Near the corner of Waseda Street (早稲田通り) and Meiji Street (明治通り) a ramen shop opened last month. Since then a steady line of about 50 people (even in rain) have waited outside to enter. Sometimes the line grows to more than 100 people. Within eyesight of this establishment are at least 5 other places selling nearly the exact same thing. Within a 5 minute walk are more than 20 other places selling ramen. Yet none of them ever have a line to get in. Ever.

People latch on to popular things all over the world simply because they are popular. In Japan this is taken to a higher level. The popular product rarely seems to be better, less expensive, or unique either.

Two Saturdays ago the weather was great, and we had nothing in particular to do, so we got in the above line to see if Futomendo Ramen was somehow special.

Once we made it to the front of the line there was something like excitement inside me. I was hungrier, too, so that enhanced the experience. It sort of felt like we were about to get on a roller coaster at an amusement park after such a wait.

In the above photo you can see, in the lower-right corner, that they have even posted instructions on how to line up to get in. I’ve seen brand new restaurants post similar instructions in the hope that lines will form even though they never do.

We had so much time to wait in line that Ellie actually had time to walk home and back. She probably could have done so four or five times.

To pass the time we listened to comments made by those walking past us, learned some Japanese, and took pictures of our surroundings.

Once we got in I didn’t take any more pictures. Sorry.

The first character in the name of the place (太麺堂) means “fat.” The name is literally “fat noodle shop.” Customers were supposed to fill out little cards, writing a phrase or sentence using the fat character. For instance, you could write “My dad is fat.” or “These fat noodles are delicious.”

Ellie came up with a clever one all her own. She wrote, in English, “My favorite sumo wrestler is Dragon Fat.” Underneath, I wrote the person she was talking about in kanji–山本山 龍太. The waitress didn’t know anything about sumo, but we had a fun discussion when she picked the card up anyway.

So how was the ramen you ask? It was good. The ramen noodles were fatter than normal, though not as thick as udon. It didn’t warrant the wait, but we had a fun experience anyway. The taste was a bit different than the norm, but I wouldn’t consider it superior to many of the places, without a line, in the neighborhood.

Posted on December 22nd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: buildings, food, nishi-waseda, people, takadanobaba, yamamotoyama. Comments: 2

By the time you read this I hope to be elbow deep in Thai Curry in Bangkok, Thailand.

Today’s picture is actually of some Indian Curry we enjoyed in Ueno a couple weeks ago. I don’t remember any restaurants selling Indian Curry in Japan back in the 1980s. Now they are everywhere. We had some really good Indian Curry in Hakuba, but the best curry we have had in Japan so far has been Thai Curry near our apartment. There is some Viking (meaning all-you-can eat) Thai Curry near Takadaonbaba Station that is also quite good for the price.

Posted on December 20th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: curry, food. Comments Off on Indian Curry

I have always enjoyed katsu, but I never realized just how many varieties there are until recently. Usually when one says “katsu” they mean tonkatsu or a fried pork cutlet that has been rolled in egg and bread crumbs (of the Japanese variety called panko). But there are actually many more kinds than just tonkatsu. Let’s take a look at several.

Tonkatsu (豚カツ or とんかつ) is the most common. It is also called rosukatsu (ロースカツ). For most restaurants, that don’t specialize in katsu, this is the only katsu offered and hence is the one you will get. If you don’t like to eat fat and gristle then you will likely be disappointed in your bites around the edges of a regular tonkatsu as the Japanese don’t cut the fat off the pork cutlet when served in this way. It seems crazy, I know, but that is how they actually like it. I don’t mind it this way, but I much prefer the next kind.

Hirekatsu (ヒレカツ) is usually still pork, but all of the fat is trimmed before battering and frying. Hire comes from the word fillet, even though fillet in English doesn’t imply fat-free, and most katsu would be considered a fillet in English. If you are given the choice of rosukatsu or hirekatsu, go with hirekatsu. It is my favorite.

Chicken katsu (チキンカツ) is what the name suggests. I have been making chicken katsu for over 20 years, but it isn’t nearly as common in Japan as pork katsu. I actually didn’t make my first pork katsu until a week or two ago, using ultra thin pork that I trimmed down to include no fat. It came out quite well. I like my chicken katsu to be cut very thin as well.

Katsudon (カツ丼) means that the katsu is over rice with egg and onion and a sweet sauce. Sometimes rice comes as a side dish if you don’t order katsudon, especially if you order a katsu teishoku, but other times it will come without rice over cabbage. The extremely thinly sliced cabbage is great (even though I’m not normally a fan of cabbage), but katsu just isn’t the same without rice.

Katsu is also frequently served with curry (katsukaree or カツカレー). Even more common is to have it with tonkatsu sauce ((トンカツソース). Bulldog is the common sauce brand and can even be found in many places in the states.

Menchikatsu (メンチカツ) can sometimes be like a hamburger patty turned into a katsu, but other times pork can be the ground meat used in menchi. The word menchi is a Japanese abbreviation of “minced meat.” Onions and other items are frequently added as well so you are never sure exactly what you are going to get with a menchi katsu if you aren’t the cook or don’t ask beforehand.

Katsu sando (katsu sandwich or カツサンド) is a katsu put between two slices of bread, usually with the crust cut off of the bread. Personally I’d prefer it if they kept the crust on and cut off the fat from the katsu.

There are also beef katsu (gyukatsu 牛カツ) and ham katsu (ハムカツ). The picture at the top of this entry is actually of a beef katsu I picked up as my bento a week ago. The place where I purchased this bento also does a cheese katsu which adds cheese next to the meat before sticking the panko on and frying.

Kushikatsu (串カツ) is a smaller katsu on a stick. Since it is on a stick nearly anything can be skewered next to the meat. Onions are frequently included, but you can find variations with just about anything.

There are many other types of katsu that have been attempted and many more that will likely be created in the future, but the above should give you a pretty good idea about most of the katsu you will encounter.

Don’t forget to look for hire katsu. You may have a hard time going back to regular tonkatsu once you try hirekatsu, but you’ll be glad to have experienced the difference.

Posted on December 16th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: food. Comments: 8

Some of the train companies in Japan have built up stores, restaurants, etc. around their train stations. For instance, you can find Seibu Department Stores near some of the main Seibu train line stations. Odakyu is also in on the action with their line that runs from Shinjuku to Hakone (Odawara really) which I take a couple times a week. I don’t go all the way to Hakone (or Odawara), but that doesn’t matter if I want to enjoy Hakonesoba (箱根そば or Hakosoba as written on the door in romaji) since it is offered at nearly all of the stops along the way.

I have sampled their seasonal offerings a couple of times now. For December they are combining two of my favorites into one–sukiyaki and udon (牛すきうどん). This is what you see pictured above, complete with raw egg (which doesn’t stay raw very long in hot soup). It was good, but not as good as I was hoping. The broth tasted more like regular udon. I was hoping for something that tasted more like sukiyaki with udon thrown in. Oh well… Maybe they will feature that version as their seasonal specialty in January. 😉 I can’t complain since it was under 500 yen.

Posted on December 13th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: food, udon. Comments: 1

As mentioned, after the ballet we went to eat at a place that Maya’s mom works. She brought one of the electronic ordering devices to our table, the kind only a waiter or waitress would normally have. She bossed the employees around a bit. When her friend asked why, she said because she wasn’t working; she was a customer on this evening. The roles make such a huge difference in Japanese speech, even when the people don’t change.

We had so many courses I can’t remember them all. They included tuna pot stickers (鮪餃子), salad, a half dozen kinds of yakiniku, squid with mayonnaise, a hot pot chicken soup of sorts, raw beef, and udon in the remains of the soup. But the highlight of the meal had to be when Ellie was told to go downstairs to check out the fish tank.

She was given a net and instructed to fish out a couple of sea bream (I think that is what they were, 鯛 or タイ). She did, as you can see in the above photo. Back at the table, upstairs, a mere two minutes later, the fish were in front of us, meatless, but still seemingly alive. The filleted fish were twitching like crazy and only the harpooning stick kept them from jumping out of the bowl as first Ellie, and then I, ate their sashimied remains while they looked on.

The above video is of part of my dinner. It isn’t often that your dinner waves at you as you eat it.

And here is Ellie eating her sashimi.

Ellie experienced no adverse affects as the above picture taken later that night illustrates. My stomach felt a little weird, but that could have been from a number of things I consumed on this wonderful evening.

Posted on December 1st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: food, video. Comments: 6