09 January 2012

Tokyo Day 9 - Lotteria vs MOS Burger Smackdown

We discover that less is MOS and MOS is more.







We hit the streats in search of breakfast.



We find an udon joint in Yoyogi.



Seven dericious flavours.



The udon mistress at work. Noodles are made on site.



Add a little broth to your noodles, if you wish.



This noodles are divinely thick and chewy, we'd do anything to get this back home. The raw egg blends into the soup and becomes almost like a carbonara.



Nothing makes Alison happier than a poached googie for breakfast.



Funny foodie t-shirts in Harajuku.



Priceless...



We hit Shibuya with about four million other folks.



Shawn has a video game fetish and tracks down the legendary retro game arcade Shibuya Kaikan.



Five floors of retro games. Apparently they recently got rid of most of the 1980's machines, it's more 1990's now. Old arcade games can be a bugger to maintain, so this is really something to a game nerd.



Coin-op Mario, joy!



Some cash-strapped expat teachers told us these 270 yen joints are the go. Order by touch-screen izakaya type food. Shame we didn't get a chance to give it a go.



Crepe van. There's a little fella tucking into one in the background.



Shibuya fried chicken...



There's some alleys of great old style yakatori bars in Shibuya but alas our timing is out.



Shibuya fashionista.



For lunch we compare burger chains: Lotteria vs Mos Burger. Lotteria first...



Lotteria is more you McExperience whereas Mos Burger is more your silver service burger joint.



Hangin' out at Lotteria.



The burgers are fresh but flacid.



Cheeseburger.



That's some real gourmet shit.



We head straight accross the road to Mos Burger.



Mos Burger menu...



Mos Burger menu...



Mmmm.... better try one of those.





We thought the MOS burger would win hands down but we found Lotteria much tastier. MOS burger is over-sauced and those thick patties of weird fake pork meat are a bit too much for us. Lotteria has thinner patties which aren't as sickly and blend in better with the other ingredients. Sometimes less is more.



Square steaks.



Space Shower TV The Diner - ????



Egg tart shop at shibuya station, these look like Portuguese custard tarts.



We take the Yurikamome elevated train line out to the seaside shopping area that is Odaiba, the view of Tokyo and the harbour are amazing.



Odaiba is like some scifi nerd utopia. We do a loop and go back to Tokyo getting off one stop before where we started, it's an hour of entertainment for a couple of bucks.



We sip latte with the rich folks is some high falutin' part of town.



We developed an addiction to sweet potato cake towards the end of the trip.



We got to love Yoyogi, this quiet cluster of restaurants is a relaxing alternative to the frenetic Shinjuku nearby.



In every country we visit there is some form of festy looking kebabs. We would probably try them in Japan but the ones we have seen in Southeast Asia look like botulism on a stick.



Shawn is obsessed with soba noodle soup.



This simple soup has magical powers of restoration.



Tokyo Hillsong convention.



It's our last night in Tokyo and once again this restaurant is full, we've tried to get in maybe five times. The boss lady sees our faces drop to the floor when we're told it's full yet again. She takes pity and asks us to wait, five minutes later we're in.



It's a grill-your-own joint. We keep thinking of Billy Murray's line in Lost in Translation - "what kind of restaurant makes you cook your own food?" We realise it is difficult to get a table because folks sit around chatting for hours, slowly nibbling and drinking.



English menu - wohoo!





The menu looks like this after a few shoucus...





A hoppy and shochu and a lemon chu hai.





These buggers take ages to cook...



Great big squiddie fun.



Token veggies.



My god, it's healthy.



Skate and fatty pork.



Crunchy cooked skate.



Happy punters.



Sushi!



Salted cucumber.



More squiddie fun.



Hoochimama it's good.



Umeshi - alcoholic plum drink, Alison's favourite.



Somebody pooed on our eggpplant.



Shawn threatens to grab a ramen on the way home, but he's all talk.

Nihon ichiban desu.

13 comments:

  1. Somebody did poo on your eggplant - too funny, and not dericious at all!

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  3. Have you tried Freshness Burger? I heard that it was it was the best out of the Japanese burger joints but we only managed to try MOS in our time in Japan. We've just spent 3 weeks in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and I found myself thinking "the streetfood bloggers would love this!!!" :)

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  4. Hamburger is my life !!!

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  5. Thanks flapflap, we've tried Freshness Burger as well, but not on this trip. They seemed more in the MOS range of big sloppy burgers, with lots of mayo. You trip sounds great - we're ready to go away again right now!

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  6. wow food looks good! how many days did u spend in japan? and how many in each city? was it enough?? im thinking of going but not sure for how long!

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  7. HI Michelle

    This was our third trip to Japan, and we only stayed in Tokyo. We had about 8 nights altogether, you can do day trips to Kamakura, Nikko etc. Our longest trip was three weeks, taking in Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Beppu, Fukuoka and Tokyo. Accommodation and transport can be expensive, but day to day expenses aren't too bad. So maybe how long you go for depends on how much you want to spend as well as see.

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  8. Your blog is a must read before traveling to Japan! Thank you so much!
    PS: you guys have such a YUMMY life, I am jealous!

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    1. Thanks for the comment, we love Japan and can't wait to get back. We find having a food obsession makes our travels a lot more fun and focused and putting the trips up on the blog are like little food holiday scrapbooks. Anyone can do it, you just have to book that trip and GO!

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  9. brilliant ... I am a Japanese teacher and would love to send this to my students.

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    1. Oh what fun, they can pick out all of our spelling mistakes and grammatical errors too! I'm sure there's a ton of them.

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  10. Hi guys, do you remember where this last restaurant was?

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    1. Isomaru Suisan is in Shinjuku, here's a link to Trip advisor with a handy map: http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g1066457-d6061287-Reviews-Isomaru_Suisan_Shinjuku_3_Chome-Shinjuku_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html

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Thanks for your comment joy - please keep your musings happy - if you want to complain about a restaurant please do it on a restaurant review site (or your own blog) - we're all about celebrating cultural diversity and the great eats that come along with it :-)

Our ethics: We pay for all our own meals and travel (though sometimes Mum shouts us).