The Food Pursuit
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Located in the busy Ikebukuro of Tokyo, this little sushi restaurant is a quiet gem in a rowdy area. In front of the door are a couple of signs with photographs of various sushi rice bowls. Because I can never resist mouth-watering images, I decided to hop in for lunch.
This little shop called 麺屋帝旺, which for sake of simplicity and lack of an English name I will call Emperor Noodle Shop, is located in the heart of Tokyo. With banners on the storefront that says 辛油そば (or spicy soba), it actually serves ramen and tsukemen as well. Many of us may be familiar with ramen and not tsukemen, which is similar to ramen but the noodles for tsukemen come separated from the soup and are eaten by dipping them in the soup. As with many individual shops in Japan, Emperor serves only a handful of selections. I guess it makes deciding what to eat easier and allows the chef to focus on making each item perfectly.
With a name like Freshness Burger, it really doesn’t have to make sense to appeal to the Japanese. If there’s one word they know in English with regards to food, it would be fresh. Supermarkets must discount foods every day otherwise no one would buy it. It is highly possible to walk into the supermarket before dinner and pick up heavily discounted items to make a feast. The price tag of items includes not only the expiry date and the date they were made, but also the time at which they were made. ‘Fresh’ is the benchmark of food in Japan. One evening, I visited Freshness Burger to see whether or not the burgers are truly that fresh.
Despite becoming gradually more fluent in Japanese, my everyday life is still not without language obstacles. This is possibly one reason why I love frequenting conveyor belt (kaiten) sushi restaurants because one can sit through a whole meal without placing any orders. This time, I visited a kaiten sushi restaurant in Ikebukuro called Tairyo, which is Japanese for ‘good catch’ or literally ‘big fish’.
Isomaru Suisan is what you get when seafood meets izakaya. For all you Guu fanatics back in Canada, this one might make you drool so grab that bib. Those who don’t do well with seafood, this might make you puke so grab a trash can and a bib too. Isomaru Suisan is my first seafood izakaya experience. As another disclosure, my meal was paid for entirely by my host of the night. Having said that, I was told by the locals that the food and alcohol at this restaurant are inexpensive compared to others. I haven’t the slightest clue what anything I ate will cost you, but I’ll tell you my thoughts on the food, atmosphere, and experiences unique to the restaurant.
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