You’ve probably seen cafes creating cute shapes in the foam of cappuccinos and lattes before. Maybe a heart, or a four-leaf clover? Well, this one puts them all to shame. Check out the Sakamoto Ryoma latte: Read the rest of this entry »
It’s a little tricky to wrap your head around the prices in Japan. Most things are more expensive in than in the US, but it depends on what you buy. Pizza, for example, is far more expensive and you’ll probably get quite a shock after ordering your first pizza here. The amount of pizza that you get per dollar/yen is far less than you’d expect.
Check out this great video from the alivenotdead blog, which nicely illustrates what kind of pizza you can expect to get for about 3000 yen in Japan. This is pretty tiny! Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s a pretty sweet mobile phone if I ever saw one. Check out these pictures of iPhone cookies (courtesy of engadget) created by a bakery in Japan. The menu bar is a little big, but overall this is a pretty nice job. Read the rest of this entry »
Takoyaki is one of the most famous Japanese snack foods there is, and when you come here it’s a must-try in any gourmet tour of the country.
I came across this recipe for takoyaki over on Bento.com, and I hope some of you guys might try it out. Even if you can’t make it to Japan in person you can at least try to cook up the flavor of Japan in your own kitchen.
Ingredients:
Batter:
Sauce:
Cooking time: 10-20 minutes
Servings: 50-60 pieces (4-5 persons)
Yes, now you too can eat your very own Ponyo. A bakery in Yokohama has started kicking out these awesome little Ponyo buns. Well, technically it’s not actually Ponyo, but rather ‘goldfish princess bread’ so as to avoid any copyright issues. Smart move…
What do you think? Do you see a resemblance? Read the rest of this entry »
For parents out there who struggle with picky eaters, this restaurant might be a good option for you. Unless of course, you aren’t into scaring the beejeesis out of your kids and scarring them for life, that is..
This Namahage restaurant in Akita has big grassy monsters that come out and ask kids if they’ve been good or not. Needless to say that most of the kids are too scared to answer. There are locations in Roppongi and Ginza for Tokyoites who wish to check it out as well. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m not a fan of squid, but I figure if I could drink a half-dozen of these bottle’s worth of sake I might come to enjoy it.
These creative little sake bottles are amazingly made from squid, which is a very innovative – but yet very old – way of storing sake. They’re called Ika tokkuri, and be sure to have a look out for them at a souvenir shop near you. Read the rest of this entry »
Many of you might have seen ads for Burger King’s Windows 7 Whopper, available only here in Japan. It’s an absolute monster of stacked meat – 7 layers high to be exact – that could easily feed three or four people. Well, the folks over at Gizmodo took a shot at eating one (or at least of of their people did) and they taped the whole thing and uploaded it to Vimeo.
Think he can finish it all? Check out the video:
Read the rest of this entry »
No, not that kind of mold. Check out the photo of this super cool pancake mold that allows you to shape your flapjacks in a Rilakkuma pattern.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll take any excuse to get the kids over to the breakfast table and away from the television. Rilakkuma pancakes would certainly do the trick. I really like how Japan puts that little bit of extra effort into food presentation. The visual aesthetics behind stuff like this, or even a well-prepared bento box has always fascinated me for some reason.
Speaking of aesthetics, be sure to check out Shibuya246 for more great photos like this one. Very cool blog.
If you thought Cherry Coke was awful, wait till you get a load of this crappy crimson cola. It’s red bean Pepsi, the flavor that everyone outside Japan loves to hate (or at least most foreigners I speak to are not so keen on it).
Now, if you’re not sold on the Pepsi brand red-bean cola, you could always give it a try yourself. Check out this video over on Bionic Bong where one innovative Japanese dude throws some beans and Pepsi in a mixer, and asks “Will it blend?” Read the rest of this entry »
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