Great New York style bagels in Yokohama (Tokyo)

I've been here for over 8 years now and a decent New York style bagel has been hard to come by. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of "bagels" being sold here in Japan, but all are pale comparisons to bagels you would find in New York.

However, I recently stumbled upon a bagel shop located between Tsunashima and Okurayama stations in Yokohama on the Toyoko line. The place is called Kitate Bagels (see their link and Facebook page below). It is a small shop, but I think is the closest I've seen to a true "New York" bagel (see my photo). I think that if they only cooked the outside a little more to give it a harder "crust", it would be perfect (a couple minutes in your toaster oven can fix that). The shop offers a variety of bagels such as onion, everything, salt, plain, blueberry bagels (and others on a rotating basis apparently), bagel sandwiches and a couple other breads and rolls. My favorite is the Everything bagel and I plan to get my bagel fix at least once a week.

If you are craving a decent NY style bagel, check them out if you are in the Yokohama area.

Kitate Bagels Okurayama page

Kitate bagels FACEBOOK page

NYC style Pizza by the slice in Japan... service ain't cutting it.

The pizza by the slice at Sbarro in Shibuya didn't disappoint. Although, I didn't have my expectations too high either to begin with. The slices are thin and crispy on most occasions (I've been there 6 times in a span of 2 weeks) and a little small (see it compared to a napkin in my photo), but I must say from my experience so far, the service seems a little inefficient.

In my first trip I gave them the benefit of the doubt, but after having been there on my sixth trip, I should say that they seem to have an disorganized way of doing things.

When you enter and look at the pizza pies presented, you make your selection then tell the staff member who takes your order and writes it down for you on a piece of paper.

You then take the paper to the register, pay and get your drink, or any other "non-hot" item, while you wait in front of the register for your order. On three of the six occasions I was asked to pay again while I waited for my slices.

The otherday, when I went at 8pm I asked for a "supreme" slice and the girl taking orders (Machida) told me they have none and that I "had" to choose something else. I told her I will wait for the next pie and she said they will not make any more which prompted me to ask the men behind the counter making the pies, who told me it would take 10-15 minutes for the next "supreme" pie. This showed me that this particular staff member doesn't seem to know much about customer service.

I then ordered a regular slice and a "supreme" telling them I will pick up the "supreme" after it is finished. Surprisingly, by the time I paid for my order, they said both my slices were actually ready and gave them to me. However it was one regular slice and one pepperoni slice, not the "supreme" I had ordered. I told the staff that it was not a supreme, they actually insisted to me it was, and it was only after I had to point to a photo of a supreme slice in their menu, that they acknowledged the difference.

Was it a mistake or were they just trying to pass off a pepperoni slice as a supreme thinking I didn't know any better?

With this type of service and inefficient methods of order taking and placing, I worry about Sbarro Japan's big plans of having over a 1000 stores in Japan within the next 20 years.

However since they did just open I have to give benefit of the doubt. But then again I would have thought that Sbarro and, at the least, JCI, the company managing the Japan stores would have been better prepared for order processing routine and at the least offer better service where they don't tell a customer that they do not have a particular food item they want.

Another observation made by a friend of mine is that they probably need to change their order counter procedure. It is a system that isn't very Japanese, and may actually intimidate many Japanese from this particular method of order fulfillment. He too noted that it seemed like an inefficient process.

That said, I do hope Sbarro does improve and thrive in Japan, because I am sure they can do well, as long as they implement a better system of running their operations.

Sbarro in Shibuya. Has real NY style pizza finally come Tokyo Japan?!?

I've heard about Sbarro's (an Italian fast food chain from NY) plan to open stores in Japan over a year ago, and finally noticed one preparing to open right by JR Shibuya station by the end of March.

Hopefully the pizza at the Japanese-run Sbarro will be somewhat close to what I used to get back home.

Up until now I've had to make do with pizza by the slice at Costco to even come close to NY style pizza. Will I be able to enjoy thick melted mozzarella cheese, sweet and tangy tomato sauce, on a thin crispy crust with maybe some chunks of sausage or slices of pepperoni piled on a slice bigger than the palm of my hand? My hopes are high. But then again, this is Japan so I shouldn't be surprised if the pizza ends up small, overpriced and piled high with corn nibblets, and squid.

Sbarro Japan News release
Sbarro wiki
スバーロ日本 Sbarro Japan site

Otaku heaven outside Akihabara

To me, otaku mecca in Japan is not in Akihabara but in the Nakano Broadway mall.

Nakano is a station that is just a few minutes from Shinjuku station, and seems to be the heart and soul of all anime and manga otaku goods. Within the mall new and vintage toys, manga, anime, anime cells, original Japanese comic art, movie posters, outfits and uniforms, character goods, games, j-pop musician posters, music, and vintage japanese promotional and advertising goods and trinkets can be had within the 4 level mecca of otaku culture goods.

Madarake, a store that focuses on all things otaku and found in a couple areas of Japan has their "super store" located in this mall. This super store has various departments within the four floors that focus on various otaku subcultures. Mandarake means "full of man", and although one can easily believe the "man" to mean men, as in the gender, which seem outnumber women in this building, in this case "man" was used to stand for the superhero names, which usually end with the word "man", as in Ultra-man, Gatcha-man (known as G-force, in the USA), Mirror-man and of course Batman and Superman.

Nakano Broadway Sun Mall could easily be considered an Otaku museum of sorts and is sure to keep you entertained for a few hours especially if you consider yourself an otaku, nerd, or a fan-boy.

Be sure to bring cash, if you are into this type of stuff. You will find a lot of things you want, and these stores don't take credit cards.


Dragonball anime cell.



A tiny sampling of a variety of Japanese toys.


Cos-play outfits and uniforms for sale.


Shogun Warriors were toys that were exported to the U.S. in the mid Eighties.

No Nova

The popular "English conversation" school in Japan known as NOVA recently filed for bankruptcy.
The company for months had been under attack for taking payment from students but not actually making an effort to meet the students demands for offering classes when they need it, and not paying back such customers.
A popular feeling regarding this (and probably other such schools) is that they often tend to serve as "entertainment/companionship" matchmakers, setting up lonely housewives and other lonely women with foreign men. However, I get the feeling not all teachers were the "cunning linguists" they should have been, which probably led to more frustrated customers to vocalize their "dissatisfaction".

Best darn BBQ in Japan

After hearing a friend telling me about HILL COUNTRY, a bbq restaurant that recently opened up in my old neighborhood Chelsea, I have been craving BBQ like you wouldn't believe and had to give it a shot. Although Hill Country is Texas-style barbecue, I did my best to recreate North Carolina Style Pulled Pork barbecue. I must say I did alright. I am sure there are better bbq joints in N.C., but this bbq sandwich is the best I had in Japan. Up until now, The Hard Rock Cafe had a decent pulled pork, but mine is much closer to the real thing. Gonna open me up a bbq joint someday out here. I reckon I call it Kenny's Q. It will be the best NC style bbq you can get in Japan thats for sure! I used a slow cooker, but you wouldn't know the difference.

Hill Country
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/dining/reviews/11unde.html?ex=1184817600&en=ee2feace0d85c1f6&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Cool product to ice insects

A new product I have been seeing advertised on TV here is an insect spray that freezes unpleasant pests (flying or crawling) dead with a blast of-40 degree ice. “Varsan Hyosatsu Jet Spray for Flying Bugs” and “Varsan Hyosatsu Jet Spray for Creeping Bugs” was released by health and household product company LION in Japan nationwide back in March. These insecticide sprays do not contain any chemical pesticide ingredients, but kill unpleasant bugs instantly.
Strangely enough part of me would like to try this product out.

For all the cold hard facts on this product click the link below

http://www.lion.co.jp/en/press/html/2007001f.htm

A Taste of Seasons and An Appetite for Trends

I get the feeling that the Japanese can't get enough of trying new flavors. As an Japanese American, I must admit there is a little bit of that in me as well, and therefore one of my favorite aspects of Japanese product marketing is the seasonal, limited-time food and drink items. However short lived that particular flavor may last, it seems to fill their stores with an endless parade of flavors and packaging.
I recently became hooked on Strawberry Cheerio ice cream bars. These bars consisted of chocolate coated strawberry ice-cream, a solid chocolate slab in the center and frozen chips of strawberry crunches. Unfortunately within a few weeks it disappeared only to be replaced by a chocolate and mint Cheerio ice cream bar. (Which I guess is considered the "cool" summer flavor.)
You'll notice alot of food products going through similar cycles throughout the year. Some products that do exceptionally well may become more of a full-time item.
Sodas and other beverages seem to offer variations almost every other week. On June 12th Pepsi rolled out a Cucumber Pepsi. Although it is questionable whether this will be a full time seller, I for one actually liked it. A friend and I agreed that it almost seems like a lighter, less sweeter version of Mountain Dew, which coincidentally saw a remarketing and repackaging about the same week Pepsi Cucumber was introduced. Coincidence...? I think not. Up until that week, Mountain Dew was pretty much confined to random vending machines packaged in cans at sporadic locations throughout Japan. Now it finds itself positioned right by Pepsi Cucumber. I'm thinking maybe Pepsi found this a good time to push Mountain Dew back into the public eye. - But then again, who am I to say.
Kit-Kats are another example of a snack product that sees constant variations.I just tried a lemon kit-kat where instead of chocolate, there is a creamy lemon flavored coating. It actually tasted pretty damn good. I find that my interest in these seasonal food products keep my pockets empty of spare change. I think I can safely admit that the marketing teams of these products defintely have me in their clutches.
On a somewhat random note, according to a co-worker, a few years ago kit-kats won a special place with young students studying for college entrance exams. The word "katsu" means WIN in Japan, and the similar sounding "Kats" of Kit-Kats gives the impression that the consumption of said snack is power booster/luck booster of some sort; if not by sugar content, by the power of what Japanese call "o-majinai" (a good luck ritual, charm). Similarly, the popular fried, breaded pork dish known as Tonkatsu seems to have the same meaning in the hearts of Japanese. A friend of mine once insisted that we have tonkatsu for lunch on the day of his interview. He got the job.

The Return of the King

After hiding out for over 5 years from the Japanese burger landscape, the American hamburger chain Burger King has recently returned. On Friday, June 8th, throngs of loyal subjects waited in line for 30-50 minutes to get a taste of the flame-broiled whopper at the new store in Nishi-Shinjuku.

This is the chain's second shot at the Japanese market. Back in 2001, BK left the Japanese market citing the reason that they could not offer an inexpensive menu back then to compete with the cheap fast food trend going on at the time. Times have changed however and with the rise of "gourmet" (expensive) burger joints popping up everywhere and the Japanese economy looking better, they are ready to claim their throne. The Japanese Burger King chain is now aiming for the "better" burger market going head-to-head with other higher-end Japanese burger establishments such as Freshness Burger and MOS Burger; instead of playing against the cheaper burger places like Lotteria, First Kitchen and McDonalds. (On an interesting note, Lotte the company that owns Lotteria will now manage the Burger King chains here in Japan.)

On Friday, the opening day, I went to BK hungry for a Whopper but upon seeing the line, decided to visit another day. Judging from the push from mass media these past couple days regarding the return of BK, I have a feeling the lines may not die down for a while.

Fireworks fire off the summer season at Yokohama

It seems summer has officially arrived. The first hanabi (fireworks) display of the season were fired up at Minato Mirai in Yokohama (about 30 minutes from Shibuya/Tokyo area) this past Saturday evening (06/02/07) with the aid of laser lights and music at the 26th 横浜開港祭 Yokohama Kaikosai Port Opening Festival.* Hanabi are a big part of Japanese summers, as are the colorful yukata (Japanese summer robes), beaches (Shirohama Beach at the Southern tip of the Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka-ken is my favorite), constant humming of the semi (cicadas) and the drenching humidity.

Although fireworks seem to happen all throughout the summer in Japan, back home in the States (in this case New York), fireworks only happen on couple occasions; with the main event being the annual Macy's Fourth of July Spectacular on Independence day. Grucci, a Long Island (New York) based fireworks company, is the main name when it comes to firework displays back in the States, but I've got a feeling those guys could probably pick up a pyrotechnic trick or two out here in Japan.

*The Ports of Yokohama were opened for trade with the outside world in 1859 and was the "origin of modernization" in Japan. June 2nd, 2009 will mark the 150th anniversary of the historical event and the city is currently setting the stage for that big date. I'm sure hanabi will be huge part of the action then as well.
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