When people ask me what food I miss most from home. I can rarely give an answer.
Saying “Seafood” is too easy. Who doesn’t love cheap seafood?
So instead of a real answer, I will show you one of my favorite dishes from home.
This noodle dish is called “ban mian” which roughly translates as “plank noodles”. I think the “ban” or “plank” signifies how the dough is chunky…I think.
A regular bowl of banmian (which is available in Singapore as well) has a pork-based stock, doughy noodles, pork, salted anchovies and some vegetable.
But not all banmian are good. It depends on the stock and the noodles. Some soup are so bland that my tears are probably tastier. Some noodles are undercooked or overcooked.
At my favorite banmian shop, everything is mixed in perfect harmony. The soup is tongue-scaldingly hot and the noodles chewy. The meat that accompanies it is always tender.
One of my favorite yoshoku (Japanese-style western food) dish is omurice.
It’s a rather strange dish with an equally strange name. Omu + rice = omelet + rice. An omelet covers a serving of fried rice like a snug blanket and garnished with a dash of ketchup.
Good omurice has a tangy taste. Bad omurice is just fried rice topped with a lazy omelette.
I’ve wanted to try Taimeikan’s omurice ever since I read about the Tampopo Omurice on food blog Just Bento. Maki’s photo of a runny omelet on top of rice makes me hungry every time I look at it.
I had the chance to pop into Taimeiken for lunch during my last day in Tokyo. Even though my stomach was still full from my buffet breakfast, I knew that I needed to try the dish or I would fly back with regret.
The restaurant was a bit difficult to find because I couldn’t find the Exit C5 at Nihombashi station. When I did find the exit, I was confused by the street level buildings as the Taimeiken sign was not there that day.
I eventually figured out the place. I was reached the doors slightly before 1 p.m. and it was strange that the queue was not as long as I expected.
Little did I know the queue would snake out when I left the restaurant.
The queue after I had my meal
I was soon seated in the crowded restaurant. The place was smaller than I imagined. My elbow was almost touching the lady at the next table’s.
Even though there was a 800 yen lunch set, I ordered the omurice. I was informed that my order was for a normal omurice so I changed it to the famous Tampopo omurice.
The deco was vintage. The chair even had what look like animals. Taimeiken chair
The pattern was repeated on the serviette. Taimeiken serviette
My 50 yen borscht arrived before my omurice. The serving was larger than I expected. (I imagined a small Chinese bowl of tomato-based soup.) Taimeiken 50 yen borscht
Soon my omurice came, along with a small serving of ketchup. The dish looked beautiful and I took a while to find the best angle to take a photo of it. Taimeiken tampopo omurice
Unfortunately, that extra 30 seconds caused my egg to overcook. Instead of a beautiful waterfall of egg flowing over my rice. Mine looked like a the face of Two Face, a character in Batman.
Taimeiken tampopo omurice fail
For 1,850 yen, the taste wasn’t exceptional. It felt like it lacked salt. (Or my friend D likes to say: Too little seasoning.)
I ate every grain of rice because it was expensive. But I didn’t feel satisfied. :( I think I will go for the normal omurice, or even the lunch sets next time.
Directions
Take Exit C5 of Tokyo Metro’s Nihombashi station. Once out of the station, turn to the right and another right at the corner of the street. It’s just down the road.
This post is part of my money saving tips for Tokyo series. Last week, I talked about ways you can save on transportation in Tokyo.
Today, I’ll be talking about my favorite topic: Food.
Eating and drinking (even water, not beer) in Tokyo is not terribly cheap. But here are a few ways you can save those extra 100 yen (to buy more food).
Lunch time fixed menu + combo sets
Lunch menu
During week days, some restaurants have prix fixe menu. Taimeiken had 800 yen set lunches. I didn’t get the set lunch because I wanted to try its omurice so I got the 1,890 yen dish instead (but with much regret).
Besides lunch sets, regular menus would have combo sets which allow you to try out smaller portions of two different dishes. The soba restaurant I visited in Kamakura had a combo of tempura don and zarusoba which were both delicious.
Fast food
Yes, McDonalds has a 100 yen menu. But since you’re in Japan, you should try out the Japanese fast food outlets.
Although this menu from Nakau was from last October, you get a taste of how low food prices can go in these outlets.
Another benefit of these outlets which use coupon machines is that you don’t need to speak Japanese to order. Instead, you look at the pictures on the machine and pay it with your bills or coins.
Convenience store food
The onigiri (rice balls) in the photos were 129 yen each. Having two can substitute a meal.
These Japanese takeaway food are available at convenience stores which open 24/7, this means you will never go hungry.
Free drinking water
Free tea
I tend to forget to hydrate when I’m travelling because it’s too much of a chore to buy water.
Luckily in Japan, there’s quite a lot of free drinking water outlets. I’ve seen some at the platforms of train stations.
Restaurants also have free ice water or tea on the table, I admit that I’ve pour half a pitcher of water into my bottle once. Just once.
Do you have other tips for saving money on food and drinks in Tokyo?
Like what you’re reading? Head to Facebook to “Like” my page or follow me on Twitter to get updates of new posts and other random travel-related tidbits.
Tokyo’s Tsukiji is the famous fish market. Some guidebooks recommend visiting early in the morning at around 5 a.m. to catch the tuna auction.
Being the lazy glutton, I didn’t wake up that early. I did visit Tsukiji, but only for the sushi which was slightly disappointing.
As I didn’t want to walk around with an open guidebook, I roamed the outer stalls of Tsukiji and missed the inner market.
Tamagoyaki
I broke my fast with a tamago-yaki, or grilled egg, on a stick from Yamanaga. It wasn’t the most famous tamago-yaki stall in Tsukiji but the egg tasted yummy.
I ordered the warm tamago-taki which came on a styrofoam plate. There was some shredded white radish with sauce which gave the sweet grilled eggs a balanced flavor.
Sushi at Tsukiji
It is sacrilegious to visit Tsukuji without eating sushi. So after my tamago yaki, I went off to find my breakfast.
I stopped at the main chain of Sushizanmai. I had to wait outside before I was ushered into the restaurant before I was seated at the counter.
I ordered a sushi set which was disappointing. I was not as yummy as I thought it would be. I suspect I ordered a lower quality set.
From my side of the counter, I saw the chefs work. One took a fish out of the tank, sliced the flesh off its bones and served the slices on a plate.
It was a bit horrifying watching the fish die in front of my eyes. But I forgot about it after I bit into my piece of onigiri.
Ramune
When I walked back to the train station, I passed by a stall selling drinks for 100 yen. I picked ramune which tasted like ice cream soda. At the top of the bottle, there is a frustrating marble rolling around which sometimes blocked my from enjoying the drink.
I never figured out how to get the marble out. But some people have videos of how you can do it.
I visited the Tokyo Municipal Building around noon. As it was a Sunday, most of the shops under the skyscrapers were closed.
Luckily, the noodle shop was still open.
Naoku at Tokyo Municipal Building
Tsuke men, or dipping noodles, is another way of eating ramen. Instead of a noodles in a bowl of hot soup, I got cold noodles and a small bowl of thick stock.
Take the noodles, dip into the stock and slurp loudly. I find this way of eating ramen fun because I rarely get this type of noodles back in Singapore
Tsuke men
For an extra 100 yen, I added on an iced coffee. yums
Iced coffee
Udon
I visited the guidebook-famous Sankoku Ichi at Shinjuku for dinner before heading to the onsen theme park. Sankoku ichi at Shinjuku
The interior had a vintage Japanese restaurant feeling with low ceiling, wooden floor, tables and chairs.
Katsu udon miso soup
Separately I love tonkatsu (fried, breaded pork cutlets), udon and miso soup so I ordered the Nagoya-style udon which was a combination of all three things.
Unfortunately, the sum was not bigger than the parts.
My pork chop sat on top of my udon in a shallow dish of miso. The crispy fried battered skin was soggy because of the soup. The udon didn’t have much soup to go with. The soup was tainted by the salty tonkatsu sauce. The veggie which I don’t eat was left as decoration.
If I ever go to the restaurant again, I will chose a plain udon.
In case you don’t know. I love Japanese food very very much.
During my short work trip to Japan, I had a few days to roam around eating.
Instead of flooding everyone with too many yummy food, I’m splitting the meals into different days.
For today, we’re having meals from Day 1: Lunch at Kamakura and Dinner in Tokyo.
Day 1
Zaru soba at Kamakura Karari
Zaru soba with ten-don set
I took a side trip to Kamakura on day 1 because my N’EX and Suica package includes the Kamakura stop.
I was really hungry when I walked on the streets of Kamakura. But I did not dare pop into casual-looking but surely expensive cafes so I wandered around.
I found several people waiting outside Karari. I entered the doors but was asked to wait outside and write my name on a piece of paper.
Karari restaurant kitchen
It was an open kitchen concept restaurant. The chefs fried tempura while the customers watched. The second floor was for tour groups so I was stuck downstairs.
The meal was great. I loved the free flow of cold tea as well.
Yayoiken at Minami-senju
Yayoiken at Minami-senju
The restaurant near my hotel at Minami-senjuu had coupon machines at the door (like Nakau!).
Katsu set
I chose a pork chop set because Japanese katsu is delicious! There’s even unlimited refill of rice if you’re hungry.
Unfortunately, my pork smelled in a bad way. At least the miso soup was ok.
Floating udon
When I was a kid, having Japanese food was a rare treat.
The Japanese restaurant that my family goes to most often started its business when I was just in high school. The place was different from the usual rowdy Chinese restaurants and had beautiful finished puzzles of Japanese beauties on the wall.
Each university vacation, my parents would take the family to the Japanese restaurant–Miyabi–for dinner. For me, Japanese food signified family.
Before my trip to Japan for summer school at the end of my third year, I read about the variety of Japanese food in my guidebooks. Back then, I didn’t understand why anyone would choose to eat wasabi. For me, Japanese food signified the exotic.
Today, I voluntarily scoop out the green spicy paste and mix a bit of soy sauce to it. I could slurp a bowl of udon/ramen as loudly as the Japanese businessman could. For me, Japanese food signified delicious meals.
Now, I am finishing this post at Changi Airport. In 8 hours, I will be in Tokyo where I will spend the weekend having fun before starting my business trip on Monday.
Even though I have not fully planned out my itinerary, I have made up my mind what I want to eat: sushi at Tsukiji, Monjayaki, udon, ramen, old Edo-styled tempura, rice balls from the convenience store and lots and lots of cheap conveyor belt sushi.
I leave you with this fascinating outdoor advertisement for a udon shop.
This blog post was inspired by BootsnAll’s Indie Travel Challenge weekly travel blog project.
Week 35 of the Indie Travel Challenge is all about Food in Asia: You have to pick one country in Asia to eat from for a month. What country do you pick? Why?
It’s very rare that I praise local food in Singapore. By local food, I mean Chinese, Malay, Indian or Peranakan dishes. (I would rather put American food to represent Singapore.)
Why? Because the Malaysian-made version is usually better.
But, I admit that the beef murtabak at Zam Zam Restaurant is up to standard. The dough was fried crispy and they were not stingy with their corned beef.
However, at the price of S$6, it’s really a lot more expensive than what we could get in Malaysia.
Zam Zam is located at the Arab Street area. Address: 697 North Bridge Rd, Singapore 198675
#FoodFri is a post up on each Friday featuring a dish or meals I’ve had when travelling (or staying put). Happy eating!
YQtravelling 