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Vishal Vivek Prasad

@koreindian

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Jiujitsu at Imanari's school in Shinjuku. Just about the only place in Tokyo to go to for dedicated nogi grappling. Super nice folks there.

I got a chance to train at Imanari's twice. The first time I arrived early, just finished walking 20,000 steps and my phone was dying and it was raining, so I ducked into a nearby Chinese restaurant and had some beef chahan and sipped tea for an hour. Learned some leglock defenses and back takes from leg entanglements. by @koreindian

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2 years ago

1) The incredible green curry soy milk ramen at Bassanova in Harajuku. It has a surprisingly complex flavor. Definitely give this a try when you are in Tokyo.
2) Afterwards went to pet some pigs at Mipig cafe.
3) On a different day, we got tonkotsu ramen at Ramen Benkei in Asakusa.
4) My last meal before leaving was dan dan tsukemen at Tsukemen Kobo Asakusa Seimenjo, a nice local restaurant. A very heavy last meal! I ordered a medium and my heart sank when I saw how much food came. by @koreindian

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2 years ago

Kaminarimon nanoblock set.

Brought this back for myself as a little momento of sensoji. by @koreindian

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2 years ago

Gachapon.

We ran around Tokyo trying to find claw games and gashapon. I personally didn't like the anime merchandise which often seemed very junky, but I really enjoyed all the silly gacha.

1) Waffle hairclip.
2) Suika game pieces. You're meant to pull a bunch of these and stack them vertically on a desk.
3) Sauna animals.
4) Mukku and Gachapin. I first saw these two in Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth. I thought they were a satire on shitty mascot characters. Turns out they are very real and pretty popular. I've tried to acquire as much Mukku merch as possible on this trip.
5) Gachagacha. This one always makes me laugh.
6) Osamekudasai. Animals politely offering you food.

I didn't figure out how to photograph these gacha machines, so apologies for all the bad photos here. by @koreindian

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2 years ago

Various raw fish dishes in Tokyo.

The first three photos are from Nihonbashi Kaisendon. There are a couple branches of this restaurant spread across Tokyo, which by reputation serve one of the best kaisendons in the city. The bowl is filled with tuna, sea bream, ikura, and uni. Accompanying is some tai sashimi dressed with a surprising and delicious sesame sauce. Towards the end of the meal you can ask to have your bowl topped off with tai dashi and more rice. The menu is very small, laser focused on every customer having this same, very refined experience.

The other photos are from one of Sumida Ward's local spots, Noguchi Sengyoten (or "Noguchi's Best Fish" as their sign says in English). This place was full stop my favorite restaurant from this trip. It is both a restaurant and fish market, which allows them to sell huge portions of fresh fish at a modest price. The menu is sprawling and exuberant. I love how when the staff seat you they give you the regular menu and then slap down two separate ring binders of handwritten daily specials. The photos I have here is a small selection of their offering: kani cream croquettes, a negitoro don, a tai nabe set, one of their beautiful chirashidons, and some fried horse mackerel. The nabe set was particularly delicious and fortifying. by @koreindian

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2 years ago

7-11. There's a lot of content on social media about how great the konbini in Japan are, and it's all true they are amazing. The sandwiches and the onigiri etc. are fine, but this is the stuff that opened my chakras.

1) Zero Cider Triple Vitamin. This zero calorie generic soda is incredible. Tastes like mountain dew but lighter and crisper and without the feeling that you're poisoning yourself.
2) Black Soybean Rice Crackers. The soybeans are nutty, toasty, umami-rich. The whole thing is generously salted and doesn't taste like styrofoam as American rice crackers do. A great snack to watch Japanese television with.
3. Nanachiki. Spicy nanachiki is godly. The meat inside is juicy and it isn't a paste. I am actually in awe. This 140 yen piece of cornerstore meat is legitimately better than 90% of the fried chicken I've had at home. It's also also only like 240 calories a piece or something. Eat this every day to stay healthy.
4. Karepan. The food scientists at 7 & i Holdings went apeshit when they made this. The filling is standard japanese curry, maybe a little bit sweeter than what you'd get out of a box of Vermont curry. It's the breading here that is a complete surprise. The dough is almost like mochi, very light and chewy. The other karepan I've had in Tokyo were all far less daring.

7 & i Holdings I'm begging you... please fix 7-11 in America. The food you serve there is for those of who given up being human. If you send 500 of your most diligent salarymen to the States, I promise you that by 2030 Americans will all be speaking Japanese.

The last photo here is from a beautiful walkway right next to the main path in Meiji Jingu. This scene captures the feelings in my heart that come when I think about Japanese 7-11. by @koreindian

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2 years ago

Asakusa at night. Here we are at Sensoji and environs. We get to walk through the heart of this shrine everyday when walking from Asakusa station to our apartment.

We got some carbonara at Pasta Carbo. These insane portions are 900-1100 yen each. This fast and dirty Japanese pasta is a perfect way to cap out a 20,000 step day.

We also rented out a self-service ping pong club for an hour. by @koreindian

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2 years ago

Yakiniku at Yakiniku Hontosaya in Asakusa. Hands down, the highest quality meat I've eaten anywhere in any context. On the plate here is some galbi, tongue, and stomach. We also ordered some horse yukhoe. I've had a lot of excellent KBBQ in LA, but the meat quality here is on a different level. The aesthetics of the place was also excellent.
Afterwards we went to a dessert cafe, and I took a photo with the owner who was minding his shop late at night watching grand sumo on the tv and giggling when one of the ozeki rikishi launched his oppenent off the ring into the third row of the audience. taken in Yakiniku Hontosaya by @koreindian

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2 years ago

Eating Kappo cuisine with the homies for the first time at Sharikimon Onozawa (@sharikimon_onozawa) in Shinjuku. by @koreindian

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2 years ago