Wow, it looks like food really does connect with everybody :), judging from everyone’s enthusiastic responses. I have another things that irk me about Japan rant coming up tomorrow, this time it’s about Japanese Bank Machines. They drive me INSANEEEEEE.
In any case, more food! Today I present the Beef Bowl or Gyudon in Japanese. Looking for a filling, good tasting meal, but don’t have a lot of time? The beef bowl should be your first choice!
Yumm
Originally, the beef bowl was rice soaked in beef sauce with beef layers all on top. Since Japanese people love mixing things, especially food, it wasn’t long before they developed new funky types of beef bowl including this weirdo Mozzarella, Cheddar, and Parmesan beef bowl. Some of the combinations maybe a little weird, but for the most part you can’t go wrong.
Good beef bowls use extremely expensive beef, sometimes even Kobe beef which hikes the prices up to 10,000 yen a bowl. Though the average joe like me, will settle for a beef bowl restaurant which sells them to be for 300-800 yen depending on size.
I thought it’d be a good idea to include some vocabulary too to help you out with your beef bowl adventure, if you ever have one :).
Sizes – These are Japanese portions so they aren’t that huge. The bowl in the picture is a mega bowl.
普通 - futsuu – Normal Size
大盛 – oomori – Large Size beef bowl
特盛 – tokumori – Extra Large Beef Bowl
メガ – mega – Mega Beef Bowl :D.
Dishes
牛丼 – gyuudon – Beef Bowl
カツ丼 – Katsudon – Pork Cutlet Bowl (These are super cheap right now because of piggie influenza :D).
味噌汁 – miso shiru – Miso Soup
生玉 – nama tama – raw egg (Japanese people like mixing an egg yolk into their beef bowls to add to the smoothness of the bowl, I assume eggs in Japan are safe enough for this :P).
I think those are enough words for now! Anyone here also had a beef bowl before? Do you like them? O and anyone else have any suggestions for amazing Japanese food that I simply must try before I leave? :D.
A Foreigner's Tale in Japan 
Instead of 普通 they usually use the word 並盛 (namimori) which means the same thing.
I see you went to Sukiya, good choice, my favourite gyuudon chain. Yoshinoya, despite being more famous and more firmly rooted, is rubbish as they buy terrible grade US beef which tastes like cardboardand the sauce is also not as good.
If you like katsu there’s also a chain call とんかつ和幸 (tonkatsu wako) which makes good tonkatsu for very reasonable price.
You might also want to try the Japanese curry chain CoCo-ichi. Those are everywhere too.
Ha you’re right. namimori, not futsuu, my bad. I just realized the problem after rereading my post myself.
I already tried CoCo-ichi, but they are expensive and their dishes are tiny. Not worth it imo. I must try the tonkatsu chain!
Likely they use pasteurized eggs. Even the US FDA states that they’re safe for consumption raw, and they’re (arguably, rightfully) paranoid.
I had beef bowls from Yoshinoya and Sukiya chains whilst in Japan. Very tasty, very quick, very filling, and very cheap. Not amazingly spectacular on a gastronomical scale, but it makes for a good lunch. I especially appreciated the restaurants that used the ‘food ticket vending machine’ approach. No need to tax my (limited) Japanese skills when I can push a button with a picture on it.
Food to try in Japan… sushi breakfast in Tsukiji Market, Tokyo; Kaiseki Ryoori cuisine (spend a night at a ryokan); tempura; curry rice (CoCo Curry House is a good chain); ramen; soba; udon; okonomiyaki; takoyaki; taiyaki; yakisoba; yakisoba-pan; curry-pan; melon-pan; teppanyaki; shinkansen regional bento; crepes (in Harajuku); baked sweet potato; shaved ice…
…that’s all I can think of right now…
Tsukiji Market is definitely one place I want to go.
Wow your list is long :P. I wonder if I can try all of those before I go home.
Well, I managed to get most of them (shaved ice and baked sweet potato being two I missed) in the two weeks I was in Tokyo and Kyoto, so I guess it depends on how much time you have left… and how much disposable income 🙂
i never know the taste…. *drooolll* treat me some will ya?