Pittsburgher: Japanese food (well mostly)

Egg salad sandwich and orange juice. Some kind of radish or flavorful lettuce in the middle. Also, evidently I wasn't allowed to buy just a sandwich; I also had to buy a drink.

Carol showing me the proper way to grind sesame seeds. Evidently I am a pounder, not a grinder :-)

This was a delicious pork cutlet with shrimp and a cheese and ham roll. Carol also shared part of her pork and cheese croquette. Also, you will notice the small potato salad with a cherry tomato. Very good, but I find it odd to combine starches like potato salad and rice.

This was the sauce for the pork. Very rich, but good.

Margherita pizza. Decided to go the safe route after reading toppings like boiled whitebait. Was tempted to order it just to see what it was.

Wanted to get pictures of fruit prices here to show my students. Managed to snap these photos before one of the store employees asked me to stop taking pictures. So each of these small watermelons (about the size of a cantaloupe) is about $12.80.

About $6 for four oranges.

$9.80 for this unrecognizable melon.

Got an orange sorbet and a lemon sorbet scoop and then he said the magic words "the 3rd scoop is free" Wish we had more Baskin Robbins in America!

Talked Reina into going to Red Lobster in Aqua City. Was surprised at how different it was from the American restaurants. Didn't recognize too many dishes although these popcorn shrimp were recognizable. The sauce was more of a mayonnaise based sauce than cocktail sauce, but very good. Reina and I quickly snarfed down the shrimp. The only traumatic moment was when I realized that they didn't have the cheese garlic biscuits. What's up with that Japan?

I love the Lobster Bisque at the American restaurants so I tried it here. It too was very different, more like a tomato soup. No lobster chunks in it either. It was tasty, but very different with a pie crust over the top of it.

Reina chose lobster au gratin with these beautifully styled vegetables.

I got the fish and chips. The tartar sauce was very mild, but very good.
Another difference was that they did merchandising there with crab crackers for sale. They also had little lobster-shaped nail clippers for sale. Couldn't figure that one out. Wonder how they do with the merchandising.

This particular day ended up being American day since I went to Outback Steakhouse in Ikebukuro with Yuko that night. This chain is very similar to what you would see in the U.S. One of the biggest differences was that they didn't have lobster anywhere on the menu and I don't remember seeing prime rib. The menu also had fewer choices than in the U.S., but other than that it was very similar.

Loved the popcorn shrimp here although the shrimp at Red Lobster edged it out slightly.

Steak and loaded baked potato. You had your choice of sauce with the steak. One (pictured above) was a teriyaki sauce. The other (below) is more of a steak sauce. They were both very good although I liked the traditional steak sauce more. I don't usually use any sauce on my steak, but I might now after tasting this sauce.

Was waiting for Carol at a coffee shop. Although this looks so orange, it is actually apple juice - very good apple juice. The choco-pie tempted me. It was good, but not chocolatey enough.

At the Centurion Inn in Ikebukuro, you got a free breakfast at Denny's. This was a typical choice with salad and yogurt also included plus a beverage. These little sausages are particularly good - they taste kind of like an upscale hot dog.

After church on Sunday I went with the English group to get curry at and Indian restaurant. The nan (bread) was served hot and delicious. The little red stuff on the side is kimchee (which I donated to a more appreciative diner. I'm not a big curry fan, but this chicken curry was very good. I enjoyed dipping the nan in it.

Met the Kindervaters later for dinner. Above you will see the only Japanese pizza which has ever defeated David. Usually he is left hungry for more.

Evangeline and I got it right - small amount of pasta, salad, and a big piece of cake. As Evangeline said, "this restaurant got it right - they put the cake first."

Lunch at Royal Host in Sanomiya (near Kobe). We tried to go to a British pub which supposedly has the best fish and chips in the world, but it didn't open until 5. Then we walked a block to an Australian pub which opened at 5:30. So we gave up and went to Royal Host where chicken karagge and a club sandwich really hit the spot.

Saw a shop with white chocolate strawberries and couldn't resist trying them out. They freeze-dried the strawberries first which gave them a nice tangy flavor. Kanta (left), Sana(right), and I enjoyed them very much.