patience. Not even Bonanza or Törnqvist can compete with that attention.
Three Specialties on Mijayima Island
After a few too many filters we were energised, ready for a day trip to Mijayima Island.
We sampled more foods than temples. Breakfast was my favorite bento box of the trip, Freshly assembled and still warm: eels on rice. Followed by matcha or adzuki bean filled Manju. A doughy-airy maple leaf pouch. That’s the islet’s first big specialty. Next we stumbled on a Takoyaki stand. Little round octopus balls, with toppings reminding of miniature Okonomiyaki. A few steps later came the islet’s second specialty. The more local, the more desperate I get. After all, we had just boated passed them. Now grilled: oysters.
Just as our hike wanted to start, a specialty coffee shop called my name: It’s Uki. They sold Japanese ice cream. Soft serve. My mom, she already had two cups of Ethiopia and “isn’t a sweet-tooth”, wanted to steal it from me. I jumped, and the Japanese lady helped explain. “The picture comes first.” The deer didn’t get it either.
I’ll skip a story about the cool buddhas and rainbows. But in Reikado Hall atop the hill, we sipped the water boiled over the oldest fire of the world. Probably from used cups. Nobody could tell. Japanese sense of order. Before heading back, we were hungry for the islet’s third specialty: Steamed white buns. Filled with ground beef or eel. Fluffy, sticky, warm.
Kyoto: More than Matcha and Wagashi
Kyoto! The cultural highlight of Japan? Tea, Matcha, Wagashi. Local Vegetables (Kyosai) and family style cooking (Obanzai). Zen Meditation and Buddha’s meals. And Kissaten: Imagine a coffee shop in Harry Potter. Lots of temples too. You don’t have to plan visits to too many, you’ll stumble upon them anyway. But despite the crowds, I do recommend the walk (the back way) at Fushimi-Inari. These toriis are just as impressive in real life.
Kyoto’s Breakfasts
Optimally we would have started our days with:
- three-Michelin-starred rice porridge, Annex of Hyotei
- classic Japanese breakfast, Café Rogi Usagi
- egg toast, Clamp Coffee Sarasa
But timing was off. Our Ryokan made up for it. Actually even better, we got to dine in our PJs, in Japanese, yukata. The cracked, fluffy scrambled egg on sticky seasonal rice was my favorite. Seasonal rice is the key, this grass expires fast here.
It took us an average five minutes after leaving the Ryokan, to sample our first candies at the Wagashi shops. Individually wrapped nibbles, presented as for Michelin. Mochis, chestnut bites, nutty gooey balls, hard candy, dissolving sugar pastels . . . The Yatsuhashi was my favorite Wagashi in Kyoto: a flat, folded, ear-lobe shaped Mochi, with cinnamon and red bean paste.
Specialty Coffee
After raw eggs and sugar balls, I let my fellow travellers have their coffee. But only if I could choose the place. Walden Woods was picturesque as winter wonderland. Kurasu, truly Japanese, but keeps up with Scandinavian standards in terms of design and coffee roasts. Nijo Koya looked quaint as a Kissaten could be, unfortunately it was closed. However Clamp Coffee Sarasa was just as dim and idyllic, plus they had white toast! Serious enthusiasm. The fluff called “bread” with butter and honeywas cool. Especially next to the sound of roasting and sorting beans.
To continue the tour, I recommend reading Resi’s guide on waytocoffee.com. Nija Koya, Wife & Husband and the original % Arabica are definitely on my list for next time. Now green tea called.
Real Matcha
“Matcha latte” off the street didn’t strike me as authentic (probably falsely), so we went to a tea house. They delicately served us disgusting slime. As ceremonial as a real matcha should be. Priced like a craft cocktail. Eating mochi balls with toothpicks slightly diluted the medicine. To clean our palate we sampled through all their other Matcha flavoured confectionaries: wafers, biscuits, bonbons, cake. Now those were fascinating. Delicate, intense, looked plain, but tasted amazing. Our later matcha experiences were more casual, still quite bitter, but enjoyable alongside different sugar bites.
Nishiki Market
Fast forward passed Nishiki Market: An endless alley of food stands, touristy, but interesting.
We sampled everything except the fried sparrow and quail egg stuffed octopus baby. I loved the roasted black soy beans. Best snack ever.
Tofu and Chicken Nuggets
Dinners expanded. One evening we chose a finer establishment along the canals. Shoes off, criss-cross-apple-sauce, and about ten variations of soy, in every course. Another evening we followed a recommendation for Obanzai “home-cooked meals”.
Obanzai is a traditional Kyoto way of meal using mainly local ingredients, prepared with specific rules. Our assembly included homemade udon, rice, fresh greens, parsnips, eggplant & bonito, tempura, sweet greens, juicy omelette, sweet potato, sashimi, tuna salad and – wait for it – a chicken nugget with mayonnaise. I had heard a lot about the latter in Japan, but never was tempted to try. That was a wrong gut feeling. This chicken nugget was real food. It tasted crunchy, warm and fresh – amazing.
Ramen Lines
Lastly, let ramen introduced itself. Another thing that didn’t tempt me at first. But we walked by the line in front of Honke DaiichiAsahi too many times. It was always long, except from 25-27:00 or so. That’s 1am-5am, the only hours they were closed. No choice but to join the line. 50min passed fast, and once we got a spot inside it was like a different place. Family run, calm, and no sign that 20 people were queuing out in the cold. The humongous bowl of broth and noodles were worth the wait.
I debated going back for breakfast before we bulleted up north. But the line was just as long at 6am. Instead I had a Japanese apple for breakfast. Juicy and just as filling.
Warming Whites in Hokkaido
Our commute started at 7am. ETA was 8pm in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Usually there is no need to emphasise an “estimated” time of arrival in this country. Everything is on time, by the second. Except today. The mountains were preparing for us and the Shinkansen didn’t like the snow storms. We got lost in an ant pile of vacationers while switching at Tokyo Station. Not even a European could see past her own feet. But all was good, because in Japanese style, the train station was still more organized and the people more relaxed, friendly and helpful, than at any time of day in Europe.
The extra snow was worth our delay, because it was beautiful. We arrived in a grey city, still lacking nature, but the snow felt like nature had invaded.
Local nature was just as present in the food. The Hokkaido island seems to value local and organic ingredients, more than any Japanese place we had been to yet. It starts with cows. If you thought the Japanese don’t eat dairy, then prove yourself wrong in Sapporo. Here they add cheese, milk and cream into every possible sweet. Famous cheesecake, parfait, camembert-salt cookies.
Local Hokkaido Milk
There’s even a milk-focused coffee shop. It was only time in Japan we had decent, actually amazing, flat whites and cortados. At BaristArt Coffee you can choose between three different local milks, all depicted on a map, varying from mellow, sweet to rich. No BonSoy in sight.
Morihico’s Filter Coffee
For your filter coffee fix, try your luck and wallet at one of the many Morihico’s. Their eight different places have little in common. At the noble Morihico & Books fruity filter coffee brewed at a posing black bar. Common accompaniments are white cubed fruit sandwich, cheese toast or pizza toast. The fancy way.
We ordered . . . 10 min later . . . Our server deliberately lowered a rounded, soft, black, wooden spoon, next to the antique, black chopsticks on the neatly folded brown paper napkins, on the table, then the second spoon, in the same way, on the other side, both alongside personalised wet wipes, “Coffee & Something”, wrapped in plastic, to then place two small bowls of soup right in between the utensils . . . and on the far end a surprisingly average plate of local Hokkaido cheesecake with two small silver forks on the right side and on the left side.
On New Years Day we did a Roamers. Walked an hour through the cold, waited another 45min, and entered the hut, a little world of its own: Café Morihiko, their original, founded in 1996. Spelt with k.
Our server gave this process just as much patience as the Japanese baristas give coffee. Only I couldn’t finish my cup, too bitter. But a dessert deserved its special attention. The comforting and thick white bean soup topped with large browned mochi croutons.
Donguri Bakery
Japanese contrasts made me just as enthusiastic about Donguri Bakery – hyped by locals like specialty sourdough bakeries in Berlin – but more closely resembling the plastic wrapped “bakery” section of American grocery stores.
Usually I could care less for anything with such white dough: pizza toast, egg-sausage rolls, melted cheese toast, pale croissants. You name it. But since the locals loved it so much, I altered my point of view. After all you could watch everything be baked freshly on site.
Spicy Curries
Lastly Sapporo was our hero of curry. Our locals’ favorite spots (Okushiba-Sho-ten, Pikante and Samurai) were all closed. But we found Cancun. The messy, little colourful place revealed itself as a homey Japanese curry kitchen. In one serving there were more veggies than we’d had the prior two weeks all together. Choosing 0.5 out of 12 on the spice scale was perfect. Quite hot, but without hiding the bursting flavors and freshness of the bowl.
After Sapporo we hid under some cliffs of snow for a few days. Asahidake the place is called. One hotel, one hostel, one lift and uncountable snowflakes.
Enjoying all of Tokyo’s Doughs
Two more days in Tokyo before we flew back. I told my family good-bye and ventured off, exploring Tokyo’s small streets and specialty cafés at my own pace.
Tokyo Bike in Yanaka District
First, Yanaka district. Breakfast was a homemade, warm, fluffy, egg sandwich at Kayaba Coffee. This Kissaten feels modern, yet still authentic. A definite hit.
Next, I rented a Tokyo Bike and started exploring Yanaka via all their recommendations. In the first courtyard I visited the tea shop, craft brewery, and found Vaner, Tokyo’s Norwegian sourdough bakery. Really, a croissant, in Japan? Japan’s pretty French. If you could see the attentiveness with which they rolled the dough, you would understand my temptation. Outside, taking pictures, an old friendly guy had an idea. “Wait! Props.”, he said and left. There was a little fire pit. He returned with glowing stones and started assembling the fire pit. Now I was supposed to put the croissant on top, as if it were grilling, and continue the photo shoot. 100% a Japanese experience after all.
Unexpectedly I passed Kikumi Senbei, the shop making traditional rice crackers. These puffy crisps aren’t boring.
I rode further, into the Uni Tokyo campus and Ueno Park. Back in Yanaka district, passing a dozen cute cafés, I headed to Tayori. The farm-fresh, organic café served all the Japanese foods, in a personal and attentive way. Don’t get me wrong now, I had a chicken nugget. Still warm, crunchy, and so fresh. But next time I’ll get it accompanied by a freshly prepared lunch bento. Those looked one-of-a-kind.
A Kissaten Experience
8PM, after dinner in Shibuya, only 36 hours left in town. I couldn’t waste too many sleeping. Luckily Tokyo’s Kissaten are open late. Passed Shibuya with a few hundred people, I shortly absorbed the flashing advertisements, turned a corner, entered through an unassuming wooden door, and felt like in a different century. Chatei Hatou.
Beethoven’s symphony, a gentle whiff of smoke, locals sitting at the the long brew bar, doing nothing. They precisely poured coffees and black teas, next to all flavours of pillowy chiffon cake. I couldn’t sleep till late the next morning, not regretting the experience a second.
Tokyo’s Hip Districts
Last day in Tokyo. First I roamed Daikanyama and Nakameguro, later the vintage district Shimokitazawa. These windy cobblestoned streets had plenty of little shops and cute cafés.
In Daikanyama I had my first bread roll with butter and red bean jam– I’m calling it Tokyo’s avocado toast. As in “specialty coffee shop breakfast with local ingredients”. After picking up some Kenyan’s from the instagrammable Onibus Coffee, I metroed to Shimokitazawa, the vintage district. Secondhand shops after shops. A fully-plastered crêpe hut with a yappy women hiding inside and teenage girls lining up for crêpes. Not sure what was so special. I came to this part of town for one of Biancissimo’s favorite ramen bars.
Kotetsu. White and wooden, steril and cozy, spotless clean. Japanese radio played in the background. Order at the vending machine, give your ticket to the young, talented cook. The bar was filled with business men, in suits, perfectly slurping their soup, swiping through their phones. They couldn’t care less that the tourist was taking endless pictures of her ramen and couldn’t even slurp it right. This ramen was again different. Lighter, soy sauce broth, thin, al-dente noodles, and only classic ingredients in the best quality.
My next destination, Coffee Juha in the Nishi Ogikubo district, was closed. I had come to this jazz café for their famous sweet red bean toast. Instead I found this matcha soft serve.
It was a random find next to the Kichijoji station. Rich and velvety, topped with strong matcha powder and sweet red beans in a palatable cone. Find a soft serve like this when in Japan. It’s Japanese.
Ramen after Ramen
I’m not getting any days confused, dinner called for more ramen. I marked 30 places on my map, hoping that we could find at least one. But my mom and sister didn’t understand the fun of going to a Bianccisimo recommendation. So we ended up at a retro vending machine ramen bar in the basement by the Kichijoji station.
I guess I wouldn’t have noticed the difference if it was, or wasn’t, on Biancissimo’s map. We loved these ramens. One black garlic broth, one chili oil broth and the third classic, thick Tonkotsu broth. Filled with our choice of noodles hardness and thickness as well as toppings. Still no corn in sight (sorry Germany), only a bundle of greens, nori, soft soy boiled eggs, quail eggs and bamboo stems.
Ricotta, Adzuki Bean Sandwich
Our flight left the next morning, but I was on a roll. How had I not found Bistro Rojiura earlier? A Michelin recommended French café with some hipster dishes, but also local Japanese specialties in modern interpretation.
I came specifically for the red bean sandwich: homemade bread, around slabs of good butter, ricotta cheese, and sweet red beans. Just like my childhood breakfast “cream cheese and marmelade”. Only Japanese style. Of course they had specialty coffee by the local roastery. Their financiers came out of the oven, while I was sketching my notes. I couldn’t resist. Good choice. It was just as buttery-spongey as La Maison’s in Berlin!
Arigatou Gozaimashta Japan
That was that. Japan is much more than you can expect. Find a summary of all my tips on the maps (Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Sapporo) . I’ll be back one day to update them. Definitely still need to visit all the closed breakfast cafés, try the golden espressos by Bear Pond Espresso, sense the vibe (and chocolate ice cream) at Cafe L’Ambre, same, but pure chocolate, at Kabuki (if they re-open), compare Hiroshima with Osaka Okonomiyaki, and continue to chase ramen bars, soft serve and sweet potatoes . . . Maybe . . . maybe have a fish too.
Till then I will test what Berlin’s ramen hype is about and search coffee shops with Japanese baristas. The Japanese believe we have two hands and two eyes for a reason. Not to do two things. But to do one better. “Thank you” is a word of politeness. They have patience to say it. No “thx”. But “A-ri-ga-to-go-zai-mash-ta”. That’s, better ‘that is’, what struck me in Japan.
This is an amazing Post! I really enjoyed reading it.
I found interesting how which such different food options Japanese traditionally go to KFC the 24th of December… It is good that you went to a traditional Japanese place instead. This “Okonomiyaki” dish was something I´ve never heard before so I search about it and it seems that it can be something I would really liked to try whenever I go to Japan (served without oysters and mayonnaise ;^)…)
There were other two things I found interesting. This Cancun place that serves Japanese Curry (because of the name and because I loved curry) and everything that had Matcha on it of course!
Yeah it’s a cool travel post. Btw I feel like getting KFC for Christmas isn’t necessarily a tradition. My parents grew up there and neither have mentioned such a thing, and I spent some time with my cousin’s family around Christmas time when I went a few years ago, and no mention of KFC there either. My cousin cooked some nice food at their house. Making or buying a “Christmas cake” is perhaps more of an established thing 🙂
Ah ok, good to know. Yes I might have stated it a bit too strongly because it sounded more poetic, and quite a few people mentioned this. But I people will mention it because it is unexpected and maybe not because every body really does that. 🙂 Thanks for the info!
Wow, great job girl!