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3 1/2 weeks in Japan. Do I need dinner reservations anywhere?

3 1/2 weeks in Japan. Do I need dinner reservations anywhere?

Old Sep 13th, 2014, 01:45 PM
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3 1/2 weeks in Japan. Do I need dinner reservations anywhere?

I posted earlier and got invaluable advice on my itinerary and now need guidance on whether or not it pays to make dinner reservations anywhere. And if so, suggestions for where and when. We LOVE food and are open to anything and everything. Normally I would have made reservations days and months ago but for some reason it just hasn't happened this trip.

Just to reiterate this is my itinerary:

10/19 - Arrive in Japan, Overnight in Tokyo
10/20 - Tokyo
10/21 - Tokyo
10/22 - Tokyo

10/23 - Kamakura
10/24 - Kamakura

10/25 - Matsumoto, dinner with local host via nagomi visit
10/26 - Matsumoto

10/27 - Kamikochi, kaiseki dinner at ryokan

10/28 - Hirayu Onsen, kaiseki dinner at ryokan

10/29 - Takayama
10/30 - Takayama

10/31 - Shirakawago/Kanazawa
11/1 - Kanazawa

11/2 - Koya-San, dinner at the temple

11/3 - Kyoto
11/4 - Kyoto
11/5 - Kyoto
11/6 - Kyoto

11/7 - Miyajima Island, dinner at ryokan
11/8 - Miyajima Island, dinner at ryokan

11/9 - Yufuin Onsen, dinner at ryokan

11/10 - Fukuoka
11/11 - Fukuoka, Sumo tournament

11/12 - Travel to the airport, Overnight next to the airport

11/13 - Depart Japan
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Old Sep 13th, 2014, 02:15 PM
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we had several reservations for our japan fall trip last year.. I think largely it depends on the popularity of the restaurant: if it is a top trip advisor or guide book suggestion, or a well known place, the earlier you can make a res the better.

plus I do think a res gets you a better table..
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Old Sep 13th, 2014, 02:28 PM
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rhkkmk, any suggestions for places?
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Old Sep 13th, 2014, 03:40 PM
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sushi bars-- all over
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Old Sep 13th, 2014, 08:05 PM
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My French Kaiseki dinner at Misoguigawa in Kyoto is among the most wonderful meals of my life. If that appeals to you, I would recommend a reservation.
http://www.misogui.jp/eng/index.html
Enjoy!
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Old Sep 13th, 2014, 10:26 PM
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The dinner we ate at Sumiyoshi Ryokan in Takayama was one of the best meals we ate in Japan.
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Old Sep 14th, 2014, 03:43 AM
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kja, your recommendation in Kyoto looks amazing. Do you remember which one you ordered?
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Old Sep 14th, 2014, 08:42 AM
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Chikae in Fukuoka.

A specialty in Fukuoka is mentaiko and some people actually like it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentaiko
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Old Sep 14th, 2014, 10:41 AM
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mrsunrfi, my background is swedish and I like lutefisk so I might be one of those who like it.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 04:16 AM
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We'll be in Tokyo in March and I'm going to start working on getting a reservation at Sukiyabashi Jiro pretty soon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukiyabashi_Jiro
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 06:36 AM
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Sorry, ceezee, too many years ago now! I know I didn't order the most expensive meal; but don't remember beyond that. Bot whichever one it was, OMG, it was excellent! And unlike most Japanese restaurants, there was actually a very decent selection of wines by the glass.
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Old Sep 21st, 2014, 01:37 AM
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Dear Ceezee

I'm a bit of a food obsessive but actually, the more I investigated, the more I came down against making reservations ahead of our visit.

The exceptions were our overnight stays in ryokans, where the kaiseki ryori (traditional multi-course meals) were included and very much part of the reason we chose the various ryokans.

I spent a fair bit of time on food site chowhound, which has an active Japan board. And there you'll find a lot of people who absolutely make a whole load of reservations in advance.

These tend to be almost exclusively for the very high end (and extraordinarily expensive) restaurants, most of which seem to be in Tokyo. I'm talking Jiro, Ryugin, Sawada, Robuchon and so on...

What I found most useful instead was to think about what kinds of food we wanted to try. For example, I knew I wanted to go to restaurants specialising in sushi, tempura, tofu, ramen, soba, katsu, gyuudon and so on. Most of those are just so easy to find all over that I didn't bother identifying individual places, we just picked the ones that we found as we were out and about.

For some, however, I did make notes on recommended places that particularly appealed to me so that when we were looking for food in that area, we could visit those places.

Examples include Maisen for Katsu (Butagami has been on list for both trips but we didn't make it yet) and Tempura Tsunahachi Honten for tempura: http://www.kaveyeats.com/2012/11/tem...uku-tokyo.html

In Kyoto, a recommendation from a Japan-based friend lead me to Katsukura which ended up being our favourite katsu place. On the first trip we visited the Kyoto Station branch, on the second trip, we went to the original at Shijo-Teramachi in Sanjo area. Loved!

We love yakiniku so often went for that, again, we'd pick based on what we fancied from the outside, but we have visited the Gyu-kaku chain a few times. Here's more on yakiniku: http://www.kaveyeats.com/2014/03/enj...-in-japan.html

I had a much longer list of specialities I wanted to seek out, which I know is saved somewhere on my hard drive, as I printed it and took it with me, can't find it now but chase me and I'll do my best to find it.
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Old Sep 21st, 2014, 05:20 AM
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Kavey, thank you so much! I also spend much time looking at Chowhound and came to the same conclusion. Because of the kaiseki meals we've decided to not go to one of the high end places in either Tokyo or Kyoto. I love your approach of concentrating on a specific food depending on region.

Please, please try to find that list! That would be a huge help.
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Old Sep 21st, 2014, 09:31 PM
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You are SO welcome. Gosh, I'm so going to have to persuade husband that it's time for our third trip to Japan soon!!!

I'll see if I can find it but if not, I'll try and list all the extra things I can think of to try.
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Old Sep 28th, 2014, 11:29 PM
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Amazake
- A low alcohol drink made with the lees of sake, can be served hot or cold

Basashi
- horse sashimi

Bakeries
- Japanese renditions of French patisseries usually superb, good breakfast option

Beer
- Baird Beer Taprooms, Goodbeer Faucets, Crafthead bar (Tokyo)
- Hoppy, a beer flavour soft drink

Burgers
- Mos Burger
- A lot of negative feedback on Burger King's black burgers but we tried the kuro ninja and liked it, then again we like BK

Coffee
- the Japanese adore good coffee and if you're a coffee aficionado you'll be well catered for, look/ ask for recommendations for old kissaten (the old school coffee places) and new hipster coffee places, Tokyo and Kyoto in particular have many

Ekiben
- means ekibento aka train station bento, the bento boxes on sale for train journeys have become their own thing, with regional/ station specialities. Incredibly good deals, and if you're staying near a station and want a picnic lunch or dinner, these are a good option

Cha-tsuke
- Rice, toppings and then tea or hot water poured over

Izakaya
- pubs with small dish food menus

Miracle Fruit
- Is a cafe in Tokyo specialising in these

Monjayaki
- Tokyo version of okonomiyaki, a speciality of the Kanto region, but made with a more liquid dough. Many to be found in Tsukishima district, there's a street lined with them

Nabe
- Hot pot, one pot meal

Oden
- A variety of items (seafood, meat, tofu, vegetables) stewed in a light dashi broth

Okonomiyaki
- Sometimes described as a pancake, sometimes as a pizza. A flat fritter-like meal cooked on a hot plate, often in front of the diners, shredded cabbage mixed into a batter. Other ingredients such as noodles, pork and shrimp can be added in. Once done, topped with bonito flakes and lots of mayo and sauce. Varies regionally.

Omuraisu
- Omelette and rice, there are restaurants specialising in nothing but variations of this, different fillings, different sauces etc

Pickles
- Often a course of the meal/ collectively referred to as tsukemono
- Misozuke, produce pickled in miso, a little sweeter than some types
- Narazuke, pickles from nara
- Shiozuke, salt pickles
- Nukazuke, rice bran pickles
- Umeboshi, pickled plums

Ramen
- Different regional styles, different broths (tonkotsu pork bone broth, shoyu soy sauce broth, shio salt broth etc)

Rice Crackers
- Look at recos on FoodSakeTokyo blog

Sake
- Can visit sake kura (sake breweries) in Kyoto, Kobe, Takayama and elsewhere

Shichimi
- Seven spice powder, usually includes chilli, a nice gift and there are shops specialising, plus often in markets there's a stall specialising

Soba
- buckwheat noodles, many restaurants specialising

Sushi
- Look for recommendations, outer market at Tsukiji, inexpensive chains like Zanmai, go to a kaiten sushi (conveyor belt) place

Sukiyaki/ Shabu Shabu
- Meat and vegetables cooked in a broth, different types of broths available, usually you cook the items yourself, adding and removing them from broth during the meal

Takoyaki
- Batter balls with octopus, available in many places but Osaka is famous for them

Tempura
- look for restaurant specialising, a whole menu of tempura sounds a lot but the chefs cook so lightly and expertly, is not a grease fest

Tonkatsu
- Take care not to confuse with tonkotsu (pork bone broth, style of ramen)
- Breaded pork, deep fried, usually served with shredded cabbage and sauces
- My favourite chain is katsukura, in Kyoto (I think now expanded to Tokyo), also well known is Maisen but it's much more pricey, and there's Butagami which I've not tried yet. Also many many cheaper chains, perfectly fine for quick meal
- Several restaurants/ chains specialise in curry katsu, and other curry rice options

Tsukemen
- Dipping noodles, instead of noodles in a broth (ramen), or stirfried (yaki), noodles are served in a bowl or on a plate, with a dipping sauce alongside

Tofu
- Restaurants specialising in tofu, with multi-course menus available

Udon
- Noodles, look for places specialising

Wagashi
- Japanese confectionery, many many different types, some places have sit-in cafe areas to enjoy wagashi with tea, most sell for taking away

Wagyu
- Wa gyu translates as Japanese beef, is the famous marbled beef, everyone outside of Japan associates only with kobe beef but that's because they've done the best international marketing job, there are several brands of prized wagyu in Japan, such as Hida.

Yakiniku
- Meat, cooked yourself on an indoor barbecue at the table

Yakitori
- Although the translation is usually grilled chicken, many yakitori restaurants serve other meats and items. Everything on sticks, often popular with rowdy salarymen

Yudofu
- Tofu simmered in dashi stock, like oden but only tofu, often found near temples

Yuba
- Tofu skin, skimmed off the liquid during creation of tofu, like a custard skin, and either sold fresh or dried


There are lots of posts on my blog for Japan, all of them can be found here http://www.kaveyeats.com/tag/japan but below I've pulled out the ones for food/ drink.

http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/05/jap...suke-jaya.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/04/yub...e-delight.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2014/03/enj...-in-japan.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2014/03/kyo...fast-sets.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/01/kai...o-in-nara.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/03/her...n-me-into.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/03/a-m...ki-market.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/01/mitarashi-dango.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2012/12/miy...-takayama.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2014/02/kai...he-corner.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2012/12/hid...ama-japan.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2012/12/owa...-takayama.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2012/11/kit...ley-tokyo.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2012/11/tem...uku-tokyo.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2012/11/ven...-in-japan.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2014/01/zen...ori-tokyo.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2014/01/tokyo-bento.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2014/02/bur...uro-ninja.html
http://www.kaveyeats.com/2014/02/sui...-kumamoto.html
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Old Sep 28th, 2014, 11:29 PM
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(Couldn't find, rewrote)
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Old Sep 29th, 2014, 03:36 AM
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I can not thank you enough!!!! Wow!

And I found your fabulous blog on eatyourbooks.com! So far I've only gotten a couple hundred of my cookbooks entered. This service is a godsend.
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Old Sep 29th, 2014, 09:22 PM
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Wow! is right
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Old Oct 1st, 2014, 03:42 AM
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Kavey, so, so attentive to our needs. I will print this out an one day carry it to Japan and feast of simple, and elegant, food. thanks.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2014, 12:50 PM
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You are most welcome. And of course, if anyone notices any errors, do jump in and correct me as I'm definitely not an expert by any stretch.

And thank you for your kind comments about my blog. I love eatyourbooks, so it's lovely to know you found me via them.

Jobin
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