Eating Tokyo

Tokyo was the last stop on our amazing trip. We had around 5 days in this incredible city with a population of 37 million. It was beautiful, vibrant, MASSIVE, quirky. I can absolutely understand the reason Tokyo has become such a bucket list spot.

I think you could spend 3 months in Tokyo and not see all that you wanted to.  We certainly saw some amazing things, albeit briefly. And unfortunately Tokyo is when after being on the go, that exhaustion caught up and I inevitably got sick. That aside, I forged though and still have incredible memories.

Shinjuku Gyoen is the Central Park of Tokyo and was one of my must sees! It was very close to our hotel and I ended up going twice. 

It was an incredible garden and was a little piece of calm in the middle of the city.

I couldn't resist when I saw this adorable food truck.

It was not cheap at AUD 13 but my goodness it was delicious. A really tasty hot dog on a perfect bread roll with pickled veg which are produced in the garden itself. Very fresh, very delicious and the vendor was really lovely and friendly. 

On our other visit, I stopped in at Tsubura, a cafe in the gardens. They offered a small selection of bentos, sweets, hot and cold drinks and I had a gyodon and home made lemonade slushy while dad had a latte. 

Really sweet presentation, and a nice morning tea. Around AUD25 for the bento, drink and coffee.

A month before we departed I had the most stressful time acquiring tickets to the Ghibli Museum. Logging on at 10am on the dot as told to, I was put into a queue where I was 4099th in line. Tickets are only $10 per person, but are very limited and very coveted. The museum was tiny but very lovely, and absolutely worth the trouble. We wouldn't have journeyed out to Mitaka if we hadn't had tickets and wouldn't have discovered the beautiful Inokashira Park, which was utterly Ghibli in itself. (photography is not allowed inside the museum)

While at the park we stopped for a beer at Italian Restaurant Isentai and decided to share one of the woodfired pizzas. It was beautiful as well as incredibly tasty.

This was the house special and had a base of mascarpone and fresh cream and was topped with prosciutto, rocket, honey and edible flowers.

On one of our last days, I was feeling particularly poorly, but I said to dad I wanted to venture out but I didn't want to do any of the thinking or planning, I just wanted to be lead around. Bless him he did such a wonderful job. 

He knew I wanted to see some seaside and he knew I found the subway and metro incredibly stressful, so se booked us tickets on the open top bus (we had previously open top bussed and ADORED it) and chose the route that would take us portside to Odaiba. 

It was a beautiful out-of-the-way spot that we assume is where Tokyoites spend their weekends and holidays. It was a perfect day and the beach was speakling blue and clean as anything and no hussle and bustle.

We stopped in at a cafe, Sea Side Cafe Solaris that had a decidedly Hawaiian feeling to it for coffee, I also had a cream cheese pretzel which has that perfect sweet and salty combo going on.

We wandered around the area for an hour or two before hopping on the bus back to Ginza. We drove past the Tsukiji Market which resembled a heaving mass of bodies and took a raincheck before finding a bite to eat at the cutest restaurant we'd passed, Il Barocco.

We were lucky to get a seat as it was getting towards the end of lunch time on a Saturday. Inside felt like a traditional Italian Trattoria, not a tourist in sight and smells of deliciousness thick in the air.

I started with a blood orange mimosa and dad a beer with our garlic prawns and house made focaccia (to dip). They were INCREDIBLE.

Our other entree was slow cooked pork shoulder served with mushrooms which was also gorgeous.

Mains were spaghetti marinara and pizza el fungi.

The pizza was very nice, but the star was the spagetti. It had perfect flavour that was in no way overbearing. The seafood was fresh and cooked perfectly and these two actually complimented each other perfectly.

And this place we chose at least partially for the outside of the restaurant.

Cheap and cheerful Chinese! My sweet and sour pork was perfect and I could have eaten two or maybe even three serves. 

Check out dad's plate, actually it was the size of a platter! With fried rice that dad said was superb, fried chicken and gyoza.

This is the final of the Japan series. I feel so lucky to have been invited to join my father on this trip of a lifetime. My dad is the perfect travel partner. I admire his calm in stressful situations, his never-ending youthful adventurousness and his open and empathetic understanding of those around him.

Love you, Papa. 

Roadtrip Eats

I have been exploring the United Kingdom, and thus not doing much food writing, but here it is finally: what I ate while I was away.

As I was on holiday, I was a little lax with my photography and didn't capture everything- which is a big shame, but weather it be a B&B, chip shop, or a top steak, I enjoyed my eating while away.

Here is a chronological look at my Roadtrip Eats.

Bath

Tonight was a surprise treat for me, and a reservation had been made in advance by my travel companion.

Brasserie Brunei in Bath had a relaxed atmosphere, reasonable prices and a fantastic looking menu.

For starters: Chicken Liver Parfait with toast... a very tasty starter indeed, everything on the board was complimentary to every other element, the apple jelly cubes were just lovely.

Main: Lamb loin with potato Dauphinois and asparagus.
This dish was divine, the meat was as flavoursome and moist as any lamb I have ever tried, the asparagus tender and crisp, I was slightly disappointed that the potato wasn't a little more saucy, but still very tasty.

Dessert: White Chocolate Box
Crisp white chocolate enveloping white chocolate mousse encasing raspberry coulis.
The ice cream was actually supposed to be on my dining companion's plate, but he didn't mind me having it. YUMMO!

Bath seemed to have a host of fantastic looking bakeries and patisseries, every window displaying beautifully baked treasures such as these.

A pub close to our accommodation was The Weston. Friendly staff, nice decor, and delicious food.

 Utterly wonderful crispy encased gooey inside deep-fried brie.

Rump steak served with wonderfully crunchy, golden chips, salad and coleslaw (I also ordered onion rings, which were proper yummy too).

Marazion

I really got a taste for cider on this trip, trying a pint of a local brew in most towns. This Cornish Rattler was one of my favourites!

Room service at The Godolphin Inn, Marazion. 

The meals that we ate in the restaurant were only so-so, but this room service that we had on our balcony overlooking St Micheal's Mount was lovely, with the best sausages I have ever tasted.

I wish I could have brekky on a balcony with that view everyday!

Lulworth Cove

A very standard Inn turned out to be a wonderful culinary surprise!  Lunch (not pictured) of smoked haddock and spring onion fish cakes with some of the best chips I had ever had was an absolute delight, and I couldn't wait till dinner!

The Larder Board- Fish... with roasted Mediterranean vegetables, toasted bread, prawn salad, mackerel pate, jalapeno coleslaw, olives and relishes was an absolute delight and the presentation was comely and wholesome!

I decided to try the clotted cream ice cream which was stupendous, while G splurged with the mini puds... £1.99 each or 6 for 9.99

Warminster

We stopped at George Inn just outside a small town called Warminster as a base for easy access to Stonehenge and Cheddar Gorge.

Lunch at Rosie's Tea Room of Canelloni with ricotta and spinach was remarkably good and a huge serve, it was also served with a full baguette. I can proudly say I ate it all.

On a friday night, the restaurant and Steak House at George Inn filled up quickly, which is generally a great sign. Reserved signs topped most tables, and after perusing the menu, I could see why, it was grand!

Starter of tiger prawns in garlic and chili butter with delicious soft and crusty white bread. These prawns were brilliant... like Australian good! The butter was totally dunkable, and I made use of every scrap of bread!

A real treat for me was the 16oz T-Bone. Steak of course, is my favourite food, T-Bone is my favourite cut, so this made me very happy.

T-Bone is not a commonly found cut over here, so I positively jumped at the chance. I ordered it med-rare and it was cooked to perfection! Served with mushroom and grilled tomato,

I also ordered new potatoes, soured cream and garlic butter. (Yes my arteries weren't too impressed)

This is the face of pure bone-gnawing pleasure!

So much cider!

Cheese plate at Cheddar Gorge featuring Cheddar aged inside the caves at Cheddar Gorge.

Cheddar inside Cheddar Gorge

Llandudno

Once in the beautiful town of Llandudno, North Wales I had a craving for Chinese, and a taxi driver recommended 'East'

We opted for the Superior Set menu for 2 which contained

Chicken Sweetcorn Soup

xxx

House Combination Appetisers

xxx

Crispy Aromatic Duck

xxx

Fillet Steak in Black Bean Sauce (Sizzling)

Chicken with Lemon

Shrimp Fried Rice

xxx

Dessert and Coffee

We asked if we could change the soup to the hot and sour soup, and that's what we got, it was rich and delicious and full of meat and veg.

The appetisers were a show stopper with wan tons, spring rolls, prawn toast, chicken skewers, ribs and a divine crispy seaweed salad.

Crispy aromatic duck: the most succulent roast duck meat I have ever tried. 

The mains (oh boy, I was stuffed my this stage): The fillet steak was lovely and sizzled on the hot plate, it was so tender and still pink in the middle, quite a feat!

The chicken was lovely as well, flavoursome and meaty.

A big surprise was how many big bursty prawns were in the rice!

We didn't need dessert at all, but it was included so who were we to say no. G's chocolate cake, and my wonderful banana fritters with vanilla ice cream- one of my all time faves.

I'm going to make a bold statement and say this was the best Chinese I have ever had outside of China, and I am quite happy to argue that point out to anyone willing to listen. Certainly not what I was expecting in Wales!

Okay, although I didn't get pics, a big honorable mention must go to Fish Tram Chips in Llandudno.

Located just beside the tram stop, I decided to grab a quick feed here before our drive back to Edinburgh, and it totally blew me away. Best batter on the cod, perfectly cooked, fresh fish and wonderfully crisp chips. Well done guys!

So there we have it, I didn't capture every meal I had, but did enjoy most! And came back a might heavier than when I left. I do feel that I have experienced a wonderful view of the UK from a culinary perspective as well.