Travel Bits: March 2017

Traveling and local food, a symbiotic relationship .......

While traveling, I usually prefer to try the local cuisines. This is to allow myself to be immersed into the local culture and customs because food is certainly one area where its preparation, flavour, taste and presentation are heavily influenced by the culture and customs of the people who created the cuisine.

During my current vacation in Tokyo (yes, I am writing this article from the comfort of my hotel room in Shinjuku), I again went looking for delicious and authentic local food. And in Japan, there are no other food dishes more popular than seafood.

Sashimi set, Ueno District, Taito, Tokyo, Japan (2017)

While I do not always dine at expensive restaurants when I travel, I do occasionally splurged on dining when I felt an urge to spend some serious money. But more often than not, I usually dine at local eateries where food prices are affordable and I get the opportunity to mingle with the local crowd.

While out and about looking for good locations to photograph and admire sakuras (cherry blossoms) in the current spring season in Tokyo, I chanced upon a small local eatery near Ueno Park. This eatery is located just next to the Ueno Station. While its exteriors definitely do not look enticing and certainly do not scream "come in and dine here", the food they serve is marvellous. The authentic local Japanese dishes on its menu are simply delicious. Price-wise, it is not the cheapest you can find in town or in the area. But the ingredients used are extremely fresh and of very high quality. You basically get what you paid for in terms of freshness and quality.

My friends and I ventured into the eatery and ordered a few local dishes.  They turned out to be one of the freshest seafood we had ever tasted in Tokyo. After an extremely satisfying meal, we paid up and went on our merry way; feeling both satisfied and happy. The shop had a harvest from the sea on its menu and we were a bunch of contented customers.

Among the food on our lunch list that day was a sashimi set, a tamagoyaki  dish and a grilled seafood set. For the grilled seafood set, we were served a set of fresh raw seafood to be cooked by ourselves by grilling the seafood over a traditional charcoal fired stove. How's that for some local authenticity?

Tamagoyaki, Ueno District, Taito, Tokyo, Japan (2017)

Raw shishamo fish (to be cooked by the diner over a traditional charcoal fired stove), Ueno District, Taito, Tokyo, Japan (2017)

Raw scallop, prawn and shellfish (to be cooked by the diner over a traditional charcoal fired stove), Ueno District, Taito, Tokyo, Japan (2017)

Raw shellfish (to be cooked by the diner over a traditional charcoal fired stove), Ueno District, Taito, Tokyo, Japan (2017)

Raw scallop (to be cooked by the diner over a traditional charcoal fired stove), Ueno District, Taito, Tokyo, Japan (2017)

The kitchen of the small local eatery, Ueno District, Taito, Tokyo, Japan (2017)

Charcoal were taken from this large fireplace and used to fire small traditional stoves that diners will use to grill some of the raw seafood, Ueno District, Taito, Tokyo, Japan (2017)

What about you? Where have you travelled to recently and what local cuisines have you sampled? :-)

Author's note: Most small local Japanese eateries only accept payments in the form of cash in the local currency (i.e. Japanese Yen). Thus, it is wise to ensure that you have sufficient Yen with you when out dining at these eateries.