Japan 2019 - Tokyo Day 2

2019/11/12

Asakusa - Daikokuya - Suzukien ➛ Tokyo Tower

OOTD!

My friend's first time in Tokyo so once again we are back in Asakusa!

There are many restaurants in this area specializing in unagi rice (eel), tempura, sushi, and so on. I didn't really explore this area apart from Sensoji Temple the last time I visited, so we decided to start of the day by trying out a famous ten-don place nearby!

大黒家天麩羅　　Daikokuya Tempura

Daikokuya has been opened since the Meiji period in 1887 and specializes in tempura rice bowls or ten-don. There are many restaurants in the Asakusa area serving tempura relate dishes so I've been wanting to try one out!

I first learned of this place after watching an episode of Japanese Style Originator on Netflix. Different from some tempura stores, Daikokuya fries their tempura in a thick layer of batter and drenches their ten-don with their house-made sauce so tempura sucks in all the flavour as well as sink all the way to the white rice on the bottom.

Because we want, and we can... we ordered the tempura teishoku set so we can try out side dishes along side our mains.

The ten-don set comes with a tempura bowl, soup, a small plate of appetizer, and a dish of Japanese pickles.

Although the whole bowl is drenched in the tempura sauce, it wasn't too salty. It is a perfect match paired with the pickles and soup.

The soup, omg, was amazing!

It is not your typical miso soup, but a clear vegetable broth with flavours enhanced by some shrimp, fish cake, and turnip. I'm not a food expert, but it definitely helped cleanse the palate after a greasy bowl of tempura don.

The experience was great, service was fast and friendly, I would have written a whole blog about this place but unfortunately I LOST all my pictures from this day... I know, just the typical mistakes by yours truly after purchasing a new camera... ;(

All in all, I would rate this place a 4.5 stars out of 5! Would no doubt visit again!

寿々喜園　Suzukien

After lunch, we took a stroll around Asakusa before going back to Nakamise Doori.

We stopped by for some ice cream on the way. Suzukien is famous for their matcha. From tea to snacks, everything matcha.

Most notably their matcha gelato, 7 different level of green tea to choose among, from 1-7 (light to heavy) as well as a couple of other selections of tea and Japanese favourites red bean, sesame, and strawberry.

photo credits: Tabelog - posted by Suzukien

This was really a tough decision, but in the end, we settled with the no.7 matcha and the genmaicha. The store also served a cup of hojicha to rinse down all the sugar on the house.

The no.7 matcha gelato was of course... bitter, I think I prefer a bit of sweetness in my ice cream haha. Since genmaicha is made from roasted brown rice, there was a hint of the toasty burnt taste similar to hojicha but less strong.

Both flavours were really well done, but when paired together they complement each other very well. If you want to try out the no.7 matcha I would recommend ordering a sweeter flavour to accompany the bitterness!

As mentioned earlier, this was my second time coming to Sensoji thus I didn't take many "tourist shots" (as usual, this place is always full of people). If you would like to see a first timer's experience here, please check out this blog post -> here!

きびだんごあづま　Kibidango AZUMA🍡

If you've read my Asakusa experience last time on my trip here in 2014, you would know this place was a highlight of the day...

So first thing while setting foot in the Nakamise shopping street is grab a bag of kibidango and a cup of green tea!

I was worried they would switch to serving hot tea during the winter, but thankfully it was still the iced version<3

The first thing that caught my eye while lining up for food was the packs of green tea they sell at the front of the store! Without a doubt I grabbed it and gave one to my friend as well LOL. I don't usually buy tea so I'm not sure if the price is expensive or not compared to regular tea sold elsewhere, but essentially it is 6 small packs of tea for 450 yen. Considering they charge 150 yen for 1 cup on the spot, it is a relatively good deal?

There is a strict policy prohibiting walking and eating in Nakamise street, most shops have a small area set up for their customers to enjoy their food.

Kibidango Azuma's eating area on the side only consists of two tables, and we were lucky to snatch a spot before it became full immediately after we put our food down! The dango is thickly packed with soybean powder and it can get quite messy eating this delicacy, so make sure to check your face and clothes for remnants of the powder before heading to the next store! :D

浅草メンチ　Asakusa Menchi

Most people who visited Asakusa has probably tried these menchi katsu. Somehow I missed it on my previous trip and only tried out the fried wagyu curry buns next door. (which were also amazing btw!)

There's almost always a line up here but it was definitely worth the wait. The menchi katsu are made fresh in small batches, one at the price of 250 yen. The menchi is about a palm size but to save some room for all the other food Asakusa has to offer, I would recommend sharing among two people.

The meat was steamy hot and very juicy, while still keeping the crunch from the breaded exterior, simply delicious! If we didn't just finish lunch, I would buy one menchi and one fried curry bun from next door... lol YUM!

photo credits: Tabelog - posted by リコスケ

Sky Tree can be seen from Asakusa

We walked around the back of Sensoji and stopped by to get our first goshuin of the trip.

Collecting goshuin (御朱印) has been popular among not just the elderly but the younger groups as well over the past few years. The name translates as honourary stamp/seal book, generally serves as proof of visiting the shrine/temple.

As a collector myself, I had to jump on the bandwagon and immediately bought a book in one of the shops on Nakamise Doori LOL!

There were two kinds of goshuin to choose from at Sensoji, this was the one I chose.

Technically, shrines and temples are to be separated, though these days, people are less traditional and it is ok to mix them up if you wish so. I of course, went ahead and bought two books to separate the two, because why not, all the reason for me to pick out another beautiful goshuinchou for my collection!

***

Tokyo Tower　東京タワー

It was mid-November when we visited, all the Christmas lights and decorations were already decorated outside of the entrance to Tokyo Tower.

A Christmas light and music show was planned at different intervals of the hour which attracted quite a crowd around this smaller tower.

To be able to reach the top deck of Tokyo Tower you must buy the top deck tour ticket. A certain time frame is issued with the ticket indicating the time frame you must enter to join the tour.

I would say paying the extra fee (main deck: 1200 yen // top deck: online 2800 yen; counter 3000 yen) for the top deck tour is definitely worth it if it is your first time visiting the tower. Apart from the 360 panoramic view of Tokyo's skyline, a story like introduction is given by the tour guide before heading up to the peak. (kind of felt like going on a ride at Disney or Universal Studios... which is my absolute fav!)

I love these mini light up towers!

There's also this cool glow-in-the dark flooring on the top deck (like the garden observatory at Umeda Sky Building)

Right before heading to top deck, they helped us take a commemorative photo, this can be collected after the tour from the customer service counter. The small souvenir version is free, and if you love your picture, it was available for purchase in a larger size.

I think it looked pretty cute, but I don't usually buy these photos so I passed and just kept the sample size.

Afterwards, we tried to locate the famous Tokyo Tower IG spot (the parking lot staircase shot), walked around for like half an hour and could not find it in any way... then ultimately gave up as it became quite chilly outside at night.

Since I lost all the photos I took on my camera of this day, in a weird way, I was kind of glad I didn't find the place haha..

& after we returned from our trip, my friend sent me a link to a picture by picture explanation of how to find the staircase. (which was crazy obvious, no idea why we couldn't find it LOL)

If you're curious to track the place down on your trip, make sure to check for step by step instructions online - right across from the tofu shop.. DO NOT go up to the garden/park area!