Fun fact: Tokyo's the world's Michelin Star capital. Although I can't say I'm a huge foodie, with some money set aside, it'd definitely be possible to do a huge tour of Tokyo's Michelin Star restaurants. But even in doing so, you would most likely miss out on some of Japan's most beloved dishes.
Take the onigiri, for example. The humble rice ball is truly one of the foods I'm the most likely to miss once I leave Japan. I can't count the times I've gotten hungry while out and about, stopped by a convenience store to by an onigiri, and ate as I went along my merry way. It's truly a gratifying thing to be able to do.
Though shops that specialize in onigiri are not exactly common, I decided to drop by the capital's oldest one, being that I happened to be in the area for the
yabusame tournament.
Yadoroku, as the shop is named, is a humble store, run only by one man. As I entered, I marveled at the minimalistic interior. Most of the seats were lined up by the counter, where the ingredients were on display. I later found out that these ingredients were all of excellent quality. The cod roe, for example, was brought in all the way from the northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido.
The shop owner was quite jovial and made pleasant conversation about just about anything, daydreaming out loud about wanting to serve customers by doing backflips and throwing rice balls straight into their mouths. But the nicest thing was that as he did so, he prepared the rice balls before my eyes. It's almost needless to say at this point, but they were delicious and warm, and so was the dark miso soup that came with the set. With such good atmosphere and pleasant food, it's hard for me not to recommend Yadoroku to others.
Although Yadoroku isn't quite the place you would want to eat at for a big meal, it's perfect for picking up a snack and strolling into Asakusa. As an added bonus, the place stays open until 2 in the morning. I'm not quite sure when exactly the owner gets sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment