Tag: food

Japan: Final (Food for) Thoughts

One of the amazing things about Japan was the food. And such a variety of tastes and styles. Oh, and the rice.

Japan: Food for Thought

Each day I looked back through the photographs I had taken and tried to find one that summed what we had seen or done. Some days that was very easy because the day had a big goal – the Mt Fuji visit, for example – but other days it was much harder to select a single picture that summed up the visit.

Looking back over the collection, however, I see that it’s a nice overview of our trip. However, there is one major element missing: food. I have not captured the variety of amazing meals that we had. Japanese cuisine was definitely one of the highlights of the trip; no wonder it has been given UNESCO heritage status in order to protect it from the onslaught of western dishes and fast food chains.

From conveyor-belt lunchtime sushi to a high-end fish-market fresh version; from teppanyaki (accompanied by a Japanese improvised comedy show) to high-end tempura and soba noodles, ramen, sake & delicious wagyu beef. In the UK it would all be in one restaurant labelled ‘Japanese’ but each place we visited specialised and was delicious. There were no bad meals, most were incredibly cheap and service was outstanding.

Breakfast seemed the most different to my British palate: fermented soy beans, dried and grilled fish, pickled things of all sorts (labelled vegetables, but I wasn’t always sure) and dried seaweed and all served – like every other meal – with white rice. I never saw another type of rice and didn’t really get an answer as to why it was always steamed white rice alongside every meal.

I can’t wait to return to try more.

—

My Japan retrospective (so far) is available in two earlier parts: Tokyo and Kyoto.

Mussels

I used to work with most of these guys six or seven (if not more) years ago, and we’ve all remained in contact ever since.

Last night I met up with some old work colleagues. I used to work with most of these guys six or seven (if not more) years ago, and we’ve all remained in contact ever since. This is fantastic, especially for me, as they were the first people (apart from some ex-University friends) whom I met when I moved to London. We have, however, fallen into the trap of thinking we are all six or seven (if not more) years younger than we actually are and spend the evenings getting very drunk in various London drinking holes. We then wander like (drunken) startled rabbits around the West End looking for a post-closing curry. A fun, if somewhat painful, experience.

Well, not last night. Firstly, we added some extra people – friends of ex-colleagues – which made the night more interesting. Secondly, we decided (this is all very grown up) to go out for a meal. We decided to go to Belgos in Covent Garden. I had very little to do with the decision (in fact, to be honest, I never replied to that email, so I have nothing to complain about), but the great thing is that I love Belgos. I’ve always enjoyed the whole pots-of-mussels thing and make a mess to show I enjoyed the food.

And to add to that, there was the cutest waiter serving the table next to ours – which was all the better, as he got to lean over and serve them. Ah, the joys of lust!