Eating my way around Japan part 6 Tokyo, catching up with old friends

For my final night in Tokyo and Japan I was able to meet with my long time friend Noriko who suggest we visited an Oden restaurant in the Shin-Marunouchi Building near Tokyo Station. This is a large tower with at least two floors dedicated to restaurants of all kinds. The place Noriko chose had a wonderful traditional appearance inside given the building was pretty new. Oden is a kind of stew with a variety of ingredients including vegetables and eggs simmered in a light broth. In this case the stew pot was a large copper vessel mounted centrally in the restaurant with the tables and seats arranged counter style around it. 

To start with we were served warm savoury ( seafood ) egg custard accompanied by pickles and pieces of jellyfish 

To order the meal, each individual ingredient from the stew is chosen separately from the menu to create a dish to your personal taste. 

The menu was entirely in Japanese script so Noriko made the selections.

Simmered egg, boodles, daikon radish and other vegetables had absorbed the delicate and delicious flavours of the broth. 

Next up some tasty greens , Japanese food often seems so healthy

Accompanied with Ginkgo nuts and small slices of raw vegetables with condiment dips

The amazing copper stew pot and serving area in the centre of the tables

The next course involved grinding your own sesame seeds for a dipping sauce 

and beer of course 

Delicious thick udon noodles to dip in that sauce 

After the meal we popped across the building to meet another friend in a coffee shop and enjoy good conversation and a proper catch up until late in the evening .

The next morning I had to get up early and travel to Narita Airport where I enjoyed this "full Japanese " breakfast containing grilled salmon, rice, nattou, miso soup, tofu, sweet omelette  and pickles. I wish I could get this in the U.K. I really love this food.