Me and a friend will be going to Japan for 3-4 days in January for a fighting game tournament and to explore and do fun touristy stuff.
What foods does Veeky Forums suggest we try? So far we have ramen, tonkatsu, takoyaki, dumplings, sake, getting a fresh fish from the market auction, and tempura. Any obscure local gems Veeky Forums can think of?
Get raw fish over rice, make sure to pay at least $300
Grayson Moore
gorilla curry, mos burger, kobe beef, water mochi etc.
Owen Russell
FUCKING RAW??
Andrew Miller
looks good to me...
Jeremiah King
EVO Japan? What games and which chars?
Mason Ortiz
Yes SF and Goobergear
Akuma and Mongogorilla Leo for me Chunners and Millia for friend
Camden Carter
i prefer the takoyaki without mayonese desu
Aaron Long
haha true. OP shiould het lots of cheap tonkatsu and other epic adult foods like japanese fried chicken.
Julian Walker
Food in Japan is great, its almost difficult to get a bad meal. Cheap too. Try a lot of different things, you've covered a lot of them. If you want to go to the fish auction in Tokyo you have to book in well in advance and stand around in an unheated waiting room with no seats for a couple of hours. You can go to the market after the auction, but they don't much like tourists and the sushi places around it are a bit overpriced (which is rare in Japan) and not really worth the queues, get sushi somewhere else. Even cheap conveyor sushi places will be better than most of what you get outside of Japan. If you want to go to a really good Michelin starred meal it's worthwhile, but you'll have to get your hotel to book you in. It's not food related, but if you have the time and there's a tournament on it's well worth going to see Sumo.
Adam Brooks
Okonomiyaki is tasty and fun to make. Yakisoba, too. You can go places where they make it for you, but I think it's fun to do with a friend.
Cooper Brown
This.
Also Coco Ichibanya.
Ayden Gray
Loving the suggestions! Feel free to use the thread as a general jap food thread if you wish. Must sleep now, at 7am.
Juan Robinson
tendon
Christopher Rodriguez
Fuck, I love tendon. Oyakodon is really good too.
OP, I'm studying abroad in Japan right now and honestly you just have to bite the bullet and go into stores that look mom-and-pop rather than flashier tourist ones. The food is always amazing there because you can tell the chef really has a passion for whatever they're making. Also, even if they have English menus, do your best to try to read the menus in Japanese. The okonomiyaki place near my dorm has godlike omurice because it's run by an older woman who obviously made it constantly while raising children, but the dish isn't on the English menu so most people don't know about it.
Nathan Jones
> getting a fresh fish from the market auction Yeah, no dumbass. They only auction whole tuna and as a dirty gaijin you can only watch. Buy some normal fish at the wholesale market if you really want a bunch of unprepared fish, but neither the auction nor the wholesale market are even in Tsujiki anymore. And idk why you'd do that when you can get fresh produce all prepared from one of the cute little tourists restaurants there.
Have some shiokara samples at Tsujiki they're sold in the dried seafood stores and are usually available for sampling. They're amazing little juicy parcels of bless.
Also not obscure but you can get Michelin star ramen at two different places for around 10$, but tastelets like you will probably want chain store ramen (which is also great don't get me wrong) which comes with 5 billion weeb-approved toppings.
John Smith
> but you'll have to get your hotel to book you in. If it's Michelin ramen you want you just turn up in the morning to reserve a time slot and you're done.
Owen Edwards
t. Alyssa Lerner
Colton Collins
Same user btw, don't let the sliminess put you off, to really enjoy shiokara you need to take a big spoonful and let it fill your mouth.
Samuel Mitchell
To be fair friend is korean so he can pass off as a slimy island gook.
Yeah we plan to stray from touristy looking food spots as we know it will be sub par mass produced food for exorbitant prices. I'll add tendon to the list!
Gabriel Green
If trying to avoid tourist shills turns me into a meme from The Onion then so be it.
Samuel Green
My man.
Carson Green
Get some daifuku at a 7/11, and find a bakery to get anpan, melonpan and whatever else looks good. I really miss living there for the awesome bakery.
Julian Torres
I'd also recommend finding a place to do Yakiniku, which is basically just a table with a large grill, and they bring you high quality cuts of meat to cook on it. Social cooking is a huge part of Japanese culture, and every weekend we would have people over to cook yakisoba or sukiyaki or okonomiyaki or something.
Noah Jones
>fake tits Ruined my appetite.
Landon Sanders
Wow. One major disappointment to me in my 10 years there was the averageness of their bakeries. Sure, you might find a few little gems, and I'd still shop there but so happy bakery-wise to be back home living in Aus.
You must have a real sweet tooth user. Even their savoury dishes at their bakeries are made with sugar in the bread.
Christian Clark
>implying asians can't tell other asians apart
Japanese are going to be just as xebophobic of your korean friend as they will be of you.
Eli Ross
Coming from NA I was amazed at all of the high quality french bakeries I found in Japan. I ate a lot of baking when I was there, especially since it makes it easy to pick up a bunch in the morning and take it with you as you tour.
Hudson Mitchell
Good luck fellow Leo bro!
Logan Rodriguez
Buta Kakuni is amazing and I also recommend trying squid based dishes, as well as Japanese curries. Please try to go to restaurants in rural areas, especially in Kyuushu, Shikoku, and Kansai. They really know how to cook. The best meal I've ever had in my life was in a small town outside of Koshien in Hyogo.
Joshua Thompson
He's not wrong. They hate Koreans more than amerifats
Xavier Brooks
Well what city you are going to would enhance suggestions. Fighting game tourney probably tokyo. If you can find a local person via coach surfing or something they might have sone favourites.
I think a small hole in the wall izakaya would be an interesting experience. Especially if you can find a local to join you. But you dont NEED a translator to have a good time. Just google translate for "what do you recommend?"
My favourite things were monjayaki, soba noodles and curry tonkatsu. Just look up a mark wiens video for a good tonkatsu place and maybe other reviews for the others.
Caleb Jones
they're not called dumplings they're called gyoza You're not going spend 100,000+ yen on an auction from tsukiji, you probably also won't have anywhere to cook market fish, the super market store sushi is already going to be better than any sushi you've had in the US
Also get okonomiyaki, monjya, yakitori, oyakodon, andonatsu, mos burger, the washoku sandwich from KFC
Anthony Rivera
Just go where google suggests. Its all the same shit, despite what these "experts" suggest.
Cameron Peterson
to ask ''what do you recommend'', say ''osusume wa nan des ka?''. This is a very common phrase in Japanese culture and people commonly ask this when travelling. It's very comical when Japanese people come overseas and ask for your ''recommendation'' on things like what sports they should play, ski slopes they should visit, or shoes they should buy.
Wyatt Allen
I’m a flip and people talked to me in japanese and acted surprised that I’m not. They didn’t do this to my white friend
Nathaniel Phillips
>not signing up for UNIST and giving niggas the chad Gordeau experience
Jayden Stewart
Taiyaki!!!!
Jaxson Butler
Check out this cooking channel. Lots of Japanese food recipes. I am sure you'll find some ideas.
If you're white hit up a soapland or some enjo kosai, they love white guys.
Jace King
Are you going to EVO?
Robert Richardson
While I would say that the majority of bakeries are sweet like that, which I think is still really worth trying if you're visiting, most I found also had savory stuff like currypan or weinerpan and such. I also had a good french bakery just down the road from me that did regular bread that wasn't sweetened. I got them to make some stuff special for me too, like proper hotdog buns, because I couldn't find those at all. Maybe I just got lucky in my little area of Shiga though.
Dominic Brown
Japan has hated Korea for basically the entire history of it's existence. Some of the first evidence of Japan existing as a nation is from the first time they invaded Korea back in the 500s. Basically at any point in Japanese history, they wanted to invade Korea. Hell, I ran into a play from the 1800s where the protagonists were debating whether Japan should become strong so that they can invade Korea, or if they should invade Korea to become strong.
Ethan Butler
Do not do this. The Yakuza run most of these joints and target foreigners, especially americans. Every single place I went, I was warned that if you are approached by someone and they invite you to spend some quality time with some girls, say no and get the fuck away. If you go with them, you'll have a fun time, drink some drinks, have some girls complement you, and then on your way out, get hit with a bill for about 100,000 yen (About 1k USD). If you don't pay, they will beat the shit out of you and dump you in an alley. If you go to the cops, you will be ignored.
Ryan Scott
Not OP but yes we are
Ryan Cooper
green tea ice cream with beans
Charles Brown
nippon here natty style authetique !! top 10 anime foods for gamers
Kevin Cruz
Great convenience store food can be found at Lawsons/Natural Lawsons(better) in case you don't want to eat out.
Mason Foster
Eat whale. Think about it, what other chance will you have?
Kevin Rogers
Why the fuck do foreigners always say "ye"? "Ye" is an actual word and it does not mean "yes".
Landon Jones
>foreigners It's predominately used by native speakers you tit "ye" is a shortening of "yeah". It comes from actually fucking talking and just quickly uttering a short syllable that people can identify as "yes". Like how a lot of people run the syllables of "I don't know" into this un-enunciated slur of sound, but you still know exactly what they said.
Jayden Lee
Rice burger.
Christian Russell
If you're not an idiot and actually have conversational Japanese they're totally safe. You just need to do a little research before hand. My favorite activity however has been closed off to non-residents which is fucking annoying, I assume its because of the olympics and Chinese tourists abusing them
Colton Foster
...
Nathan Hill
Fucking British... That entire region is just a toilet.
Ryan Allen
Eat Yoshinoya
Jaxson Ward
Ramen Indian curry
There is a fucking shitload of amazing authentic curry in tokyo
Aaron Lee
Enjoy some nice Japanese fushion
Easton Foster
>If you're not an idiot and actually have conversational Japanese >and actually have conversational Japanese >conversational Japanese
Oh yeah, because OP should just learn conversational Japanese before he goes over! SUPER EASY!
Austin Nguyen
I've never been but people tell me that local sake makers are thick on the floor in japan, and every town/region has a local brand that sells in jumbo cartons for chump change. I'd investigate that.
Luke Bell
Curryman from convenience stores. Usually next to the nikuman. Get them last at night with a chu-hi or beer in-between bar hopping. Curry from CoCo curry. The wings from hottomotto. Oden Definitely eat chicken wings somewhere. Different from American factory farmed chickens. Seafood yakisoba.
Bentley Hernandez
My favorite memories of Japan are walking around the bar area in winter. Drinking chu hi, dipping into random bars for one or 2 drinks. I found a bar ran by a cross-dressing voodoo lady in Nagasaki.
Brody Baker
Don't worry about speaking Japanese just learn konbanwaa. Japanese who know English will be drawn to you. You can look for a foreginer bar if you are looking for local recommendations. There will be English speakers there.
Get katsudon too.
Bentley Nguyen
Sakamushi. Best shit ever.
Jonathan Martinez
Oden, also try some weird shit like hasamiyaki. Try to go beachside and eat at street vendors.
Ayden Wilson
Okononomiyaki. If you're up north, try the nattto, gyutan shioyaki, and some dairy shit from hokkaido. .
>To be fair friend is korean so he can pass off as a slimy island gook. No fucking way. You think the chopari's aren't going to spot some zainichi?
Just any donburi in general, not just tempura don.
>small hole in the wall izakaya >Try to go beachside and eat at street vendors. This should be your option one.
Hey, that's not true. Sometimes they invade korea to keep the European powers from invading korea, or to invade korea because it's on the way to china. Hell, more than once they wanted to invade Korea because it would be good for the Koreans.
Yoshinoya in Japan is a completely different beast than the shit in America.
Cameron Rogers
Well, the last time they invaded Korea was because Admiral Perry pulled up to Tokyo and was like, hey fuckers, trade with us or we'll level this city. They were like, man, that worked pretty well, and then did the same thing to Korea 10 years later.
Brandon Price
Have some friends in enoshima, the street vendors there are great.
Tyler Sullivan
Thats a "girls bar" or hostess club, not a soapland pretty big difference.
Aiden Torres
Dango, all those different forms of mochi, some fresh taiyaki
Justin Hill
yakiniku. find a place that is all you can eat with in a time period.
shabushabu. it is like yakiniku. except you put meat and veggies in broth to cook them and then dip them.
Ichiran ramen in Machida is a must.
Grayson Brooks
Ichiran is all over the place but it is a must just for the experience, honestly.
Benjamin Rodriguez
>Ichiran ramen
My cousin went to the one in brooklyn and said it was one of the best places he has ever eaten at. I would like to take his word on it, but he's a big fat drunk from jersey. is the USA location that good?
Sebastian Mitchell
>yakiniku Korean barbeque >shabushabu Chinese hot pot
Man, I'm pretty sure most of you have never had Japanese food at all, you just think you did.
Isaiah Sanchez
I've never been to the US location but I'd imagine it isn't as good as the actual ones in Japan.
Zachary Wood
Why hasn't takoyaki caught on in the US? One of you foodtruck fucks get on this.
Jordan Foster
アメリカでアツアツのたこ焼きを売ったら訴えられるからな
Leo Mitchell
Mitarashi_dango
Lincoln Thomas
Tsukiji
Luke Jones
While Yakiniku and shabushabu are originally foreign in origin, they have been changed when they came to Japan and so are not the same anymore.
Hell, ramen came from China and curry came from India. Are you going to say that the Japanese versions aren't worth eating because you can just eat them in India and China?
Liam Diaz
Go at least for one night to a traditional ryokan with outdoor baths. Take the keiseki menu that's normally included.
Matthew Hernandez
>My favorite activity however has been closed off to non-residents which is fucking annoying, I assume its because of the olympics and Chinese tourists abusing them
Nathaniel Roberts
Yoshinoyas cheese curry with tons of pickles was a staple for me in the winter. Right off the bus and into the restaurant then down to the bars.
Xavier Kelly
Try this aesthetic sushi thing from Awomb if you're in Kyoto and let me live vicariously through you
Jackson Morris
If you spoke Japanese and were into it you'd know what it was. Seems like the more I talked about the fun stuff I found in Japan the more it got closed off.
Ethan Butler
Depends on whatever city you're going to; I loved the food in Osaka and Kyoto. Fantastic tempura and seafood.
Don't forget the drinking culture in Tokyo is excellent - the Kashmir in Tokyo is a hidden gem.
Lucas Jackson
is there a reason why you're being so secretive?
Adrian Jenkins
おそらくそう
Owen Lewis
Do I paddle the server, or does the server paddle me?
Kayden Moore
He's trying to look cool on an anonymous imageboard.
Chase Allen
You're pathetic. Remove yourself from the human genepool.
Matthew Kelly
What's in the miso?
Adam Scott
Also op try this wabi-sabi shaved ice from Wad Omotenashi Cafe in Osaka
Dylan Price
The Yakuza don't want trouble to an exaggerated extent, have no interest in having foreigners anywhere near their business because of that and leftover resentment from postwar occupation-mandated brothels polluting their gene pool, and only occasionally relent if you're fluent and/or accompanied by a Nip friend (neither are guarantees). The Triads don't want trouble and let non-flaky-looking foreigners in, but don't do interesting things because it's just an extension of the same old worldwide illegal-but-unbustable "massage" biz rather than the Japanese water trade's autistic bundle of which sex acts are unbanned in which police precinct and how can we superfetishize what we can get away with advertising around this station.
The most fun by concept are independent Japanese that spring up in red light districts where 893 can just take protection money from the whole block, but they tend to get the x1s if not like x3s, x4s and borderline retards because they can only recruit by literally advertising for whores rather than funneling in delinquent payday loans.
The Nigerians and some independent East Asian immigrants are the scammers of "follow you around Kabukicho for six blocks begging you to come see their girls" and "first ten shots are free, eleventh shot is $5,000" fame.
If you don't know reviews of the shops and aren't going as a group, don't listen to any touts, there are "information kiosks" in the usual hotspots like Kabukicho, Dogenzaka, Yoshiwara, etc which will reliably point whites, Arabs, and rich-seeming Koreans and Chinese to foreigner-friendly shops that will probably tag $50 or $100 onto the bill but will be up-front about it if you even read enough Japanese to notice. If you're black/under 50/under 300 pounds, seriously just go to a live house I understand that it sucks to go halfway around the world and still have no-go zones but all the pussy you want is right there for free.
Don't plan specific things. Explore.
Ayden Jenkins
There's a really really good ramen place in my town, and on one visit I took the opportunity to try Takoyaki.
I'd previously interpreted takoyaki as fried squid balls, and I guess my idea of fried was too american, because these felt a bit gooey inside. I liked the taste, but the texture was so alien I wasn't able to fully enjoy them. It seemed like they probably weren't fucked up, because there was clearly a lot of effort put into their presentation, with garnishes and such.
Is takoyaki supposed to have a bit of a gooey interior?
Easton Rivera
Yes, the gooeyness is the best part. They're like a fresh from the oven popover or Yorkshire pud except with a chewy filling.
John White
Get ready to drown in pool friendo
Liam Cook
You seem like the type that read about this, extensively, but with no actual information. Conversational Japanese is enough to get you into all but the most exclusive places, and even when you're turned down once if you go back and theres a different doorman you might get in.
Also there is no discrimination based on race once you leave the Asian continent. Theres discrimination against Indians and South East Asians but a black guy is going to be treated the same as a white guy.