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just follow my rule of thumb and go to the tiniest most hole in the wall places possible i have never been disappointed doing that
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Apr 2, 2019 04:58
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Hey guys, so I'm actually flying in to Japan again in 3 weeks, I only got the flights, and some temporary hotels filled in. This time i'm going to Kansai and I havent been in 4 years. I got tickets for Miyako Odori on Wednesday 24 April My basic itinerary - 3rd time in Kyoto Arrive Monday morning April 22, 10am into KIX. Skip Osaka and go straight into Kyoto, some train station hotel. Monday 1. Arrive morning April 22, 10am into KIX. \ 2. Pick up kansai through pass, skip Osaka (gross) 3. go straight into himeji, eat around there, 4. stop by yamzaki distillery to pick up a few bottles (no tour) 5. Check in the late afternoon near Kyoto station 6. dinner at Hafuu https://goo.gl/maps/RCVyYUq1QjD2 Tuesday - Kyoto time 1. Morning Run along the Kamo river, 2. Rent a bike and cycle around the city 3. / Some beef sandwich place / Hafuu Shogoin 4. Philosopher's path and side temples 5. House of HOSOO ? 6. Go up to the top of Fushimi Inari at night Wednesday - Miyako Odori 1. Book Kimono - anyone got a recommendation? 2. Miyako Odori 1230pm @ Minami-za 3. Tofu lunch Tousuiro or some place 4. Walk around Gion and take photos like all the other tourists. Must be mindful of posture, and way to walk (still fake I guess) 5. Snack at Kagizen Yoshifusa 6. Kyoto National Museum 7. Dinner at Hatakaku Thursday - Get to Tokyo and stay somewhere nice? or stay in Kyoto? 1. We can never get sick of Buddhist art and architecture. but I want to get to Tokyo and dont mind stopping along the way in Izu, Nagoya, or wherever. Never really been to Izu or Nagoya. Maybe even a Ryokan in Atami? stayed at mid priced one in Hakone and it was such a loving dud, serving me packaged powdered miso soup poo poo. Friday - 1. Lunch with stringent - Got to get to some place early to hold a spot, I normally would never do this but Stringent is actually a really nice person and have good food opinions (except Chinese/South East Asian/Spice) 2. afternoon maybe some shopping at Isetan or Takashimaya - have duty free pick up at the airport to save space. 3. Dinner at Andy's fish or something new with Japanese friends Saturday 1. Morning run along the kawasaki river and just go at it. 2. Lunch at a butler cafe and quick walk 3. Team lab planets in the afternoon 4. Sushi Dinner 5. Drinks at little smith Sunday Brunch with goons? Who knows Meh, it;s tokyo there's always stuff to do
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Apr 2, 2019 05:50
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Severe lack of Hub in that itinerary imo Also regarding Andy's Shin Hinomoto, gotta say I went there the other day and it was quite meh. I've been in the past and it's been good with good portion sizes but their sashimi this time was just straight bad. I also used to suggest it, but I'd hesitate to recommend it to visitors now because I don't think you can really depend on consistent quality. It pains me because Andy was a founder of my rugby team, but that's life. Also it's a big local expat hang which visitors may or may not like; it's usually ~80% foreigners. Edit: They got liter mugs of beer though which is nice
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Apr 2, 2019 06:17
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LimburgLimbo posted:Severe lack of Hub in that itinerary imo Oh you been there too? I guess I lucked out the other night and the basement floor on friday was full of rowdy salary man.
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Apr 2, 2019 06:50
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caberham posted:Monday It's really hit or miss these days, I had a friend there just last week and she said they had only some NAS, Ballantine 17, and the Yamazaki cask umeshu. And that was around lunchtime. You may get lucky, you may not. Kyoto bars, check out L'Escamoteur. I also want to try the bar at this new hotel but I'm guessing it won't be cheap.
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Apr 2, 2019 06:56
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caberham posted:Oh you been there too? I guess I lucked out the other night and the basement floor on friday was full of rowdy salary man. Ah, they're actually kind of different places. The upper floor is Andy's Shin (新) Hinomoto, the bottom is Hinomoto. Upper floor is almost all foreigners. I believe the story is that Andy was married to the daughter of the guy who owned the place and took over the top, but then divorced, but still runs the top or something haha
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Apr 2, 2019 07:21
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zmcnulty posted:It's really hit or miss these days, I had a friend there just last week and she said they had only some NAS, Ballantine 17, and the Yamazaki cask umeshu. tbf, the cask umeshu is really good
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Apr 2, 2019 07:38
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Decided to go with the following three for higher price/value ratio but I'm unsure as to what Stringent's sushi recc is since he's still probated IIRC. The rest of the time I'll just be following tabelog's ramen ranking.
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Apr 2, 2019 07:46
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Do you normally eat a lot of sushi? If not then just pick whichever has a spot. Sure there are differences with top notch but if you aren’t much of a sushi snob you should be fine. No offense you sound like your experiences with East Asian cuisine is kind of lacking when you place so much value and prestige on Michelin stars
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Apr 2, 2019 08:07
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Stringent helped me book this Ichiyanagi Japan, 〒104-0061 Tōkyō-to, Chuo City, Ginza, 1-chōme−5−14 銀座 コシミオンビル +81 3-3562-7890 https://goo.gl/maps/VyZNRnUxYYE2 Went there 3 times, first time was super duper awesome, the tamago with squid paste was very memorable and the best attempt. Other 2 times the tamago were not as good. But then each visit was still spectacular.
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Apr 2, 2019 08:10
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caberham posted:Do you normally eat a lot of sushi? Furious Lobster posted:They're the only real "professional" food review site but I don't unabashedly follow their reviews and will take them with a grain of salt. I find it hilarious that after complaining that “the people in Los Angeles are not real foodies,” Jean-Luc Naret said. “They are not too interested in eating well.”, they're eating their words and once again returning here. No one really cares tbh but they still carry a fair amount of weight regardless. I just said this above (emphasis added), are we reading the same thread  ? Also to reiterate, I'm curious about people's experiences with Michelin ratings v. Tabelog ones of the same places and which have a "better" judgment? I don't place much value/prestige on stars with regards to East Asian food, though I think it'd be reasonable to follow their recommendations with regards to French food. No offense taken, but I think I am pretty well versed in East Asian food. I'm not looking for anything crazy, i.e. upwards of $350+, and trying to avoid the crazy res list places like Saito but trying to find what is a good price/value ratio for sushi in Tokyo? Edit: Ichiyanagi looks really solid, thanks for the suggestion! Furious Lobster fucked around with this message at 08:45 on Apr 2, 2019 |
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Apr 2, 2019 08:33
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I would imagine Michelin critics would be versed in whatever the local cuisine is and not just French, they produce guides all over the world. That said I don’t think anybody in here or in my day to day life has ever really talked about Michelin stars as a reason to/not to go someplace, and Tabelog for me is just “is this going to be awful or not.” Tl;dr you’re over-thinking it
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Apr 2, 2019 08:40
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mikeycp posted:just follow my rule of thumb and go to the tiniest most hole in the wall places possible i have never been disappointed doing that Hard quoting. Found this super amazing beef katsu restaurant after coming down from this large uphill path soaked and starving. Had no idea it was even there but food was food at that point and drat that was some amazing stuff. Chef was great too. Even gave me free stuff. 
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Apr 2, 2019 08:45
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harperdc posted:I would imagine Michelin critics would be versed in whatever the local cuisine is and not just French, they produce guides all over the world. They actually are kind of biased towards fine dining service /modernized/fusion restaurants with some sort of tasting menu. I’m not some die hard traditionalist but some of the modern interpretations are just not as good.
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Apr 2, 2019 09:06
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I've been having a good time eating at Coco Ichibanya. They got lots of curry choices and I got like 6 anime girl clear files from eating a few meals there and they're always in good locations and the staff are nice to me and they play good music. That's my recommendation.
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Apr 2, 2019 09:39
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I went to a Michelin recommended ramen place once and I didn't really care for their fancy-rear end interpretation of ramen. The atmosphere was great though.
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Apr 2, 2019 09:41
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I'm trying to think if I've ever had a straight up bad meal in Japan and I'm coming up empty. Sure, not everything blew me away, but even convenience store fried chicken is worth the price you pay. Honestly the only time I've been a little annoyed was with kaiseki, but I didn't pay for that meal so I can't complain too much.
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Apr 2, 2019 09:45
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quote:HIME OF EHIME PLEASE STICK THIS. I will add pictures next I can't stick but I will add a link when your post is perfected!!! PS. On your extra day why not go to NARA or maybe a theme park???
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Apr 2, 2019 10:34
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My friend has "call us any time to make a reservation before other folks get one" status at Den and it makes me jealous.
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Apr 2, 2019 11:11
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Bloodnose posted:I'm trying to think if I've ever had a straight up bad meal in Japan and I'm coming up empty. Sure, not everything blew me away, but even convenience store fried chicken is worth the price you pay. I've been to enough places and lived enough in Japan that i've had bad meals here. But yeah, after eating a lot of Japanese food and having super picky taste for it now, it's easier for me to be disappointed. Most of the times when Japanese food is bad it ends up just merely boring, but I've also had bad before. This is what happens when you've been to every prefecture but Tottori.
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Apr 2, 2019 11:19
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Furious Lobster posted:No offense taken, but I think I am pretty well versed in East Asian food. lol ok
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Apr 2, 2019 11:20
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Bloodnose posted:I'm trying to think if I've ever had a straight up bad meal in Japan and I'm coming up empty. Sure, not everything blew me away, but even convenience store fried chicken is worth the price you pay. i've absolutely had bad meals in japan
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Apr 2, 2019 11:29
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ntan1 posted:My friend has "call us any time to make a reservation before other folks get one" status at Den and it makes me jealous. Go with them?
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Apr 2, 2019 12:21
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ntan1 posted:I've been to enough places and lived enough in Japan that i've had bad meals here. Aside from Tokyo, Kyoto, Sapporo, and Tottori, are there any prefectures worth visiting just for food tourism? I know that some prefectures have specific regional cuisine specialties but aside from the first three, I haven't really gone there just for the food, that is with the caveat of Hakata ramen in Fukuoka and Toyama's masaszushi.
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Apr 2, 2019 15:28
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zmcnulty posted:It's really hit or miss these days, I had a friend there just last week and she said they had only some NAS, Ballantine 17, and the Yamazaki cask umeshu. And that was around lunchtime. You may get lucky, you may not. Oh drat thanks for the update, I was also considering going to hakushu since it’s less busy but yamazaki being next to himeji is a major plus
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Apr 2, 2019 15:53
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I linked your post btw, it's not too late to replace all content goatse
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Apr 2, 2019 15:57
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Furious Lobster posted:Aside from Tokyo, Kyoto, Sapporo, and Tottori, are there any prefectures worth visiting just for food tourism? I know that some prefectures have specific regional cuisine specialties but aside from the first three, I haven't really gone there just for the food, that is with the caveat of Hakata ramen in Fukuoka and Toyama's masaszushi. Every prefecture has it's food tourism and food specialties that are worth visiting for, but you should know that already since you are well versed in East Asian food.
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Apr 2, 2019 22:28
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ntan1 posted:Every prefecture has its food tourism and food specialties that are worth visiting for, but you should know that already since you are well versed in East Asian food. Yes because being having a lot of experience with East Asian food totally equates to knowing which one of Japan’s 40+ prefectures is worth traveling to for the food lol  . I thought given that you’re not only super picky about Japanese food but also have been to all but one, you’d know which ones areworth a traveler’s limited time. Furious Lobster fucked around with this message at 00:17 on Apr 3, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2019 00:14
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Answer: No, it's not worth the effort as a tourist. You can find regional specialty restaurants scattered across other prefectures. The only thing I've found to be seriously different "on location" is sashimi, which you can definitely find nationwide.
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Apr 3, 2019 00:24
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Can we go back to asking how to get tickets to the Ghibli Museum or something
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Apr 3, 2019 00:25
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I've been to pretty much all the prefectures as well. In my experience the freshness of the ingredients, preparation, and presentation (including service) is what really sticks with you rather than saying Hiroshima has the best oysters or whatever and you should go there solely because of that. As a tourist, seek out some good restaurants in places you're already planning on going, or spend a bit extra for the nicer dinner option at the ryokan, and you won't be disappointed. That said, I think it's safe to ignore anywhere that claims to be famous for some kind of noodle, since literally every prefecture has some famous noodle dish. This list is pretty comprehensive at first glance: https://origamijapan.net/origami/2018/04/24/local-specialty/
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Apr 3, 2019 00:36
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The food I crave the most from Hokkaido are the eggs. I have no idea how good they are in other prefectures because I've only been to Japan twice and both time was to Niseko, but holy gently caress, those eggs. Oh, and Lawson fried chicken.
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Apr 3, 2019 00:38
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zmcnulty posted:I've been to pretty much all the prefectures as well. In my experience the freshness of the ingredients, preparation, and presentation (including service) is what really sticks with you rather than saying Hiroshima has the best oysters or whatever and you should go there solely because of that. As a tourist, seek out some good restaurants in places you're already planning on going, or spend a bit extra for the nicer dinner option at the ryokan, and you won't be disappointed. Where the gently caress was this list when I started my "visit every Japanese prefecture" tour? I had no idea Tochigi was famous for kanpyou. I never actively tried to avoid it, but it never struck me as anything special. ...though I did have an elementary school student whose family ran a sushi restaurant in town and, in front of her parents at the counter, claimed kanpyou as her favorite sushi. What a kid.
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Apr 3, 2019 00:58
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Thanks for the recommend on Madarake. That thing was the most dire looking monolith of a toy store I have ever seen in my life. A lot of it was kind of overpriced (or to be fair, what I could also get it for in the states) but I did find some sweet Patlabor figures I’ve never seen before so it was worth it! Oh, and anyone else planning to go there, if you have dust allergies wear a surgical mask.
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Apr 3, 2019 00:59
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zmcnulty posted:I've been to pretty much all the prefectures as well. In my experience the freshness of the ingredients, preparation, and presentation (including service) is what really sticks with you rather than saying Hiroshima has the best oysters or whatever and you should go there solely because of that. Seafood tends to vary differently by area. EG, Mie has very good shrimp, oysters, and tai (a lot of places have good Tai) that will usually beat Tokyo. Kanazawa has very good white fish. Hokkaido has very good uni. Every place in existence has Wagyu, and I haven't found versions of Wagyu notably different (there are some subtle differences). Any place that specializes in Chicken is sort of boring to me, since I haven't found the quality different from good chicken in the US. I suppose preparation and presentation are a given since I'm super choosy over places, but tbh. often times Minshuku are better w.r.t. ingredients/prep than Ryokans. But overall sushi is better outside of Tokyo than in Tokyo, unless you are willing to spend at least $100-200.
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Apr 3, 2019 01:01
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Brb going to Tokyo for the famous meibutsu Tokyo Banana
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Apr 3, 2019 01:03
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Doctor Zero posted:Thanks for the recommend on Madarake. That thing was the most dire looking monolith of a toy store I have ever seen in my life. A lot of it was kind of overpriced (or to be fair, what I could also get it for in the states) but I did find some sweet Patlabor figures I’ve never seen before so it was worth it! Yea a Mandarake is a neat place to wander, even if you're not much of a weeb and aren't planning to buy stuff.
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Apr 3, 2019 01:06
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ntan1 posted:Seafood tends to vary differently by area. EG, Mie has very good shrimp, oysters, and tai (a lot of places have good Tai) that will usually beat Tokyo. Kanazawa has very good white fish. Hokkaido has very good uni. See, I would chalk up most seafood to freshness rather than actual regional variation. Uni in particular drops off quite rapidly the further it is from the source. Some of the best aji I've ever had was not at a famous restaurant, but on Tokyo Bay because I caught it myself and ate it on the boat. "Ocean to stomach" must have been 10 minutes tops. Likewise some of the best lobster I had was in Chiba, of all places, because the chef brought the little guy to our table, decapitated him right in front of us, and served it to us about 30 seconds later. On the flip side, I've had pretty lovely crab and scallops in Hokkaido. Regional dishes are a bit of a legal quagmire, and some places take advantage of the loose regulations. It's legal (or was until recently) to import oysters to Hiroshima, drop them on a beach, then label them as Hiroshima oysters, for example. Even if you go to the fisherman's market at the local marina you'll find shops selling seafood that definitely wasn't caught locally.
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Apr 3, 2019 01:25
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preparation is a big part of it to me too. like anywhere in japan can get aomori apples, but not everywhere is gonna have 50 kinds of different apple pie within walking distance from each other e: also taking this time to restate that hirosaki owns and is currently My Favorite Town In Japan
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Apr 3, 2019 01:42
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ntan1 posted:Brb going to Tokyo for the famous meibutsu Tokyo Banana No joke I've had multiple requests from various people to bring that from Tokyo so I guess it is actually good though mikeycp posted:preparation is a big part of it to me too. like anywhere in japan can get aomori apples, but not everywhere is gonna have 50 kinds of different apple pie within walking distance from each other Hoping to finally hit the Nebuta matsuri this year; haven't been in about a decade
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Apr 3, 2019 01:47
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