Safe Travels in Japan - Numazu Uogashizushi and Matsuya Yakiniku Sute-ki

Numazu Uogashizushi

(website seems to be all in Japanese- we went to this location)

Jason here. On our first day in Japan, we talked with our hotel and they helped us set up a reservation at an upscale sushi place and confirmed they could accommodate my gluten allergy. I highly recommend you check with your hotel, and see if they offer a similar customer service. The restaurant our hotel helper found was Numazu Uogashizushi, which was conveniently located only a block or so away.

We arrived a bit early, but they accommodated us and confirmed we were the reservation that required a gluten free meal. Already we were off to a great start, because I could tell they would take extra care with my meal. We were seated at a bar like table, which surrounded the chef’s preparation area so we could watch them work their magic.

If the Yakiniku place was for me, then this was for Kayleigh as the English menu contained an uncountable variety of fish and seafood. We ordered a sushi set, which came with eel and tamagoyaki removed as they were not gluten free. The set came with fatty tuna, salmon, squid, prawn, scallop, regular tuna, and mackerel.

I quickly shuffled the prawn over to Kayleigh, as I had already learned it was not my favorite. I really enjoyed all of the raw fish. The texture and taste were nothing like a cooked white fish. Instead they reminded me more of a steak taste then a fish taste.

By far though, my favorite sushi was the fatty tuna. They were so sweet and succulent, they tasted like they were filled with a cream cheese. If you ever can’t the chance definitely order some fresh fattier tuna sushi.

Kayleigh here. There really is something to be said for well prepared, simply presented sushi. Typically, going to a sushi joint is not particularly high on my to-do list, and going to one while in Japan felt almost, well, weeaboo. But the choice cuts, lightly flavored rice, and unrushed atmosphere made it a fantastic dinner experience. My only regret is that I did not remember what the white fish was on the plate- it had the most astounding strong flavor to it. I would have been content just having a full meal of that one!

Matsuya Yakiniku Sute-Ki

(website is in Japanese- cannot seem to find an english link)

Jason here. After striking out at our planned restaurant in the Gion district of Kyoto, we happened upon yet another yakiniku place. Still remembering fondly the last yakiniku place Gyu-Kaku, I practically begged Kayleigh to stop here. The restaurant was called Matsuya Yakiniku Sute-ki.

As we arrived just before last order and closing, we quickly placed an order of salted thickly cut beef tongue, Harashi beef with sesame sauce, and a seafood platter of prawn, salmon, and squid. They do have and English menu available, and our waiter spoke limited English. 

My favorite dish of the night was not what I expected. After Gyu-Kaku I was sure I was going to be favoring the beef tongue again. It was still delicious to be sure, but something about it being thickly cut just wasn’t the same. This night my favorite dish was the Harashi beef with sesame sauce. After eating at so many restaurants where I could not have sauces, this really stood out to me. The beef itself was very succulent, and I applied a good deal of sesame sauce to make it perfect to my liking.

Kayleigh here. I never get sick of seafood, so I knew the sampler platter of simply prepared cuts would be my first choice. As with many of the restaurants in Japan, we could start to pick and choose what we might be able to order via a display of plastic plates of food at the main entrance, even before we were committed to going in. We could tell what restaurants were more likely to have a gluten free option by the types of food on display.

Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizzeria

Jason here. While we were visiting family in San Diego, we were brought to one of our host’s favorite pizza places, Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizzeria.

As an appetizer, Kayleigh and I split a peaches, blackberries and prosciutto salad, which came topped with goat cheese, hazelnuts, and sherry vinaigrette. The blackberries, fresh greens, and prosciutto were delicious. I enjoyed the salty prosciutto mixing wonderfully with the black berries and vinaigrette. The hazelnuts and cheese added a bit of an earthy and, of course, nutty flavor to the whole salad. It’s a shame, but the peaches were really overwhelmed here and added very little to an otherwise great salad.

For our main course, Kayleigh and I split a “My Father’s” pizza with a gluten free crust substitution. While they do have the obligatory cross contamination disclaimer, I can confidently say I had no issues with my meal. We went with this particular pizza, as I wanted some form of meat and Kayleigh wanted to try something with fresh mozzarella. It turned out to be a great choice.

The mozzarella was placed on the pizza in large pieces, so biting into it offered not only a burst of mozzarella flavor, but also added some texture to the pizza. As a fan of extra cheese, I definitely enjoyed the liberal helpings of the large melted mozzarella pieces. The pepperoni came in extra-large pieces, which was also a nice surprise. While Kayleigh likes red onion, I’ve never been a fan of them on my pizza so these I could have done without. The fennel sausage on the other hand, was my favorite part. The bits of sausage were heavily seasoned with herbs which added to the overall pizza. As opposed to blending together, I could taste each ingredient in the pizza individually with each imparting its own distinct flavor.

Kayleigh here. This pizzeria was fairly small and quite busy when we arrived, but we were seated quickly and served just as fast. The pizzas were a beautiful example of fresh foods done right- a simple thin crust covered with an even distribution of ripe vegetables, barely melted cheese, and heavily seasoned meats. Each bite was a well-rounded combination of flavors and textures, complimenting each other so well that I enjoyed even the strong fennel flavor from the sausage because of how it enhanced the sweetness of the tomato sauce. When a restaurant can get me to actually enjoy the meat in a dish instead of resigning myself to it, I know I found a winner.

If you’re looking for a fun little pizzeria with a gluten free crust offering, then Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizzeria may just be the right fit for you.

Safe Travels in Japan - Conbinis

Convenience stores - 'Conbini' - 7-11, Family Mart, Sunkus, etcetera

One of the first places we stopped to grab a bite to eat in Japan was a 7-11. As it turns out, convenience stores are everyone where in Japan. In Tokyo, it seemed there was at least one on every block. On the first day, I was still carrying around a bunch of kind bars as a backup. I wanted to try a bunch of new things in Japan, but getting sick my first day wouldn’t do any good. I picked up some Salmon Roe Onigiri, Peach Yogurt Drink, and Hagen dahz vanilla ice cream. A perfectly balanced meal if ever there was one. The peach yogurt drink, and hagen dahz I knew would be safe. On the other hand, Onigiri could have soy sauce. We looked up all of the kanji for soy sauce, and gluten that we knew of and checked the ingredients. Not feeling confident in our very first ingredients check, we also managed to confirm our findings with the clerk in our broken Japanese.

Of course what we thought was Salmon Onigiri, turned out to be Salmon Roe Onigiri. Salmon being the fish, and Salmon Roe being the fish eggs. It would probably be a good to take a moment and explain Onigiri. Onigiri in its simplest form is white rice, shaped and wrapped with dried seaweed. The rice usually has some form of sugar to help it keep the shape. Finally, it comes with all kinds of different fillings. Some common gluten free fillings we encountered were salmon, salmon roe, pickled plumb, and shrimp with mayonnaise.

The peach yogurt drink was really good, but definitely an interesting experience texture wise. It comes in a plastic cup, with a plastic straw you stick through the foil on the top. Since you are drinking it through a straw it comes through very inconsistently, with bit of peach getting stuck momentarily before shooting up the straw at precisely a billion miles an hour. The taste by itself was like a normal peach yogurt.

The salmon roe onigiri was my favorite part of the meal. The dried seaweed is just so crunchy in Japan, that it makes the perfect wrapper. Not to mention I enjoy white rice already, but salmon roe added a nice salty taste to balance the sweet rice. Aside from the taste I will say the hold together much better than one would imagine, which makes them easy to eat on the go with no mess. I’m not sure if I am just technically challenged, but I found the onigiri wrappers to be incredibly complex to unwrap. They come preshaped, but yet the seaweed is still wrapped separately from the rice. This makes perfect sense, as it can keep the seaweed nice and crispy, but also means I have to unwrap the seaweed without breaking it and without spilling\dropping the exposed rise, then put it together again. It’s hard to describe without actually trying it once, so I hope each and every one of you gets the chance one day to look as silly as I did.

I don’t have too much to say about the vanilla Hagen Dahz. It tasted just fine, but came in a disappointingly small container. As it turns out, I would be in the mood for ice cream this entire trip so I found myself picking these up almost every night.

On future trips, besides sampling all sorts of onigiri, we found that most convenience stores had store brand dried fruits that were gluten free. Not raisins or prunes- there were dried and lightly sweetened strawberries, mangos, mandarin oranges, and many other tasty variations. On the more savory side of snacks, we found dried squid was often safe- think dry jerky, but it tasted like, well, squid. And on the really safe side, every convenience store carried Soyjoys. Completely gluten free and in a dozen or so flavors, these were by far the easiest thing to load up on and carry around as emergency rations.