Conveyor Belt Sushi (Sushi-Go-Round)

We call conveyor belt sushi "kaiten-zushi 回転寿司" meaning rounding sushi. In this type of sushi restaurant, literary, sushi on the plates go around on the conveyor belt by each seat. You can simply pick whatever you want to eat from the conveyor belt. Alternatively, you may make an special order, for example without wasabi or when you can not find what you want, by pushing the button and tell the order to the speaker phone usually above your seat.

The bill is decided by how many plates you ate, and each plate has the fixed price differed by shapes, colours or patterns. Generally, plates are no more than 500 yen, however, there are restaurants where you can have any plates by 100 yen.

What you can find at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant:

Green Tea

 You can put green tea powder to your cup, and pour hot water by
 pressing against the tap. See the picture left.










Pickled Ginger
We call it "Gari", and you might eat it before you eat another sushi
to clean the taste. Originally, it was eaten to sterilize food poisoning.

Soy Sauce

Typical Sushi:

                                                                                                    

Salmon

Tuna

                                                         

Sea urchin

Salmon roe

                                                             

Octopus

Unique sushi and dessert:

Uncured ham

Cheese cake

Mister Donut

Mister Donut, the most popular donuts franchise in Japan, actually, has its origin in Boston, USA. Now, their main market is Japan having more than 1300 shops, on the other hand, USA has only a few shops open under the name Mister Donut, since most of them became Dunkin' Donuts due to acquisition.

We call it "misudo" in Japan, and they sell not only doughnuts but also some Chinese noodles and dumplings. Often, they have all donuts 100 yen and pies 120 yen campaign. Also, they frequently have new doughnuts seasonally, but it seems like people have their own personal favourites, because of their variety of doughnuts.

・Choco Fashion: 136 yen
A crispy cake doughnut partially covered with chocolate.

・Angel Cream: 136 yen
 A Cream-filled doughnut.

・Pon de Ring: 126 yen
An original glazed doughnut with a unique doughy and sticky texture.

・D-Pop: 210 yen
 6 different kinds of doughnuts in a box.

You can find the rest of the menu here.

Green Tea Desserts

Green tea, a Japanese traditional tea, is often used for desserts, like cakes, ice cream, cookies and so on. Usually, "matcha" is used to express green tea, for example matcha ice cream. Here is a list of Green tea flavoured sweets I recommend.

1. Matcha  Crème Frappuccino at Starbucks Coffee

Frappuccino with green tea powder and whipped cream on top. This is the best green tea flavoured milkshake I have ever had. Even though, USA has Tazo Green Tea Crème Frappuccino, but it is said that tastes different from the Japanese one.

S 430yen T 470yen G 510yen V 550yen

2. Häagen-Dazs' Green Tea Ice Cream
Häagen-Dazs is loved in Japan, despite the relatively high price (A mini cup is usually 270 yen or so at a convenient store). Besides, this is a Japan exclusive, but I personally think this would be popular in other countries. Häagen-Dazs' Green Tea has a rich and sweet taste with a bit of bitterness. It is worth trying once! Limitedly, Green Tea Cookies & Cream is available from April 25th, 2011.

3.  Saryo Tsujiri's Matcha Parfait

Saryo Tsujiri is a Kyoto based Japanese Tea & Sweets café. They have 3 branches in Kyoto and 2 in Tokyo. This café is really popular, so you might have to queue, but it is worth it. I highly reccomend you to try "Tokusen Tsujiri Pafe (1231 yen~1401 yen)". It consists of matcha ice cream, matcha jelly, macha sponge cakes, matcha whipped cream, chestnuts, satsuma, sweet bean paste and rice-flour dumplings. This parfait is actually filling! so that it makes your stomach satisfied. Though it's kind of pricey, but tastes truly lovely.

Wafu Chicken Katsu Sando at KFC

I want to recommend "Wafu chicken katsu sand" from KFC in Japan. This is a Japan only item, and actually, "wafu" means "Japanese style". It consists of a sweet and sour flavoured chicken, freshly shredded cabbage and mayonnaise, so it's simple but tastes absolutely awesome.

The set comes with a drink and small fries for 640 yen. 380 yen for a sandwich itself.

Akihabara

If you want to see Tokyo, I'm sure Akihabara (秋葉原) is on your list. This is an area where you can enjoy Japanese sub-culture (otaku). Also, if you are looking for some electric devices, gadgets, or PC parts, this is the place for you. In addition, anime, video games or maid cafés might particularly interest you too. 

Chuo-dori , Akihabara's main street, and Denki-gai have everything I have mentioned above. For electric devices, big chains like Yodobashi-Akiba, Sofmap, LaOX, Ishimaru denki would be easier to find. Besides, there are used electric device shops, duty-free shops too. Sofmap has used and duty-free buildings and LaOX has a duty-free building. Because of the popularity among foreigners, a lot of shops in Akihabara have bilingual staff (mainly English, Chinese and Korean). Even some shops carry English operated electronic devices.

The word "otaku" (means someone who likes anime , manga, video games or idols) originated in Akihabara. You will get to experience "otaku culture" which is really intriguing by so many means for someone who is not really familiar with anime and such. On the other hand, it will be definitely a dream-come-true experience for someone who loves this culture. 

For past 5 years or so, maid cafés have become sharply popular. This is a kind of café where you will be served by waitresses wearing a maid costume in a unique atomosphere. This costume may differ by cafés, but generally, this would be cutely laced French maid style dress. It seems like black, white or pink are common. Customers will be called "Goshujinsama" meaning master for guys, and " Ojosama" meaning mistress for girls. The typical menu would include spaghetti, omelette rice, ice cream, cakes as well as drinks including coffee, tea and soft drinks. Optionally, you can take a picture or play game with them, so you will interact more with staff compared to a normal café. 

Famous shops & spots :

Yodobashi-Akiba  
Sofmap (Duty-Free)
LaOX (Duty-Free)

Tokyo Animation Center: An information center of Japanese anime

Animate: Comics, character goods
Comic Toranoana: Dojinshi

Denny's

If you are American, surely you know Denny's, and yes we have Denny's in Japan too. However, Denny's in Japan has a different menu from its American counterpart. Japanese Denny's offers a variety of food, even from Japanese to Italian, as well as American food. This so called "a family restaurant" has pretty much anything, so you might find it quite surprising, but I'd say it doesn't mean always bad. Actually, Denny's offers great foods in decent prices. Not to mention, they have "a drink bar" which allows you to select a different drink as much as you want each time you visit it. Generally, typical sodas, fruit juice, hot/iced coffee and tea are available at a drink bar. 

Hamburger stake (Mexican style)

In my opinion, Denny's recommendation is a hamburger stake. They have many kinds of it including seasonal hamburger stakes. Usually, they come with corns, fries and spinach. Also, you can make it a set meal (youfu set 220 yen) which you will get a plate of rice or bread and corn soup. Oh and don't forget to add a drink bar :) which will be only 180 yen with food order.


Here is a small list of food which you might want to try.

・Hamburger stake (Mexican style)
・Cheese omelette rice 
・Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and eggplant spaghetti
・American clubhouse sandwiches
・Denny's chef salad
・Stake rice bowl with mini ramen noodles

・Denny's brownie sundae 
・Caramel honey pancakes

MEGA MAC

McDonald's in Japan has its own unique menu. Mega series would be particularly interesting, if you notice how small general Japanese food is. So, you may think bigger food wouldn't be popular in Japan. On the contrary, it is so popular. As you can see that Mega series has been a huge hit in Japan. I'm not only talking about McDonald's, even normal restaurants, nowadays, have "Mega portions", and they have been broadcast on so many TV programmes.

Ariel view of the box

Anyways, I would like to introduce MEGA MAC from McDonald's today. Basically, it's a bigger Bic Mac containing 3 buns, 4 meat patties, onion, lettuce, pickles, 1 slice of cheese and sauce.  It's got 775 kcal using 100% Australian and New Zealand beef.

Taste wise, it's exactly same as Bic Mac but it's definitely thicker. MEGA MAC will surely make your stomach satisfied. 

MEGA MAC

Limited time only