Japan Diaries: Food In Akihabara, Tokyo

Food in Aihabara, Tokyo: All photos taken by me and Hai with Canon D70 DSLR and Google Pixel 3 XL

Since most of us can't travel internationally these days, I'm pulling up all my Japan Travel photos from my 2019 honeymoon. Here are some quick snaps of some of the delicious food we found while visiting our first city we visited: Akihabara.

1. Gundam Cafe (Photos 1 and 2) 1-1 Kanda Hanaokacho, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 101-0028, Japan. A concept cafe for all Gundam fans. I personally am not a fan, but Hai is. So this was on our list to go. The restaurant here is to replicate a cafeteria on a space battleship and the menu was based on character sfrom the Gundam anime series. I don't know what I ordered, but I got myself a delicious strawberry milk and tomato rice, omelette and sausages shaped as a Gundam head. There are several stores around Japan, and the one in Obida has a store with plenty of merchandise. I left Hai in there for a good half hour while I rested outside.

2. Super Hotel Akihabara (Photo 3) 3 Chome-2-番5号 Ueno, Taito City, Tokyo. We stayed at one of these franchise hotels for our first few days in Japan. Small room but neat and tidy and it included a Breakfast Buffet every morning. I loved the breakfast in Japan offering a mix of Japanese and Western foods. I ate miso soup, boiled eggs, rice topped with seaweed, salted fish, croissants and little jams with toast. Seriously if you can book a hotel that included these buffets, I'd highly recommend it. It's such a pleasant experience.

3. Random Supermarket (Photo 4). I don't remember where I took this photo but I walked into a Japanese supermarket and was so fascinated with the drinks offering there. The Japanese really like their Apple juices and super proud of their Fujian apples (these apples are really delicious).

4. Yokohama Family Ramen (Photos 5 and 6) Japan, 〒101-0021 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Sotokanda, 1 Chome−10, 9ＴＹ２ビル １Ｆ. This is the first restaurant Hai and I literally ate at after arriving in Japan. After I was blinded by the brights lights of Akihabara, Hai led me into this ramen shop.  It was quaint and the hosts were so friendly. We ordered a ramen, some pan fried dumplings and huge cups of beer. This is ramen like I've never had back in Australia = broth more pungent and thick, noodles more chewy and fresh.

There was a screen that divided us from these three Japanese men across the table. But we could see what they were flipping through and cooing about: it was a binder folder of polaroid photos. These photos were of them with maids from the infamous 'Maid Cafes'. I didn't know much about them at the time but I knew you paid an entry fee to spend time with these 'maids'. I suggest you have a Google search, haha.

5. Go Go Curry Akihabara Chūōdōri (Photos 7 and 8). 1 Chome-11-7 Sotokanda, Chiyoda City, Tokyo. It's no secret that one of my favourite foods is Japanese Curry. it's my absolute comfort meal, I eat it when I'm happy or sad. I always choose it when I visit any Japanese restaurant and that's how I measure how good that restaurant is.

 But all my experiences of eating Japanese curry were in Australia or with making my own (with Golden Curry) so of course I'd try it in Japan. Hai and I had a few on our hit list, and Go Go Curry was the first. We lined up and ordered through the vending machine, got ourselves a ticket and sat upstairs (ordering via vending machine is very common in Japan). 

My pork katsu curry came in a metal oval dish topped with shredded cheese and lettuce and the smell was AMAZING. Japanese curries is primarily made up of onions which gives the curry a sweeter flavour. The texture and spices used were different to how I was used to but it was so good I attempted to finish off my gigantic portion. This franchise is all over Japan so I would suggest a trip if you ever visit.

6. Japan Airlines Airplane Food (Photos 9 and 10). Now I know this is a place you can't visit unless you travel Japan Airlines but I just wanted to show off how cute and delicious this food is. This just shows how good the standards of Japan and the attention to detail they have. The presentation alone was impressive and provided lots of variety. I ate soba noodles, fresh fruits, cake, pasta, salad and ice cream and landed in Tokyo with a satisfied stomach.

Well, this concludes my travels of our first few days in Akihabara. I've got so much more photos to upload and I'm excited to share. I hope the borders open up soon for all of us; the Tourism Industry really needs the support. You can also read more about my Japan trip here.

Stay Safe everyone x