Tabemono

What have we been eating?

So far, we eat breakfast at home, and either lunch or dinner at a restaurant.

This was the first big success: Yakisoba. When deconstructed, there was something for everyone. Hugo loved the noodles, Max ate the fried egg and the bonito flakes, and Alek ate all the bacon.

Same place also served okonomiyake, which is a pancake/omelet thing. You are supposed to eat it with mayonnaise, but....no thanks. This is the one Japanese food that actually makes me feel full, so I love it. But the boys were not crazy about this stuff. We ended up ordering one more yakisoba for them.

You've heard of kakigori....but I bet you didn't know you could get kakigori on a stick. These actually have shaved ice and adzuki beans inside this creamy layer. Yum....

Not all is perfect...we haven't made it to Starbucks yet. But I bought a simple coffee maker and Darrin brewed up his first pot of OC coffee beans....here he's about to taste...(I ask you, does he seem prepared to make a neutral judgment?)

Darrin, tell us what you think of it. Don't hold back.

We gave this coffee a few more chances, and I find it rather drinkable. (But then I'm not so picky about my coffee.)

One night we picked up these trays of sashimi from the grocery store. Note the tray of gorgeous crab meat to the right! Aren't you jealous? Also, the tofu on the left was made down the street. Take note, travelers: it is worth a trip to Japan just to try tofu that was made that morning, to be eaten only the same day. There's a man who walks a bike around our neighborhood selling this. He squeezes the bike horn really slow as he walks around...

We are not the first Westerners to express concern over this beverage. Can you read the tiny lettering in English? Our brave Max gave it a try. What did you think, Max? "It tastes like liquid Smarties."

These are delicious: Corn-choco. Chocolate covered corn puffs. Maybe you are supposed to eat these with your Calpis.

The ever present vending machine. This one was a lifesaver yesterday as we were touring Nijo Castle. (Did I mention that it is still about 1,000 degrees?). So far the boys' favorite is Cherry Refresh. I believe these boys have had more sugary drinks in the last week than I have allowed them to have in their entire lives....

After Nijo Castle, we stopped into a tiny restaurant for lunch. (If there any large restaurants in Kyoto, we haven't found them yet.) Darrin had tempura udon; Max is eating zaruudon (cold), and Alek and Hugo tried soba. Slurped almost everything down.