Asahikawa

@Rico Breed: this one is for you 😉

Meanwhile I had the chance to try out some of the Japanese food 🍱 I am well aware that not even half of my time here in Japan 🇯🇵 is over but I am sharing here already the first foody highlights of the past weeks. There is definitely more to come. So with this, I am starting my small Japanese food-porn series - I guess 😊

Let me say this upfront: Japanese food is excellent across the board. No matter if you want Ramen (noodle soup 🍜), eat fish and go for Sashimi or Sushi 🍣 or you rather crave meat and therefore turn to Yakitori (grilled chicken 🍗), Yakiniku (grilled beef 🥩) , Yakimimi (grilled meat on sticks) … you will never be disappointed. 😎
And in addition it is comparatively cheap although the quality is very high. For example, I have never payed more than 25,- EUR for my entire dinner or lunch - and that included everything (appetizer, main course, drinks and desert). Usually you get cold water🧊 and sometimes even an appetizer 🫕 for free.

Ordering food can be a bit complicated because of the language barrier but pictures 🎑 and quite realistic models 🧫 of the food made from plastic at the entrance help a lot. Some cheaper self-service based restaurants do not have personell to get your order. In those, you have to order through a tablet 📱at your desk or a machine at the entrance. So far I was always able to order something 😉

Today, I ate Sochu Ramen in the small but presumably popular „Ramen house Aoba“ in Asahikawa. There everything was a bit different: Manuel (a German guy that I met there) and I were sent to a waiting room where we could already place our order. It was much nicer that way since we didn’t have to wait outside in front of the restaurant and our order was already processed before we were seated. Once a free table for two was available (and the food was ready) we were brought to the actual restaurant. There were literally hundreds of pictures from TV shows and the restaurant on the walls. The chef was in the newspaper and they even had a picture of the Japanese president eating their famous Ramen. I love these moments when you stumble by chance into places that turn out to be real gems 💎

Ok, this concludes part 1 of the Japanese Food-Porn series. Once I have enough new material again, I will add another post to the series 😁Read more