Tokyo Adventures: But I don't eat Raw Fish

Although I do not eat raw fish, I'm a huge fan of Japanese cuisine and I'm looking forward to sampling many dishes (new and familiar) while visiting Tokyo.  In preparation for my trip, I've been doing research on what to eat, where to eat and what I need to know about the different food and about the types of restaurants in Tokyo. Some popular dishes include:

Shrimp Tempura with dipping sauce.

Tempura is a dish with pieces of lightly battered, deep fried seafood and/or vegetables that is typically served on top of rice or noodles.  Toppings may include:  Ebi (Shrimp/Prawn), Sakana (White Fish), Nasu (Egglplant), Knoko (Mushrooms), Kabocha (Pumpkin), Satsumaimo (Sweet Potato), Kakiage (mixed vegetables).  Specialized restaurants that serve tempura are called Tempura-ya.

Yakitori (Chicken)

Yakitori is a dish consisting of chicken skewered and then slowly grilled over charcoal fire and lathered in tare (a sweet soy sauce and mirin mix).  They are a meal in and of itself, but you will also find them as finger food being served in a izakaya or yatai. 

Chicken Katsu

Chicken Katsu (Tonkatsu for pork) is a popular dish which consists of breaded and deep fried pieces of chicken drizzled with sauce (made up of ketchup, worcestershire and soy sauce) and served with rice, miso soup and thinly sliced cabbage and pickles. Pickles or Tsukemono is traditionally served along side with miso soup for every meal.  It appeared back in the days before refrigeration when pickling was used to preserve food. They are made of all kinds of vegetables such as Japanese radish (daikon), cucumber, eggplant, carrot, cabbage, ginger, shallots and plum. 

Soba is a noodle dish that can be found throughout the city.  They are long and thin (much like spaghetti) and made of buckwheat flour.  Soba can be enjoyed, hot or cold, with or without soup.  The most popular ways to eat soba is chilled in a traditional bamboo basket with a flavored dipping sauce (zaru soba or seiro soba) and various toppings.  It can also be eaten as a hot noodle dish in broth known as kake soba.  

Udon

Udon are thicker Japanese noodles made of wheat flour that are served either hot or cold with various toppings such as fried tofu (kitsune udon), tempura (tempura udon) and mountain vegetables (sansei udon).  Ramen is a very popular dish with Chinese style noodles in a soup with various toppings.  Ramen is one of many popular dishes that were originally introduced from China. Somen are thin noodles made of wheat four like Udon and Soba.  Somen can be eaten cold and are considered a summer specialty. 

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a popular pan fried food that consists of batter and cabbage.  Toppings may include a variety of ingredients (ie., meat, seafood, wasabi, cheese).  Monjayaki  (a kind of runny pancake dish similar to Okonomiyaki) include ingredients that are finely cut, mixed into a batter of flour and water, then cooked on a hot-plate at a high heat until ready to eat right off the grill.  In the neighborhood of Tsukshima (a man made island) located across the channel from the Tsukiji Fish Market, there are a number of restaurants serving this monjayaki dish. 

Takoyaki is a popular octopus dish.  It is prepared using a special Takoyaki pan where a flour and egg based batter is cooked with a filling of octopus slices, picked ginger and green onion. It is served with a Takoyaki sauce and topped with mayonnaise, green laver (anonori) and dried bonito (Katsubushi).  I'm not a huge fan of octopus but if my sister and BIL orders this dish I might ask for a sample taste. 

Chanko Nabe is a Nabe (hot pot) dish which is popular in winter months.  Chanko Nabe is also the traditional staple diet of sumo wrestlers and come in many varieties.  They can be found in specialty chanko nabe restaurants found around Ryogoku, the sumo district in Tokyo. 

Wagashi are traditional Japanese sweets.  The most common ingredient used is sweet asuki bean paste and is accompanied with a nice hot cup of green tea.  

Sushi refers to any dish that contains sushi rice (i.e., cooked white rice flavored with seasoned rice vinegar).  The various kinds include: nigirzushi (hand formed sushi), makizushi (rolled sushi), and chirashi (sushi rice topped with raw fish).  I like sushi (like Inari), but I don't eat the ones topped with raw fish. 

Sashimi is raw seafood which is accompanied with soy sauce and wasabi. Sadly, I have never been a fan of Sashimi and won't be eating it on this trip.  

Yakizakan is grilled fish like mackerel (saba), salmon (sake), mackerel pike (sanma), horse mackerel (aji), okhotsk atka mackerel (hokke), sea bream (tai) and sweet fish (ayu). 

Places to eat are categorized as follows:  There are apparently great eats that can be found in Shinjuku, Yurakucho and Asakusa.  In Shinjuku (Omoide Yokocho) there are small alleyways known as Piss Alley that are filled with tiny eateries serving yakitori, ramen, soba or kushiyaki.  Yurakucho is a lively area which can be found nestled beneath the train tracks around Yurakucho Station, known as Yurakucho Gado Shita (Below the guardrail) or Yakitori Street. Asakusa is a 80 meter long street lined with izakaya.  There are specialized Japanese Restaurants that specialize in just one type of food (i.e., Sushi-ya, Soba-ya, Ramen-ya, Tempura-ya, etc.).  And there are also general types that offer a broader range of dishes.  

Izakaya - Casual drinking pub like places (similar to tapas bars) that serve small dishes like yakitori and other finger foods. They can be found around train stations and shopping areas with dishes shared family style rather than individually.  Famiresu are casual family like restaurants such as Gusto, Royal Saizeria and Joyful.  Shokudo are casual restaurants that are small and serve food such as soba, udon, donburi and curry. They can be found near popular tourist sites.  Teishoku-y are restaurants that serve set menus that consists of a main dish like meat or fish, a bowl of rice, pickles and miso soup.  They are found in business areas and are popular lunch spots. Yatai are food stalls with outdoor seating. They can be found along busy streets.

Cheap meals can also be found in supermarkets, specialty restaurants  and convenience stores (ie., 7-Eleven stores).  Bentos are single portion take out meals that is served in a box container.  They consist of small portions of meat, vegetables, fish or pickles with rice and can come in both hot and cold varieties.  They are favorites sold at train stations (ekiben) and airports (soraben).

And let's not forget the street food places to sample.

Since there are so many restaurants to keep track of on my google map, I have downloaded the GuruNavi App to help find nearby recommended places to eat when we are out and about exploring Tokyo.

Next up . . . . Getting Around Tokyo (How to Use the Subway Metro System).

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Resources:  Popular Dishes by Japan Guide.com / Restaurants by Japan Guide.com / Dining Out by Japan Guide.com / 10 Sensational Stops for Japanese Food in Shinjuku, Tokyo by Serious Eats