On the plane, I had ample time (on a 13 1/2 hour flight, you have nothing but time) to read my Fodors guidebook and note the various foods and restaurants we want to sample. Yum, I'm looking forward to sushi, ramen (real ramen, not the 39 cent kind you buy at Giant), soba, udon, unagi, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, well, you get the drift.
Sunday night, after a long day of travel, we decided not to wander far and decided on a fast food soba restaurant right across the street from our hotel. Purchasing food at these places is an experience. Outside the hotel, there is a picture menu (forget descriptions; if you don't speak Japanese, rely on the picture) that shows the number of the item and the price. Next to the picture menu is a kind of vending machine. You put in your money, select the item you want, and get a ticket. Then you walk into the restaurant, hand the ticket to the man behind the counter and a few minutes later, you pick up your food. My meal of cold soba noodles in broth, with seaweed, sweet tofu, soft boiled egg and imitation crab was delicious. Maki and CJ shared a bowl of soba and a plate of curried rice. Everyone else enjoyed hot soba and curried rice.Breakfast is included in our hotel stay, so around 8:00 this morning, CJ, Maki and I went down t the dining room. I love Asian breakfasts! Maki was in heaven eating his rice with natto (fermented soybeans ) and slurpy yam. CJ was happy as a clam eating his croissants, chocolate danish, rice with seaweed and miso soup. I had miso soup, sausage, cereal with yogurt and strawberry team. Yum!
Fodors listed a highly rated ramen restaurant in Shibuya, so we are going to try and check it out today. The jetlag is kicking my butt, so today could a light day. We"ll see. If I can figure out how resize and upload photos, I'll post photos of some our meals and the crazy vending machines that are everywhere.
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