http://www.city-cost.comSun, 16 Aug 2026 06:31:32 +0900English learner, wants to communicate with people from around the world!! ;)enCopyright © 2015 - 2026 City-Cost All Rights Reserved.webmaster@city-cost.com (CC Team)http://img.city-cost.com/static/blog_campaign_icon.pnghttp://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/MvbXM-food_kanagawa_kawasaki-shiI ate motsu nabe (もつ鍋) for dinner tonight. There isn’t really much of a custom to eat ホルモン overseas, as I understand it. It’s pretty common in Asia though. Hormone (short term for internal organs) is very popular in Japan. Why? Because it’s cheap and delicious.I’ve heard that the term hormone derives from the Kansai region of Japan, at a time when these internal organs typically weren’t eaten. Instead they would be thrown away - 放る物 / hōru mono (lit, throw away things/stuff). I can’t confirm this to be true, though. Anyway, tonight’s dinner was motsu nabe, with the main ingredient being hormone. From the picture you’ll see it looks kind of grotesque. Almost a bit phallic (in a weird way). Actually, inside it’s quite fatty, and has a sweet taste, once you get chewing. The picture above is of small intestine, the outer ‘skin’ of which is very rubbery, and difficult to bite through. Breaking down the main ingredients of this nabe; small intestine, stomach, heart, cabbage, leek, burdock, and garlic. The soup is a salt base, so not so heavy. There were also a some pieces of yakitori (grilled chicken) in there. Overall, this dish left me feeling pretty oily/greasy! I think my body has increased its store of fat after this! Still, it tasted pretty good.A serving for one cost around 1190 yen (~$12). We ordered two servings, and filled it out with some veggies. It ended up being enough to fill four of us. And we were pretty full! We also probably over ordered on the ‘internal organs’, which is perhaps the reason for a bit of a smell of something you would do in a toilet! Let’s not say anymore about that though!I’m wondering if in America or Europe there is actually any culture of eating this kind of food.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/MvbXM-food_kanagawa_kawasaki-shiMon, 27 Jun 2016 13:26:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/MvbXM-food_kanagawa_kawasaki-shihttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/w5VqM-food_tokyo_minato-kuWe went for lunch today at a restaurant called お茶漬け膳 (Ochazuke Zen). As the name suggests, this restaurant specializes in ochazuke (お茶請け). What this basically means, is boiled rice over which you pour hot tea. It’s really good winter food, as it can really warm you up. Maybe this is why the restaurant’s aircon was set at such a cold temperature (it’s rainy season in Japan now, which means a warm and sticky climate - not ideal for this kind of food).On this occasion, I ordered a lunch set for 1,020 yen. The pictures below are of the complete set (the jug of tea is out of shot) and then the moment you pour the tea onto the rice. You put your rice in white bowl and then pour the tea into that.Side dish of egg plant covered in a kind of minced pork.Miso soup served with ice (due to the season).Help yourself to shredded nori/seaweed (right) and katsuobushi/bonito flakes (left) and put them on your ochazuke.The bright pink and yellow is pickled radish (tsukemono in Japan)I’m not aware of any other food cultures that make a meal out of pouring tea onto rice, but I’d love to know if there is anything similar to ochazuke in other countries!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/w5VqM-food_tokyo_minato-kuThu, 23 Jun 2016 15:46:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/w5VqM-food_tokyo_minato-kuhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/wrPRz-food_tokyo_minato-kuI don’t know whether or not other countries have the custom of eating horse meat, but yesterday a friend and I went to a specialist horse meat restaurant to eat sashimi and steak (the meat coming from a horse, of course).It was our first time to visit this specialist horse-meat restaurant. Everything seemed fresh and I was pleased that were no off-putting or unpleasant odors coming from the kitchen. Biting into the horse meat, it was very juicy, and didn’t have any particular smell.The dish above is called Baniku Yukke (馬肉ユッケ). It’s raw horse meat, served with a raw egg, sesame seeds (ゴマ) and diced green onion (ネギ) which you mix together before eating. I think perhaps this combination might not go down well with many people from the West.The taste is a soy sauce base, and has quite a sweet and sour feel to it (although this is made milder by the egg).Still, you can find Baniku Yukke in quite a few places (yakinuki restaurants, for example) so there’s no real need to come to a horse-meat specialist for this dish.Next up is the steak though. This is real specialist stuff.Actually, we also ate horse sashimi (no image for this), but the most delicious dish, without question, was the horse steak.In particular, taking bites out of the chuck plate (チャックプレート) and rump (ランプ) was an exciting eating experience.Compared to traditional beef steak, there is hardly any fat/gristle on the horse version, and it was surprisingly tender. For us two ladies, it was easy enough to handle.Anyway, I realized today how nice horse meat can be. And, I hear it has about ⅓ of the calories of beef, so it could be a good option for my next night out with my friend!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/wrPRz-food_tokyo_minato-kuFri, 01 Apr 2016 11:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/wrPRz-food_tokyo_minato-kuhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/z1Kvw-food_tokyo_shinjuku-kuThis week a friend and I went to try out some fire nabe (火鍋/hi nabe) in Kagurazaka, Shinjuku.My friend stuggles with really spicy food so I was bit worried about how she would handle fire nabe. As it turns out, the dish in these pictures had a full-bodied taste that wasn’t just ‘spicy’, so I think even people who are not too keen on the hot stuff can enjoy it. Also with this dish, that spiciness doesn’t seem to linger, so it’s fairly easy to eat.The ingredients for this particular nabe included; oyster (牡蠣), pork (豚肉), chicken (鶏肉), gyoza (餃子), Chinese cabbage (白菜), mushroom (しめじ), leek (ネギ), garlic (ニンニク), cress (カイワレ), radish (大根), carrot (人参).You can see also that the dish has been halved. On the right is the spicy soup. The left side isn’t spicy.I’ve eaten fire nabe plenty of times but ultimately the soup in these images has a little someting different about it. It stands out from the rest.There are many oportunites to eat nabe in the Tokyo area. In my experience so far, this occasion has been the most delicious.For two people, our check was less than 5,000 yen which, in my opinion, is very reasonable.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/z1Kvw-food_tokyo_shinjuku-kuWed, 02 Mar 2016 11:36:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/z1Kvw-food_tokyo_shinjuku-kuhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/wjjrw-food_money_tokyo_shinjuku-kuThis week I went to try a hamburger highly recommended by a friend.The name of the restaurant in Martini Burger (マティーニバーガー). You can find it in Shinjuku, about a 10-minute walk from Kagurazaka Station.Web: http://martini-burger.com/en/Made with 100% beef, these burgers are as juicy as they come and super delicious!I ordered a burger topped with mushrooms, gouda cheese, and béarnaise sauce (the Brooklyn). My friend … I can’t remember. Anyway, they said it was great.You’ve got to pay for this kind of quality though. The burgers here are around triple the price of a McDonald’s. My order: burger ~ 1,600 yen + drink ~ 400 yen. 2,000 yen for one!That said, I don’t hear of many great burger restaurants in Tokyo, and if you were to head here for lunch you might be able to get a cheaper deal on certain orders.The restaurant atmosphere is good (definitely a step of from the fast food burger places). At these kind of prices this is not a place I (personally) can go regularly, but maybe once a month, or something like that. Just as a little treat!Anyway, for now, with spring coming soon, I’m looking forward to a cherry blosson party. Maybe this place does burgers to take out!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/wjjrw-food_money_tokyo_shinjuku-kuFri, 26 Feb 2016 16:30:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/wjjrw-food_money_tokyo_shinjuku-kuhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/G7mPM-food_tokyo_meguro-kuYesterday, after a pretty hectic day at work, a colleague and I stayed out all night. In the early hours on the way home, between Shibuya and Nakameguro, we stopped off for some ramem.We found this ramen place about a minute’s walk from Nakameguro station. The restaurant is called AFURI. I think they have places in Ebisu and Roppongi, too. AFURI stays open late at night, the ramen is good, and it comes highly recommended (from me).The noodles we ate there were thin (細麺 / hosomen) but had a pretty good texture. I think they suit smaller appetites, so might not be filling enough for some.We ordered ゆずしょうゆラーメン / yuzu shouyu ramen. They’ve other ramen dishes at AFURI, but when I come here again, I’m going to order the same dish. The ゆずしょうゆラーメン was really good, and I don’t want to run the risk of trying something else and being disappointed! At 950 yen, it’s little expensive but the taste is great, so I’ll think of it as a treat.Late at night, if you look for them, you can find plenty of ramen places about (in Tokyo). The things is, though, the best places have usually closed for the day. This makes AFURI even more of a ramen treasure.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/G7mPM-food_tokyo_meguro-kuTue, 23 Feb 2016 11:43:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/G7mPM-food_tokyo_meguro-kuhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/GWRmz-living_money_education_tokyoAround New Year Japanese children are all eagerly waiting to receive otoshidama. It seems there is no such custom abroad. Friends often ask me why it is that in Japan children are given money at this time, and actually, I’ve begun to wonder myself.I also wonder what people from outside of Japan think of this custom.For example, I have two children, 5 and 2. The eldest gets 2,000 yen in otoshidama, the youngest, 1,000 yen. For most families, the amount given depends on the child’s age. Exactly how much, changes from family to family.Even though I’m Japanese myself, culturally, I don’t know the backstory of giving otoshidama. For people from overseas then, I guess it must be even more of a mystery.Also, once children receive this money, the question then is, ‘What do they do with it?’. After a bit of research I’ve found 3 common patterns:1 - Parents make a bank account for their children, and put the money in there for saving.2 - Children can use the money freely.3 - Parents set aside the money to be used for their children’s upbringing.The reason for No.3 is usually in situations where only one parent is working and there isn’t so much money available. That said, most households don’t choose No.3.With No.1 and No.2, parents who choose these seem to be split 50/50. People choose No.1 so that their children will have money in the future for things like education, getting a driver license, or buying a car. When it comes to weddings, there are many who said that they (the parents) pay for everything themselves.The reason for No. 2 suprised me. Parent who choose this want their children to learn that money has a limit. Like, if their child uses it to buy something that’s not good and they get bored of it, they can learn from this experience.How about you guys? Would you like to start the custom of otoshidama? Oh, actually maybe this is tough time to start, after the Christmas/New Year season!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/GWRmz-living_money_education_tokyoThu, 14 Jan 2016 16:32:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/GWRmz-living_money_education_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/G71RM-food_tokyoWhat I’d like to do is introduce the kinds of ramen that my overseas friends in Japan often tell me taste really good. In doing so, I hope I can provide a small guide to some of the ramen that readers here might enjoy, too. All of these suggestions have been carefully, and lovingly selected. Also, I hope that this will help me to make more ‘ramen friends’, so please, don’t be afraid to leave me your comments!Oily (ギトギト)! Mainly, the base of this ramen is 豚骨/tonkotsu - pork bones. It’s really oily! As a result, restaurants serving this kind of dish tend have slippery floors (due to the grease). People who are not used to this amount of oil in their food sometimes come away with a slight stomach ache!!! The dish is very creamy and has a rich taste.The image above was taken in a restaurant that I often go to - Yokohama Kakei Ramen (横浜家系ラーメン). As the name suggests, this ramen has its origins in Yokohama. The dishes here taste so good, and the price is around 700 yen, only. Ask for ‘Tonkotsu Ramen’.Overseas friends often tell me that the ramen here is “Yummy!”, so perhaps the taste could be a good fit for others?! That said, a lot of my Japanese friends come away from this kind of ramen complaining of a sore stomach! As for me? I’m always more than fine!Heavy (こってり)As before, the base of this ramen comes from pork bones, and yes, it’s a little oily. More than that though, the taste is quite refreshing. This comes from the ramen’s topping ingredients which leave a stronger impression. The dish may look oily, but it doesn’t really feel that way. If you try it, you’ll soon agree. It’s because of this balance between the oily and the refreshing, that I’ve called this dish こってり,‘heavy’ or ‘rich’.Here too, the price is around 700 yen. Pretty cheap!The picture above is of Negi (Tonkotsu) Ramen (Negi - leek / spring onion). The negi makes for a tangy, but quite sweet taste which helps to make this a refreshing dish. Be careful though! Eating too much negi can also give you a stomach ache!Refreshing (さっぱり)Just from looking at this dish (the image above), maybe you can see that it has a more refreshing taste than the others. It has a soy sauce base. This ramen is refreshing to the point of being able to ‘drink’ it up in one go. Despite having a soy sauce base, the broth makes sure that the ‘soy’ taste isn’t too strong. In the restaurant, ask for just ‘ramen’ or ‘futsu no ramen’ (regular ramen).The restaurant where this picture was taken is also famous for curry rice. I have no picture of that right now, so maybe I’ll talk about it another time. (>_<)I really want to introduce more foods/dishes/restaurants my overseas friends, so if you have any recommendations, be sure to let me know. Thanks!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/G71RM-food_tokyoTue, 12 Jan 2016 16:53:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/G71RM-food_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/Mn4mG-food_money_tokyo_meguro-kuThere are many Chinese restaurants to choose from in Tokyo. When it comes to スーラータンメン / Sura Tanmen (a noodle dish), though, I recommend this one …The restaurant is called 揚州商人 / Yousyu Syonin. It’s a chain store with branches in a variety of locations. As for the taste of the スーラータンメン; it has a reputation for being a little sour, but it is also very rich bodied, and thick, which makes for a great taste. Well, for me anyway!The price is a reasonable, 900 yen.Perhaps the best thing though, is that many of the Yousyu Syonin stores in the Tokyo area stay open late, until 4 am. So, if, in the middle of the night you have a craving for some Chinese food, maybe you can sneak out to one of their restaurants!The one I went to recently (in the pictures) can be found near my home in Musashi Koyama (武蔵小山). As you can see, there are no other customers. This is because I went there at 2 am!The スーラータンメン is really good here, but the 小籠包 (sour dumplings) also come recommended.Yes, there are so many Chinese restaurants in Tokyo, but, for me, this makes finding a good one that little bit more difficult. So, it you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them. Thanks.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/Mn4mG-food_money_tokyo_meguro-kuTue, 12 Jan 2016 12:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/Mn4mG-food_money_tokyo_meguro-kuhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/zKbAM-living_food_tokyo_minato-kuYesterday, a friend and I went out and ate raw oysters. It was such lovely meal.Actually, about half a year ago I caught the Norovirus from eating oysters. I felt soooo sick. Still … I wanted to try again!In total, we each ate five raw oysters. One after the other, really quickly. They were so succulent, and tasted absolutely delicious!Plus, the price for our meal was really cheap. I thought we’d got such a bargain. Only 300 yen for one oyster! Even though I ate so many, I really want to go back for more tonight!I’d really like to find more restaurants that serve raw oysters, so please let me know it you find any.That said, yesterday we also ate sazae, which helped to complete a fantastic meal. Have you ever eaten sazae? In English, I’m not sure how to say, but it’s a kind of shellfish / snail!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/zKbAM-living_food_tokyo_minato-kuThu, 07 Jan 2016 21:02:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/junko/zKbAM-living_food_tokyo_minato-ku