横濱人

横濱人
〒231-0861 神奈川県横浜市中区元町１丁目31 (ie, 〒231-0861 Kanagawa-ken, Yokohama-shi, Naka-ku, Motomachi, 1-chōme−31)
tel: 045-681-5225

what was consumed: japanese bar food!

when good friends come to town, you take them someplace where they'll get a taste of the local cuisine. d took the train from tokyo to see us in yokohama; we, in turn, took him out to japanese food.

my experience with washoku, at least until this point, had been limited. there were things i knew because of my various experiences around the world, but is that really japanese food? who knows. that said, i was once told that if there are "salary men" who dine at whatever location you're at, especially during the week, that restaurant is probably a safe bet. lucky for us, when we got to 横濱人, we joined quite a few other tables of salary men.

i can't say that 横濱人 offered dishes that were incredibly out of the ordinary; it felt like a typical japanese restaurant. but that was exactly what we were looking for - a little bit of sushi, a little bit of tempura, some agadofu, and of course onigiri (which i love). they had both the more typical onigiri as well as the grilled onigiri. both of them, please!

時遊陣

時遊陣
address: 〒231-0861 神奈川県横浜市中区元町３丁目141
(3-chōme-141 Motomachi, Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 231-0861)tel: 045-641-2224

what was consumed: washoku (aka japanese food). as we couldn't read the menu (and still can't read many japanese menus for that matter :/ ...) we asked for recommendations and then took them all. we had sashimi, roasted dry fish, shu mai, chicken wings ... and it was all pretty yummy.

first meal (out) in japan!

i've been looking forward to eating in japan. with some new additions/changes in my life, however, eating out had taken a back seat over the last 6-ish months (and from here out on, child-friendly dining options are going to become the norm). that doesn't mean we can't have good food, though, right? right.

soon after arriving, while MIL was still in town, we got our first chance to go out and eat in yokohama. BJL and i met up with our colleague friend who arrived in yokohama a few months earlier than we did. we told her, "dealer's choice," and suggested we go anywhere she hadn't been. so, by chance, we ended up at 時遊陣.

時遊陣 isn't on the main motomachi road; rather, it's on a side street of a side street. like many washoku places, they have a bar and just a few tables. the server spoke some english, but they didn't have an english menu. in japanese, we asked for recommendations, but the server responded with a few words in broken english until all of us told him that japanese was ok (this is usually how it goes). 

a good first go at eating out in japan, imo. and when we saw some salarymen/women enter, we were reassured that our selection was legit (haha).

online: http://www.m-jiyujin.com/

momo yakitori

momo yakitori
2214 Rhode Island Ave NE, Washington, DC 20018

what was consumed: Tofu to Rukkora Salad, yaki onigiri, hang 10 (chef's choice of 10 skewers)

yakitori (aka grilled chicken) is a staple in japanese cuisine. so when my japanese language partner heard from someone at hana market (the local japanese market in the city) about a new yakitori place opening up, we were intrigued. momo yakitori is located (what seems like) a thousand miles away, but it's well worth the trip if you fancy japanese style grilled things.

we opted we opted for the chef's choice of 10 skewers, which was fine, but i'd also encourage you to take a look at the menu and pick and choose among the interesting items. and definitely get the onigiri (though i could have easily eaten two orders on my own) and a salad.

most of all, i loved the little details and the ambiance of momo yakitori. the dishes that were used, the charcoal used to filter, etc. very japanese ;)

online: https://www.momoyakitori.com/

takohachi

takohachi
3249 Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA 22204
tel: 571) 312-7678

what was consumed: lunch bento (grilled salmon, mackerel, sushi)

while learning japanese, we also spent a lot of time looking for places to enjoy japanese food. so, when takohachi opened near school, we (as well as our japanese teachers) were pretty excited about being able to get some pretty solid bento boxes, especially at lunch.

takohatchi also features a pretty good HH, which i've been told is a good deal for pretty good bites. their service can be a little slow, but when your stomach is happy, not a whole lot else matters, wouldn't you say?

online: https://www.facebook.com/takohachijapaneserestaurant/

   

bantam king

bantam king
501 G St NW, Washington, DC 20003
tel: 202) 733-2612

what was consumed: chicken ramen, gyoza, fried chicken plate (with chicken drippings to rice, of course)

bantam king is owned/run by the same people at daikaya (one of my favorite ramen places in the city), so i was excited about trying out bantam king.

at bantam king, it's all about chicken: chicken ramen, fried chicken, etc. the various types of ramen come in a chicken broth. and while that might be unconventional for ramen purists, it's still delicious (haha). and oh, the fried chicken. to me, the fried chicken was a sort of cross between american style fried chicken, japanese style karage, and some chinese spices, altogether a great combination for light and delicious fried chicken. and for those who aren't fans of ramen (who are you and why are you not a fan?!), there is also a rice option. be sure to enjoy the punch of flavor thanks to the chicken drippings. YUM.

also a quick nod to the time and effort put into bantam king's decor. so many references to japan-based pop culture. love it!

online: https://www.bantamking.com/

haikan

haikan
805 V St NW, Washington, DC 20001
tel: 202) 299-1000

what was consumed: a few happy hour specials (cirspy pork belly, chicken kara-age, haikan fries, deviled eggs) as well as a veggie ramen with extra chasyu (this is turning into my favorite MO when enjoying ramen. not so traditional, but ... YUM).

looking for a fun ramen, and then some, place? be sure to check out haikan.

my "ladies who dine group" decided to head to haikan for an evening of chatter and delicious food. on a cold night, ramen just sounded even better. it was easy to make a reservation at haikan, and i'm glad that we did (though it was a little bit tight for our group of 6). but that's ok! haikan has a fun vibe - the happy hour crowd is boisterous, just as is the dinner crowd that comes in afterward. definitely try the happy hour bites - they are delicious. and while haikan specializes in ramen, i enjoy the other little things they have to offer. a little something for everyone (though, who doesn't like ramen?). oishi!

also, there's something really fun about the area around that atlantic plumbing building (the 9:30 club, the other restaurants ... and i love that movie theater). happy to see this as a part of my former stomping grounds. can't wait to try the other things around there!

online: https://www.haikandc.com/

jinya ramen bar

jinya ramen bar
1336 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005
tel: 202) 588-8560

what was consumed: quinoa salad, jinya ramen, spicy ramen

is there such thing as too many ramen places? no, i say, no!

bjl said he'd seen jinya ramen coming to and from the gym. i was happy to accompany when he suggested we go there.

jinya is apparently one of many (there are locations across the country), which can be both good and bad. maybe they have a solid product? is their product so overproduced that it loses that which makes it special? is the authenticity lost? will it be like any of the other chains that we see? no matter - we still head over.

despite our early dinner dining habit (for reals, we prefer our dinner on the early side),  there was already a wait and jinya looked pretty close to at-capacity. we, of course, opted for two bar seats that just happened to open up as we walked up. yay!

jinya offers some more traditional/expected ramen options (e.g. shoyu, tonkatsu) along with some jinya specialities. what's more, some of jinya's ramens are served with thick noodles (verses the more common (dare i say traditional) think noodles). i might be a fan.

online: https://jinya-ramenbar.com/locations/detail/washington-dc-14th

kula sushi

kula sushi

2700 Alton Pkwy, Irvine, CA 92606

tel: 949) 553-0747

what was consumed: sushi-go-round!

have you been to a sushi-go-round? you know, where there's a "conveyor belt" of various dishes; you make your selection by selecting a plate off the belt and you pay per plate. yum. that's what kula sushi offers. additionally, each seat has a touchscreen menu from which you can make a specific request or order things that don't seem to be coming around (e.g. ramen. yes!). the sushi at kula sushi hits the spot and gives diners the opportunity to try a whole bunch of different things without the super high price tag that usually comes with sushi-filled meals. the service at kula is also quick and kind (though the instruction on getting your name on the waitlist caused some confusion - ha!). people will say what they will about sushi-go-rounds, but sometimes it's what hits the spot. so ... let's go!

online: http://kulausa.com/

wild rice

wild rice
serena hotel (khayaban-e-suhrawardy, islamabad)
tel: 051-287-4000

what was consumed: east (chinese and japanese) and south east asian favorites! fried spring rolls, tom yum soup, kung pao chicken, salads, noodles, etc. so many bites of delicious food! but no papaya salad (they didn't have it, not that it wasn't on the menu) :( and, really, only bites because there were so many of us! still - works for me.

the ladies' dinners strike again! with everyone back from holiday, and before others go out, the ladies got together to have a nice dinner. so many folks come to wild rice for work-related activities, but this was my first time! the first for a few of us, in face. i was ready.

wild rice sat us in a nice back corner, maybe because we were so large, maybe because we were a bunch of women, who knows. it was fine for us, though. we looked through the menu and were overwhelmed with the options. they have a nice sampling of dishes from all over "asia," interesting only in that i thought it was a thai restaurant (not sure where i got that idea). we decided that we'd all pick one and share. works for me! we ended up with a hodge podge of stuff - chinese kung pao chicken, japanese sushi rolls, thai soups and salads, indonesian noodles ...

the service was also quite good - the servers know what they're doing. that said, we had a big group and our server was overwhelmed (and we could see it). still, he slapped a smile on his face and did the best job he could. that's all we ask! fab job!

people who'd been here before say that they haven't had anything they didn't like. and i believe it! i'll have to go back to try more. happy eating!

online: http://www.serenahotels.com/serenaislamabad/dining-en.html