What would it be like to step into a shrink ray and hop aboard a sushi conveyor belt? Wonder no more. Some crazy cats plunked a video camera down on a kaiten-zushi belt and let it roll.
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Photograph from FXcuisine.com In his latest post on FXcuisine.com, food blogger and photographer François-Xavier features a visit to gourmet tea shop Cha Cha Noma in Tokyo. Check out his great photos of a tea waiter preparing Japanese pickled tea and sencha in two ways. Related Grocery Ninja: Japanese Genmaicha Oolong: The Tea for Tea People Japanese Tea Commercial with Caterpillars...
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"The market is not a visitor attraction but a place for fish bidding." Food bloggers, this means you! [Yahoo Philippines News]...
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"Most exciting food was the 'Gyoza Dog.' More like a steamed bun with gyoza-like filling (note the phallic exterior). It was right out side the 'Journey to the Center of the Universe' ride. The line for the Gyoza Dog was just as long as the line for the ride." [Umami Mart]...
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Photograph from Tavie on Flickr Thanks to this Jack Sparrow-themed salami stick, we now have so many new, uncomfortable ways to use the words "sausage" and "Johnny Depp" in the same sentence. For sale at Disneyland Tokyo, this product inspires jokes that probably aren't appropriate for the little ones there to see Mickey. [via Boing Boing]...
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When you sit at the sushi bar chances are you'll end up chatting with your sushi chef. This interaction is one benefit of sitting close to the action—you can easily express your preferences, find out what's fresh, and develop a nice rapport. If you're not one for small talk, though, you may like the new standing sushi bar Ushio, located at Shinagawa Station in Tokyo, where you can order sushi without uttering a single syllable. How it works: Rows of tokens—each labeled with a kind of fish or beverage and marked with its price—are neatly stacked on the counter. Want some freshwater eel and tuna? Grab the anago and maguro coins and toss 'em in your personal tray. The...
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Different kinds of Japanese vending machines from PingMag. Americans are seriously missing out on the ability to purchase hot french fries or socks without having to talk to an actual human being. So until our country gets with the program, we'll just have to sigh into our sake and wish we lived in Japan. Meanwhile Tokyo-based design magazine PingMag, after doing some investigative reporting at a manufacturers' convention in Tokyo, provides updates on the latest in amazing Japanese vending machines. From a self-serve tourist information center to cigarette dispensers with age recognition software, the only thing these innovative machines have left in common is automated awesomeness. Related Mobile Street Food in Tokyo, Japan Ningyo-Yaki: Molded Japanese Cakes Spherical Is...
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Omu-rice and pork cutlet curry. You may not think of fried mashed potato patties or beef stew served with rice when craving Japanese food, but these dishes of Western origins are popular in Japanese cuisine. Mari Kanazawa of Watashi to Tokyo explains the origins of some of these Japanese-Western dishes and where you're most likely to find them in Tokyo....
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One reason I don't like eating street food in New York City is because I either have to eat it while walking or find a place to sit down before digging into my food as it gets progressively cooler. If I lived in Tokyo I could just eat ramen or oden in front of a cart on the side of the street, as seen in PingMag's feature on Tokyo's mobile food bars in which they interview a handful of food cart vendors about how they run their businesses....
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Tokyo-based design magazine PingMag has a feature on the history and making of the Japanese snack cake ningyo-yaki, which translates to "fried dolls." These small cakes made by pouring batter into intricate molds—varying from Hello Kitty to a traditional lantern—are typically filled with red bean paste, but may also be filled with chocolate or custard. Grab a box on your next trip to Japan!...
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