Raw deer meat at Honke Bankyu Ryokan

the last fiery instant ramen on our last (for now) morning in Tokyo

took the Yamanote line from Shimbashi to Tokyo station, left part of our baggage in lockers, and got on the shinkansen to Utsunomiya, where we had to change to the Nikko line - and managed to get lunch, right inside the train station. This is one of the restaurants where you place your order and pay at a vending machine outside, and then you go inside to get and eat your food.
here's the menu:here's where you place your order:

this was my choice - soba tempura

and here's Ritesh's curry and rice

and here's what the real thing looked like inside - not bad!

Some green tea chocolate for dessert, while waiting for the Nikko line train to Imaichi, where we had to get off and walk from the JR station to the private Tobou line station at Shimo-Imaichi, from where we took one train to Kunigawa Onsen and then another to Yunishigawa Onsen, from where we would take a bus to take us to our ryokan (trad. Japanese inn). Quite a trip, but beautiful.

a welcoming snack at the ryokan Honke Bankyu Bankyu in Yunishigawa - the best daifuku ever.

Not sure actually if these would be called daifuku as well, since they were not filled with red bean paste but with yuzu (Japanese lemon) paste, but it's the same mochi-wrapped principle. The most delicate and delicious thing ever. I ended up buying a box to take home...

And here's dinner at the ryokan - a rustic version of the traditional multi-course kaiseki, including charcoal grilled items. Kaiseki is all about balancing the taste, texture, colors and presentation of food, using fresh, local, seasonal ingredients. Sadly, I was too shy the first night to take more pictures and close-ups, so you'll have to take my word that it was delicious. I was more brazen in my picture taking the following night, having realized that the Japanese around us all came equipped with cameras and were taking pictures of everything as well...

our personal charcoal grill

ground chicken w/miso, charcoal-grilled - amazing. we couldn't even tell it was chicken, that's how different it tasted

fresh veggies w/ miso dip

sake served in bamboo containers. The big one was heated over the charcoal.

the reservation tag by our charcoal grill

the famed Honke Bankyu specialty and climax of the meal: raw deer meat. We weren't sure we could eat it at first, but it was actually very nice, soft and flavorful.

Ritesh recovering from the many courses we've had so far...

miso soup, rice and pickles is the traditional last course

and here's dessert - doesn't look like much, but we were relieved it was light. Plus it was excellent fruit. Plus if you've seen my other pictures, you know how expensive fruit is in Japan. So no complaints. Fabulous meal, and this was just the beginning of our stay...

Tokyo Day 2

more instant ramen for breakfast, at an ungodly, jet-lag-induced hour

matcha and a red-bean flavored sweet at the tea house in the Hama-rikyu gardenthis is where we had lunch, a somewhat unassuming place in Asakusa - two blocks down from the main street and totally devoid of tourists

the reason Ritesh picked this place for lunch: they had chilies drying in the sun outsidewe managed to order the set lunch w/ mackarel, with the help of another customer who spoke a couple of words of English, and our trusty dictionary - super tasty and super cheap.

we ordered a plate of the fried bean sprouts because the gentlemen who helped us out was having them and they smelled really good... tasted great, too, although granted, they're not all that photogenic

freshly made red-bean cakes walking up to Asakusa Temple

and spicy dinner at a Thai hole-in-the-wall under the train tracks near Tokyo station. We knew we had some fine dining coming up the next few days, so went nice and cheap on this. Tokyo really doesn't have to be expensive...

Btw, for pictures of anything other than food, such as what we actually did and saw all day, check this link.

Tokyo Day 1

Dawn from our hotel room window. first cup of green tea - even the hotel sencha is good

spicy instant ramen for a super-early breakfast - we managed to pick this up last night at a store in Ginza.

actually, this was mine, which was not so spicy at all. Ritesh had a spicy one, but I didn't take a picture...

plastic crepe display on Takeshita Dori

another breakfast just off Takeshita Dori, getting ready to explore the Meji shrine and garden: Some more green tea, with two kinds of rice ball - one triangle wrapped in seaweed and filled with something that might have been spicy tuna, and a round one covered with something sausagey. All very tasty.

After the Meji Shrine, in Yoyogi park, we stumbled on what we now know to have been our first Takoyaki:

at this stall:green superfood drink and veggie goodies with miso dips at a veggie fair between Yoyogi Park and Shibuya

Iced tea at Starbucks, only for the location on the second floor overlooking the mad diagonal intersection in front of Shibuya station. Note that Starbucks in Japan does not carry green tea. Or rather, the only way to get green tea at a Starbucks in Japan is as a green tea latte. Hmm...

ok macaron, but lame flavor. Reminds me of a much better Japanese-flavored macaron I had in LA - ume and black sesame.

fried veggies and some meat at a bar in the Golden Gai near Shinjuku

some extra: green onion, tomato, asparagus - and two bananas for dessert!

spicy shoju w/ ooba and chili

Not such a good day for food just yet but just wait... we're just getting started...

First dinner in Tokyo - Ginza Lion

We arrived on a Saturday night, starving and exhausted, and walked over to Ginza from our hotel get a bite to eat before going to bed.
We were not in the mood for something fancy so ended up at this fabulous beer hall from the 1930ies, the Ginza Lion, which apparently is a Ginza institution.

They had a German Oktoberfest theme going, what with the waiters in Lederhosen (seriously!), German Oohmpa music blaring and all kinds of German classics on the menu, but I went for this super tasty warm Japanese mushroom salad, which we shared.

Ritesh however got this nice German Bratkartoffeln mit Wurst (fried potatoes and sausage) - the only Japanese touch was the green onion on it. Very tasty, though, too...

...plus we got to eat it with chopsticks!That's about all we could do before we collapsed in our tiny but lovely room at the Park Hotel in the Shiodome Media Center.