Hisago - Kyoto

Going Against the Crowd (Us Usual)
Visiting the famous temples in Kyoto nourishes the spirit but not the body.  Using a Japanese food guide as our bible we made our way to Hisago (ひさご) to try their famous Oyakodon.  We, as in her.  I went against the norm - every single person there was ordering, waiting for or eating Oyakodon.  I thumbed my nose at them all and chose the cha soba, cold buckwheat noodles zapped with green tea.

Dohton Bori - Osaka

As You Like It, in Osaka
Okonomiyaki is Osakan soul food, they tell me.   It means "cooked the way you like it" (okonomi = as you like it and yaki=cooked or grilled.)  At Dohton Bori, they take your freedom seriously, giving you all kinds of crazy combo choices for what I'd describe as a savory pancake/omelette.  I kept it inside the ropes, adding ham, cheese, prawns, and eggs to a batter made of shredded yam, flour and water. On top were the usual accompaniments: a Worcestershire-like black sauce, mayo and bonito shavings.

Swindle Factory - Fukuoka, Japan

It Helps to Be Forgetful
"Who goes on vacation for two weeks and forgets their wallet?"  It was a fair question, one I'd asked myself before she gave voice to my inner thoughts.  I wasn't sure if she was mad or scared.  Is there a small tumor wriggling it's elbows inside my grey matter?  Or is it early onset alzheimers?  Or, was it a devious plot, she suggested, to keep from paying for her shopping?  At our hotel, after coffee at Swindle Factory, the debate was put to rest.  I couldn't find my camera - I'd left it behind.  We tracked back to fetch it and decided to stay for dinner.  Thanks to my creeping senility we filled up on Hayashi rice and pasta.

Asahi Ken - Fukuoka, Japan

Whatchya Making Grandmama?  Gyoza?
You ever been to a restaurant where grannie is sitting right behind the counter hand-making gyoza and chit-chatting with the customers?  I have and I feel special.  We picked Asahi Ken (旭軒) out of a Japanese food magazine we bought at the train station.  After a few bites of grannie's food, I wanted to pick up that fat pink superphone on the counter and call everyone I knew to brag! 

Hakata Yatai - Fukuoka, Japan

My Best Experience in Fukuoka
Fukuoka is known for ramen, but they also have famed street stalls called Yatai.  They're no larger than a picnic table and you sit elbow to elbow on attached wooden benches and gobble freshly made, tasty street food.  We happened into this one as we got lost trying to find our hotel and came back for dinner.  Dodo dragged her feet a bit - she mumbled about not immediately getting to eat ramen.  After a few bites she stopped complaining.  Every thing we ate was good, especially the tightly rolled tamago, dolloped with a local delicacy - Mentaiko, a marinated pollock roe.