Awaji Island Hamburger Shop on the west coast of Awaji Island is a hamburger on a warm day in Miele and a mild spring and sea.

Yakiniku Yakiniku Yakiniku Ushimiyagi@Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo YAKINIKU GYUGUJOU＠Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan Yakiniku Ushimiyagi Tokyo, Shibuya-ku, Udagawacho 12-9 Jules Shibuya 5F YAKINIKU GYUGUJOU Joule Shibuya 5F, 12-9 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

I ate it for the first time Fruit & Chocolate Basket 😃 Even at such a time, everyone around I want ☺️ to do a lot of things that make me smile

Just some more photos to wrap up our trip to Nikko. I took a bunch of photos of different monuments and buildings that seemed important or had lavish decorations. I can't make out what the writing on the monument says but I can at least make out the kanji for heart (心). I also liked the golden palanquins inside the the building in the forth photo, although I'm not sure if they were used at some point or are simply for decoration. The other photos are from Futarasan Chugushi Shrine (二荒山中宮祠神社) located in front of Lake Chuzenji. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go inside the shrine but I was at least able to take some nice photos of the torii gate. Apparently it has a kagura hall as well and the entrance to Mt. Nantai is located inside the shrine as well. And finally, just an assortment of food that I haven't posted yet. All of it tasted great. It was definitely a trip I'm never going to forget!

Took a trip out to Nikko, Tochigi over the three day weekend and had an incredible time. The purpose of the trip was to celebrate my girlfriend's sister's college graduation so we wanted to make it as memorable as possible. I don't have enough room to fit this into one post so I'll post the rest throughout the week. We started out from Tokyo and had lunch somewhere Nikko Toshogu Shrine. I'm not sure if Yuba is a local specialty but it seemed like literally every single restaurant in the area was selling it so I'm assuming that was the case. It was my first time trying it and it was pretty interesting I guess you could say. It tasted alright with the soy sauce and radish but I think I prefer normal tofu instead. Either way it was a nice experience. After eating we headed out to Nikko Toshogu Shrine nearby and man was it amazing. Everything was so lavishly decorated that I couldn't stop taking photos. The pagoda was incredibly beautiful as well and the snow covering the Nikko area made everything even more beautiful. I was lucky enough to get a really nice shot of the corridor full of lanterns while no one was walking through the area as well. I also took a photo of the torii gate at the top of the steps as it had a very strong presence and signaled the end of the long journey up the steps to reach the inner shrine. Unfortunately the main gate was undergoing repairs so it was completely covered in tarp and surrounded by staging so I wasn't able to get a photo of it, but I did get some really cool shots of the main shrine. I tried as hard as I could to get some good photos of the grave of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and while I think the photo of the gate isn't bad, I think I'd need a better camera to get a good shot of the crane and his tomb. That being said it was still really awesome to see. After checking out the shrine we headed out to Kegon Falls and I managed to get some really nice videos and some decent photos as well. I can't post the videos or I would. It was really awesome seeing the icicles surrounding the waterfall and all of the frozen scenery as well. Even just taking the lift down to the waterfall was an experience. After we left the waterfall observation deck and went back up the elevator we got some suiton (水団, flour dumplings in soup) and shared it between the three of us as a light snack before dinner later that evening. We also visited Lake Chuzenji and admired the scenery there for a bit as well. We didn't spend a ton of time here so this photo was the best I could do. I like that I was able to get the sign in the shot though so I can't complain. After enjoying the view of the lake we headed to our hotel and ate dinner and had some wine. The place we stayed at was called "Lamb Chop" (ペンション・ラムチャップ日光). The food was great and service provided by the the owners was top notch, so I definitely recommend checking it out if you're looking for a place to stay in the area. After dinner we headed back to our room and I was so exhausted I fell asleep almost instantly. And that was the end of day 1! I'll post day two tomorrow since this post is getting quite long now!

Forgot to include this in my post yesterday so I'm posting it today. When I was walking to Minami-Senju I stopped in for lunch at a place called "Hikari Ramen" (中華そば 光) and enjoyed a really interesting bowl of ramen... I got the special shoyu ramen (特製醬油らーめん) I believe it was, and I think it cost about ~1000 yen but it had some unique characteristics as you can probably tell by the photo. I'm pretty sure out of all the bowls of ramen I've eaten I've never had one with a pink egg. I was surprised at first but just thought it was kind of something funny that gave the ramen shop its own sort of identity. Also, while I have had meatballs in some of the ramen I've eaten before, it's quite rare in my experience (or maybe I'm just not ordering the right ramen lol) so I thought that was kind of interesting as well. The ramen tasted great though, the pink didn't add any extra unique flavor to the egg as far as I could tell but it was all really good. Interestingly enough, the seats downstairs were all taken and one of the people said that they had extra seating upstairs where I was shown into a sort of like storage room with no one else in it lol. It was an interesting experience but it was nice since I got to eat all by myself and I could even see out of the window a bit. All in all it was a good experience and I recommend it if you're in the area! It's really close to Minowabashi Station

I didn't have enough space to write it the other day, but after visiting Fukuda Inari Shrine the other day in Nishi-Omiya, Saitama we stopped by a café called Mango Tree Cafe, a small Thai restaurant on the way back to the station. We'd already eaten, so we just wanted to sit down and relax from all the walking and to catch a break from the cold. We ordered some frozen drinks and a mango ice cream which all tasted quite good. I think the ice cream was the best but I didn't get a picture of it. I ordered the watermelon frozen juice and it was pretty nice, but they had something called "manaonade" (アンチャンマナオネード) which I guess means "blue tea" or "butterfly pea flower tea-ade" (lol). It's a type of herbal tea I guess but it seemed interesting. I was considering getting it, but I'd never heard of it before so decided to stay on the safe side and just get the watermelon. I'll probably try it next time as I know this place is a chain restaurant with other locations in Tokyo. Plus I never really eat Thai food, so it'd be something nice to try for a change

Happy new year🥳 I was interested in visiting a kotatsu cafe and finally found one in Shimokitazawa! It was called Cafe Stay Happy and made me happy 😊 The atmosphere and food was really good ❤️

Went to a soba restaurant in Akabane called "Zenmi Kotobuki" (禅味寿). I got the "天せいろ" (Ten Seiro "Tempura Soba Served on a Bamboo Wicker Tray" If I had to translate it literally I guess lol). Cost 1350 yen and it was 大盛サービス (free extra serving of noodles). And who am I to turn down free noodles? The choice was obvious and so I got the extra helping! I really liked the atmosphere of the place too. The waitresses were wearing Japanese-style clothing as well, which made it a really nice experience. I always enjoy visiting small shops like this where the owners have it decorated in their own style and you can see all of the bottles of sake or whatever else is used to create the atmosphere of the restaurant. Anyways, as for the food, the tempura was cooked really well and the soba was the perfect texture. At the end of the meal they brought some hot soba water so I could drink the remaining tsuyu (soba sauce) as a sort of warm drink. Was a great experience that I haven't had in a while!

Like I mentioned yesterday, I went to "Tokyo Portcity Takeshiba" over the weekend and there were a ton of restaurants. The one that I chose to eat at was a tough choice, but I ultimately settled on "Do Miso Tokyo Portcity Takeshiba" (ど・みそ 東京ポートシティ竹芝店), but there was also an Okinawan-themed restaurant right next to it called "Okinawa Bar Kafu" (沖縄酒場 かふー) that looked really nice as well, and smelled good. Either way from across the isle I got to eat some delicious ramen while listening to the Okinawan music which was really relaxing and created a nice atmosphere. I'm not sure what the ramen I got was called it was just the normal miso ramen from my understanding and I believe it cost ¥1100. There's another one that looks similar, has a similar name, and costs ¥1200 but that's a white miso ramen and not the one that I got. Either way, I'm sure it tastes good as well, because my ramen tasted great! I really liked that the restaurant had metal cups as well, it gives the water a different flavor and always makes it feel more refreshing too (in my opinion at least). One thing I forgot to mention about the building; if you open up their website, another futuristic feature you'll find is that the building actually shows the number of people in the building at any one time and also shows that percentage of male and female visitors. I thought this was really amazing. I'm not sure how it's done, but they must have censors located at the doors or in other places around the building that can analyze body structure or something similar. Either way it's a cool place!

Went to Ootoya again and ordered something new. The dish used to come with meatballs if I remember correctly but it seems they changed it to fried chicken. Goes much better with the meal in my opinion and the grated radish over the top of it was a nice touch. I also really liked the pumpkin croquettes, I'm used to just normal croquette's (I'm not even sure what they're filled with), but this was a nice change of pace and was kind of refreshing, probably because it felt very healthy lol. As always all of the side items tasted great and it was all only ¥740, so pretty much a steal if you ask me

Went to a place in Nihonbashi called Hakata Dojo (博多道場) and had a really nice lunch. It's like an izakaya but it had a really nice lunchtime atmosphere as well. I ordered the 日替わり肉ランチ which cost about ¥1000 but it tasted great. I really liked the moyashi that came with the beef plate, lots of flavor and the moyashi were really juicy as well so that was nice. It was a really nice place overall, I'd like to go back and see what it's like at night, maybe they have some special courses or something as well. I really liked the lanterns though, I think that's probably what contributed most to the place having a nice atmosphere. That and it wasn't exceptionally loud like some izakaya I've been to. Also the interior was decorated quite nicely as well, besides the lanterns.

Stopped by Saizeriya for lunch and got a cod roe and shrimp doria (たらこと海老のドリア). Saizeriya is always a great place to stop by for lunch as it's generally quick and cheap. It was a set meal so it came with a soup and salad as well, but I forgot to to photos of those. The soup was a sort of consommé soup and was nothing special, but it tasted good and was all-you-can-drink so that was pretty nice. I ended up getting a few cups of it. The shrimp and cod doria was great and I love the nori on top - plentiful and tastes great. The best part is all of this was only ¥500 so it's really reasonable, as you'd expect of Saizeriya. Just thought I'd share this today, nothing too special

Was in Kanda the other day for an errand and stopped by this place called "Soba Dokoro Kameya" (そば処 かめや) outside of Kanda Station. It says "立食い" which means "standing noodles," but I didn't actually see any places to stand and eat so maybe it just meant that it was simple and quick like a standing noodle shop. I've never actually experienced what it's like to eat at a standing noodle restaurant (and actually stand while eating) but I think I prefer sitting anyways. I like to relax when I eat so I suppose that's why, but I should at least try it once, who knows, I might like it. Anyways, the place seems really affordable. I ordered the Ten Tama Soba since it was the most popular dish and it tasted great. The soup was really good and the egg was perfectly cooked. The texture of the noodles was also perfect. It's definitely a place to check out if your in the Kanda area and looking for some noodles. I think they may only be open during the morning and night, but I went around 4pm so maybe they close around that time to prepare for dinner.

Visited a Chinese restaurant in Akabane called Maraeki (麻辣駅, Malaeki?) over the weekend and got some spicy Szechuan noodles (四川風麻辣麺). The photo looked really good and they had tan tan noodles as well but I wanted to try something different. Unfortunately, I was not the biggest fan of the flavor. I think the noodles were great, and the bok choy tasted good as well, but for me the soup wasn't exactly what I was expecting. That being said I don't think it's that the flavor was bad, just that it simply wasn't for me. I enjoy spicy ramen, and the "麻辣" part of the name is "mala," apparently a spicy, numbing sauce made of Sichuanese peppercorn, chili pepper, and other ingredients simmered in oil. I went in not knowing this and paid the price I suppose. The noodles weren't actually that spicy in my opinion, but like I said, the flavor just wasn't for me. I think for anyone who enjoys Chinese food though it's a great place as it's quite affordable and the other dishes we ordered (fried rice and xiaolongbao (steamed buns)), although not pictured here, tasted great.

Went to Ootoya for lunch today and got a nice Alaska pollack set meal with vegetables pickled in black vinegar (すけそう鱈と野菜の黒酢あん定食). Cost 920 yen and it tasted great. I really like Ootoya because it's a nice place if you're looking to eat some traditional Japanese food and I'm surprised it's actually not more popular. The food is always great and you even get to choose the types of rice you want and how much. It's pretty reasonable cost-wise considering what you get as well. The ordering system is really convenient as well. With the electronic ordering tablets it's easy to add something to your order and they have English as well so if you're not confident with your Japanese you don't need to worry about it

Went to a restaurant called "Taraku" (寿司たらく尾久駅前店) near Oku Station that I've passed many times. It's name says it's the Oku Station branch so I suppose it must be a chain restaurant, not sure how many there are though. The place was quite nice and they had single-person counter seats as well as table seats. The tempura set meal was ~1000 yen and again I got another discount using the PayPay app so it only cost me about ~700 yen. It's a pretty nice place though and they seem to have a bunch of different set meals as well as seafood bowls and other stuff like that. Definitely a place to drop by if you're in the mood for sushi, tempura, or whatever kind of sushi you're thinking of. They have a lot of takeout items as well and I think they do delivery as well, so they're probably on the Uber Eats and Menu apps as well but I haven't given them a look yet. The potato salad and miso soup tasted great as well. Tsukemono is always good so there was no difference here either lol. Everything tasted great. Definitely recommend checking it out!

Went to a restaurant in Shinagawa called Ogasawara Shoten. They had some really tasty yakiniku and the drinks were really cheap as well. I ended up getting some sort of kalbi set, I don't remember the name but you can see what it came with in the picture lol. The yakiniku tasted great but the grill was a little too hot at first so I had to turn the heat down. I had to flip my meat over really fast to make sure it didn't burn at first 😂. It was a fun experience though. After I got it turned down though I had a nice relaxing meal. The miso soup was nice as well (it all tasted great to be honest) and afterwards they had a free coffee service which was a nice way to end lunch. They had a pay pay campaign going on as well, so I got a nice discount for using it. Really handy app

We went to a small restaurant in Meguro called "Meguro Flat" over the holiday and had a really nice lunch together. The place had a nice atmosphere and seemed very multicultural. There were newspapers on the walls in some other languages (I'm not sure what languages, but they were Latin based at least) and posters of wines from different countries and the menu was interesting as well. If I remember correctly, jerk chicken is a local specialty of Jamaica and I've never had the chance to try it before, but this place was offering it so I decided to order it. It tasted really nice and the salad that came with it was refreshing. There was also a spoonful of mashed potatoes on the side with the pickled carrots and the place also offers all-you-can-eat bread! I love bread so that was a plus. My girlfriend ordered an assorted platter and the cream in the middle went really well with the bread so we got another free basket to eat it with lol. Incidentally, I look like I'm posing for the camera, but I was actually just admiring the atmosphere of the restaurant lol. Anyways, it's a nice place, so anyone visiting Meguro or looking for something to do should check it out. It's like a ~5 min walk from the station. I think the nighttime menu might be different as well, but I'm not certain of that.

Went to the Shinagawa Aquarium for the first time last weekend. It was my girlfriend's sister's birthday and so we made reservations for a restaurant and bought tickets to the aquarium in advance. We ate at Grill & Bar AW55, they had an all-you-can-eat salad bar, a drink bar with different types of flavored water, and some soup as well. All of it tasted really good, I really liked the Bolognese pasta, but the salad and soup both tasted delicious as well. After eating we went to the aquarium and it was really awesome, I liked seeing the jellyfish (as always) but the dolphin shows were really awesome as well. We actually stayed long enough to see the afternoon show and the night show, both with different themes. On top of that, we unintentionally got to participate in a wedding😂. It was totally unexpected, they even did a special show with the dolphins to celebrate it. It was quite the spectacle to see. After enjoying the aquarium we went to get some dinner and found this hole-in-the-wall yakiniku restaurant that was unfortunately going out of business, probably due to the pandemic. Luckily for us, all drinks were 100 yen... Between the 3 of us we ended up ordering like 25 different drinks I think, we started with a round of beers that each would normally cost 600 yen, for just 100 yen, and after that we ordered a bunch of different meats and just drank every different type of drink on the menu lol. I was trying everything; plum wine, sours, beers.. we were a little drunk on the way out of the restaurant but we ended the night with some cake around 11pm still! All in all, it was a total blast.

Went to a place called Menya Tenno (麺屋天王) between Oji Station, Tabata Station and Oji Station (Tokyo Sakura Tram) and ordered some miso ramen. Before the pandemic I went there once or twice and it was great both times, but I decided to revisit for the first time in a while. I think it was just as good or maybe even better than before, but it's definitely tasty. I remember the last time I went I ordered the standard thin noodles since that's what the stores specializes in, but this time I figured I'd try the thick noodles and see what it was like. I couldn't really compare the two since it'd been so long since I went to this ramen shop but I remember the last time tasted great and this time tasted great as well, so I don't think the thickness of the noodles changes the quality in any way. The chashu is also really good as well, I added that as a topping for ¥200. I can't remember if I ordered gyoza the last time I went, but I ordered them this time and they tasted delicious, better gyoza than most ramen restaurants I've been to in my honest opinion, and they're nice and juicy as well. I tried to take a photogenic angle of the gyoza but it was difficult with the lack of space😅. I did my best though! Anyways, it's a tasty ramen shop, so I definitely recommend it to anyone in the area!

Went to a soba restaurant in Ueno called Rengyoku-an (蓮玉庵) over the weekend and ordered same really tasty tempura and soba. I ordered the Tempura Seiro Soba (天せいろそば) and it was a bit pricey at 1750 yen but it tasted great. What I really liked about the restaurant though (besides the food), was the atmosphere of the place. It had a bunch of really awesome art hanging on the walls that was reminiscent of Edo Period art and I'm a pretty big fan of that so it was really enjoyable. The inside of the building was grey but it was very stylish. I'm not sure what the walls were made of, but it seemed to be some sort of granite and the coloring of the seats was also in a similar fashion but very tasteful. I definitely want to go back here again and try some more of their dishes! It's pretty close to Okachimachi Station so it's pretty easy to drop in for lunch.

I forgot to post this photo as it wasn't at Asukayama Park, but it was on the way. As we were walking to Asukayama Park we looked over the side of this bridge and I saw this small little garden and just thought it was really nice. To the right of the garden there's a small French bistro that looked like a nice quiet place to grab a bite to eat but it wasn't open at the time. I was curious so I did a little research about the place and it turns out the chef used to work at the Imperial Hotel for more than 20 years. It makes sense too, because I looked at some of the food they serve at this bistro and it looks pretty darn good. I'd love to stop by when it's open. Hopefully next time I'm in the area!

Dropped by a cafe near Oji Station the other day and ordered a small chocolate cake and a tea. It looks strikingly similar to the one I had at the pasta restaurant a few days ago, with very minor differences lol. I didn't take a photo of the tea unfortunately, I was too focused on eating the cake😅. I suppose it's a popular dessert combination as it seems quite easy but delicious at the same time. The cafe is called Dining Cafe Tagen (ダイニング カフェTAGEN). When I passed it on Halloween they were opening the large doors at the front of the shop and preparing some sort of Halloween event, although I wasn't able to see exactly what was going on with it. They had a big speaker as well, so maybe they were going to sing and give candy away lol. I'm not really sure though. I think they were wearing costumes as well, it looked pretty interesting. It's a nice place though. It can be a bit cramped at times but otherwise it's a nice place to go for a coffee and dessert if you're in the area. You can also take the streetcar (Tokyo Sakura Tram) to get there as well which is a plus!

Went and had some pasta at a small cafe called Abbraccio the other day. I got a cream and mushroom sauce penne which tasted great. The salad was served with a small slice of bread which complimented it quite well. The desert was really simple but tasted excellent. Just add a bit of the whip cream (I think it's whip cream anyways) and the (what I thought was) cherry sauce and it a great way to finish the meal. They had a PayPay campaign going on as well and we managed to get a 50% discount and only ended up paying ¥700 per meal, which was pretty incredible considering we got the drink sets as well, which unfortunately aren't pictured here, but I ordered a chamomile tea I believe. Or something similar to that. It was also quite refreshing. The place seems to have a couple of balcony seats as well but I'm not sure if you have to request them or reserve them or what, but by the time we noticed them we were already seated so we decided not to ask. Overall it was a pretty good place and the service was good as well

Went to the local restaurant Gigi again and ordered ahijo with some bread, always a great combination, french fries like we usually get (we'd already eaten some before we took the photo lol), karaage that reminded me of zangi a lot with the texture and flavor, and then we ordered an assorted appetizer platter with a bunch of stuff. I really liked the bread and the potato salad, and the crackers were great too. I think they were served with cream cheese or something like that on the side, but it tasted great. I also ate them with the thinly sliced meat that was on the plate. Every time we come here the food is always really good and the atmosphere is nice as well. The lights are dimmed and it's really relaxing. We also ordered a pizza but forgot to take a photo of it this time. The Japanese name is「ピッツェリア＆トラットリア ジッジ」I believe

Went to Shinjuku over the weekend and found a really awesome plaza with an open-style food court that had several different shops inside of it. I was kind of craving some tacos or something ethnic at the time so I went and got a burrito at "Chronic Tacos" because it looked really tasty. It's kind of a "build-your-own burrito" system which is nice. You can choose the type of meat you want in your burrito (I chose spicy pork) and and other toppings I think. I also added guacamole to mine. You can add it on the side or have it put into the burrito as well. I wanted to try a taco as well but since there were other restauraunts I grabbed two slices of pizza at a place called "Cucinova." The pizza tasted great, and the spicy slice that I got had the perfect amount of spicyness! The food was definitely great at both places, although maybe the burrito was a bit expensive. I think it was ¥1200 for a drink and the burrito. They could probably make it a little cheaper, although Mexican cuisine always seems to be a bit expensive in Japan. Maybe it has to do with ingredients. Not sure though. Overall, I definitely recommend checking it out. They've got a coffee place as well and while I didn't get a coffee from there the scones looked pretty tasty! I think there was a bar as well if you're looking to grab some drinks with a friend.

Went to dinner last night at Tokyo Butchers in Okachimachi. The place had a really great atmosphere and reminded me of an American restaurant sort of. The food tasted great and there was a lot of different stuff to try. A lot of the stuff they served was presented very stylishly and each dish left an impression on me. I particularly liked the steak and fries (probably something to do with my American roots lol). I believe the second dish was "Pate de campagne" which is French for "country pate I believe. It tasted really good though. I think it's a ham steak with ground pork? Not entirely sure what type of meats are used in it exactly. The salad was great too, I really liked the dressing as it was quite refreshing. The champagne glasses came nice and full as well! Can't complain about that lol! The strangest thing we ordered was definitely the melon and ham. It was... an interesting combination. I wasn't really a fan of it so we just ate it separately and it tasted good that way as well. I really like that olives too. Now that I think about it, I don't get the chance to eat olives much since I've come to Japan. Definitely recommend this restaurant for a date or just a fun night out though!

Autumn rice 🍚

Went to Chiba over the weekend and we were originally planning on visiting Mt. Nokogiri but decided to stay near the bay area instead since the weather was so nice. It really felt like we were in a resort area and it was a lot of fun. We managed to book a cruise of the nearby factories and it was a blast. They had snack bags for feeding the seagulls on board the ship that you could buy for ¥100 and once we started moving the seagulls started to follow and it just became a feeding frenzy. You’d throw the chips out to the seagulls as the flew side by side with the ship and they were really skilled at catching the chips as well. If it was a weak throw or the wind caught it, the seagull would dive down to catch it. Even if they missed it, another seagull behind it would swoop into the water and grab it. We bought two bags and halfway through the second bag you could tell the seagulls were getting full or tired because they weren’t as agile as they were at the start😂. We also ate at a few restaurants. The steak and fried rice and the beef ramen was from Niku no Gyuuchu (肉の牛忠) I’m not sure if it has an English name or not. And the pizza was from a place called “Salvatore Cuomo.” Both tasted pretty good, I enjoyed the Italian restaurant more I think, but the steak restaurant had a nice, relaxed atmosphere compared to the rest of Lalaport which was pretty lively. I somehow lost the pictures I took of my pasta and the salad unfortunately. We also went inside Chiba Port Tower and it had some nice views and a “lovers corner” for taking photos, etc. They also had heart-shaped locks that visitors could buy and lock to a wall to signify their love or something to that effect. Overall it was a really fun experience and not too far from Tokyo. Would definitely like to go back and visit again!