Welcome back to Clippings, friends. I’m back from my Japan sojourn (AKA the zillennial’s pilgrimage). It was - predictably - fantastic. As promised, I’m going to be sharing a series over the next few weeks with some highlights and recommendations; hopefully it's helpful if you ever find yourself in Tokyo or Western Hokkaido. The series will cover:
Food, in three parts: (i) highlights across the first 5 categories of Japanese cuisine; (ii) highlights across a second 5 categories; (iii) our ‘must-go’ eateries.
Shopping, especially vintage designer (I’m un-gatekeeping), thrift, and homewares
Activities (what to do/skip, value for money).
Transplants: Japan edition (i.e. some cultural/sartorial observations, outside of the obvious and exoticising).
Today, I’m starting with food, part the first: the best food items we ate across the first 5 categories, and where to find them, with honorable mentions. Next week, I’ll follow up with another 5 categories, puddings included. After that, the specific eateries I’d recommend (considering overall experience, i.e. ambience, service, location, as well as the food itself).
Disclaimer: this is one gaijin’s opinion; I am not Japanese nor have I lived in Japan. That said, I do an intense amount of research to decide where to eat and plan virtually every trip I go on around good food. And I try to avoid tourist traps at all cost (unless there’s a very good reason for them1).
Ramen: the shrimp tsukemen at Gonokami Seisakusho Shinjuku, Tokyo.
I’m a fiend for tsukemen ramen (a brothless style, where the noodles come ‘bare’ aside from the usual toppings, and you dip them into a thick, rich sauce). This bowl is from a shop known for their shrimp-based dipping sauce, which has a deliciously comforting umami depth to it. The noodles are handmade by the shop itself, not bought in; they’re thick-cut, square, with a hefty bite but a lot of bounce, and a nutty flavour. There are pretty much only locals there, too (and you should expect to queue a little but it moves quite fast).
Honorable mention to: the miso shrimp bowl at Ebisoba Ichigen Main Shop, Sapporo. Another fantastic seafood-based ramen stock, this time with a broth; the flavour is amazing, though I prefer a slightly thicker noodle usually.
Sushi (nigiri): the omakase at Masazushi Main Shop, Otaru.
This restaurant is popular with tourists, I’ll admit (Japanese and foreign alike). But for great reason: the nigiri is amazing and uses some of the freshest, thickest cuts of fish I’ve ever seen. It’s located in Otaru, a small town in Northern Hokkaido that’s almost exclusively known for its seafood. In terms of value for money, you’ll do far better here than in Tokyo, and you can get some very premium sushi - and other fish dishes - for a reasonable price.
Chirashi/kaisendon: this kaisendon at Sankaku Market, Otaru.
Otaru came out on top again for this seafood bowl. Apologies, because I didn’t take down the name of the specific vendor we got it from, but if you go to Otaru you’ll likely step into its famed seafood market, Sankaku, and there are a scattering of vendors (all of whom will be ‘much of a muchness’ in terms of freshness and quality in their seafood offerings). They focus on snow crab and kaisendon, which is a bowl of vinegared sushi rice topped with fresh seafood (and you usually have a great deal of options to choose from). Fatty tuna is my death row meal, so I had to get the o-toro/scallop bowl. It was incredible.
Honorable mention to: the kaisendon at Tsujihan Nihonbashi. A bit more hyped but worth it, featuring delicious chopped seafood toppings (sea urchin, salmon roe, shrimp, whelk, clam, herring), and they’ll even fill up your bowl with sea bream broth once you’re two thirds through too create an ochazuke (rice/toppings with broth poured on top). This spot is popular with tourists in the know and local professionals stopping for lunch; expect to queue for 30-60 minutes.
Curry: the coconut soup curry at Soup Curry Samurai, Sapporo.
Sapporo is famed for its soup curry, which is quite a different dish to the thicker, brown stew-like karē people usually associate with Japan (the type you’d get if you ordered anything called ‘katsu curry’ in the UK). Soup curry is thinner, more broth-like, and usually comes with a plethora of seasonal vegetables, plus meat and other toppings if desired. Rice comes on a side dish, not in the same bowl. You can usually choose your spice level, and get variations with coconut milk added, which was the case for this incredible curry, with 20 (20!) different vegetables in it. Oh my gosh. The creaminess and depth of flavour was amazing; I would trek back to Sapporo just to eat this, seriously.
Soba: the cold matcha soba set at Kitchaan Harajuku, Tokyo.
I love soba so much. Buckwheat adds so much bite and nuttiness to a well-made noodle. On our last trip to Japan, we even got to make our own. This time, we didn’t explore soba shops nearly as much as we’d have liked, but this lunch set at a place specialising in high-quality noodles made with Sarashina flour and Uji matcha powder was a standout. It came with tangy dipping sauce, miso soup and veg tempura (and I had a soft-boiled egg and matcha latte too, just to max out on the green).
The street it’s on, Takeshita St. is very touristy, and making our way through the wall-to-wall bodies wasn’t fun, but once we got in, it was mostly Japanese people dining and it felt like a little air-con’ed oasis amidst the humidity and Harajuku madness.
Honorable mention to: the hot soba with shimeji mushrooms at Tokyo Dosanjin, Tokyo. This is a lovely restaurant, more well-known for its calm, artistic interior and very aesthetically pleasing and refreshing sudachi soba (with sliced green citrus fruit on top; see first image). But in this hot variation, the broth was delicate, comforting and the mushrooms were a delicious, earthy addition.
It’s worth saying that there’s a limit to this in Japan, as it’s not uncommon for eateries, especially izakayas, to refuse entry to foreigners, especially if you don’t speak good Japanese.
Great to read this. I ‘m getting hungry! Well, you got the same food interest as Saul and Kaman! 😀. Looking forward to read your story about the best vintage clothes you found! 😍Jacqueline
the fibre in this is off the charts!!