Flying Sushi - Into the Future

Flying sushi is no longer a thing of the future.  You can experience this at Uobei Sushi.

Uobei Sushi  一貫入魂 魚べい 渋谷道玄坂店

Address: Japan, 〒150-0043 Tokyo, Shibuya, Dogenzaka, 2 Chome−29-11 第六ｾﾝﾄﾗﾙﾋﾞﾙ1階
Google Maps: Click Here!
Website: Click Here!
Phone:+81 3-3462-0241

Sure, the plates don't have wings, and the sushi don't come to you on hover boards, but they certainly do "fly" out at you in a mystical and almost magical way.  You will never get the chance to see the people who prepare your food, and it only takes a matter of seconds to minutes for your order to appear.

So here's how it works:
1) You get seated at a bar-like table. All your friends will be seated alongside you. Or you can eat alone. That's a common thing in Japan.

2) You order through a touch screen. There is an English menu. Or you can just go with the colorful pictures and choose what looks appetizing.

 
3) You may order 3 things at a time. There is no limit on how many orders total you can make, and you can make orders as frequently as you want.
4) Serve yourself some matcha green tea! (free of charge)
5) In seconds to minutes, you sushi will "fly" down the rail on plates like a bullet train and stop right in front of you.

Flying sushi too fast to capture on camera!

6) Take your food. Don't forget to return your "train" back into the kitchen!!
7) Enjoy. Repeat steps 3-7 until you have a stack of plates as high as Mt. Fuji.

Couple of items I ordered:
- salmon (average)

- Uni (it was awful, not fresh, and had an odd bitter flavor)

- Orange clam (chewy but fine)

- Geoduck clam (chewy but okay)

- Unagi (average)

- Hokkaido Scallop (surprisingly okay) 

- Fish Roe and Mayo (don't ever get this unless you really super super salty roe!)

- Chu Toro (Fatty Tuna, average/mediorce)

- Conch (not so good, sandy..)

Eating at places like these, there are it's pros and cons:

Pros:
- insanely cheap sushi; the cheapest plate is Y105 per plate (<$1 USD for two pieces of sushi)
- fast food, literally
- a fun and innovative experience
- great for groups and friends because it's just exciting!

Cons:
- when in a group, you are seated linearly
- you don't see the people who are making your sushi
- the quality of the sushi is very mediocre (you get what you pay for!)
- your evil friend sitting just "upstream" of you can snatch your order! Beware!

Ribeye Steak - Sear and Oven method

I have an electric stove so I'm unable to invest in an actual cast iron skillet so I got the next best thing, non-stick grill pan! I have always wanted to get nice "grill" marks on my steak but could never do it because I have no place for an outdoor BBQ grill. I bought a Calphalon nonstick round grill pan to grill my ribeye steaks today and the results were pretty good. I was aiming for medium-rare but got closer to medium instead but practice makes perfect right? Here's what I did...

Ingredients:

2 ~1lb of Ribeye Steaks (just under 1.5" in thickness)
Fresh Thyme sticks
Cooking Oil (used Avocado oil)
Butter
5-6 cloves of Garlic
Coarse Salt
Coarse Pepper

Instructions:

1) Take your steaks out 2-3 hours prior to cooking it to let it come down to room temperature
2) Season generously your steaks with coarse salt and pepper

3) Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F)
4) Heat grill pan to medium-high and splash some cooking oil
5) Once grill pan has reached medium-high heat, throw in the garlic cloves and thyme and let it roast

6) Now throw in your room temperature steaks onto the grill pan
7) Throw in about 1 inch block of butter over it

8) Set timer to 2-2.5min a side if you want Medium and 1.5-2min a side if you want Medium-Rare
9) Constantly baste your steak with a spoon using the butter/garlic/thyme mixture.

10) Once both sides have been seared, quickly sear the edges as well
11) Throw the grill pan into the preheated oven and set timer about 3 min

12) Once time has elapsed, let your steaks rest for ~5 min for the juices to seal back up.

13) And consume! =)

Ramen Newbie? Try this place and you'll wonder why you waited for so long!

Yes that's right! The worst kept secret is revealed! One of the places to get the various interpretations of ramen is somewhere in Japan. This place is called Ichiran (一蘭) Ramen. Unfortunately they don't like the idea of franchising outside Japan but recently they cave in into allowing one in Hong Kong but I'm sure it took a TON of convincing as Ichiran has been around for over 50 years. Don't get too hopeful on expecting one in the United States anytime soon :(

Their specialty is Tonkotsu Ramen and its soup is pork-based broth. Much like KFC, Ichiran's original red sauce consists of 30 types of spices and it's only known by 3 of their "experts". Their sliced pork is so naturally sweet and complements the broth and noodles very nicely. They claim that they have a special water filtration system in place to make their noodle tastes amazing and easy on the stomach and liver. I can kind of believe this as I have drank their broth completely on multiple occasions and never felt bloated or uneasy at all afterwards. For the health minded individuals, it has 0% trans fats!

On to the details, you have the ability to customize the ramen to your preferences by choosing the following:

• Flavor Strength
• Richness (oiliness)
• Garlic
• Green onion
• Sliced pork (shoulder meat)
• Red Sauce
• Noodle texture

They are so keen to detail that I was able to distinguish the differences in the above (richness and spice level) with my friend's bowl that tagged along to try this place.

Without a doubt, this is a must-try ramen joint in Japan! It is one of the best ramen out there.

Name: Ichiran (一蘭)
Location: Shinjiku branch, 新宿3-34-11 ピースビルB1F, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan 160-0022
(Don't worry they have a ton of branches throughout Japan)
Website: Click Here
Google Maps: Click Here

Order from a Vending Machine

Tickets are printed

Perfectly Cooked Egg!

Victory!

Tastiest Purest Pork Noodle Soup ever

There a place in Shinjiku that serves one of the purest and most tastiest pork noodle soup I have ever had. It's a place called 新宿 やんばる - Yan Baru. Like many of the dining places here, you simply order your food with the vending machine and simply present it to the kitchen staff/cooks and they'll make your order on the spot. This was 2nd time here and I remembered why it was so memorable. Pork Noodle soup sounds very simple but the people here do an amazing job down from the pork meat, the broth, and to the perfectly cooked noodles. For the ones that prefer a little heat to it, they also have the Japanese chili pepper powder on the side to sprinkle. I have no problem recommending people to eat here. I try to steer away from tourist flooded restaurants to get the full authentic experience. I want to eat where the locals eat, not where tourists / tourist friendly places go to eat and this fits that description. The vending machines along with pictures of their food really help the non-Japanese speaking folks (like myself) get by to eating great food without having issues with ordering food.

Highly recommended and for only 880 Japanese yen or a little over $7 USD, you can enjoy a great tasting pork noodle soup during the winter!

Name: 新宿 やんばる - Yan Baru
Website: Click Here
Google Maps: Click Here

Vending Machine

Cauldron of Goodness

Commence Drooling

Manneken Belgian Waffles anyone?

I haven't had Belgian waffles in years and I thought it would be a good time to put this drought away when I recently went to Japan for vacation. There is a place called Manneken that always seems to draw a line in every branch I have passed by. Their secret? Bake fresh waffles throughout the day and display how they are made! They are so fluffy and buttery tasting and it's best served fresh/hot!

These were the flavors they had available and I tried all of them and it was so difficult to choose which was my personal favorite. You might have a similar problem too ;) So it's best to get all of the flavors and decide for yourself. At a mere 140 Japanese Yen or slightly more than $1 USD, it's not costly at all. And best of all, they accept Credit Cards!

Name: Manneken
Location: Shinjiku Station (East Side) - there are many locations throughout Tokyo
Website: Click Here

Almond

Maple

Sweet Purple Yam

Plain

Butter Caramel

Chocolate