You find these machines in about 70% of all restaurants. They are a lot simpler to use than the kiosks at McDonald’s here for instance. It really helps with the language barrier! Some of the machines will take your train card, some take credit cards but most don’t. In Japan, prepare to pay cash more often for food. Cash is used a lot more in Japan than here for instance.
We punched in our order, turned in our ticket and in a few minutes our delicious and inexpensive meal was ready. This place amazingly had only two employees! It was pumping out consistently good food quickly for scores of people. Only in polite efficient Japan is stuff like this possible!
I feel that the food in Japan is amazing and if you go to the right places can be inexpensive. Go to small shops off the main drag and back alleys. Don’t be afraid of dark back alleys. Japan is probably the safest country in the world and there is very little crime. This is the best pork Ramen I have ever eaten and it was at a small stand under the train tracks and cost less than $10.
These “Korean Style” corn dogs seemed to me like a new culinary fad in Tokyo now. They are like corn dogs rolled in crisply french fries and are amazingly good. Sometimes these are cheese sticks prepared in the same way. Stands selling these are very common in Tokyo.
5 comments
Japan is easily in the top 3 best places to travel, even after going twice I would go again in a heartbeat. It’s beautiful everywhere from the ski slopes of Hokkaido to the pop up street food shops of Fukuoka.
Not eating food while walking is good advice, I had a nice old lady stop and thank me for sitting down to eat. We did drink beer in our water bottles the whole time though, it was summer and we were hiking to mountain shrines, 10/10 would do it again.
The food is amazing, even hole in the wall places are incredibly clean, trying yakitori, ramen, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, yakisoba is easily the second best thing to do after visiting the landmarks.
I’ve been looking at importing a turbo 4wd Kei car since the first time I saw one Covered in snow in Niseko. https://skiasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/niseok-car-snow-december-1024×576.jpg
is Godzilla in part 2?
We will have GT-R’s coming!
Mike,
You’re hero and been reading you since deep in the n
90s in SCC. Keep it up! Great story!
“be aware of not holding up others or getting in the way like walking two or three abreast slowly taking up several lanes. I wish Americans were like this!”
Can’t agree more! it’s beyond belief how Americans are so not aware of their surroundings and have no shame of hindering others