Japan is one of those places where it's organised and clean, but at the same time messy and chaotic. It's disciplined yet lively; small yet feels ginormous; the epitome of duality, if you may. Last year, I was tasked by my family to plan our two-week trip to Japan and to this day I still feel nauseous thinking about it. It wasn't a total failure, but like all planned occasions, we didn't end up accomplishing most of our itinerary. However, we did encounter a couple awesome Japan things that I would like to recommend to you readers today.
Disclaimer: this is not in any particular order.
Sawasakisuisan Kaisenshokudo
Otaru
Such a long name, I know, but the happiness you get from their kaisendon lasts longer than that. Otaru is a long-established port city northwest of Sapporo, meaning fresh seafood with fish roe and sea urchin "so fresh it's sweet and you can still taste the wisps of sea water", or so my mum's friend who recommended this place to me said. Sawasakisuisan Kaisenshokudo, hereafter shortened to SK, is an extremely popular seafood donburi spot in Otaru, just across the Otaru Canal, and by extremely popular I mean I suggest you wait outside the restaurant 10 minutes before it opens at 11 a.m. because the seating capacity is approximately 30.
Now, what is kaisendon? What is donburi? Donburi is a Japanese rice bowl and kaisendon is donburi topped with sashimi. It's definitely not for everyone, and even I feel like it's one of those delicacies you have to try before you die but you don't need it in your daily life (mostly because it's hella expensive). SK is certainly not some special restaurant with a unique menu, you can find kaisendon all over Hokkaido, but SK serves especially fresh seafood paired with an extremely flavourful seafood miso soup that you have to try if you're a seafood lover like me.
Naruto Taiyaki
Osaka
This joint was truly a chance encounter. It was near my hotel and the smell of freshly made taiyaki enticed me and my family from a mile away. We bought the red bean and sweet potato taiyaki's, had a bite and immediately fell in love with it. Compared to the taiyaki I've had in Melbourne, the coating was mildly sweet and thin, making for a soft and crispy bite; the filling was not too sweet and was very fragrant. This is seriously a must try!
Shabuwara
Osaka
We arrived in Japan at the start of winter and it was freezing cold for someone from a tropical country like me. So that calls for... drum roll, please... sukiyaki! It's basically hotpot with a sweet, brown broth that you cook your raw meat and vegetables in, take them out and dip them into a scrambled raw egg. I know, I know, raw egg, but eggs in Japan are pasteurised and safe to eat, I swear! Their shabu-shabu is also worth a try if you're not into raw eggs.
Shabuwara serves premium quality beef and pork, which was important for me since my parents don't eat beef and most sukiyaki restaurants only serve beef. Of course, with quality comes a high price ranging from 4000 to 8000 yen, which would be around 60 to 100 AUD. It's worth the price, though, the meat is just so tender!
Cremia Ice Cream
Tokyo
I first heard of this ice cream place on Simon and Martina's video, 'The Best Soft Serve Ice Cream' and really wanted to try it when in Japan. Cremia Ice Cream was apparently developed with the idea of the best ice cream in mind. Their ice cream is so creamy it almost tastes like sweet cheese and their cone is more biscuit-like than the ordinary crispy waffle texture. Basically, what I'm trying to say is, it's a pretty damn good ice cream considering their very scientific approach to food.
Cremia doesn't have an exclusive seller, instead it is more like a franchise that shop owners can buy and serve to their customers. This one in particular was sold in a cake shop outside of Yodobashi, Akihabara and I also bought one when I was in Nara next to a souvenir shop. It's really not that hard to find and you're sure to come across it at least once in your Japan trip.
Take my word for it, Cremia is an excellent ice cream, coming from the mouth of an ice cream snob who frequents Pidapipo and Lavezzi and also my brother who is super picky.
Potechi
Shin-Okubo
This last one isn't a restaurant recommendation, but a food recommendation. Potatorella, or potechi(zu) in Japanese, is a street food originated from Korea that is essentially deep fried mozarella on a stick covered with potatoes and optionally coated with sugar or ketchup and mustard. If you follow internet or Instagram trends, you're bound to have seen this at least once in the recent months since it blew up in the mukbang and food community.
The trend is still going, and reasonably so, for it doesn't only look like a gimmick, it tastes pretty great too. It's such a weird combination but it works so well, kind of like tuna and mayonnaise, honey and bacon, peanut butter and jelly. Potechi can be found in trendy areas of Japan, easy to identify as there is always a long queue. I saw stalls in Dotonbori, Osaka as well as Harajuku, Tokyo, but Tokyo's Koreatown, Shin-Okubo, has the most stalls in its proximity and all of them were crowded. Make sure to try them out in Japan if you're not going to Korea, ride the wave!
That's it for now, another blog on places in Japan you should visit will be up next week!
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