Andrew + Japan = Awesome

I might have mentioned it before, but back in Sanda there was a bakery I used to visit. I could never work it out, but somehow by buying just two items, I ended up with four bags. It turns out bakery’s aren’t the only places in Japan who have an obsession with packaging.

Continue reading ‘Packaging in Japan’

There are two things Japan seems to be obsessed with. Kit Kat, and Fanta. Every time I go to a convenience store I see a new flavor of one or the other. One flavor that really intrigued me was the Kiwifruit Kit Kat.

Continue reading ‘Crazy Japanese Food: Kiwifruit Kit Kat’

Last night (Saturday) it was decided that we should go to a steakhouse for dinner. Tristan had been to a really nice steakhouse in Kobe, but he went for lunch and it was already expensive then, so we couldn’t guarantee that dinner wouldn’t be ridiculously priced. Instead of Kobe, we headed into Osaka to go to the Outback Steakhouse.

We picked up Neil on the way (he was at work in Takarazuka), and after a short 35 minute rapid train ride we were in Umeda. When we got to the Outback though, our dreams were almost crushed when we were told that there was a one hour wait. The staff gave us a pager to hold until there was a table available. We were all hungry, Neil and Tristan wanted to go to a bar and wait, Luke didn’t want to leave the immediate vincinity because the pager has a limited range, I was leaning towards Luke’s logic, and I have no idea what Bec wanted to do.

After a quick discussion Neil and Tristan bought a beer from the convenience store that was nearby, and we sat outside the Outback waiting for our pager to go off. It can’t have been much more than twenty minutes.

So we went in, and ordered a Blooming Onion. This was as near as I can tell, a giant onion spread open like a flower, then covered in batter, and deep fried with dipping sauce in the middle. It was great.

Then we ordered our mains. Tristan, Luke and Bec all ordered various forms of steak, while Neil and I opted for the Chicken and Ribs. While we waited I had some of the best orange juice I’ve had since coming to Japan. Just thought that was worth a mention.

Eventually our food came, on massive plates. My meal was a big… thing I guess, of ribs. With two chicken breasts on top of it, all covered in a nice sauce. Then there was some chips, a small container of corn salad, and a small container of coleslaw. It was a struggle, but I got through it. There was certainly no room for dessert.

After dinner we caught a train home and got in around 10.30 I think. I cant remember, I was pretty tired so I almost went straight to bed. Too many early mornings, Saturdays I start at 10 and its an absolute killer compared to my normal 1.20 start. All up the meal and travel to and from Osaka came to just over 5000 yen, so thats around $55NZD.

Theres so much crazy food here in Japan. Some of the food is just new flavours of old favourites, but some of the food is entirely new products the likes of which are hard to imagine before you come here.

Partly at mums request, and partly just so I can remember all the awesome things I try here, I’m going to start posting occasionally about cool food that I try. First up, and hardly a big hitter, Grape Mentos.

Oddly enough, this item tasted exactly like advertised. It was Mentos, a fine product of its own right, with the added bonus of tasting like grape, which is always a flavour I’m willing to support. The thing they were closest to is the grape flavoured kool mints back in New Zealand. But instead of having to throw out all the yucky flavours, I got a whole packet of delicious grape. This set me back 100 yen, which I thought was quite reasonable since convenience stores normally price chocolate bars at 105 yen.