Japan 2016 Day 16: Eating In Central Tokyo
Day 16 out of our 18 Days Graduation Trip to Japan, I can finally count down to the final few posts for this trip with one hand! Continuing from the last post, we took a domestic flight from Sapporo to Tokyo on the night before. As we only had 2 more days in Tokyo, we tried to visit as many food places as possible.
Day 16 - 4 June 2016, Saturday
Overall itinerary of our sixteen day
0800 - 0836 : Urbain Tokyo Haneda Kamata, Tokyo >> Tsukiji Station
0836 - 1030 : Breakfast at Tsukiji Market (築地市場, Tsukiji Shijō)
1030 - 1045 : Tsukiji Station >> Sendagi Station
1045 - 1230 : Snacking at Yanaka (谷中)
1230 - 1245 : Nippori Station >> Asakusa Station
1245 - 1415 : Visit Sensoji Temple (浅草寺, Sensōji)
1415 - 1530 : Walk down the Nakamise Shopping Street & Shin-nakamise Shopping Street
1530 - 1600 : Walk to Tokyo Skytree & Tokyo Solamachi
1600 - 1800 : Visit Tokyo Skytree Tembo Skydeck & Tokyo Skytree Tembo Galleria
1800 - 2000 : Shopping & Dinner at Tokyo Solamachi, Fukutaro
2000 onwards : Return to Urbain Tokyo Haneda Kamata & rest
We started the weekend with a hearty breakfast at the Tsukiji Market (築地市場, Tsukiji Shijō). Great weather to walk and explore Tokyo, we definitely need the energy to fuel us!
Tsukiji Market (築地市場, Tsukiji Shijō) is actually a huge market with shops selling a variety of things from groceries such as fruits, vegetables and fish to ready made food and snacks to souvenirs. Currently located near Tsukiji Station, I read that the market would be relocated to Toyosu some time in 2018. I am not sure if there will be any down time, but this is one market which you have to go when you are in Tokyo, especially for the food and the tuna auction. We did not go for the tuna auction but it is pretty popular with the tourists. For more information on the auction, you could visit here.
One of the snacks which we have shortlisted before the trip is Tamagoyaki (玉子焼) also known as Japanese rolled omelette. We managed to try it from two famous stores which are located near each other. We got our first Tamagoyaki from Takeshi (玉子焼丸武). I would say it is a sweet tasting one, and just the right consistency with no extra toppings like the one from Tsukiji Yam Chou (築地 山長). Personally, I prefer the first Tamagoyaki and I could not really explain why either. Just try it for yourself and decide, it costs 100yen each!
Appetisers were not enough to fill our growing stomachs (from all the food we ate in the past 15 days), it was time to enjoy some legit sushi in Japan. Situated within the outer market, we queued for approximately 20 minutes for 2 seats at 築地寿司清本店.
Once we entered the restaurant, I could see why we had to wait quite a while for seats. Everyone is seated at the counter, so you get to see the chefs prepare your sushi for you. We were seated between a couple and a family. Seeing that the price of sushi is not that affordable, we only ordered one assorted set of sushi to share between the two of us. And here's our chef preparing our sushi for us, and tada, these fish sushis are good!
I guessed we were trying to take a good photo of each other with the sushi, and luckily, our neighbour offered to take one for us (hehe, thanks!).
Once done, we walked around the market a little, and I bought some souvenirs for my family. If you prefer to eat something else other than sushi, you have many options to choose from! We saw quite a number of ramen stores with long queues and people just standing around, eating.
Next up, we rushed to Yanaka (谷中) by train. A neighbourhood in Tokyo, Yanaka has an old town ambience, thus it felt rather different from all the other urban places we visited in Tokyo. Here, besides food, you will also see shops selling groceries and souvenirs too. If you have some time, you could visit the Yanaka Cemetery too. Why is the cemetery an attraction too? This cemetery is known for its nicely decorated tombs and is lined with cherry trees during the cherry blossom season.
If you are here for the food like us, you could check out the bakery selling Cat Tail Cake and the best selling hamburger patty, Menchi Katsu. They are just opposite each other. The cat tail cakes come in many different designs and the brown parts are chocolate flavours. Pick the designs you want and eat them! As for the Katsu, my friend said that the patty is not bad.
Sadly, we were unable to find the famous Matcha tea house from 1924 Chayutei known for their Matcha Choux, as well as the Ikayaki stall which is Japanese-style hot-plate pizza dish made from squid and flour mixture and topped with teriyaki sauce. If we were not tight on time, we probably would have walk around the area a little more to search for them.
Oh well, such is the downside of having limited time to spend in Tokyo. We then rushed to Sensoji Temple (浅草寺, Sensōji) at Asakusa, one of Tokyo's oldest temple. Along the way, we stopped by this ice-cream shop and ordered 2 scoops of ice-cream. If I remembered correctly, it was tofu and sake flavours.
When we arrived at Sensoji Temple (浅草寺, Sensōji), it was really crowded with mostly tourists. Nevertheless, we can see why Sensoji Temple is so popular. I really like the colour of the temple as well as the architecture of the place. When you pass through the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), the outer gate of Sensoji Temple, you will see a huge red lantern. At the gates, there are also beautiful wooden carvings of dragons too.
Walking further in, many people actually bought the incense to offer and I think, by moving both hands inwards towards themselves, it is a gesture for receiving the blessings. We did entered the temple and offered our prayers.
Right outside the temple, you could draw lots for 100yen. I took quite awhile to shake 1 lot out of the tiny hole on the metal tin. After drawing your lot, simply open the drawer with the number on your lot to get the reading. Don't worry if you could not read Japanese, there is also English on the paper. However, the number of the lot itself is in Japanese which looks similar to Chinese. I ended up helping a caucasian lady to look for her lot on the drawers, haha. It is handy to know Chinese too!
Being gluttons, we went on another mission along Nakamise Shopping Street & Shin-nakamise Shopping Street to find good food again! The street is just right outside the temple. As we were still full from our previous snacks, we only went for the famous snack, Kibidango which is skewered rice flour dumpling covered with soybean powder. Again, there was a queue for this snack. Waited awhile, and we bought a set - a few sticks of Kibidango and 2 cups of Matcha (everywhere we go, we have to have it!). If you are a mochi or rice cake lover like me, then this is the perfect snack for you! I love soybean powder too, so I simply love it.
Not wasting any time, we took a 20 - 30 minutes walk to Tokyo Skytree & Tokyo Solamachi. On the way there, we stopped every once in a while to take some pictures of the landmarks nearby and you could see the Tokyo Skytree building from a distance away too.
Upon reaching, we realized that we have to wait about 45 minutes to purchase the tickets. If you are happy to spare a few more bucks as a tourist, you could join the Tourist Express queue and visit the tower without having to wait for so long. We waited, and waited, and I managed to filter quite a number of photographs in my dslr till the battery went flat (lol), and then took turns to go for a toilet break too. When I got back into the queue, we were still about 20 people away from the counter. Anyway, at the 4th floor of the Tokyo Skytree, you could only get the tickets for the Tokyo Skytree Tembo Skydeck (350m). For the tickets to Tokyo Skytree Tembo Galleria (450m), you have to buy them at the Tokyo Skytree Tembo Skydeck (350m).
At last, we got our hands on the tickets to the 350m floor. Here are a few photos of the views you can get from this height. The weather was not fantastic that day, pretty cloudy so we could not get any pretty sunset photos either.
We bought our tickets for Tokyo Skytree Tembo Galleria (450m) here, and up we went another 100m. Everything looks smaller up here and there are glass floorings here, do remember to wear pants here!
You could also get souvenirs here, such as the Tokyo Skytree mascot which is this girl with a star-shaped hair.
Having explored so much, we were once again, hungry. We headed to Tokyo Solamachi for dinner at Fukutaro, a restaurant from Namba, Osaka specializing in okonomiyaki. Since we missed out on the opportunity to have okonomiyaki in Osaka, this is the perfect chance to taste them here! Fukutaro is famous for their “negiyaki”, a negi leek-filled okonomiyaki which is pretty hard to find in most okonomiyaki stalls (should have tried this if I had known!).
We ordered a Mixed Yakisoba Fried Noodles, Mochi(rice cake) & Cheese Okonomiyaki and a Pork Okonomiyaki. When I looked at our neighbour next to us, I think we really over-ordered but we finished them all, okay? Super filling, but oh man, this meal is the best meal of the day! My favourite has got to be the Mochi(rice cake) & Cheese Okonomiyaki because I simply love anything with rice cake. It is like a dessert version of okonomiyaki?
Oh, do note that most likely, you would have to wait in queue to eat at Fukutaro too. After our satisfying dinner, we headed back to our hotel to rest and I ended the night with my favourite soy milk. This time, I tried the red tea flavoured one. Overall, I still like the strawberry version best!
