Japan Trip 2013 - Day 5 & 6

Day 5

Today started with an early morning.  We woke up at 4:00 AM to catch the first train out to Tsukiji Market in Tokyo to eat at the legendary Sushi Dai with epic wait times.  If you get a wait time of 2.5 hours you are considered lucky.  If you line up after 5 am, be prepared to wait for at least 3-4 hours.  However, if you don't want to wait as long, there is Sushi Daiwa, which is next door, or other sushi places around the same area.  Regardless of which sushi restaurant you choose, the fish is fresh from the sushi market.  There are two meal options for Sushi Dai.  The small nigiri plan (2500 円）and the big omakase (3900円).  I believe the main difference to be the types of fish and quantity used.  In the big omakase, you get 10 pieces of the chef's choice and 1 additional piece that you can request from their menu.  All pieces are done in the nigiri style with a cut of fish on top of sushi rice.  We are not too sure on the details of the small omakase because we both opted for the big omakase plan.  If we waited for 2.5 hours, we might as well try the best of the best.

The Counter

Store Front

Red Miso Soup With Fish

Fatty Tuna

Red Snapper

Sea Urchin

Saury

Surf Clam (still alive) 

Lean Tuna 

Salmon Roe 

Spanish Mackeral 

Sea Eel 

Abalone  

Salted Cod Roe and Cucumber Roll 

Steamed Egg Roll 

Rock Salt

There was also a Sea Bream, but we got too excited and ate it before we remembered to take a picture. Overall it was the best sushi we have ever had. Everything was very fresh (caught on the same day!). The chef was very welcoming and even spoke a bit of English. Was it worth it? Most definitely! Many omakase sets can easily run up to $100, so for about $40 for this quality of sushi is a steal.

Afterwards,we made our way to Ghibli Museum. On the way, we dropped by a convenience store to get some soft drinks for our journey on this hot and humid day.  

Calpis Grape Soda

Skal Kiwi Soda

These were both great sodas that emulated its fruit counterparts. Though we both liked the grape soda the most. Calpis is doing it right.

Mixed Tart Set

We bought this tart set for １０５０円 on a whim at a train station. They looked incredibly enticing but overall was just okay. It was definitely a great deal for five slices of tarts and they were not too sweet either. Perhaps we were too spoiled by the tarts from Seibu.

Shabu Shabu All you can Nom

To end the day, we searched for an all you can eat Shabu Shabu and found some places in Ikebukuro.  We chose the one in the same building as Book Off near Sunshine City.  As with many places in Tokyo, they have an English menu option for us to order off of and some of the staff have some basic English proficiency. We ordered tonkotsu as our soup base.  The choices of soup bases come with different side dishes or sauces.  The tonkotsu comes with a sesame and garlic oil sauce, a lemon pepper paste, and green onions. This buffet style meal costs $20 for 90 minutes, which is a common price among these types of establishments. There were also all you can drink options for those interested in partaking soft drinks or alcohol.

Day 6

A new line of products just started at Mister Donut! In preparation for the fall they released a chestnut flavored donuts. So guess what Kitty got?

Chestnut Pon De Ring

It had richer taste than the normal pon de ring but we didn't find any particular chestnut taste with this donut.  Ducky thought it tasted like chocolate.  Still nice and chewy like the other Pon De Rings.

Sparkling Tea

It just tastes like generic sweet tea with fizzy bubbles.  Kitty thought it tasted fine, but it had a funny aftertaste from the carbonation.

Today's agenda was a super date to Odaiba! It took a while to get there so by the time we finally arrive we zipped to the closest and most convenient shop around...which turned out to be a ramen shop.

Chef's Special Tonkotsu Ramen

Since we had not eaten ramen since our arrival in Japan, we took this opportunity to try this ramen shop.  There were many choices, but we both settled on the chef's special tonkotsu ramen.  When the ramen came out, it looked great with a soft boiled egg and Japanese chashu.  With the first bite, we soon found out that it was much too salty for our tastes. Kitty's egg was also hard boiled. And so our search for ramen continues.

After a day of shopping, it was around 6PM, so we headed on over to Oedo Onsen Monogatari which is a hot spring themed after the old edo era. The entrance fee after six is １４８０円. You get a yukata and change into it and then step into the edo world!

There were a lot of food stalls to choose from. Kitty wanted something refreshing so she got the kitsune soba while Ducky wanted something different.  Ducky just chose something that looked good in the picture and it ended up being a cheesy katsu don.

Kitsune Soba

It definitely hit the spot after a long day of walking. This soba dish even included some preserved clams as well as a fish cake. It had a very pure and clear taste unlike our rich ramen we had for lunch. Would definitely order this again.

Egg and Cheese Tonkatsu Rice Bowl

 Ducky's egg and cheese tonkatsu rice bowl was exactly as expected.  The tonkatsu was beneath a layer of cheese and egg.  The katsu was not as crispy as Ducky would have liked, but the rice bowl nonetheless was what Ducky wanted.  The cheese worked well with the egg and was an interesting combination with the tonkatsu.  It was definitely a Japanese style dish, but we would not order it again.  The rice bowl comes with a side of cheap miso soup, which we did not take a picture of.  The soup was just okay and nothing special.  Overall,  it was worth ordering once, but it was not as delicious or appealing to warrant a second try.

Cold Milk

 After taking a hot bath, a bottle of cold milk is a must! Something about after taking a hot bath makes drinking this dairy treat even more tasty and refreshing. Most hot springs and public bath houses sell this because it's such a popular post-bath thing to enjoy (even comes in chocolate, strawberry, or banana flavor).

Ramune Soft Serve

The Ramune soft serve really does taste like Ramune, the Japanese marble soda. This was not exactly ice cream, but more like a soft serve frozen yogurt type.  Unfortunately, it was served on possibly the weakest ice cream cone we have ever had.  We only began eating the soft serve when we noticed the bottom of the cone already warping from the melting soft serve. But more importantly, the soft serve's sweet, tart, and tangy taste really topped off our experience here at Oedo Onsen!