Despite being a city that prides itself in being a gourmand’s heavan, for some reason Tokyo is quite an underperformer when it comes to breakfast options. How many places can you tell me that offer a decent sit-down breakfast that you would feel comfortable taking your beloved girlfriend, better-half or even the kids? Here is a summary of the best we visited.

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Salt in the Japanese diet: Who was it that made salt the scapegoat in the worlds rush to explain the cause of high blood-pressure? Sure scientists have proven that cholesterol is bad, but where is the definitive research proving that salt is the culprit? The reality is that we, as a species, have increased the incidence of a plethora of other health worries after we starting playing games with the mineral balance in our salt intake. We – especially those of us on a Japanese diet – should be going out of our way to take more salt.

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Tasty hamburger joints in Japan are quite elusive. As anybody who has made the mistake of typing in the word “hamburger” and their local address into a google map search will vouch (yes, all you get are a bunch of McDonalds), there doesn’t seem to be a particularly easy way to find them. Come and read article number 4 in our series of “The Quest for Japan’s Best Hamburger”. How many stippies does Yokoji Hamburger Utsubo Koen score?

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The forth in our “Quest for Japan’s best hamburger” series. Pocke Farm in Okinawa, is like one of those little huts run by Filipinos that you’d expect to find in a Hawaiian parking lot. The shop itself is just a small box adjacent to American Depot but it does have quite a spacious deck “out the back” for customers to sit down and enjoy their hamburgers so it actually pulls off a high score when it comes to atmosphere points. As for how the burger actually tasted, come and read the full article.

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Contrary to popular belief, I believe the best hamburgers are definitely a slow food. Just because McDonald’s made hamburgers into the archetypal fast food, it doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice the concept of a real high quality burger. While it’s rare to find a burger joint that is willing to keep their customers waiting 15 minutes or more after ordering, T’s Star Diner (Takatsuki, Osaka) is, and is proud of it.

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This is part two of our series on Japan’s best hamburger. This time, we took a trip down south to Okinawa, to sample of of the (locally) famous Jef Goya Burgers. We rate the burger place with our system of “stippies”. Take a look to find out if you should or shouldn’t put it on the menu for your next trip to Okinawa!

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I don’t take my burgers lightly. As a big fan of hardcore burgers and an unforgiving critic of cheap imitations, I am on a seemingly endless search for Japan’s perfect burger, and have been for more than a decade.

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To make the most of the good weather that we’re enjoying this Spring, my family and I decided to tip toe amongst the Tulips that are in blossom at the moment at Expo Park (万博公園, banpaku koen). As we were walking around the Western side of the park, we decided to take a few photos outside the chikurin (竹林, bamboo forest). It was then that for the first time, I noticed a couple of Takenoko (たけのこ, baby bamboo shoots) sneaking up through the floor of the forest. Sure, I’ve seen fully grown bamboo trees many times and I’ve even enjoyed some noodles washed down the inner side of a bamboo trunk (流しそうめん, nagashisomen) before, but for some reason, I guess I’d never been walked by a bamboo forest in the Spring before. Being a big fan of bamboo shoots on the dinner table, I joked to my wife that we should sneak into the chikurin and take a few home.

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After eating what was potentially the worst cream puff of my life this afternoon at the local Willie Winki, I was motivated to write an article on Beard Papa. Having been relocated to the arse-end of Shikoku for the past month, I think you can safely assume that I’m missing a bunch of the things [...]

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Visitors to Japan are quick to note the polite and friendly customer service offered up by the retail store staff. But in addition to the Japanese human shopkeepers, commerce in Japan is supported by the host of mechanical vendors one can find on the corner of almost any block. As anyone who has walked about [...]

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