Yakiniku w/ Friends

We loved the All You Can Eat / All You Can Drink format of this yakiniku place so much, that we came back on one of Phil’s last days in town. It was kind of awesome.

I love it that we have a group of friends here. There’s an awesome built in network in Yokohama, because you all are in the same circumstance, and because you’re brought together with people that you might not ordinarily live so close to. Also, I’ve been using the word “awesome” an incredible amount today.

Phil’s an awesome guy, and I’m excited to have gotten the chance to hang out with him for a bit. Since he lives on the other side of the pond (in Washington), it’s a rare day that we all get to hang out stateside. We’ll miss you, Phil!

Yokohama Style Ramen

My mom always tells me that when I travel, or move to a new place, she’s sees more news about that location than she ever has before.  (Personally, I think she just pays attention to it more than when it’s irrelevant!) But maybe there’s some truth to the thought.

A ramen-devoted blog mentioned in a NY Times article about Ramen in Tokyo, clued us in to a noodle hotspot just blocks from our house. Yoshimura was the first to make what is now known as Yokohama Style ramen (also called Iekei or house-style ramen).  For its ingenuity (and heavy hand with the pork fat), Yoshimura is rewarded with lines out the door every night of the week, and hundreds of ramen spots using the same recipe as chef Yoshimura.

We were lucky to get there before the rush.  After picking a few things at random from the vending machine, we offered up our tokens and waited for dinner.

I picked three tokens (a ramen bowl and two other mystery things), one of which was this bowl of leeks sauteed in…. something slightly spicy.  Hurray for unexpected appetizers!

I think my other extra token was for cabbage, since it was the only thing my bowl had that jon’s didn’t.  Last time we ordered a random token at a ramen vending machine, we got a plate of pickled bamboo shoots. I’d say this was way more successful! Look at that piece of pork!

The ramen was fantastic, though there was entirely too much of it.  The broth tasted like meat juice, very roasty and thick, and the noodles were springy and perfectly cooked. In case the broth wasn’t flavourful enough for you, there were plenty of condiments on the counter for you to sauce up with…

A Lazy Saturday / Yakiniku Friday

I’ve only been awake for two hours, yet it’s already shaping out to be quite the odd duck of a day.

But first, this is jon and I, taken last night:

This is the first Saturday that Jon’s been called into work. Poor guy – we got in way too late last night and he still had to wake up at 5:30 and get on the train. Somewhere between here and then, I’ve lost my house key. Among other terrible side effects (who knows how much they charge for replacements!), I’m house-bound on a beautiful day. This morning, our company did some heavy handed layoffs, letting go a lot of really fantastic people. For the most part, my team was spared, though I’m sure I’ll find out more on Monday. If any of those people are reading; you will be missed!

I can only hope the rest of the day gets better.

Last night, Jon and I met up with Phil, Will, & Reece for something called tabehodai and nomihodai (All you can eat / all you can drink). For $35, we had a steady stream of Asahi and meat to grill up in front of us.

Pretty standard stuff: marinated chicken, 2 kinds of beef, and fatty pork belly. The fat drippings from the pork made the grilling a bit unmanageable at times. Jon quickly became the grill-master of the evening, and got us into a good rhythm of damage-control.

I love the concept of yakiniku – one that we just don’t do in America. If you’ve ever had Korean bbq, it’s a lot like that (but with less side dishes). There’s a grill in the middle of the table so that you can Yaki (grill) your Niku (meat). I love interactive food! After our initial inability to control the flames on our grill, we decided that the concept would never really make it stateside, because drunken 20-somethings would most likely burn the restaurants down.

Restaurant service in japan is way different than in the states. I wish I had this perspective before I waited tables for 8 years! Here, the waitress doesn’t come by and ask how things are. They don’t stand by and check in to see if you’re ready to order. Instead, in your most nasally voice, you yell “SUMI-MASEN!!!!!!!“. And then from the back, you’ll hear an even more nasal response, “haaiiiiiiii!!!!“. I wish you could hear it.

Then your server comes out from this door, and stands by very patiently while you butcher her language.

This is our friend, Phil. He’s a cowboy. (okay, he’s really an engineer. and a cowboy.) Phil is also a very good sport, but really likes beef more than the other crazy things we make him eat. I think yakiniku might be phil’s second favourite japanese food.

After dinner, we said goodbye to Phil and the four of us headed home. We stopped to watch some teenagers do tricks on their bikes (they were definitely showing off for us), and to terrorize some playground equipment.  Reece taught me a naughty word and I, like the obnoxious foreigner that I am, said it about three hundred times at innocent passersby.  I’m embarrassed for myself this morning.

Bread Guy

Technoratti claim token:
M9QAPXG8MP56

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I’m totally elated.  Why, you ask?

Bread guy remembered me! I was walking up to the bread truck that parks on the side of my street, and Bread guy hopped out and said “pan, deska?” (you want some bread?).  Then a moment passed where I thought I saw a glimmer of recognition (but no, not possible – that was nine months ago!), and then he said (in broken English) “you’re back! good to see you long time. you cut your hair, it look good.”

This is a picture of the bread truck that I took, stalker-style, from our balcony.

I’m so excited that I get fresh bread out of a truck again.

Bread guy recommended a curry bun, which is a really common snack here. I was just reading about it, and found out that filled sweet breads of all sorts are really popular, kind of like the russian piroshki. What they forget to tell you is how bad they must be for you!

I also got this weird hot-dog bun with peanut butter frosting in it:

What’s odd is that i think i accidentally bought this peanut butter frosting by itself the other day, thinking that it was regular peanut butter.  You understand my confusion, as there’s a peanut on the cover and it was sitting in the jelly aisle at the market. It tastes a little like… when you make peanut butter cookies and you whip a lot of sugar, butter, and peanut butter and you stick your finger in the batter, just before you add the eggs.  yeah, that.  that’s what i have inside of a hot dog bun.

I thought it would be interesting to show you the bread here, because it’s so different from what we’re used to at home. This loaf is average in every way except that it’s way more “whole grainy” than they usually are. Nearly all the bread is stark-white and fluffy, sliced thick, and served 6-slices to the loaf. This pretty little number was about $4:

Bummin’ in ‘Hama.

We had the best intentions to be adventurous on Saturday. There was even a [failed] attempt at taking a weekend trip to Hakone.

After a quick lunch, we stopped off for dessert. They do this weird thing here involving corn flakes & soft serve, that I had always meant to try. Today’s the day! (it wasn’t that good!)

Eventually, Jon & Will & I headed off to the Red Brick Warehouse to check out a photography gallery, and to meet up with Brian (another co-worker of jon’s) & Emi (brian’s girlfriend). The photo thing was so cool. At first we were a little skeptical, because it was formatted more like a portfolio review than a gallery. And Jon hates talking to strangers.

…but eventually we warmed up to it, poked around, and found out that a few of the artists spoke english. Very cool. I can’t wait to check out some of their portfolios online.

I remember thinking this during my first few days here last year: art is the great cultural equalizer. Art always behaves the same way, regardless of what country you’re standing in. It’s a really comforting fact.

After the photo bit, we wandered around China Town for a bit, commenting to each other about how easy it is to get lost within the hanging lanterns, roasted chestnuts, and curvy streets. Also, they eat weirder food in that part of town than in other areas. Duck, anyone?