Onaka ga ipai desu (I am full)

Today was a good food day...got to eat lunch and dinner out.

But first, salmon jerky that I found at the 7-11. Imagine finding salmon jerky in one of our convenience stores. I love smoked salmon but this stuff was pretty horrible. Guess I should have opted for the dehydrated sardines.











Then lunch with host mother and sister at a local ramen shop. We got the mixed bowl that had ramen, sliced pork, an egg, and delicious bamboo pickles. The japanese pickle everything. I love it. Their pickles are more than just vinegared though, some are done in alcohol, sugar, rotting rice bran, or combination of methods. They can be sour, bitter, sweet, and spicy all at the same time. I'm looking forward to my trip to Kamakura. Supposedly there is a shop that sells 50,000 kinds of pickles and gives samples. The setup of the shop was a bar around the open cooking area. Ramen was constantly going in and out of the water and being topped by whatever you wanted. It was a clean, efficient process. The place was jammed too.



We stopped for coffee and an amazing cafe. The Japanese do cafes the right way, European style. I got a wonderfully rich cappucino, but the best and most surprising part was the stirrer was an authentic stick of Ceylon Cinnamon, true cinnamon different from what is commonly available in America. It had a sweeter taste, not the big bold spicyness we are used to.


Went to a kaitenzushi place in Shinjuku with some friends for dinner. I ate myself silly. I only took a picture of one sushi in particular, a seaweed sushi that was sour and spicy. Not quite sure what it was called but I liked it and had never seen anything like it. Total bill came to 2300 yen for 20 pieces of nigri sushi and a beer. Among the night's victims were scallop, tuna, king salmon, uni, yellowtail, and spanish mackerel. I had wanted to find this place, had read about it only. I looked up some directions from a certain exit in Shinjuku, but there were about 4 South Exits an I just happened to wander in the right direction after making a loop around the station. I was very proud of myself.


I had a nice little espresso with a shot of amaretto after the sushi at the italian cafe next door. (?) I don't think that even New York could match that one.