McDonald’s Japan has recently started to offer the Mega Potato which is two large fries combined in one big package. At 490 yen, the Mega Potato is much cheaper than ordering two large fries.
While the food covered on Foodie Topography is often healthy, this is certainly not the case.
As we stood in front of Kanei soba restaurant a solid 40 min before the opening, a man asked us if this was a soba shop and I wondered the same thing. Kanei is located a short distance from the center of Kyoto in a residential area and it looks just like a regular house with no sign. The location of Kanei is not exactly a secret since it earned a star in the Kyoto Michelin guide.
The small town of Iga in Mie Prefecture is famous for its ninja museum which attracts legion of little ninjas and nostalgic foreigners. I was also promised a great sukiyaki and Kanaya meat shop was just what I needed after a visit to the ninja museum and Iga castle.
Onsaya café recently opened a new shop in Toiyacho and it’s very different from the original shop located near Okayama station.
The area around Yoshino in Nara Prefecture is famous for kuzu, a starch made from Japanese arrowroot. Morino Yoshino-Kuzu Honpo has been making kuzu powder and sweets since 1616 and it is a must eat if you are anywhere near Nara.
Nara is one of these places that almost every school children in Japan goes to visit at one point and it’s a must see. On our first night in Nara we decided to go the locavore way with a friend who was born in Nara and went to Awa in Naramichi which is famous for using the best Yamato vegetables and meat. Yamato is the old name of Nara.
Kurashiki and especially the Bikan area are a major tourist magnet and I love to play tourist in my own town. I discovered Kura Beer Tei by reading a tourist guide about Kurashiki while sipping a cafe latte at Cafe Mugi. I think this little beer shop will make a lot of us happy.
I don’t often watch Japanese TV, but last night I saw an interesting segment on a news show about a new Starbucks concept store which recently opened in Tokyo, it’s called Inspired by Starbucks. The CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, was there for the opening.
Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture is probably one if the most sacred shinto site in Japan and it also has one of my favorite sweet, the famous Akafuku.
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Tofu gets a bad reputation with reasons since the stuff we can find in supermarket is often bad and tasteless. But if you happen to be visiting Nara, you are in luck my friend, Kondou Tofu restaurant in the Naramachi neighborhood is the place that will change your mind forever.
Yoroi Tempura is located in a residential area of Okayama between two busy streets and it’s one of these places where you feel like you are lucky to be eating such great food in such a secretive spot. Somehow, Japan is not a place where location is key, if the food is that good, people will just get there. By the way, yoroi means armor in English.
I’ve been buying bread at boulangerie Mugi pretty much since they opened, but I had never ventured on the second floor of this beautifully renovated building in the heart of the Bikan area in Kurashiki City.
