Page 78 - WDT Winter 2018 japan

Occasionally in some of the markets,
we found food booths selling grilled yaki-
tori beef skewers or some other tasty item.
Unlike other Asian countries we’ve visited,
Japan didn’t have many food booths or
street food stalls. There were some excep-
tions in Yokohama and Kobe Chinatowns
and some tourist-heavy streets that lead
up to shrines and temples where shops
tempt with soft ice cream in flavors like
green tea, miso, and even wasabi. For
about 350 yen per cone, we can confirm
that miso ice cream tastes a bit like salted
caramel and green tea like green tea. It’s
the least we can do to inform fellow world
travelers.
Japanese, as good as it is, isn’t the only
cuisine option in the country. An interna-
tional lineup of restaurants is available in
almost every city, town, and village. Pizza
and burgers are big here; we even noted a
few Mexican dining spots here and there.
We enjoyed outstanding Spanish pa-
ella in Tokyo, nice Italian food in Yokohama
and great Sausage and Egg McMuffins
almost everywhere for breakfast. There
were only a few cafes that served Ameri-
can-style breakfasts, which we preferred to
the traditional Japanese repast of fish, rice,
miso soup and pickled vegetables.
As Mary and I ate our way through
Japan, savoring every second of it, we felt
like kindred spirits with Anthony Bourdain
who said “If I were trapped in one city and
had to eat one nation’s cuisine for the rest
of my life, I would not mind eating Japa-
nese. I adore Japanese food. I love it.”

Bento box lunch with sashimi,soba noodles, rice and pickled vegeta-
bles. Left: Our friends celebrating birthdays in Tokyo.

78 WDT MAGAZINE WINTER 2018