天のや (Amanoya)

My sponsor (aka my mom) and I learnt about this place through TV, they were doing an episode on the best 'Sashi-Ire' (a Japanese custom to give an offering to a guest/friend/colleague) and the egg sandwich from Amanoya came in first place. It just so happened that the shop was a 10 minute walk from our house. We actually had already tried going last week, but it was completely sold out by 2pm. So today my sponsor and I tried again, although they were only selling takeaway boxes today we were able to grab 3 boxes for the price of $35. Yep.. $35 for egg sandwiches.

Japanese people sure love wrapping everything.

1,200 yen for a box of plain egg sandwiches. Fluffy eggs sandwiched with a mustard spread. Simple is best?

Tamago-Sando (Egg sandwich)
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1,200 yen (per person/serving)

Okay so I've had a dilemma with egg sandwiches ever since I had one when I was 12 at a friends house and it was really goopy. I remember struggling to eat the whole sandwich thinking 'Never again...' When I saw that Amanoya served an egg sandwich totally out of this world, obviously I had to give it the benefit of the doubt. It was absolutely delicious. It was just a fluffy thick cut slice of egg, with a thin layer of mustard/mayonnaise spread held together with soft moist slices of bread. I don't know what else to say about it but I don't think I'll ever come across a egg sandwich so simply good. - Mari

P.S Daniel is in Florida at the moment and I'm still in Tokyo finishing up on finals, but we are glad to say we are BACK in the food blog game this summer!

P.P.S Get ready for some food bloggin' from Malaysia and the Philippines next month!

Ichiran (一蘭)

Ichiran is not just any ramen restaurant. It offers private booths to maximize the focus of just you and the hot bowl of ramen. You are given a list of options for the ramen (hardness of the noodles, thickness of the broth, level of spice etc.) so that you can have the ramen exactly how you like it. Lines are usually long especially during the afternoon or dinner time, but service is fast so you won't be waiting longer than 15 minutes till you're seated. It's just you and your ramen bowl from there.

Focus on the ramen and only the ramen

Tonkotsu Ramen
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780 yen

This is how I always want my ramen to be, thick noodles, pork broth soup,  and with just the right amount of Ichiran's famous 'red sauce'. -Mari 

I copied Mari with almost all the options, but I got medium noodles instead. The ramen was amazing. The little kick given from the red sauce and the rich taste of the pork broth gave it an awesome flavor. The noodles weren't too soft or too hard, and the char siu was extremely tender. - Daniel Hess

Are you hungry yet?

We couldn't get enough of these char siu slices!

Slurping noodles in Japan shows appreciation towards the food- you gotta do it! 

OVERALL

Ichiran is one of those restaurants that welcomes people who want to eat ramen alone in peace. It's definitely a must go if you're in town and want to experience a totally unique eating environment. It's not often you get to really focus on your food and its flavors when you're eating with company. Not to mention all you introverts out there, it's perfect! -Mari

And the Friets

I never thought I'd wait in line an hour for french fries, but you do everything at least once right? Mari and I waited to check out this small, gourmet, Belgium based french fry snack. The whole time we were waiting in line I kept thinking to myself "Is it possible for this to be worth it?". Once we tried the fries though we knew the answer.

Our serving of vegetable for the day (potatoes count right?).

Petit Ball Freit
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520 yen

Crispy on the edges, soft and steaming in the middle. In Japanese we call this texture 'Hoku-hoku', an 

onomatopoeia for food that are steaming from within. You have the opportunity to lather this up in one of the sauces to get a blast of flavor. -Mari 

Sweet Satsuma Freit Box Set with Fried Chicken
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930 yen

The fried chicken was surprisingly good. The skin tasted great and was perfectly crisp. The meat was extremely juicy and easy to eat. -Daniel

I absolutely loved the Satsuma fries. I'd definitely order this one again. -Mari 

Rare Freit
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620 yen

The most disappointing out of the four. Maybe it was due to the type of potato itself (sweet purple potato) but it failed to deliver the same crispiness as the others. There was a hint of natural sweetness overwhelmed with mushiness. Maybe I'll try another one next time.. -Mari

Curly Fry Box Set with Falafels
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830 yen

The curly fries were perfect. The seasoning had a great flavour and made them stand out from the usual. They were at the perfect level of crispiness. The only thing I would change is I wish there was more curliness to the fries (like the awesome spiral fries hidden above). -Daniel

The falafel was a lot less greasier than the ones we're used to, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Either way I was still sad that there was only 4 pieces. -Mari

Sauces (From top left to bottom right: honey mustard mayo, three cheese, barbecue,  fresh basil mayonnaise 

Out of all four sauces we both agreed that the basil mayonnaise was the best. The honey mustard mayo was a close second, and the barbecue came in third. The cheese, our first choice of the four, was in dead last because it tasted like the old, salty nacho cheese you get with your nachos in a cinema. -Daniel

OVERALL

We both agreed that a 15 minute wait would be worth it. The fries, for the most part, were a good snack. The atmosphere was non-existant (even though they were going for the exclusive feel) due to the small sardine tin size and all the other sardines in the room.