Visited Japan in May 2024 in the company of my adult son. I have visited Japan many times in the past. For my son it was the first visit.
Few thoughts:
- The quality of the service and food in Japan is sliding. It is still pretty good, but the number of the little snugs we have experienced was dramatically elevated this time. See below. Neither the less I love Japan and I am ready to go back any time. It is probably still one of the few countries in the world where you do not need to plan what you are going to eat. Bravely go to any food serving facility and the chances are you will be happy with your meal. All my negative comments below are relative and only should be viewed as my personal experience.
- I have healthy obsession with Japanese knifes. Usually I bring some from Japan. I get carbon steel ones. Finally I found the best place to buy it. If you stay in Namba area in Osaka, there is a good number of stores with acceptable (but not low) pricing. Skip them. Please take a train from Namba station of Nankai railroad to Sakai. It is about 15 minutes ride. At some point Sakai was a major port serving Osaka. With the time passing it lost its value as a port, but has developed remarkable sword craftsmen which has evolved in the modern knife making. About 15 minutes walk from Sakai Nankai station will lead you to Sakai Crafts Museum (https://www.sakaidensan.jp/en/). This place offers highest quality knifes for a fraction of the price. The staff speaks English and is very helpful. I got myself excellent pairing knife from the oldest knife maker in Sakai and nice medium size deba, which I would not buy otherwise because of a rare need for that. Already used it for a fish skinning… Excellent.
- My son does not eat raw fish. In the past I would make arrangements to visit sushi places in Ginza and around the country. Not this time. I had some random sushi, but no dedicated visits. That explains my lack of information about such establishments.
- Previously obligatory JR rail pass is loosing its value. I think recent price increase has made it relatively unnecessary to buy. The included Shinkansen trains are frequently sold out and you have to pay extra to get on Nozomi and Mizuho. I calculated the pricing of my rides. I would pay less if I would not use JR pass… Just reserve the tickets in advance.
Coming over late in the day we did not reserve any particular restaurants. We managed to get into the Ginza corridor branch of Itamae. Long line of gaijins outside. This chain has most of the locations outside of Japan. Very popular with foreigners. I have chosen this place because they serve tempura as well. Unfortunately upon arrival we have learned that the frier does not work. We only had raw fish options, which my son does not eat… After I have tried their rather basic onigiri we went to Seven Eleven and grabbed a bunch of food there for dinner. (By the way, this activity is one of my favorite things to do in Japan!)
When you wake up at 5 am in Tokyo on the first morning there is only one thing to do: Tsukiji. It was my first time since the closure of the fish market itself. Tsukiji was VERY crowded and VERY touristy. The little inconspicuous sushi counters I have enjoyed in the past now turned in bustling places with the huge lines. So there was only one thing to do: Roof food court.
I believe it opens about 7 am and serves very decent and only slightly overpriced Japanese fare. Feel free to buy the freshest toro sashimi or onigiri in the covered market area and eat it on the roof. The beer sales start at 7 am as well. The had a solid meal of soba and tempura with some raw fish (for me) we bought on the market.
We had a train to Kyoto to catch and purchased Takotsubo in the Main Bento store of Tokyo station (must for every visor to Tokyo. Google it). Although I buy bento every time when I board Shinkansen, they rarely are satisfactory. Takotsubo was not good. My choices are very random. I should probably do more research…
The first dinner in Kyoto was in Ibushigin Kazuya. A small izakaya on the right bank across the river from Gion. Their specialty is a smoked food. Some English spoken. Extensive sake selection, but we were pretty tired to sample a lot. The food was, as expected, good but we made a mistake of ordering omakaze. The process was very long and choppy. They were very shorthanded and we had to fight for every dish to be brought. Go for food, but remember the service difficulties that may have.
The next day we were grabbing the occasional plates around Nishiki Dori market. It less touristy than Tsukiji, but touristy enough…
I spotted the local branch of Marugame (丸亀) Seimen/Udon and enjoyed delicious udon with a bunch of karaage. I believe there use to be a brunch in Honolulu. May be some branches in California and Texas, but on not the east coast. Eat there without thinking twice.
The hotel (Granvia) recommended another izakaya near the station. The rain has picked up and we did not want to walk far. The only value of this place was the English menu. This is why we were probably recommended the place by the hotel… We returned to the Station and went to Isetan Kyoto food court. My son enjoyed a small tempura set in the local branch of Tenichi (extensive chain originating from Tokyo). I managed to pick on a small portion of tsukamen in Ramen Koji (street) Isetan. There are about a dozen ramen shops there and for life of me I do not remember which one I went to. The lines were ridiculous, so I probably picked the shortest. Not a smart move on my part because the ramen (tsukamen) was so-so… I just needed to check a box of visit to Ramen Koji…
The next day we stoped by the well known ramen shop in central Kyoto - Wajoryomen Sugari. A long line again. This ramen was better. Again chicken based tsukamen. Not sure it was my favorite.
The same evening we had a reservation to the kaiseki style restaurant in Gion. I have been in the past to about 20 kaiseki meals and it was always spectacular. It was my 8th kaiseki in Kyoto (yes, I keep the count). I have to admit that my planning was on a bit short notice and I felt lucky to get somewhere. Gion Sakagawa agreed to accommodate us in a a separate room only. The meal started with perfectly sliced sashimi for me and fried chunk of sea-brim for my son. Both dishes raised our expectation which was immediately crashed by the poorly seasoned fish/crab dumpling in tasteless starchy media. The dish of grilled torigai (chicken clam) was served cold! Probably because of standing on the table for too long… Still feel the disgusting cold butter it was covered with… The grilled Green Nasu (eggplant) was served with a grated nagaimo. The problem: Nasu was severely undercooked and under seasoned. If anyone wants to reproduce the experience - please chew on a raw eggplant!
Few unmemorable plates. Very good wagyu yakiniku. My guess: the chef delegated to prepare the food to one of his aids for the people in the separate room and did not check on the quality…
In summary we payed ¥ 28,000 /person for a complete destruction of Kyoto kaiseki experience! My beloved Kyoto! What has happened to you?!?!?
I have learned a long time ago that taking tours in Japan is a bit of a waste of time. The only qualification of the guides is usually their ability to speak English. Otherwise they are completely random people assign to do their task. They are nice people, but wrong for the job. It is a cultural aspect of Japan which we can discuss at a different time…
My son wanted to go to Sake brewery, so we took a brewery tour in Fushimi… Well… there was no brewery… just brewed museum… Once again, the guide was nice, but she was not able to answer any of the questions about sake production. She would just point to exposition and would respond “I have to ask someone”. Then there were 20 shots of very wormed up in the ambient air mediocre sake. It was simply disgusting. I love sake and tried a lot of the different ones over the years. I suspect that this experience killed interest in sake in a lot of novice foreign individuals…
Fushimi area thou is a strong “yes” for a visit on your own. Charming quarter/ you can go to sake museum by yourself/ you can visit Meiji grave. Only 20 minutes from the Kyoto station.
We took a 15 minutes Shinkansen ride to Osaka. Although I usually stay by JR stations in all other cities, in Osaka I prefer Namba. It is a beating heart of the city. My long standing tradition in Osaka is to have my first meal as okonomiyaki in Chiba. These days it is very touristy, but still delivers an excellent quality. For some strange reason I like to stroll in Dotonbori. Crowds never bother me. And where in Japan you do not have crowds? Later in the day we had some kushikatsu in Daruma (original Dotonbori branch). Curiously it was my first ever visit to Daruma. I never was a big enthusiast of kushikatsu, but I can see that people may like it. Later my iPhone has led me to the underground counter of Beard Papa and we finished the day with fresh and crusty shoocreamu. These days there are a lot flavors and crusts offered by the chain. We went with the traditional one. Always delicious.
We visited two upscaleish locations the next few days. As in Kyoto, in Osaka I have had a good share of excellent high end meals in the past.
This time for a geographic convenience I have chosen **Kappo Kigawa (**浪速割烹喜川). I think the place mostly caters to foreigners. I have selected the place for my son’s comfort with English speaking staff and English menu. We have enjoyed the meal immensely. The quality was the one I have expected (but did not receive…) from Kyoto. I was especially impressed by the very festive plate of sushimi involving fish pairing with Japanese condiments. Not a first time I seen it, but done especially well. My sone received “raw fish substitute” shark fin soup. To my shock he finished the entire plate. I stole a few spoons… Excellent seasoning and texture. The meal went on in the same quality level. We left very satisfied with the tragic memory of Gion disaster almost removed of my conciseness.
I always try to include a high end tempura restaurant in my itinerary. Conveniently tempura is probably my son’s favorite Japanese food. As a rule the price tag of such establishments inversely proportional to the distance from Tokyo. My advice is to do it in provincial towns, although the ability to communicate in English declines as well. This time, once again, for a geographic reasons only we picked Tempura Ando (天麩羅 安藤) in Dotonbori. Unlike Kigawa, this place is not on the foreigner’s radar. I think I found it while google translating the Japanese version of Tabelog. (By the way Japanese version of Tabelog is much more informative than English!). Generally, the places not intended to “feed gaijins” are a bit hard to find. I was looking around for designated kanji, but could not find it. My rudimentary Japanese helped and we were pointed to cul-de-sac entrance underneath the building away from the location on Apple Maps…
In the end of the path I found the kanji I was searching for. We were the only gaijins. The meal was well paced. Mostly seafood and vegetables. There was only one small meat tempura “sandwich” . Both of us enjoyed the meal immensely. Very good price/ delivery value.
Customary deer overfeeding obligation in Nara was the next stop on our itinerary. During my first ever visit to Japan the random side street meal in central Nara was one of the most memorable I have ever had. Carelessly I did not memorize the name and now sorrowful wonder the streets in the desperate attempts to find it. As always I have failed. My cancellation price was a stroll through Naramachi with migawari-zaru sighting on the house fronts. I know. Everyone is super-tired after roaming very extensive Nara park with exousting deer encounters, but Naramachi should not be missed. We ended up in eel serving Edogawa Naramachi. Despite Kansai location they serve Edo-style unagi. The food was as expected delicious. The down side was a long line since we did not come at the opening time. Mostly Chinese tourists.
Will elaborate on our Hiroshima/ Fukuoka and bit more of Tokyo experience later.
