Jonelle Patrick's Only In Japan
Every day, stuff you'd never see anywhere else.
The owners of an eatery just outside the Yokosuka Naval Base wanted to be prepared in case the US election changed their Trump Burger* from today’s special to yesterday’s leftovers, … Continue Reading Biden Burger’s secret ingredient eerily predicts election outcome
• Hello, fellow lover of all things quirky and Japanese! Would you like a chance to win a copy of a new Japan-centric book every month? That’s one of the … Continue Reading Japanagram Book Review & Giveaway!
From the land that junk food shame forgot, this. A yakisoba sandwich is basically the Japanese equivalent of cold pizza for breakfast, on a bun. This is what frugal Japanese … Continue Reading One Fried Noodle Sandwich, Please
Despite the fact that this new snack is called “Addictive Intestines,” I’m afraid you won’t find me bingeing a bucket ‘o crispy innards while Netflixing my way through a Saturday … Continue Reading Crispy Intestine Snacks
This yogurt-banana mash-up surfs in on the enduring popularity of the local favorite soft drink, Calpis, which inexplicably established sweetened sour milk as a delightful flavor in Japan. Peach Coke … Continue Reading Soft Drink Flavors I Do Not Want To Try
If you’re looking for a country with absolutely zero junk food guilt, you found it. Behold the bagel sandwiches available at this shop I spotted while walking through Azabu Juban … Continue Reading Spot The Elvis
The sticky rice balls I can handle. I could even get into the slightly gelatinous, traditional mitarashi topping that gets its brown from, uh, soy sauce. But I draw the line at nori. … Continue Reading Please Tell Me That’s Not Seaweed On My Ice Cream
Rose. Flavored. Yogurt. Let’s all agree that this one ought to have remained a fantasy. • If you love a good read, you might enjoy The Last Tea Bowl Thief too “A … Continue Reading Beautifully Beastly
See, this is where tolerance will get you. Let them get away with putting ginger pickles and fish shavings on pizza, say nothing when your spaghetti comes topped with sea urchin … Continue Reading The Slippery Slope, Illustrated
It never fails – every time the big cherry things burst into bloom, I see foods that totally make me want to shout “What the pinkity pink?” I’m not talking about food that … Continue Reading Pink Food Season Arrives In All Its WTF Splendor
Is it just me, or does this omelet kind of look like it was on the losing side at the Battle of Sekigahara? • Read a novel set in Tokyo…
Okay, as you know, I’ve long been fascinated with Japanese menu depictions of hot dogs, because they can’t seem to resist making them look a little, er, over-eager. But don’t you … Continue Reading Japanese Food Styling Gone Wrong
Okay,I totally get that some days it’s hard to choose between a bucket of french fries and a bathtub of ice cream. I even understand that some days you just say … Continue Reading Twice The Guilt & Half The Pleasure
In case a shot of caffeine isn’t quite enough to get you going in the morning… (If you’re braver than I am, you can find it this month at your … Continue Reading Pink Pepper Milk Coffee
The kopi luwat civet poops coffee. Or, to be more precise, it climbs to the top of coffee trees, eats the ripest beans, digests the fruity bits around the seed and, … Continue Reading How About A Nice Cup Of Civet Poop Coffee?
This time of year, if it’s sweet and purple, it tastes like…WAT? Yes, sweet potato candy (and muffins and ice cream) is a THING, and anything that’s purple in … Continue Reading What’s Purple And Squishy And Tastes Like Thanksgiving?
Aieee, what is this, AUSTRALIA? I mean, what if you got up in the morning and snagged your bread from the toaster before you’d had your coffee and when you went to take … Continue Reading Eat ALL The Bugs
…where exactly did Mos Burger find a chicken part that looks like THIS? • If you can’t be eating weird Japanese chicken nuggets, you can always read a novel set in Tokyo … Continue Reading Not An Expert On Chicken Anatomy, But…
Yes, it’s a heart-shaped patty of raw meat. Because what could be more romantic? (Thanks to my friend Mad Caron of Clumsy Dandy fame for spotting this, er, treat.) • … Continue Reading The Hamburger Of Luv
Never thought I’d be using the words “squeee!” and “fishcake” in the same sentence, but…! • Read a novel set in Tokyo
Deep in the labyrinthine dungeons of Tokyo Station lies Tokyo Confectionary Land, where they fry up potato chips before your very eyes! Even if they stopped there, it would have … Continue Reading Freshly Fried Potato Chip Sundae
Yes, it’s Honey Caffé Latte with…PARSLEY. • Read a novel set in Tokyo…
Aieeeee, when I saw this on the menu at Krispy Kreme, I knew I’d have to strap on my Try Anything Once Cojones and take one for the team! So … Continue Reading Spicy Tomato Filled Doughnuts?
Okay, buckaroos, it’s time to play Guess That Flavor with these cones of soft-serve goodness I spotted recently in Asakusa! Our first contestants are the lovely blue ice cream on the left, and … Continue Reading Chocolate, Strawberry and…Bean Powder?
Brewskie on a bun! At first glance, this latest candidate for Strange Sandwiches Of Japan promises to deliver the punch of a nice cold one, but on closer examination, there’s … Continue Reading Beer Sandwich
It’s summertime, and that means the cool, refreshing beer you just ordered might arrive in a teapot, accompanied by crisp cucumbers, a dollop of mayo to dip them in and…fish guts. … Continue Reading Pass The Fish Guts And The Teapot Of Beer, Please
What is Lotteria thinking? Seriously, how could you even bite that thing? I’m not talking about the triple-decker beef-o-rama – I’m eyeing that fried shrimp tower-o-power with the shovelful of tartar sauce just … Continue Reading I’ll See Your Triple Burger And Raise You A Shrimp Puck
From the land of snacks with tentacles and fish bone crackers comes the latest healthy food disguised as a snack: carrot and tomato ice cream! Haagen-Dazs Japan hit the subways with a “secret” poster … Continue Reading Haagen-Dazs Veggie Ice Cream?!
Coffee + Milk + BLUE CURACAO? With a LIME on top? I’m still gathering the courage to try the latest entry in this season’s unlikely flavor-combo coffee drinks of Tokyo – partly … Continue Reading Blue Cafe Latte
In the next round of trade talks with Japan, go ahead and give away the store when it comes to cars, beef and rice, but we need to make one thing … Continue Reading Cinnamon Roll Blasphemy
Around cherry blossom season in Japan, the shelves suddenly fill with “sakura”-flavored food. But what does cherry blossom-flavored food actually taste like? I investigate. *Edited, thanks to Little Alex, whose comment … Continue Reading So, What DO Cherry Blossoms Taste Like?
Naturally, it being the Pink Season, all things must be as one with the almighty sakura. Including…ice cream. And what does this marvel of food engineering taste like? Hmm, good … Continue Reading Cherry Blossom Flavored Ice Cream
In case you were wondering if there is such a thing as too much information, take a look-see at this handy chart I spotted recently, hanging outside a “Don’t Waste … Continue Reading Wait, Seriously, You Can Eat That?!
What are those little wiggly-looking lumps on top of that monster pancake? I wondered, perusing the specials menu at Hoshino Coffee, home of Godzilla-sized flapjacks. “Crema Catalan & Anglaise Sauce” … Continue Reading More Extreme Pancakes
Lines stretch around the block at every KFC in Tokyo on Christmas Eve, as household minions are dispatched to pick up the traditional holiday fare, but this year they have a … Continue Reading Traditional KFC Christmas Dinner, Now With Seaweed!
Luscious strawberries…succulent peaches…flaky pastry…fresh whipped cream…all topped off with…PARSLEY. Yes, the fluffy little herb that rocked the 1950s sits inexplicably atop this otherwise tasty-looking fruit tart, and the strangest thing … Continue Reading What’s Wrong With These Desserts…?
I must have spent too much time in Japan, because the last time I passed my local Super Expensive Fruit Store (where they always ask if you’d like your purchase … Continue Reading Unnatural Fruits Of Japan
Hey, are you ready to grill up some tasty fourth stomach of cow tonight? Or maybe you’d prefer first stomach? Let’s get one of each, to compare! Then for chasers, … Continue Reading Squicky Cow Parts Chowdown
So you know how people are always going on about how super healthy Japanese food is, and that’s why nobody is Japan gets heart attacks or is fat, etc. etc. bla … Continue Reading Deep-Fried Bacon On A Stick
Okay, even though it claims in English to be a HOT & DELICIOUS BURRITO, I should have known that anything resembling a slightly overgrown packet of saltine crackers was going … Continue Reading It Looks Like a Burrito. It Says It’s a Burrito. But…
Isn’t the whole purpose of “cookies & creme” flavored snackables to allow us to deceive ourselves about just how many Oreos we’re pounding down, disguised as a more sophisticated food … Continue Reading Slightly Unclear On The Concept: Cookies & Creme Muffins
If you are what you eat, right now I’m a righteous tower of these tall boys. This “short stack” came topped with butter and kuromitsu (Okinawan black sugar syrup) and yes … Continue Reading The Godzilla Of Pancakes
Mmm-mmm, on market day in Koshinzuka, they still sell inago tsukudani, scoops of Jiminy Cricket’s relatives all toasted up nice and crispy in a salty-sweet marinade. And what do they … Continue Reading I’ll Take A Pound Of The Cricket Snacks, Please
First, you take a dried snake. A dried poisonous snake. Then you chop it into little pieces. Add some dried ginger and garlic and a few other secret ingredients. Powderize … Continue Reading How To Make Poisonous Dried Snake Tea
Yes, recently, this kind of corn and mayonnaise sandwich really is being sold in just about every convenience store in Japan. But that’s not the only non-PB&J you’ll find around … Continue Reading Strange Sandwiches Of Japan
The head is the best part. Or so I was told by the ayu vendor at the Yasukuni shrine. My new pet fish-on-a-stick looked too big to be eaten whole, but … Continue Reading The Head Is The Best Part
Recently Tokyoites craving a change from the traditional piece of grilled fish, seaweed, and rice mixed with sticky fermented soybeans have been flocking to cafes offering special “morning set” breakfasts. These … Continue Reading Breakfast Dogs
Rule Number One: Try hard not to think of Seabiscuit. It might look like beef, but it’s not. Rule Number Two: Never ask what it is until after you’ve eaten … Continue Reading How To Survive The Mystery Appetizer Course
In Japan, you’re never too young to start drinking tea! Now even babies can take a break from the hard work of learning that the hand that just hit them … Continue Reading Tea: Not Just For Toddlers Anymore
Look! Look! They have fish bone crackers on the menu at this izakaya! I love fish bone crackers! What? Oh, haha, don’t you mean “fish bone” crackers? Uh, no. That … Continue Reading Fish Bone Crackers
Jonelle Patrick's Only In Japan