Food

We had some weird food over the past 16 days and I figured food might deserve its own post.

Rik: Airport food: tempura vegetables and chicken - I finally got some that were warm! Woohoo!! The ramen was ok but after that Kyoto ramen, nothing may ever compare.

This was the first real food I had today. Up to this, I had only matcha, cheesecake, and, well, that’s all.

Ruth: I stopped at a fancy cafe in the garden area of Nijo castle. I got a treat made with jellies, beans, matcha, and sweet potato. The ice cream saved it.

When we were in Kyoto, we went to a super-fancy restaurant that serves Kobe beef. The sweet chef looked about 12 but she knew her stuff. The meal was incredible.

Also in Kyoto, Rik and I ducked into a busy ramen noodle place, off the beaten path. It was, by far and away, the best ramen I’ve ever had.

They gave us bibs to wear. Very wise.

When we went to the pig cafe, Rik bought a treat of little, marshmallow piggies on a stick.

In Hakone I bought Rik some chocolate chip cookies

I had a pomegranate float in Kyoto.

In Kyoto, we ordered sukiyaki Prix Fixe. It started with three types of raw fish: Salmon, mackerel, and tuna (gross!!!!) I choked down what I could and got help from others.

Then we had a bunch of appotizers:

Edamame, fermented lotus root, eggs rolled up, some kind of pickled vegetable, and chicken salad.

They brought us some sliced duck

This was like a hot-pot but slightly different. By the time the sliced beef and tempura showed up, I was happy and wolfed it down.

More appetizers - gyoza

The dessert was a little custard cup with a golden liquid on top that tastes like cough syrup. Mixed together, it was passable.

In Hiroshima, we stopped in to a cafeteria-style lunch spot. You picked up small dishes. I picked up an egg that I thought was boiled. Nope. Just a raw egg. The tempura shrimp was good, though.

We had a feast in Tokyo of traditional Japanese food (during our cooking class) but I have another post about that.

We got a snack for the train. It’s a moist, little matcha cake they give you a shovel with which to eat.

Pure chocolate deliciousness from 7-11

Evan arranged a group dinner at this small place called Atom. Their specialty is a dish made atop a pancake, made by the two owners. It was delicious!

Supper with the monks. Gr-oss! Miso soup, fried tofu, pickled radishes, steamed seaweed, seaweed crisps, some kind of disgusting pickled things, and sticky rice. Vegan food sucks. Good thing for the rice or I would have starved!

Group hot-pot. The server was incredulous at how we didn’t know what to do. She kept coming over and putting the food into the pot for us.

Beijing street food. Millet and pork-filled pastry.

I was at some train station between Beijing and Xi’an, I think. We all went our separate ways. I found a fast food joint that served wonton soup. The servers didn’t speak a lick of English so I just pointed. After them watching me struggle with the hot wontons for 10 minutes, they brought me over a separate bowl. It was the best wonton soup I ever had.