Chinese restaurant in Nikko

This place was overpriced. I can only think that it was because it was in Nikko which is very touristy, but they charged me $2.10 for rice and my whole meal was over $30. Also, it was not long grain rice, what kind of chinese restaurant was this. Anyway, I was tired hungry and buzzed from exhausion.

I ordered abalone, okay that is kind of expensive. Actually I though it was abalone and oysters and then when I read the menu again after they brought it out thinking it was a mistake, it was abalone in oyster sauce. Oh well, it was pretty good and I can't say it didn't taste good with the shitake mushrooms and shiny sauce. Although it had cooked lettuce underneath to soak up the sauce. I would have prefered a more valuable vegetable like cabbage.

Actually I think the rice charge wasn't only for the rice, there was soup and tsukemono which I didn't order, but it's like a set price I guess.

Station Food Japan

Looks a lot better than it tasted. I think that's because it's chilled due to food saftey. I thik it would be a lot better if I had a microwave.

Fish on a stick - Kegon Falls, Nikko, Japan

Yummy! You gotta be a little careful of the bones though, but this is a nice snack when you are hungry and want something small. $5 bucks. . .might be a little steep but it's a touristy place.

Tavern "Hipparidako" - Nikko, Japan

After a long day of walking all over Nikko at the famous shrines I stopped into this restaurant. I was assuming it was busy when they told me to wait a moment after I told them it was just me. . .they mumbled something in Japanese which maybe was something to clarify but I couldn’t understand. When I was seated ½ the restaurant was empty.

I ordered a tenderloin steak and I can’t say it was anything fabulous, but it was perfectly cooked and I was hungry. Okay, I change my mind, it WAS really great!

I have to say though, I love to eat my meat with rice. In America you can’t find this combination at a restaurant. I always do it at home. And again, the rice always so perfectly cooked..

Of course I didn’t need to order that strawberry shortcake afterwards. . . but So what if I did. . . It was good!

Breakfast at Turtle Inn

Breakfast wasn't that impressive as a place that has B&B on the door. Oh well, they serve you and it comes with juice, coffee and the convience of eatting in the morning when you are hungry!

Nikko - Turrle Inn Dinner

I stayed at this nicer one of the Inn in the link above in Nikko. Except, no more Japanese style non-beds for me EVER! The dinners are pretty nice actually. I just had one dinner there, I should have had another dinner

I had meet this elder British couple who I ate dinner with and had coffee with later which made it a more enjoyable experience.


This is sukiyaki. Not my favorite, but it was pretty neat with your own little pot and all. It’s raw when you sit down and after you are finished w/your salad the broth is boiling and your meat is cooked. I didn’t care for the raw egg to dip in. My father used to do that all the time with the raw egg thing. I prefer liquid eggs with rice. The little fish was nice and mild and for dessert we had yokan.

Ice Coffee Drink

Now here is something new. Little bits of ice coffee frozen and served with milk. Kinda fun to drink.

On all the noodle places in Japan

Japanese noodle dishes aren't new to me. I just expected the mediocre bowls of noodles to be better than the mediocre bowls in America. I tasted pretty much the same. I guess when Japanese came to Hawaii they didn't cook anything differently so the food is pretty the same. The Japanese restaurant too in California is pretty comparable too. I have to say though that rice is always prepared well in Japan. Maybe in Hawaii I get some mushy thing sometimes, but in Japan even our work cafeteria the rice is tops!

Anyway, my favorite noodle is Udon and chow fun. However, I have never ever been able to find the same freshly made udon that Eagle factory made in Hawaii. It was the best tasting Udon EVER!, and I have never tasted anything that has come near it, even in Japan.


Ramen on the left and cold udon on the right


Katsu-don on the right (this was really good) and Tempura Udon on the right

Regular Dinners

I usually eat simple dinners in my apartment in Tochigi, Japan. I eat at the company cafeteria during the day so I like to eat simple unprocessed foods when I get home. I could eat at restaurants everyday but then I'd be totally obese compared to the locals. Hey I'm already considered overweight by their standards.

I like just going to the supermarket after work. My refrigerator is a tiny cube so people don't shop once a week like in America. Anyway, it's kinda relaxing after work strolling around the store. The whole store is like the Japanese section in America, except it's the whole store. Duh. . I’m in Japan. There's too much variety and it would help if I could read the Japanese, but the grocery stores are set up the same way. You just walk along the perimeter to get your vegetables, meat and dairy.

Even amongst all the choice I go back to just buying fruit/vegetables, meat and starch. I actually buy cooked rice because I don't have a rice cooker. Also I usually cook everything in water because I don't have anything to fry in.

I love the food here, but I miss the variety of California.

Some Restaurant in Tokyo

Okay, so I felt a little shy taking pictures of every dish, but this is just a sample of all the dishes at this meal. Pretty Yummy. Oh my god, we had so many dishes.First 3 different little appitizer dishes first was bonito fish, sort of dried and salted with shoyu flavor. Then, sea snails you had to pick out. Next a seasoned spinach salad topped with bonito flakes and then a daikon salad with mayo based salad dressing sprinkled with flying fish roe. That was the appetizers and they were served in small portions. By then I had a sparkling sake and peach mixed drink.

Then came the sashimi selection and grilled fish. I was kinda already full. Then a dish of chicken joints deep fried, I think my boss ordered that. Next fish bones seasoned with soy sauce, ginger and chopped up gobo. I was stuffed. Had one more drink. I think it was a blue Hawaii. Okay, I said I was stuffed back then, and then another dish. Miso soup with clams, rice, and some yam paste which had the texture of natto, but tasted like mashed gobo, and tsukemono. I don’t like to waste the good stuff, but I was so stuffed we left food on the table.

Oh I forgot the waiter thru in some baby dried sardine sheets and two bowls of dipping something or other. One was a sort of clam, and the other a salted stomach of some fish. He thru it in just to see if I would eat it, it was okay, but not my favorite.

I have no idea where this restaurant is in Tokyo, but it had a cute waiter, who by the looks of flawless skin, I had a good 5 years on him.