Low Key Tokyo Time

There is a very good reason why the next nearly 24 hours were very low key.  We were resting up so we would be prepared to climb Mt. Fuji.  There is a very narrow window of time each year where Mt. Fuji is open for climbing, and we wanted to have this experience in our first year.  Honestly, I felt like if we let it pass by the first year, who was to say it wouldn't pass by in year 2 and 3, and by year 4 we would have so much going on getting ready to move that before we knew it, 4 years flew by and we never climbed Fuji.  No way was I going to let that happen!

We had actually tried to get on one of the ITT (information, tickets and tours- a travel type office on base that plans weekend trips and overnight trips for military members and families at a discounted price) but we were not selected to go this year.  It was done as a lottery because so many people wanted to go.  Actually, they had 6 trips planned (I think 3 have already gone and 3 are in August), but we only registered for the lottery for 1, I guess, and we weren't picked.  We decided it would work better to plan a longer trip to Tokyo anyway and just plan the climb ourselves.  As it turns out, this really did work better for us and we got a lot more done, plus we took the train instead of a long bus ride.

After Tokyo Disney we headed back into Tokyo for some dinner.  We had gone on all the rides we really wanted to and nothing stood out to us as amazing for dinner options.  Ginza corridor, the area with restaurants we found the night before, sounded like a much better dining idea for us.  Again, the options were limitless and we had a hard time deciding what we wanted to eat.  In the end the Hub won.  This is a British pub chain in Tokyo.  Yes, you heard right, this is a British pub.

We started off with some heart healthy nuts.  Hey, it's a pub right?

Honey bread sounded good, so we gave that a try.

No shocker that we both ordered the fish and chips for dinner.

Then we called it a night.  Rest was essential and I had to wake up at 7 am to teach at 8 am.  Since the room was small this meant Ryan had to wake up too and head out.  Thankfully there was a Starbucks down the road where he could read and enjoy some coffee.  I taught from 8-9 and then 10-11, so before we knew it lunch time was upon us.  We had no specific plans, but we knew we wanted to eat and then rest a little before we left that evening for the mountain.  We planned for the night climb to see the sunrise, so that is why we had the afternoon open to rest.

Lunch was a surprising treat.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Tokyo is packed with places to eat, and many are in what we might consider odd locations.  By our hotel was a 12 story (I think it was 12) building that was a mix of beauty places and restaurants.  The outside of the building shows pictures and names for each place.  We spotted an Italian place, got on the elevator, went up, and turned left.  Not the Italian place (that was on the right), but something that seemed interesting.  We went over and looked at the menu for JIMI.  

This was a pleasant surprise for sure.  While I couldn't understand much on the lunch special board (no English lunch menu), the dinner menu was centered around fresh vegetables.  We stepped inside and there was a very tranquil, earthy feel (not to mention a tad on the upscale side with older ladies having a proper lunch).  The vegetarian in me got super excited and Ryan was just as happy to give it a try.

Our server explained that there were two options for the set course lunch menu.  He only described the first option, and that sounded not only good, but like it was plenty of food, so we stopped him there and ordered.  Yes, it was the cheaper set menu and did have less food, which you will see was still more than enough.

Soon after sitting down the server brought us some bread and flavored butters.  On the far right is a plum sauce and some salt in the middle.  Those were both for the vegetables that were going to be served next.

In the background you can see the listing of the vegetable dishes for the day.  Too bad they were all in Japanese.

After the bread and butter, we were brought a steam basket with 6 vegetables.  Yum!  There was a mushroom, pepper, brussels sprout, tomato, and two other things that were not exactly easy to identify because they are traditional in Asian, not American cuisine.

Next up was the vegetable tasting of the day.  Starting at the top left corner and going clockwise: pickled bitter melon, cold eggplant "soup", cucumber with chicken (Ryan quickly removed this from my plate), a layer zucchini egg dish, edamame souffle, green beans in a sesame sauce.  Hopefully I accurately described all of them.  

Here is a close up of the eggplant dish.

For our entrees, we could pick from 1 of 3 dishes.  I ordered the fish, which was served with veggies.  The brown looking round thing really had us stumped, so I had Ryan try it first.  He was able to identify it, and then the server confirmed for us that this was in fact a root vegetable, which Ryan accurately said tasted like taro.  

Ryan ordered the pasta dish, which had some meat in it, so it was a good thing I decided to order the fish.

Dessert?  Fruit!

Great meal, and yes, I highly recommend this place if you are ever in Tokyo.  Of course there are a million places in Tokyo I would recommend or want to still try, but I do think it is worth it to check this place out.  It was yummy, fresh, and a nice, nutritious lunch.  This was just what we needed before heading back to the room for a nap and packing for the trip up Mt. Fuji.

QUESTIONS:  Do you like fish and chips?  How do you find restaurants to eat at while you are on vacation?