Soba and Japanese Cuisine
Food is a funny thing. Did you know that Japan is the human culture that consumes the biggest variety of food stuffs on Earth? Over 11 000 plant and animal species. Compared to around the 36 species consumed by some Amazon tribes. So you can imagine Japanese cuisine to be the most complicated on Earth. My Japanese is far from fluent, still I am good enough to give a corporate presentation on fiscal policy matters with hardly a stutter. But, I still can’t read (nor make sense of) the average diner menu. Still, no matter how many sensitive toes I step on by saying this, I hold firm by my belief that Japanese cuisine is the best in the world. Attention to details, an obsession with freshness and a culture were even kids are better food critics than I am, pretty much guarantees that they are on top of the food game. Even McDonalds taste well in Japan! Here are some shots from my neighborhood soba shop, and I have no idea what we ate but it was great and cheap, as usual. Chicken soba and grated daikon soba perhaps? Soba is what we would call buckwheat noodles and can be enjoyed both hot and cold. The desert? Don’t ask, but I certainly didn’t complain when the owner’s daughter came out with it after the meal. “On the house”.
Never blog on an empty stomach. Now I have to go find some fresh soba!
I’ve been following your blog since it was featured on the wordpress homepage a few months ago and I am enjoying each new post. Thanks for sharing the awesome photos.
I have to agree: McDonald’s in Japan actually tastes good–better than McDonald’s in North America!
Thanks Elisa! Happy to hear that you keep coming back. Had no idea this blog was on the wordpress homepage…! About McDonalds, I wonder how that is possible? I have been to McDonalds in more conuntries than I want to remember but only in Japan does it actually taste well. Perhaps other McDonald restaurants should take some hints?
If Japanese food is not at the top of the list, it’s definitely in the top 5, for sure. On my two visits to Tokyo I spent almost my entire time eating.
Thanks FN! After seeing your blog I think you must be an expert in all things food! I can’t visit it before lunch anymore…
Haha! Nothing of the sort – just a dude with an appetite, a camera and a laptop.
…about McDonald in Japan being somehow more tasteful… I´m wondering if it can be because of its mayonnaise.
http://enkoppzen.blogspot.com/2010/02/all-because-of-japanese-mayonnaise.html
Celina, you might not know, but Japanese are crazy about mayonnaise! They put it on everything and all the time. There’s even sushi with mayonnaise here. Usually the cheaper the restaurant you go to the more mayonnaise you get! It’s the same with all sorts of salad dressings. They eat raw fish but they can’t seem to stand raw vegetables!