The stomach grumbles - I
Where’s the photos of the sushi, ramen, and tempura?
Yes, those are three things that many people think about when it comes to Japanese cuisine but I am an advocate of trying other things when I am in Japan. Don’t get me wrong, I eat plenty of those too but I actually like trying different things when I am here.
Below are four places that I went on my trip that I chose for one reason or another. I am not affiliated or hired by any of them but I just truly enjoyed eating at these places.
Starbucks
Your stomach is grumbling and you don’t know what you want to eat for breakfast. There are a lot of great options and I will talk about many in future blogs to come, but would you eat breakfast at Starbucks in Japan?
I am a huge fan of Starbucks in Japan. I mean, look at this quiche? Does it look good to you? Those are real chunks of Japanese bacon, spinach, egg and cheese. Not to mention that the pie shell is crunchy and not soggy. Besides quiche, there are plenty of other choices that I have never seen before in North America. Its a real shame as it is really good.
There are plenty of Starbucks everywhere in Japan which makes it handy. The menu is mostly the same but there are also seasonal drinks and food selections as well.
If you are ever stuck for food choices in the morning, why not try one, you will be surprised how good it is.
Matsuya
“Free extra bowls of rice for meal sets”
is what it says in the photo above in bold.
Matsuya is a popular chain restaurant that serves many fast and simple dishes. It competes against Yoshinoya and Suki-ya and can be found in many cities across Japan. This location is just south of Okaido Station in the shopping arcade. For a quick, simple, and relatively basic Japanese breakfast, my meal costed me 480 yen. If you think about that for a second, it comes with a big bowl of rice (I upgraded), a small cabbage salad, miso soup, two eggs, sausage and natto (yes, I like natto). That is pretty good considering that my quiche at Starbucks costed about the same.
My mistake that I made is first of all not reading the sign on the door when I came in as it was 5 am and also thinking that a large rice is not a lot of rice. It did not cost much to upgrade to the larger bowl of rice and thought that I was hungrier than I actually was.
The other benefit of Matsuya is that it is opened pretty late. I have never needed to go to one in the middle of the night but if you need something in a pinch, then you are in luck!
Apparently, I found out that the Okaido branch is open till 3 am, so bonus, if you are leaving the area after singing, drinking or meeting with friends and are hungry.
Unagi Ogura Okaido
As you can see, the Okaido area is pretty handy for finding good restaurants in Matsuyama. Unagi Ogura Okaido restaurant is on the way to the Matsuyama Castle Ropeway and Tram which is in the opposite direction of the shopping arcade.
The restaurant specializes in ‘unagi’ or bbq freshwater eel. I will make two clarifications if you never had them before. I use the word ‘bbq’ loosely as it is the closest approximation in English to what the sauce is like. It is savoury and not sweet or salty. Also, the type of eel used is the fresh water eel as there is also a saltwater eel called ‘anago’. Typically, when it is served in this way, the freshwater eel is used. The cooking style in all restaurants is the ‘kabayaki’ style which when the eel is slow roasted on top of Japanese charcoals and basted in the ‘bbq’ like sauce.
The meal set that I ordered is the ‘Tokumori’ eel set. (特盛) which consists of one entire piece of eel on a bed of rice. It also served with a clear broth, chawan mushi (steamed egg custard) and tsukemono (pickled cucumber, white radish and carrot). For an appetizer, they served me deep fried eel bones which are crunchy and not difficult to eat.
The restaurant also serves A4-A5 wagyu beef in the same fashion. It is an interesting way to attract those who are not fond of eel.
Botchan Food Hall > The Spaghetti Makaroniya Matsuyama
I can’t seem to get my Apple Maps to pinpoint the place exactly but in many department stores there is always a food hall with independent restaurants sharing a common eating area. You buy your food from the various restaurants and bring it to your table to eat.
In Matsuyama, near Okaido Station, the food hall is called Botchan Food Hall and is located inside the lower level of the Mitsukoshi department store. Food halls are perfect for groups of friends/family who do not know what they want to eat. Restaurants can be intimidating sometimes and a food hall is a great way to try a lot of local cuisine.
In Japan, I enjoy eating Japanese-Italian fusion cuisine although what I ordered isn’t exactly fusion but my main picture above is a warm salad with grilled oyster mushrooms in virgin olive oil, tomatoes, green leafy salad and small dried white fish. My main was basically spaghetti and meat sauce. Got to eat your greens! Even I need a break from Japanese food every now and then.
There are many other great choices and it is easy to want to come here every day if you don’t have anything in mind as there is so many things to choose from.
Matsuyama Taimeishi Aka Dougo
I copied this from my previous post since I am talking about places where I ate in Matsuyama. My previous post is about the area around Dogo Onsen. See link below.
Matsuyama has a few local specialities and one of them is ‘taimeshi’. Taimeshi is a type of meal that steams sea bream on top of rice in a clay pot. The restaurant that I went to is called Matsuyama Taimeshi Aka Dougo which is right beside the main entrance to the shopping arcade. Unfortunately, the website is only in Japanese, but the restaurant does have English explanations in their menu along with pictures.
The meal comes with the taimeshi in a separate clay pot. The rest of the condiments and side dishes are on a separate tray. On the table, are instructions on how to best enjoy eating it.
The first thing it tells you is to mix the fish and the rice together. Next, is to scoop a small portion into the separate rice bowl, add condiments and enjoy. When you are almost done, you can add some broth into your bowl, scrape any hardened rice on the side or bottom, and add more condiments to enjoy the last part of the meal.
Along with the meal, I also ordered an orange mikan flavoured beer. The beer tasted like a Belgium wheat beer with an orange slice. Ah, the taste of Summer (6 months early).
Here it is, five diverse and interesting ideas for food in Matsuyama or anywhere in Japan. Japan has a plethora of food choices and sometimes I just don’t feel like eating typical Japanese cuisine even though I flew miles and miles to go visit.
