Tsujiki, Akihabara, and Food Alleys

Nearby the Tsujiki Market was Bullet Coffee. I ordered their iced Turret Latte. It was both bitter and massive; the best kind of latte. It was a scorcher of a day, so iced anything was the move. At Tsujiki we wandered the stalls and tried egg omelet on a stick, scallops, sea urchin, and taiyaki. The urchin was new for us, and had a rising aftertaste that was salty and peculiar. Liked it, but wouldn't want a huge bowl of it. The taiyaki was high on Emma's list of food to try, and is a filled pastry. Think of a crispier version of a cream filled donut but shaped like a fish. All was tasty!
Stuffed and ready to be nerdy, we headed to Akihabara. We saw the Square Enix cafe, tried some very rigged crane machines, and window shopped vintage video game and anime merch. Chris and I agreed that it's cool to see, and almost like a museum. But at this museum, the "priceless" artifacts were actually not priceless, just highly priced and tough to justify buying. I did pick out a new watch at Yodabashi Camera though; a classic digital Casio that is reliable, inexpensive, and no frills (the perfect Japanese watch!).
That evening we set out for Yakitori at the famed Omoide Yokocho. It's one of the preserved food allies from Tokyo yesteryear that modern development has often replaced. We both wore our newly bought band shirts hoping it would help us get a table; and it did! A guy recognized my Tendouji shirt and brought us right in. What a crazy coincidence, almost too good to believe. Well, it was a tourist trap, and I learned that compliments and offerings of food work well on me. We had one overpriced (2x normal cost) yakitori and beer each, and left. For context, Chris and I downed about 6 each the night before as they are bightsized. We knew it was a scam, they knew we figured it out, and luckily we only used a bit of our stomach room. We used the remaining hunger towards Ichiran Ramen, a famous chain that has single patron seating with basically no human interaction. You fill out a leaflet with preferences (noodle firmness, spice level, broth richness, etc) and then sit at a stall. A water tap let's you refill your cup whenever, and a small flap in front of your table pops open when the food is ready. I ordered a second helping of noodles to add to my broth at the end (a really nice option). It was quick, delicious, and decidedly not a scam.En savoir plus