Kyoto Ramen Koji

G’day Foodsaurus readers! Sorry for the lack of posts over the past few months, I’ve been busy with other areas of life. I know it’s mid-March but Happy 2015! I realise that I still have a couple of posts from Japan that I’d love to share with you… so here’s one from Kyoto!

As a Japanese ramen lover, I was super excited when we arrived in Kyoto and discovered that JR Kyoto Station had an entire floor dedicated to ramen noodles!

I wanted to eat my way through all eight shops, but I only managed to visit three times. Each shop has its own specialties from different parts of the country so it can take a while to decide especially if it’s all in Japanese.

Our Kaiseki Meal in Hakone

We stayed at a Japanese-style room whilst we were in Hakone, a two-hour train ride from Tokyo. It was a cultural experience staying in a traditional room, wearing a yukata, sleeping on the ground and chatting with naked strangers in an onsen pool whilst admiring the magnificent view of Mount Fuji.

Tapas Molecular Bar – Tokyo

It’s been two years since I started this blog! Thanks to everyone who has supported Foodsaurus along the way. To mark Foodsaurus’ 2nd Blogversary, I’ve written a photo essay (yes, this post is really long!) about our degustation meal at Tapas Molecular Bar in Tokyo, where Peter and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary in April this year.

Tapas Molecular Bar is located on the 38th floor at the Mandarin Oriental and like the name suggests, it features a bar that exclusively seats eight people at each of their daily two seatings. So we were stoked to get a booking two months before our trip!

As you will see, dining at Tapas Molecular Bar was like sitting in a science lab where we watched mad scientists prepare spectacular food for us to eat… Enjoy 🙂

Ichiran Ramen – Shinjuku

Ichiran is a popular ramen noodle chain in Japan and we went based on the recommendation of our friends, Jason and Gloria. The one we visited was in Shinjuku Tokyo and although we couldn’t work out how to read the address, we were able to find it by walking towards the shops once getting out of JR Shinjuku Station’s Higashi exit.

This store is open 24/7 and they specialise in one product – the classic tonkotsu ramen.

Eating through Asakusa, Tokyo

A trip to Asakusa was a great way to escape modern-day Tokyo and get a taste of Japanese history and their traditional culture.

I anticipated a day of sightseeing but instead I was in for a surprise. The paths leading up to the temples and shrines were filled with Japanese gift shops and lots of street food!

Daiwa Sushi – Tsukiji Fish Market

We visited Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market – the world’s largest fish market twice. The first time we got there was on a Wednesday and the market was closed. They are closed on certain days of the year, so check their website before you go!

Since we had familiarised ourselves with Tsukiji Fish Market on our first attempt, we knew exactly how to walk to Building 6 which houses two of the most famous sushi bars in the fish market – Daiwa Sushi and Sushi Dai. Our eyes were set on the kanji characters 大和寿司, Daiwa Sushi.

My First Bowl of Ramen in Japan

I just got back from a two week holiday in Japan! This was our first trip to Japan and it was to say the least – amazing. There were so many highlights from our trip that it is going to be hard to write about everything! I will try my best to give you a glimpse into the trip but overall, we loved Japan, the people were so nice and friendly, the food was awesome, we enjoyed exploring the different places (including getting lost) and experiencing the culture.

Menya Noodle Bar – Chinatown

A few Saturdays ago, I had lunch at Menya Noodle Bar in Chinatown. Despite the time being close to 3pm when we arrived,  this little shop in Haymarket was still very busy serving out bowls of ramen.

Kobe Jones Sydney

At the end of 2012, two girlfriends and I enjoyed the sunset overlooking the Sydney Harbour as we slowly ate our way through an eleven dish “Unkai” menu at Kobe Jones with vouchers from Spreets.

Tokonoma – Surry Hills

Having read reviews and seen photos of Tokonoma, I snatched up a 12 dish tasting menu for two with a bottle of wine deal for Tokonoma when I saw it on Spreets. Peter and I decided to use it to celebrate our sixth month wedding anniversary (it was really just an excuse to eat good food!).