Yoshinoya For a Traditional Japanese Breakfast

 There are two types of breakfast in Japan, the Western one involving bread and the traditional one involving rice. For me I find it easier to stick a piece of bread in the toaster, cut up some fruit and scoop out some yogurt into a cup in the mornings. I do however enjoy the Japanese breakfast, usually when I stay over at a hotel. 

Did you know the famous, widespread chain, Yoshinoya, famous for their gyu-don (beef bowls) serve up a very affordable Japanese breakfast? They open quite early for those that have to get to work early, and the breakfast menu is available until 11am. Items on the menu include salmon, mackerel, salad, a small bowl of their simmered beef, natto, ham and eggs. All of their set meals include rice and miso soup. It's a simple breakfast that at a hotel would cost you a bit, but Yoshinoya is also known for their very affordable prices, so you could eat a full breakfast for only 338-548 yen!

Here I ordered the salmon, natto and natto breakfast (538 yen) and swapped the miso soup with asari jiru (miso soup with clams) for an extra 93 yen. This particular branch also had a side of jako oroshi (small Japanese sardines with grated daikon). Although nothing really stands out besides the volume and price, it sure was a satisfying breakfast of champs.

Cafe & Meal Muji: Not All Muji's Have Cafes, But You Can Visit One in Nagoya

Mujirushi Ryohin, or Muji as it is known in countries outside of Japan is now widely known throughout the world, but did you know that some Muji stores in Japan have cafes?

Before the Covid outbreak, I was able to visit one Muji Cafe at Nagoya Station located in the Meitetsu department store. It is a deli-style cafe where you pick 3 or 4 hot or cold dishes to make up a one-plate meal. I ordered the 4-choice meal (1000 yen) which came with miso soup and a choice of white or 10-grain rice. They used to have bread as an option, but not anymore it seems.

Here are the 4 dishes I chose (starting at the top and going clockwise on the plate):
1. Mayonnaise curry cauliflower and chicken: Large pieces of chicken breast and cauliflower covered in a mild mayonnaise and curry powder sauce. All the components went well together.

2. Chicken and apple cream: I could definitely taste butter and white wine in this dish. It was sweet from the natural flavour of the apples, but this sweetness was a nice change from the other 3 dishes.

3. Liver and konnyaku with a mustard sesame dressing: The often-seen sesame dressing was brought one step up with a touch of mustard. This dish was heavily seasoned, but that made sure the originally flavourless konnyaku absorbed all the flavours.

4. Spicy buri (yellowtail) daikon: The traditional buri daikon dish uses a soy sauce based sweet and savoury broth, so this spicy doubanjiang (Chinese salty broad bean chili sauce) was an interesting change from the normal. I feel like maybe there was some yuzu kosho in this dish, but I could be mistaken. The daikon had some crunch still which is also a change from the usual where it is often very soft.

Although the yellowtail and cream chicken dishes were chosen from the hot deli section, there all seemed the same room temperature to me. The miso soup, being Nagoya, used a red miso, and a niboshi (dried sardines) dashi broth. Abura age, or fried tofu and wakame were also in this soup.

This location is a large open space with a cooking class right next to it, so it's not the quietest place, but the noises are all somehow dampened, perhaps by the low ceiling. There is music, but can't really be heard over the other noises, and the music playing in the cooking class area. There is booth seating in the back, a big communal table in the middle and tables for 2 that can be moved around in case you have a party of 3 or more.

Area: Meitestu Department Store, Men's Wing 6F, Nagoya Station 名駅、名鉄百貨店メンズ館６F
Restaurant: Cafe & Meal Muji  無印良品
Map and Website: https://www.muji.com/jp/ja/shop/detail/045196
Hours: 10am-10pm

Tully's Coffee Cheese Tea

Cheese tea became a trend last year. It's basically tea topped with a light cheese cream. Tully's, a big Japanese cafe chain, came up with a version for their winter season. It was royal milk tea (a sweetened milk tea) with mascarpone cheese and strawberry.

I was expecting the royal milk tea to be very sweet, but to my happy surprise it was actually only mildly so. The sweetness in this drink came mostly from the strawberry jam and the whipped cream. I suspect the mascarpone was blended in with the whipped cream giving it some richness. Mixing the jam with the cream gave the drink a strawberry milk flavour. Overall, a good combination.

For spring, it seems they have a peach confiture and whipped cream royal milk tea drink. There's no cheese in this one though...perhaps the cheese tea trend has died.

Bronco Billy Steakhouse: Affordable Family Restaurant

While wagyu is so delicious with all its fatty marbling, sometimes you just feel like a big hunk of leaner, meaty steak. With wagyu, you can only eat so much because it is so rich, not to mention pricey. For a thick slab of good ol' steak, try heading over to the well known casual steakhouse in Japan, Bronco Billy (there are various locations all around Japan).

It's a brightly lit family restaurant with an American lodge feel, meant to keep everyone happy with a few different cuts of steak, hamburger patties, a dessert, salad and drink bar. The restaurant was highly advertising their Uruguay aged sirloin, so I went for that (1628 yen including tax for 150g). For this cut they could cook it rare or medium rare, so I went for the medium rare. Here all the steaks are cooked over charcoal and it really showed in the overall flavour of the meat. The sirloin was pretty much a lean hunk of meat, and was tender, but not as tender as the rib-eye (2178 yen for 150g) of course which does have a bit more fat. I'm not sure why the sirloin had more of a smokey or burnt flavour to it, but I'm not so sure I fancied that.

If you order the salad bar set (an additional 500 yen), you have a choice of steamed white rice or bread. I highly recommend the bread, it's an individual mini boule that comes warmed and is so soft with a bit of sweetness that makes it easy to devour the whole thing. Also recommended in the salad bar is the mentaiko creamy dressing, puts a Japanese twist to a regular salad. The only thing I have to say I did not enjoy was the accompanying corn potage. It was so powdery that I felt like I was drinking a bowl of soupy flour.

I've been back once more since the last time for lunch. This time I ordered the signature all beef hamburger patty and kaki furai (fried oyster) combo. The clear consomme soup was much better than the corn potage that was served last time. I think I preferred the patty compared to my steak previously because it wasn't burnt and was actually surprisingly juicy; I thought that there might be fillers such as bread crumbs in it, but there was nothing added!

Area: a few blocks east of Iwatsuka Station (Higashiyama Line) 岩塚駅（東山線）
Restaurant: Bronco Billy ブロンコビリー岩塚店
Map and Website: https://www.bronco.co.jp/shop/nagoya/iwatsuka/
Hours: 11am-11pm (LO 10:30pm), Lunch 11am-4pm

Mos Burger

When I first came to Japan, I heard that Mos Burger had the best burgers from a chain fast food store in Japan. I've had their burgers many times as I think this statement is true. There are only a few burger chains in Japan, but I feel like Mos is the only one that originated in Japan. They use 100% beef, and what makes this burger different from the American chains is that the bread has a slight sweetness to it, typical of Japanese bread. The vegetables are always fresh, and there is a good balance of meat, veggies and sauce.
The Japanese like their patties to be very juicy which is why you'll find that most burgers are served with a paper pocket to eat out of so it doesn't drip everywhere. Mos' burgers are no exception and explode with juiciness. I always get the Mos Yasai (vegetable) burger because it is packed with lettuce and tomato. Make no mistake though, the patty is still beef, it's NOT a vegetarian burger.

Mos vegetable burger

Area: various places throughout Japan

Restaurant: Mos Burger

Website: https://www.mos.jp/

Hours: depends on the location of the store