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Thursday, June 29, 2006 

Nihon: Makan Culture

I am not a fan of sushi. I don’t do da raw thang. I like my food very dead and very cooked thankyouverymuch.

So I was plesantly surprised to learn Japan has a lot of piping-hot cooked dishes.

Hearty eaters will be pleased know Shabu-shabu (steamboat with thinly sliced beef) is fantastic. It’s very popular thing for restaurants to charge a sum somewhere between Y1500 - Y 2500 (RM50 - RM70++) for a 90 minutres-all-you-can-eat buffet. Pay more and you get special beef platter or extend your deadline to 120 minutes.

Aside from Shabu-shabu (soup), there’s the pan version (fry) and the grilled version (bbq) where you cookyour food over cute lil’ charcoal cubes with holes in the middle.

Bonnie & Clyde being pigs, we did all 3.

There are also fast food outlets where you buy your food coupons from vending machines, present your food tickets to the vendor and get your food all within 5 minutes. The Japs give new meaning to fast food.

During hectic work days, a quick lunch is in order. Eating at restaurants means taking the public transport or brave through the Tokyo jams. What’s a busy employee to do? Lunch stork style and eat standing up. I thought I took a picture of the fuss-free table-less food vendors...oh sod it.

If you are a fan of seafood, then the Spider Crab is a must-try. If I am not mistaken, it costs RM150++ per crab in sunny Malaysia. We had ours at Osaka for Y3000+ (RM100); a whole Spider Crab cooked in 3 styles; tempura, shashimi, sushi and self-grilled over a mini stove of charcoals. It was heavenly, with the rain and cold night air outside while we sit cross-legged and filled our tummies in a quaint lil’ eatery with a doorway so low you gotta stoop to get in. Oishii-des!

Being the jakun, I didn’t know sea rambutan (urchin) could be eaten raw until I watched Lost. We had our first bite at a seafood wet market. It was wet and soft and slippery, and not at all delicious to me while Clyde had a ball. We also sampled freshly grilled Hotate (scallop). The flesh tasted sweet and fishy. Me likey. Clyde also did a sashimi number served by true sushi senseis.

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Pepper Lunch: My favourite makan place. Unlike KL, the hotplate really sizzles and the beef was red and raw

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Spider Crab feast

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90 Minutes buffet in Kobe

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Jap fast food chain

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Shaka-shaka potato: What a relief to see the familiar golden arches

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Shabu-shabu 90 min buffet in Shinjuku

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Giving a whole meaning to ‘sandwiches’

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Preserved raw seafood from Isetan, Kobe

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More

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What the sicko Clyde bought

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Roe, roe, roe your boat

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Aquarium or menu?

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No, this is not part opf the menu but a shop owner’s pet



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