Words to describe food we enjoyed in Japan: interesting, delicious, cheap, colorful, enormous, and exciting. Drink-wise, I will tell you it is downright difficult to find a 'real' cup of coffee. If you want it in a can out of a vending machine, hot or cold, no problem. If you want a "cafe latte" comprised of pre-brewed coffee poured out of a jug sitting in the refrigerator then mixed with milk and microwaved - also, no problem. But also, not delicious.
What is delicious in the Japanese drink-world, though, is a sowa. Remon sowa, raimu sowa - tasty! In case it wasn't obvious, that was lemon sour and lime sour...there are other flavors as well, but I'm a fan of citrus-y alcoholic drinks. The sour is made with shōchū, which is distilled from either barley, sweet potatoes or rice and often (but not always) tastes similar to vodka. In short, it's delicious and the sours are just that - not overly sweetened like American citrus drinks.
In my hunt for a good cappuccino one afternoon, I purchased this pastry as a companion snack and was pleasantly surprised at the questionable chunk in the center....it was sweet potato, and it was yummy. The coffee was so-so.
A newfound favorite of mine is okonomiyaki, which is sometimes referred to as a "Japanese pancake" or "Japanese pizza" but is neither. Rather than explain every detail of it, I'll just say there are two styles - Hiroshima and Osaka - and the difference is basically the presence of noodles and whether the ingredients are layered or mixed together. Having spent most of our time just outside Hiroshima, I only tried their way.
These are from two different okonomiyaki joints. That sauce is kind of a barbecue/hoisin/Worcestershire goodness. I was so thrilled at the standard way of eating okonomiyaki - with a special spatula, right off the grill surface after having watched your pile of deliciousness be created - that I documented the process layer by layer....but I will save you from my indulgence.
We ate amazing ramen (not even close to those $.50 packages) several times, as well as yakiniku (plates of bite-sized meat you grill yourself at your table), and crepes from ever-present carts. I discovered how delicious, and surprisingly un-scary, cow tongue is at yakiniku. Somehow I managed not to take any photos of those. But, I did get these shots:
We ordered something a bit more tame, but seriously, how could we have walked by that display and not gone inside?! The menu was just page after page of crazy sundae combinations. We got quite a few laughs out of it and took far too long to decide, even with the English menu.
Tomorrow I'll finish my food-posting with a special restaurant experience. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
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