See Also
The food and restaurants of Tokyo and Japan.
Japan is a nation where the local cuisine itself is a major attraction. Similar to France, Italy, or Thailand, many travelers make trips to Japan with eating being their primary purpose. While we anticipated finding excellent food – and did – what surprised me was how reasonably priced the meals often were, sometimes even quite inexpensive. On numerous occasions we acquired two sizable rice or noodle dishes for dinner for less than $15. Obviously we weren`t patronizing the highest end establishments or finest restaurants in the area and I don`t dispute that sizable sums can be spent (and rewarded with truly extraordinary cuisine) but for what we sought – inexpensive authentic Japanese meals satisfying both children and adults – we located easily and affordably.
The search for nourishment. Walking the neighborhood where we were staying and looking for an appealing restaurant was a nightly ritual on our trip to Japan.
We made the mistake of wandering outside Tokyo station on a Sunday looking for somewhere to eat. Finding nothing open, we roamed for over an hour and several miles before happening upon a sushi bar and indulging.
We consumed an excessive quantity of snacks during the excursion…
Who knew bakeries and donut shops were so abundant at subway stations.
Numerous places had vending machines inside where one would choose their meal then take it to the counter. It was convenient because there were either small graphics above each button allowing one to at least speculate on the contents of a meal or you could stand in front of the machine looking puzzled until someone came to your aid to indicate which button corresponded to which meal.
We dined mainly Japanese fare (for lunch and dinner) – except one night when the kids persuaded me into Indian nourishment …
… and another occasion whenan eating establishment specializing in Italian cuisine was simply too near and easy to dismiss. (This didn’t stop Kipling from taking a brief rest for a little nap.)
Sitting at the counter provided entertainment as the kids watched meals being made and I simply pointed at dishes and said “Um, one of those please.”
Include the soy sauce …
… and then indulge.
Samuel attempted using chopsticks skillfully.
In the center of the page: But would ditch them if he had to.
Kipling struggled with the chopsticks but easily handled the spoon for eating.
My children refer to all cereal as “Raisin Bran” which would perplex any server but doubly so for the unfortunate Japanese hosts that had to take our breakfast order. Here’s Samuel adapting the Japanese style of eating to a western breakfast.
Simply favorites from our last meal in Tokyo.
Japan with Kids – Video
Read More
