Gastro Monkey // 美食家

One of the many places I was excited to visit was Artnia. I view Japan as one of the top food destinations, and probably the most innovative country in the world. While they didn't invent the theme restaurant itself, I believe they perfected it. They have the best themed restaurants that I have been to, and I think is at the top of the list for any nerd. I am happy to say I was finally able to go two years ago when I visited Japan. I played my first Final Fantasy game in 2000. Yes, I was late to the show. My first Final Fantasy game was IX. I named them all so oddly that I didn't know the character's real names until years later. Either way, I was hooked. RPGs are fun! It was hard, but I eventually overlooked the poor dialogue and just enjoyed the games.  There is another cafe that I considered. The Eorzea Cafe is FFXIV based and needs reservations. It was hard to decide how to plan for reservations like that because we didn't want to be constrained by time. Wh...

I apologize ahead of time for not having more details. I went here over two years ago, and I didn't think to take notes (sorry, busy having fun!--but not too busy to take pictures to document it visually). The Capcom Bar is in a busy area and isn't too far from an Ichiran Ramen. What ended up happening was ramen first ( Link here for my review ), then walking over for some Capcom action. We figured it would just be drinks at the bar, so eating first seemed like a good idea. In case you don't eat first like we did, they do serve food. It's just ok food. Honestly, these theme cafes are more for the themes and seeing how it plays out rather than high quality/taste of the food. I was under no illusion that it would be the best meal of my life.  That said, be sure to arrive early on the weekend. We went during the week so it wasn't crazy, but after checking in at the front desk, it got pretty crowded. It's not the kind of bar where you just walk in and have ...

The Tsukiji Fish Market was pretty high on my list of things to do in Tokyo, so of course I spent some time putting some research in. Knowing my time was limited, I wanted to be sure to eat somewhere amazing. The top two restaurants that popped up on every search I made was Daiwa (大和寿司) and Sushi Dai (寿司大 ). I went with Sushi Dai because a few bloggers said they ended up at Daiwa because the wait at Sushi Dai was too much for them. That said, if Sushi Dai is the experience of a life at the Tsukiji Fish Market, then Sushi Dai it is! My friend who I had been traveling around Nagoya and Yokohama with agreed.  We didn't wake up early enough to get to the tuna sales, but that just means I have a reason to go back again some day! I believe we got there around 11am. The line, of course, was a monster that went around the building. I immediately started stressing out since they close at 2pm! I couldn't have come this far just to stand in line and not get any sushi! All in all,...

No research whatsoever went into this breakfast trip. My friend and I just had tickets reserved for a certain time at the Ghibli Museum and we had arrived early. What to do when there's not much around? Eat! When we walked past the Kotori Cafe, my friend explained that "kotori" means small bird. Through the window, we could see that there were a ton of--surprise!--small birds. It looked cute enough, and we were down to eat. There was only one other person in there and they were finishing up in the corner seat. It's a small place with only a few tables, so we figured we might as well wait for that seat. The corner it faces has two windows of birds to observe while eating. Wasn't sure what to get, but french toast sounded good. It was pretty good, but it was just french toast. It was definitely cute though! If you plan on going to the Ghibli Musuem and like birds, add an extra half hour to an hour to hang out with the kotori at the Kotori Cafe! French toa...