lu(2x) etc's place for nothing: My first meal in Japan -- wagu beef, yummmmmm... and other good yum yum

sunset

house

The first night I arrived in Japan, I stayed with my cousin who has worked in Japan for 2 years. Since I haven't seen her for the longest time and she had to take me in for a few days, I thought it would be a nice gesture to take her out for dinner. She doesn't eat out that much because lunch is served at work and sometimes she packs leftover from work for dinner. Since it's a small town, the selection is limited. After the discuss, we decided head to the BBQ place. It should be a nice experience for me. The BBQ originated from Korea, but changed a little to suit locals. Actually I don't think it changed that much.

We decided to order the combo meal instead of single order, since it can feed 3-4 people.

Here comes the meal we ordered. I looked not too far from the picture on the menu. It has 2 different kind of stomachs, liver, and something something meat.

side dishes, potato salad and kimchi

Let's get closer look before we start grilling the meat.

Okay, let the fun begin!! BTW, the BBQ usually doens't come with rice. I remember my Korean friend took me for Bulgogi, the restaurant served with rice. Unlke the Korean BBQ comes with dipping suace. The Japanese style doesn't come with any sauces. The meat has already poured on top. I don't think the meat is marinaded, otherwise the color of the beef won't be pink.

grill pan

I never thought that cabbage can be grilled. It tasted pretty good. The stomach is chewy but not like rubber which I like. Whenever I get chance to go to Vietnamese restaurant have Pho, I like to order the one with everything in it, tripe, tendon and something something. I feel like I tried everything. The thought the liver will get hard and tough after grilling. On the contrary, it was still tender. It was the best animal liver I ever had. I know pig's liver can get hard after cooking, but I don't know if that also applies to beef's liver. The beef was soooo.............. good that just meleted in my mouth. Because we were yapping so much, we totally forgot the meat on the grill. The result was we kind burned one piece of good meat. It didn't turn out like rock as I thought, it was still go thought.

Because we had so much time on the food and conversation and I like to venture out to try something, so we ordered the beef tongue.

the lemony dipping suace for beef tongue

We didn't use the dipping suace because the beef has enough seasoning. I tried the beef tongue with dipping sauce, but I didn't like it. The beef has enough seasoning already, to me it was more flavorful to eat it alone.

After dinner, I just felt like eating another meal. My cousin suggested a udon place which is inexpensive. Something needed to be done before our second round dinner -- burned down some calories from BBQ dinner. A stroll to the supermarket also serves a purpose of getting some snakcs for later.

In the supermarket, I discovered this good-looking beef. The marbling was so sexy and attractive. I only seen it on TV, but never in real life. Half pound meat cost 2300 yen, it's about 28 dollars as recent currency rate. Since this kind high quality meat is not available in regular supermarket, I've tried online search to find butchers or farmers that I will be able to purchase locally. I haven't got much success to find butchers, but there are farmers in BC and Vermont grow wagu beef. I am too intimidate to email and ask how much these meat cost.

wagu beef for grilling

less expensive meat for grilling

The noodle place is located in the same plaza with the supermarket we visited. This is a chain store which has various locations around Japan. The company also produces other food-related proudcts. Noodle is made in house.

丸龜製麵

self-served condiment

an array of rice balls

self-served tempura

open kitchen

chef was cooking

Here came our food. The noodle was al dente, excellent and chewy. Few days later I had another udon in Kyoto. That one was on the soft side which I preferred this one.

soy-based broth udon

bonito-based broth udon

veggie tempura

fish cake tempura

Dessert came right after our excellent dinner meal. I just love these thin cigarette shaped confectioneries. They have so many flavors. The companies also make local flavors such as the yam flavor shown on the picture. Those confectioneries made outside of Japan sell cheap in the supermarket just dont' taste quite right. It's the same applies to wasabi beans sold on the market. Those made in Japan taste spicy like the real wasabi but have more subtle flavor. On the other hand, those made from outside Japan only have sharp flavor. Personally I think Glico who produces Pocky is better than others. My favorite is the dark chocolate flavor. It satisfies my sweet craving and in the same time not consuming too much sugar.