Good Eats!!

Eating in Japan is AWESOME!!

Sometimes strange but wonderful!

We spent 40% of our budget on food. During our bike tour, our daily routine consisted of brewing a cup-o-joe as soon as we got up, find a convenience store to load up on breakfast food and snacks for the day, a mid-morning break on the road, lunch around noon, a couple mid-afternoon snacks, a big dinner in the evening, and searching for ice cream or some other kind of desert before going to bed.

The tour was grueling and in spite of consuming mass quantities of food, most of us lost weight. How great is that!? This is why we enjoy bicycle touring.

Many of you know I like to take eating pics. Well, here you go. Let the eating begin . . .

Note: To view enlarged photo, mouse over picture and click

Our first meal in Japan was the buffet breakfast at the Narita International Youth Hostel.
L-R Herb Lee, Andrew Okada, Korey Kolb, Jay Okada

The all you can eat buffet was a great way to start our tour.

I got accustomed to eating "natto", a sticky soy bean dish. Jay say's it good for you.

Buffet breakfast on the ferry boat.

First time I ate spiral weinies . . . and green beans, French fries, and other vege condiments for breakfast . . . mostly healthy stuff though

Our morning routine, breakfast at the 7/11 convenience store

Chef making a tastey egg over rice dish . . .

. . . which was quite good

Jay scarfing down the egg dish . . . yummie!

The young guns over-ate

Mid-morning stop at the 7/11

Don't cha eye-ball me! Katsu Curry Korey got hooked on the brown sauce.

Have you ever had lavender ice cream?

Three bucks but very tastey

No vegetarians here . . . Genghis Kan all you can eat meat dinner tonight

Snacking on soft red bean-filled fish pastry

Katsudon (deep fried pork over rice) and shrimp tempura soba (buckwheat noodles) for lunch

Musubi (rice ball) for breakfast

Andrew has quite the appetite. He orders two meals for lunch.

Great times at dinner

Another fine soba combo dinner

Hmmm . . . too many beers to choose from . . .

Wow! Yakitori (BBQ meat on a stick) overload

Too many choices at a French Bakery . . . Great pastry shops were found everywhere

Grilled fish on a stick . . . another first

Vendors galore at a park in Sapporo

I tried a sausage swirl on a stick

Our most expensive dinner ($33) . . . another Genghis Kan all you can eat meat dinner at the Sapporo Brewery

A friendly vendor at a rest stop

Salmon and rice breakfast at a Yoshanoya (all day eatery)

Ladies making oden (fish and vegetable snacks) at a Way Station

Freshly made oden is quite good

Herb and I had a fantastic dinner at mountain top ryokan/onsen

You dress up in these fancy yukata jackets for dinner

Lunch stop at an Aquarium cafe with a glass wall facing the ocean . . . great views, good eats

Another fine egg over rice dish for lunch

A variety of flavored mochi (sticky rice) on a stick at a Way Station . . . more great stuff

Nori (seaweed) wrapped mochi on a stick

More friendly gals selling a variety of "on a stick" foods

A splendid vegetarian breakfast at a youth hostel . . . time to purge our bodies of red meat

Close-up of the vegetarian breakfast . . . it was really good!

Once in awhile we would splurge and have a nice lunch

Everyone enjoying the extravagant multi-course lunch

Salmon roe formed into a shape of a fish at a fish market

Live giant tiger shrimp at the fish market

One of many noodle dishes eaten for lunch . . . one of couple hundred I recall

Herb and I spent one night at a country ryokan and the lady served us miso soup and musubi in the morning for free . . . another friendly surprise

The best meal of the tour at a country ryokan

It was about a 15 course meal

Eating dinner in our yukatas . . . life is good

Close-up view of our fantastic dinner . . . incredible presentation. Don't want to be the dish washer here.

Kobe beef grilled at the table . . . melts in our mouth

Grilled meat on a stick at a Way Station

Jay and Herb eating breakfast at a ryokan . . . we were the last ones to eat this morning

Mochi vendor passing out free treats

Denny's in Japan are quite different serving mostly Japanese food at very reasonable prices . . . plus free refills of coffee

I admit we ate a few meals at McDonalds where the coffee at 120 yen ($1.20 US) is the cheapest you can find


We spent our last night in Japan at Shigefumie and Chieko Enimoto, friends of Hilde Bly and daughter Susan. Both are active outdoor types and fun people.

Shigefumie cooked and served sukiyaki. Our only homemade meal. It was great.

Making tako (squid) balls at a Tokyo tourist area

On the Ginza was this bakery with over a hundred people patiently waiting in line to get in. In the window was this long pastry on a rotesserie. What ever it is, it must be great. I didn't feel like waiting in line to find out.

"Sumimasen Button" is the blue button on the table. When you are ready to order, you can push the button to get the attention of the waitress. Very cool innovation!