Simon: We've been living in Japan for over three and a half years now
and in that time we've been extensively researching Japanese food.
Be it through shooting documentaries with some of Japan's most revered chefs,
to travelling all over Japan to a lot of farms and factories to learn about Japanese products
We taste and document it all on this channel.
What's that?
You calling me a hipster? You calling me a foodie?
You're goddamn right. We take this shit seriously.
And in the time we've been here in Japan, we've learnt a lot of things about food culture,
so today, we're going to give you some tips on how to eat like a local,
rather than as a tourist,
and at the same time we're going to dispel some of the myths you've heard about Japanese food,
especially when it comes to sushi because there's a lot of bullsh*t online about that and we need to dispel that
no more of these dumb sushi rules you've seen online
let me tell you what it's all about!
(Music)
Before you head out and start eating everything in Japan,
first thing's first:
you need to open a computer and head on over to Tabelog.
FYI: this is not a paid advertisement. Tabelog is just a really big deal here.
I'm not ~adverse~ to doing a paid advertisement, Tabelog
*whispering* Tabelog, you have my number, call me
*dial tones* two phones at once!
*hangs up*
Tabelog is hands down the best food review system in Japan
It's what people in Japan use the MOST
not Yelp, not anything else
Use Yelp if you wanna see how foreigners feel about restaurants here
Use Tabelog if you wanna see what people living in Japan like
Now Tabelog isn't a small review site either
it's really serious stuff
Their annual award ceremony brings in some of Japans most revered chefs
It's kind of like the Oscars for Japanese chefs
There are even some famous Tabelog reviewers- like there are famous Youtubers
Sometimes a positive review from one of these reviewers
can change a business overnight
and there will be line ups outside of the place for weeks
The gold medal recipians of the Tabelog awards
are kind of like our food bucket list
We've been to a bunch of these restaurants already and I wish that we could go to all of them
We've been to >Amamoto< We've been to >L'Effervescence<
We've been to >Miyoshi< We've been to >Saito<
(Music)
You've seen the video on that
We've been to >SUGALABO<
Martina: locally grown Asparagus and Truffles are in season right now
This needs to be at least five times bigger
Seen the video on that as well
We've been to >Suzue< I wish we could do a video about that place
And we've also been to >Yanagiya< Which you've seen a video about
And >Tenzushi< which.. as well you've seen a video about
(Music)
M: (background) what we are trying to say is.. we really like food
S: We really really care about food
For regular days though, when we're not going high end
we use it for whenever we're looking for a new category of food like Ramen or Unagi or even Deserts
Or we use it if we're exploring a new part of town and we wanna see what's really the best in that area
S: Nikomi..Organ stew
(drooling)
M: Oh.. Arigatōgozaimasu (Thank you)
(Music)
Online food review sites like Tabelog and Google are also really important for you to know Business hours
because business hours in Japan are f***ing weird
M: Oh.. Simon
We've walked past this place 11 times
we've only got to go in ONCE Every other time it's closed
it's maddening
M: It's open between 11:30am and 1:30pm is last order
and I think it's actually closed these days of the week
S: (joking) But I think also it depends on the full moon
if there's a full moon the night before then it's only open every 15 minutes
and you have to through that portal in the train station at Harry Potter where you walk through the brick wall
and then you get there. Then you gotta swing on a vine. Then you gonna make a blood sacrifice
These schedules make no sense to me at all
Grumpy! Really wanted this Ramen!
It can be mega frustrating if you're on vacation in Japan
and you aim to go to a place that's like a bucket list and you get there and it's closed
Here are the three things you need to know about business hours in Japan
Number one: Unless you are a chain restaurant, every business has different business hours
because most of our favourite food comes from local mom and pop shops
You gotta kinda get to know what their hours are
So.. this is our favorite Udon shop. It's closed on every single Thursday consistently
but every once in a while they're closed on a Friday and sometimes they're closed on a Saturday and
they post the schedule manually on this little cork board, so that you can see how the hours change each month
If it's not possible for you to come in person to check the shop which I totally understand
that's why you wanna check things out on Tabelog, Google Maps or even find their Twitter account
or their Facebook page where they'll post more personal messages like
'Sorry guys we're closed today for an emergency'
(Music)
Second things is: Be aware that most of the small shops will have a last order for the afternoon
as well as a break time between lunch and dinner
Majority of shops we know, tend to be open between 11 and let's say 3 o'clock for lunch hours
But last order will be around 2 or 2:30pm
Which means there is this bizarre limbo between 2:30 and 5 or 6pm where
nothing seems to be open in Japan.
And that's when you can head to like a convenience store and grab an Onigiri or get an Egg Salad Sandwich
Or maybe check out a chain restaurant
(Music)
What up, home fry?
Just having a normal snack. Delicious soft boiled egg, with a delicious carton of milk
because Japan has THE best milk I've ever had. And then.. a vitamin bag
S: Oooohhhh
I don't know if these bags are lying but I like having my 12 vitamins given to me in chopped up jelly format
Gotta keep those little muscles going
Lawsons has my favourite hard boiled eggs *shocked* Is that it? We're in 7eleven
Eating a delicious Ramen egg
You don't even know how creamy these are
it's like premiere level mouth feel
I feel like making a video about 'top 5 things in Japan you should do'
I'm like EAT AN EGG! That's right, I said it!
Sorry vegans!
Vegetarians you can swing this right?
Pescatarians you're good
Gluten free.. you got this
No carb.. this is your jam
What's that one where you're a caveman? When you're like 'I only eat caveman food'
S: Paleo M: Paleo! You can do this
Really.. it's the winning food
And the third thing I wanted to talk about was: between 11 and 3pm there tends to be a lunch set
and of course it's different for each restaurant, but they'll usually include a drink of some kind
maybe like an iced coffee or a hot coffee. Sometimes even an alcoholic drink if you want
When you arrive at dinner time that lunch set just doesn't exist anymore
Let's go to a less noisy area for the next points, shall we?
S: Let's do it M: Let's do that
(Music)
Good thing about midweek parking: a lot of people don't know about the secret spots
This one is usually full on the weekend but we f..(interrupts)
thing is also I'm not sure how this is not a fire hazard This seems..
M:.. under the stairs. It's like so Harry Potter
S: This is.. just.. what am I doing here?
Alright watch out, it's pretty tight, let me take you to another point now
(Music)
Now you could find yourself in a situation in which you're traveling to Japan
and you don't have any data or WiFi on your phone
How do you know what's a good place to eat?
A very easy rule is to get into any line that you see for a restaurant
In Japan.. golden Rule:
GET IN THE LINE
It is worth the wait
For real, I'm not used to waiting in lines back in Canada
and I know a lot of people who will see a line and just walk away
You see this line up right here? Get into it! Even if you don't know what it is.. Get into it!
Most of the time they have very very good food
This rule however does not apply on the weekends, because on the weekends many more people are out
and you'll even see line ups in front of chains
For real this line literally doubled since we started filming this
We did a video about this place before
They're really really really good meat balls. I.. I mean have you seen the video of my dad?
Dad: it's un- f*cking- believable
S: Un- f*cking- believable! And you wonder where I swear from. It's my dad who taught me
Dad: Oh! It's like orgasm! S: Okay..
Dad: Oh! S: Easy dad!
(Music)
Another tip
This is Kichijōji Station.. it is always hella busy
Why are all these people here?
Because the rent is so expensive around the station, it's mostly just chains you're gonna find
(Music)
M: But just walk about 5 to 10 minutes away from the station
a whole new world of possibilities will emerge
Seriously this is where you're getting more of like the mom and pop shops
The places that have been here for a while that have a lot of character
So go for it.. 5 to 10 minutes away and find yourself something that's like local
and something that will have like a really impactful memory in your heart
Did I mention that we're hipster foodies? S: Yep!
Cause we're hipster foodies I'm wearing hard glasses in an unironic way
And look.. this little folly thing What am I.. once of those women?
I don't know.. I just do it cause I like it
It's a romper. Rompers are so.. so hipstery. Except such a pain in the butt when you have to pee.
Just gotta get totally naked
Let me tell you.. awkward on the plane. Learnt my lesson once on that..
What's that? My backpack has a cat? *meow*
Oh my god..(?)
It's all of it, mashed together
And I'm canadian, and I'm a girl, and I have EDS and I'm doing okay
S: You're doing great!
(Music)
(people talking in the background)
Now you're not gonna be able to get all of your restaurant recommendations online
One of the best things that you could do is
when you go to like busy bars like this..
especially when you have communal tables which you're sharing with strangers
Ask other people where they like to eat. Ask them for their recommendations
In fact, if you've seen our Rome and Barcelona videos
some of our best spots that we filmed were based on peoples recommendations
So ask other people! Don't be afraid. They'll give you a good list of restaurants
And make sure you check those out, because they know better!
S: I need a big piece of chicken M: You know what.. it's Canada day
S: (eating sounds) Oh yeah!
S: My mic can not hear anything that you're saying girl
M: It's Sushi myth busting time!
It's time for us to bust some Sushi myths
Why did I punch? Punch them away.. that's what I did.
(Crying baby)
That's right crying baby. There are a lot of things going around the internet that are just..
totally incorrect about Sushi
Here's something we need to dispel right away
Do you use chopsticks or do you use your hands? It doesn't matter!
For those of you that have said, you're not supposed to use chopsticks
Why would the chef put chopsticks in front of you then?
Do you think it's some kind of trap to get unsuspecting foreigners deported from the country?
No! If you wanna use chopsticks, use the chopsticks that are provided
Don't come in there with your own chopsticks that you're unsheathing
Cause that would just be a little bit weird. But whatever you're comfortable with, please use that.
(Music)
Let's talk about soy sauce and wasabi
So to begin with, if you go to a high end restaurant
this is no longer a problem for you
because a high end Sushi chef is going to prepare the piece for you
But if you're gonna go to a shop that does have soy sauce or wasabi on the table
This one I like a lot because it has a little kind of soft, bubbly, spongy button
and it's basically for dispensing a single drop of soy sauce at a time
so, I just use that to individually apply to the outside of my Sushi piece
So when you get a piece of Sushi, if you drop it into your soy sauce dish and then it just like absorbs everything like a sponge
Good luck even trying to pick that piece up. You'll pick it up.. it'll just shred apart everywhere
It's not good. It's like over soaking cereals. So that's the only thing you're trying to avoid.
The next thing I wanna dispel is a very important one. This get's me upset the most.
WHO told you you're supposed to pick up a piece and flip it upside down
so that the fish touched your tongue first
(crying baby)
In every single Sushi restaurant that we've been in, we've not seen one single person do that
Japanese or otherwise. We've even asked the chefs. None of them have heard of this
Please! Don't flip your Sushi piece! That's madness. And whoever writes that needs to be fired!
Alright. It's garbage! M: call the Sushi police!
S: It's garbage! Okay?
For those of you that are saying you're supposed to make the fish touch your tongue first, because it's most important
Nooo! A lot of Sushi chefs pride themselves on their rice first. Their rice is what's more important.
It's.. ah.. just silly.
Alright..
Here's...
..you're supposed to flip this upside down?
M: I know.. right (laughing)
M: How would you do that? S: No!
(crying baby)
The only hard and fast rule that we've heard from every Sushi place that we've been to
and every Sushi chef that we've spoken with is: Eat the piece right away!
Don't let them put it in front of you and you sit in and you talk for a few minutes
they've really calculated the right temperature, the right density of the rice
You sometimes see the rice sinking a little bit because of the air in-between them
It's really important. Eat the piece first and do all your talking afterwards
You'll even see some chefs that, whenever someone leaves to the bathroom
They won't prepare their piece, they'll wait until the person comes back
so they can serve it to them at an optimum temperature
M: So cool!
Okay, this next point is a little difficult to explain
because a lot of people have see a very famous documentary
The setting there is very stern and very strict and very quiet
Not all Sushi places are like that
A lot of high end Sushi shops try to make the customers comfortable and laugh *bell rings*
My dish! *both laugh*
S: Damn! M: We'll be right back guys
S: Oh yeah! Mmm.. *chewing*
M: Great.. back to.. back to high end S: Ok.. back to high end Sushi
When you go somewhere like >Saito< you'll.. *bell rings again*
More food!
*both laugh*
M: *chuckles*.. hang on, right back in a second, let me just get some food
M: Sorry.. Sorry Guys S: Okay..alright, hold on
M: Where were we..? Saito Sushi.. high end.. S: Alright, back to high end dining
Whenever we go to >Saito<, it's never solemn or quiet
You hear people laughing and talking the whole time
That's the job of a good Sushi chef..to make you comfortable as they're making really good food
So when you go to a high end place, make sure you feel the atmosphere of the room
If everybody is quiet, then be a little bit more quiet
If everyone is laughing around and joking, laugh around and joke as well
Not everything is supposed to be 'super militant - eat your Sushi - uff - and leave'
It doesn't work that way, alright M: 'Uff' *laughs*
M: I like your bow word 'uff' *laughs* S: Uff!
S: *mumbling* ..you can't just say 'uff' and leave.. none of that
Calm down, alright. We need to lower the intensity a bit people
M: Here's the knob.. we're just going to shift it down S: ..dial that shit down
M: ..people S: You're acting a little weird
Now there's something else we have to address
and that's 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'
A lot of people have seen the documentary It's beautiful.. we both loved it
But for some reason some people think that Jiro is the greatest Sushi chef in the world..
and everybody else is chump change.
That's simply not true. Take a look at Tabelog rankings. You can see where Jiro ranks compared to other chefs
And every year it changes and grows. You have to keep up to date with the time
What I'm trying to say is: Don't just take the word of some American documentary makers
Take the word the word of two Canadian Youtubers M: *laughs*
We know best! Make sure you like and smash the subscribe button
cause we got the real information for you
M: We never go out of style S: We never go out of date
M: We never go out of date S: We're always hip and trendy with the times
M: (voiceover) Oh no.. awkward picture proof from the past that we have indeed NOT been in style
But.. we've always been foodies
Please, share any tips you have on food culture in Japan with us all in the comment section below
And if you disagree with us.. let us know as well!
If you'd like to see the bloopers and some extra footage checker over here on >simonandmartinabonus<