Quote:
Originally Posted by sureLoss
I heard Costco in Japan has good price on this stuff.
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I've never even considered that. Thanks for the idea Sureloss. My brother and his fiancee did this in Sapporo, but for products, not alcohol. Though, where I was staying last year, I think a trek to Costco would have taken quite a bit of time the wife would not have been happy spending. Maybe next time though.
Maybe I'll even convince my wife to do some brewery/distillery tours
Quote:
Originally Posted by chemgear
Absolutely. Even the McDonalds and KFC is better there.
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Agreed. The way I'll summarize it is like this, food in Japan is about the same as in Calgary. But, the quality difference is so vast, the ashen taste reference mentioned earlier is very true, and not just for sushi. The white rice alone is so delicious when eaten plain, but not possible to truly replicate outside of Japan. The rice alone is huge in making sushi and rice or even curry and rice ridiculously delicious.
Fruits are a must try. I never even thought of it until I brought my dad (we were on independent trips and spent a few days together) decided to drop $25 on 5 peaches. The damn things were bigger than softballs and you could smell them from across the hotel room. The $20 range of fruits was amazing. I have no idea what the more expensive versions would be like and I'd say it's something I'm hesitant to try. I had a variety of grapes, peaches and pears. The next time I go, I'll definitely bring or buy a cheap knife at a 100 yen store to try many other types of fruits like melons. It's hugely underrated how ridiculously amazing their raw ingredients are. The lower end stuff (on par or 2x price here per unit) will be really good, like Kelowna fresh good. The 4-5x per unit fruits are amazing and you can go up to 100x per unit if you want.
Foods in convenience stores (Japanese convenience stores are a favourite of mine) destroy many of the options we have here in terms of price and taste. Later at night, they're half off and that's a fantastic time to sweep them if you see those prices. The fact you can also buy awesome drinks and alcohol at the convenience store to pair with your food... awesome. That's entry level and less than the cost of what we pay here. At the same price point as Calgary (ie: Mid teens $20 ish bucks), we're talking food quality you'll probably have a hell of a time finding outside of Japan at prices anything lower than 2-3x that price. Higher end cuisine? I'm almost certain that's Japan only or ridiculous price points.
Pastries are really good too. Coffee shops from what I hear (Western style) are decent. Themed cafes aren't bad, but not the same level as a proper food place as the focus is more on the atmosphere vs food (ie: Maid cafe, animal cafes etc.). Street food? Awesome. Probably even higher standards of hygiene than some of our restaurants here, but on the street.
Japan is the only place my wife and I agree, we could go a dozen times and not get bored. Most other places get stale by the 3rd or 4th time. Not Japan IMO. Each region is it's own unique place to the rest of Japan and Japan is already unique to the rest of the world and I haven't started on the different categories yet, just food. It's... nothing short of amazing. It's literally worlds within a world in itself.
For instance Okonomiyaki in Hiroshima is something I don't think I'd find in the rest of Japan. It's sold in Tokyo, Osaka etc. and it'll be pretty good, but it won't be next level like the ones in Hiroshima I ate with my wife. It's like having a favourite ramen place in North America somewhere that no matter how good, just doesn't stack up to the local stuff, but within Japan for regional foods.