Mishima Beef at the basement grocery store in Takashimaya. Just stunning quality here.
The fat marbling on this Mishima Beef strip loin (aka top loin, NY strip) is unbelievable. The great tragedy was that I had no place to cook this, so I had to pass it up.
More Mishima Beef. This is ribeye, and is quite pricey at over $100/lb. It looks so good I want to cry.
The ulitmate insult - I found this piece of superb quality beef at a convenience store!!! Even the cheapo stores in Kyoto sell great meat!
A huge block of otoro - fatty tuna belly. This is another of my personal faves. Looks like this piece is about $100/lb.
The fish section at Takashimaya's grocery store had an array of single nigiri sushi pieces for sale at about $0.45 a piece. I grabbed a few pieces for a quick afternoon snack.
I also snagged a few other pieces of sashimi for dinner. At closing time, all sashimi/sushi is marked down to clear out inventory. Freshness is key for items eaten raw, and would be compromised by letting inventory sit overnight. I happened to time my visit perfectly to grab some otoro on the cheap (center). Buri (from a large hamachi - left) and some unknown whitefish (right) complete the set. Ice packs, wasabi, soy sauce, sudachi, and chopsticks were all included for no additional charge.
Look at that amazing marbling of the tuna belly! If you can even find it, this stuff goes for about $12 a slice at a good sushi restaurant in the States. After the discount, I got all of the above sashimi slices for less than that!
The grocery shop at Takashimaya department store has an indoor wood grill. A (very warm) cook uses it to prepare yakitori (grilled chicken skewers).
While in Japan, I discovered the existance of a whole new industry - plastic food modeling. Many restaurants have giant window displays showing detailed models of each menu item.
The variety of options here is stunning. Actually, what's really stunning is how detailed and accurate these models appear. Meat has sear marks, soup broth is translucent, and those fried shrimp look crispy and delicious.
Posts
