Japan 2018: Best Food and Drink

Most memorable

Soup curry at Rojiura Curry Samurai, Sapporo

I only learned recently that a dish called ‘soup curry’ existed. Sapporo is its birth place and has a large number of soup curry restaurants throughout the city. As we had no previous experience of soup curry, we just chose the most convenient location without much deliberation. For us, ‘Rojiura Curry Samurai’ was a lucky quick pick.

The restaurant opens for dinner at 17:30. Without knowing it, we arrived for an early dinner exactly at that time. It’s a small, cosy place with friendly service. Samurai has a very strong focus on their fresh local vegetables and we thought that was nice, but we didn’t know those vegetables were going to blow our minds completely!

You can choose between regular soup and soya milk based creamy soup. C’s mum had a soya milk based vegetable soup curry (¥1100). This came with rice and 14 vegetables. And when I say 14 vegetables, I mean 14 different kinds of large, chunky, beautiful vegetables all cooked to perfection to enhance each individual flavour and texture. C and I went for a regular soup ‘matsuri (festival)’ soup curry. ‘Matsuri’ comes with rice and 13 vegetables, plus 3 (¥1480) or 4 (¥1580) extra toppings of your choice.

The rice was cooked just right to match the soupy curry. The main act definitely was the vegetables here, so the mild and clean tasting curry soup really made sense. And the vegetables… I’ve never tasted vegetables this good. I wonder if that’s how they all tasted hundreds years ago before all that pollution and chemicals.

The waiting area was completely packed when we were leaving and we were not surprised. Come early to avoid the queue! They seem to have a couple of branches in Tokyo also.

Sweetcorn!

Corn on the cob at Odori park, Sapporo

Best sweetcorn I ever had. You will find a corn on the cob stand in many places in Hokkaido. This one was from Odori park in Sapporo, ¥300.

Best Ramen

Kumakichi at Ramen Alley, Sapporo

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We had lots of ramens during our Hokkaido+Tokyo trip, but Kumakichi was hands down the No.1. Sapporo Ramen Alley is right in the centre of Susukino entertainment district and easy to find. ‘Kumakichi’ is a tiny place that fits only about 9 people. A lone chef who quietly concentrates on his ramen making tastes as he goes along and is very focused. That immediate ‘wow!’ feeling in your mouth will lasts until your last slurp. The broth is comforting and tasty and the noodles are perfect both in flavour and texture. C had Butter Corn Ramen (¥1000) and I had Vegetarian Ramen (¥850).

Best hidden gem

Toriba Coffee, Ginza, Tokyo

When C told me that there is a place in Ginza where you can have a cup of coffee for ¥100, I REALLY didn’t believe him. I thought he’d probably misread ¥1000 or something…

But it was true!

Toriba Coffee is not exactly a cafe, but it is a high-end coffee shop. They offer their taster drip coffee for ¥100 a cup. There are no seats, so you either stand by the tables or take out. When we went, they had 2 different kinds of coffee and we ordered both. Really good quality coffee, each with their own distinct aroma and flavour. Service was warm and friendly. All this for ¥100 in Ginza, this is a must-know spot!

Best Coffee

Coffee Elementary School, Daikanyama, Tokyo

The best coffee of 2018 Japan is definitely Coffee Elementary School in Tokyo and I already have a feeling that they may be keeping that crown for a while. The cafe is located in between Shibuya and Daikanyama stations in a quiet residential area. It was a bit tricky to find, but well worth that little trek. The cafe is clean, modern with warm and welcoming atmosphere. The owner is friendly and easy to talk to, and he really, really, knows what he is doing. They have a house blend and a range of single origin coffee. The coffee here doesn’t just taste amazing, but tastes ‘right’. You can taste that every step of coffee making, from roasting to storing to grinding, were done with absolute care and precision. Everything is just on the spot.

‘Just right’

Strawberry milk shaved ice at Muji Cafe, Yurakucho, Tokyo

Japanese shaved ice is great on hot summer days. The old fashioned basic ones which come just with coloured syrup usually cost around ¥400-500, but these get a bit boring after a few spoonfuls. The modern fancy ones often come with different toppings and flavours but can cost around ¥1000 and I find those too expensive.

We went to Muji Cafe and had strawberry milk shaved ice (¥650). The syrup was fruity and not too sweet, reminded me of home made strawberry jam. And of course there were lots of fresh strawberry chunks in it. Also, the ice is apparently from a specialist shop. Not at all boring, not too expensive… just right. We were very sad when the bowl was empty.

Cheap and very cheerful

Banpai-ya, Yutenji, Tokyo

It was our last evening in Japan and we wanted to have a farewell drink in an Izakaya (Japanese pub). We found ‘Banpai-ya’ completely by chance as it was just near our airbnb. Banpai-ya takes ‘cheap and cheerful’ to a whole different level; many drinks are just under ¥300, many food items are just around ¥150. This small pub was filled with many jolly and friendly customers and such a buzz!

All food items we had were really tasty. We had a great last evening at this place.

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I found out later that this actually is a chain pub. Some may be ‘standing only’, so do check before your visit.

Not just a gimmick

Tokyo Banana

These small banana shaped banana cakes sprung into the market in 1991, so hardly a ‘traditional’ Tokyo souvenir. I thought it was just all gimmick, but after over 25 years, it is still going strong, very strong in fact, so I decided to give it a go. And I finally understood why people get hooked. A fluffy cake, creamy banana custard, undoubtedly very tasty, but the level of comfort and satisfaction you get from this little soft thing, was something else. I bought a box of 8 (¥1029) at Narita airport just before boarding as ‘one last fun thing to do in Tokyo’. I didn’t find any smaller boxes after the security. I saw a box of 4 (¥483) in the airport mall (before security), but I’m sure you will want to eat more than 4 pieces!