Tokyo – What We Ate

I'm not gauche enough to take photos of the food, but most of it was memorable enough to warrant recording for posterity, even if I can't remember the names of half the restaurants.

All of this was also accompanied by our weight in water, as we tried to beat the heat.

Wednesday

Ippudo, Ebisu area

• Top notch ramen, ordered by the point and pick method, chased down by cold iced tea and beer.

Thursday

Sushi Dai, aisle 6, Tsukiji fish market

• Best sushi ever; Standard set of toro, hokkaido sake, hake, yellowjack, mackerals, sea eel, tamago and miso soup.

Mitsukoshi department store, Ginza

• Rice balls. Makes my old infatuation, Oms B, the rice ball shop by grand central, look subpar. I love Ume, or the pickled Japanese plums

Soba shop, Roppongi,

• Hot soba, bar snacks and beer. For pure buckwheat flavor, can't be beat.

Friday

Gyoza Center, Gora, Hakone

• Set meal of Kimchi Gyoza in broth, pickles, salad, and perfectly seasoned rice. Incredibly messy to eat, as the boiled dumplings fall apart at the slightest provocation, but incredibly satisfying

Saturday

Kadoma bakery, Ebisu station

• Chocolate bread (as H., said, basically babka)
• Sweet potato pastry. Baked, sugar-coated sweet potato is apparently a specialty – we sampled it again later that morning, and with black sesame seeds, it's warm and chestnut-y

Okonomiyaki shop in Asakusa

• Cucumber with pickled plums. I'm adding pickled plums to my pantry when I get home – a welcome new way to eat vegetables
• Pancake with cabbage, mushrooms and greens

Moni & Toni food cart, Tokyo Dome

• Matcha bubble tea

Izakaya, Shibuya

• Corn and tofu appetizer
• Snowcrab and scallions in tofu skins
• Caesar salad
• Shabu-Shabu with lettuce, mushrooms and what I'm pretty sure was pork. Very tasty, but similar to my experience making Xiao Lon Bao last year. The broth is less tasty when you see it in its congealed, lard-packed form first.

Sunday

Smooch smoothie shop, Ebisu

• Black sesame seed and Azuki (red bean) smoothie. Like drinking liquid Halva. I'm in food love.

Counter, Shinagawa station

• Sushi sandwich – triangle shaped rice balls with fillings like smoked salmon, tuna fish and roe, and unagi. Too cute, and surprisingly tasty