f13.net

Ok, I've decided we really should just have a separate food porn thread to post pictures of things we've eaten.  Even if its just Schild and myself posting pictures of the way to expensive shit we travel around to eat, I'm sure it can be amusing/fun.

Anyways, food porn.  JAPAN EDITION.

So about a month ago I took two weeks to have a little fun in Japan, and then hike in the mountains for  week straight till my body was about to fall apart.  Was actually a wonderful time, and I had a ton of amazing food along the way.  So lets recreate my trip via food I ate.

Though, to get to Osaka, the cheapest flights were via Air Asia, which routes through Kuala Lumpur.  Since I've never been to Malaysia, decided to stay there one night so I could explore a bit.  So of course we'll start off with the airplane food.

(https://i.imgur.com/CQGUx0P.jpg)
Had to order this when buying tickets.  Seemed like the safe bet!

(https://i.imgur.com/Obko5Bh.jpg)
It was...... still better than most western airline food I guess.

(https://i.imgur.com/FRp337R.jpg)
Walking around the city.  I'm going to post a lot of pictures of random shit I saw for sale that seemed funny, but I did not actually try.  I have no idea what was going on at this place, but it appears to be advertising a cheese dish mixed with various things that should not be mixed with cheese.

(https://i.imgur.com/vwBcggi.jpg)
KL did not impress me very much, and probably not that great of a place to visit for tourism.  Only thing that seemed legit was the food.  There were tons of big outdoor eating courts with stations of all sorts of crazy looking spiced food.  I went ahead and got this chicken something something (everything has really funny names I can't say in Malaysia).  It was super good, but also super fucking spicy.  Christ.

(https://i.imgur.com/1IbXdmM.jpg)
Next into Osaka!  For my first meal in Japan, I went to a top rated Okonomyiaki place (its a crazy Japanese dish they cook on a stove you sit around, that's sort of a meat pancake noodle thing covered in sauce and mayo.  Its a specialty of the Kansai region, and amazing.

(https://i.imgur.com/WpWEPXe.jpg)
After waiting two hours (don't worry, I went bar hopping in the area around the place while I waited) got a seat right next to the chef and got to watch him cook everything.  It takes like, 30 minutes to make each one.  Got this amazing pork/scallop infused goodness.

(https://i.imgur.com/OjWN5kE.jpg)
Went bar hopping and had a blast after the meal, so of course after midnight needed something to eat.  So went to a top rated Ramen place (thanks for the suggestion Schild), which had a line wrapped around it when I walked by earlier in the day.  Open counters at one AM though!  Double happiness ramen sounded tempting, but had to go for number one rated pork rib.

(https://i.imgur.com/vOb92le.jpg)
This was super fucking good, but oh god, so rich.  That pork rib (no bone in it) was well over 50% pure fat.  My heart was screaming at the same time I couldn't stop eating it.

(https://i.imgur.com/imt1VHb.jpg)
Walking around Osaka the next day.  Let it be known the Japanese can monetize anything.

(https://i.imgur.com/CmhLdtj.jpg)
Also, crazy tempura taco things?  I was completely full walking around at this point, or I would have gone for one.

(https://i.imgur.com/JtzpuR9.jpg)
So for dinner that night, on a whim I went to a place that serves Matsusaka beef.  It's another sort of Japanese beef like Kobe beef, except they don't even export it apparently.  Here is my apitizer set before the meat arrives.  That pink blob of meet you see is pure fat.  You use it rub across the grill in front of you with chop sticks to grease it before cooking your meat on it.  I thought that was pretty clever.

(https://i.imgur.com/c3ZJjqZ.jpg)
“Beef Sushi” appetizer. 

(https://i.imgur.com/LOAM1wV.jpg)
Platter of various parts of the cow.  This type of beef is often served thin sliced, so you grill it in front of you are do shabu shabu.  I think its kind of a shame because that doesn't lend towards as strong of a flavor, but still great obviously.  The marbling on this stuff is insane.

(https://i.imgur.com/1ye8GCh.jpg)
Cooking my own meat before eating.


(https://i.imgur.com/ztJxUGT.jpg)
So for the real deal though, I got reservations at a Kobe Beef steak house in Kobe for Lunch the next day.  Didn't eat anything all day before walking in.


(https://i.imgur.com/ze3WHsL.jpg)
Initial starter snacks.

(https://i.imgur.com/6xc2ZQ9.jpg)
The main event.  A5-12 Kobe Beef.  About 5 oz.  Chef cooked it perfectly in front of me, and it was really wonderful.  People say shit like melts in your mouth all the time, but this really does.  You barley need to chew as it just sort of unravels.  I'm not going to say its worth the insane price that 5 oz piece of meat was, but its a fun one time experience at least.  Wonderful meal!

(https://i.imgur.com/dzQnOLn.jpg)
For dinner that night, stopped at a place called Plum that I'd always heard about when I lived there.  Super nice restaurant that specializes in various kinds of Umeshu (Japanese Plum Wine).  Spent the rest of the evening trying the various types.  Here are the initial free appetizers and wine just for sitting down.

(https://i.imgur.com/BCY1Ho9.jpg)
After the Kobe lunch I spent all afternoon walking off, decided to get some normal beef to compare.  This was a super good roast beef in some crazy sauce.  Very interesting to compare the texture after the last thing I had was top end Kobe.  Also, more plum wine.

(https://i.imgur.com/mJDQdCW.jpg)
Got some Ramen next to the train station at a little po dunk town on my way to the start of the Kumano Kodo trail head (the trail I hiked).  Still good.

(https://i.imgur.com/1M6ReIs.jpg)
First night on the trail.  So, I basically stayed at little Ryokan's (Traditional Japanese ins with tatami rooms) or Onsens (same as a Ryokan, but more fancy and with natural hot springs to bath in) the entire hike.  All of these places cook a set meal for everybody staying at the place every night.  Most of them were tiny, so only a couple other people staying, as I am in pretty small villages at this point.  Here is my view walking into the 'dinning room'.

(https://i.imgur.com/Wu77yn2.jpg)
Close up view.  On the right, big bowl of sashimi, arious Tempura fried stuff in the middle, and amazing bowl of Oxtail soup on the left.  Plus tons of other little things and green tea.  All of this was cooked by hand by the old husband and wife that run the place.  Amazing.

(https://i.imgur.com/lebR9YS.jpg)
Breakfast the next morning before hitting the trail.  Tamago (japanese style egg omlet), Tofu in a sweet sauce, pickled greens, and miso.
 
(https://i.imgur.com/WGMLJWf.jpg)
Next inn.  This time various Katsu fried things, fish, and a bowl of Nabe on the left.  Basically, the flame heats up a bowl of water, and you dump the vegitables into it.  Once they've boiled a bit, you pick them right out of the water, dip them in that sauce right below the pot, and eat straight.  Super good!

(https://i.imgur.com/powH2pg.jpg)
So, part of the package deal I did for this trip is that every inn I stay at must make me a packed lunch so I don't starve in the woods.  It was the exact same at every place.  Three Onigiri and maybe some other small random thing.  One Onigiri was always just rice mixed with bits of seaweed (Good).  One was always filled with salmon (Great).  And one was always filled with Natto (death).  Natto is a really nasty fermented bean paste that Japanese always insist foreigners try because its a traditional thing, while every single one of them I know hates the shit themselves.  So it was always gut punch lottery every day for lunch as I tried to figure out which of the two white Onigiri did not contain gaijin poison.

(https://i.imgur.com/hy6tHCP.jpg)
Stayed at an Onsen the next night.  These are always bigger and more fancy (so the dinner meal is fancy but not as personal as the previous).  More sashimi and other crazy things.  Got Shabu Shabu this time, which is similar to Nabe, but you take thin sliced beer and swish it in the boiling water before diping it straight into the sauce and eating.  Loves me some Shabu Shabu.


(https://i.imgur.com/tzuN24w.jpg)
A helpful Engrish menu of all the various shit they threw at me that night.


(https://i.imgur.com/4LKzpOk.jpg)
The fish you may have saw on the menu.  Loved the presentation, as it was a massive bowl with a perfectly burning piece of wood that had reached that flame less red coal stage, sitting in the middle on a bunch of sand.  They told me the fish was already cooked, and all of this was just to keep it warm...

(https://i.imgur.com/hwHl3l5.jpg)
Insane breakfast they gave me the next morning.  Baked fish and tofu, and all sorts of other things.  I have no idea how they did that egg thing.  The yoke was a perfect ball.  Firm but still very squishy, while the whites were still fairly liquid. 

(https://i.imgur.com/TySKBae.jpg)
Sort of a fun thing.  The Onsen was at this little village that has been famous for its hotsprings for centuries.  In the middle of town they have a naturally boiling pool of water they've bricked up and use as the 'public kitchen'.  People bring sacks of eggs to boil in the hot spring before eating.

(https://i.imgur.com/tWiJ8da.jpg)
Walking around a temple that day, I stopped and got lunch at an Udon joint.  Sansai style Udon with Mehari Sushi.  Basically, its the original form of Sushi, which is a big lump of rice wrapped in a pickled lettuce leaf.  Came from this region.

(https://i.imgur.com/Lf0dnfk.jpg)
So I had a lot of other random dinners at the places I stayed, but they were along the same lines of what you've seen, and I need to get to bed.  After finishing the hike, I had to wait for a train to take me to the last city I was staying for the night.  I stopped at a random place next to the train station and ordered Katsudon, which is one of my favorite comfort foods in Japan.  Its fried pork katsu, mixed with egg over rice.  I assumed this place being in a small town next to a train station tourist hit would give me some half ass'ed shit, but no.  Even out here, the lady running the place took 40 minutes to make it, and it was obvious she made everything from scratch.  It was one of the best bowls of Katsudon I've ever had.

(https://i.imgur.com/lM8N9pi.jpg)
Stayed the night in Wakayama, and so went to the top rated Ramen place for my final dinner in Japan.  Got the 'extra pork' bowl as you can see, heh.  Was super good, though not as good as that first bowl I posted.  Still, great cap to the trip!

Ok, its past 1 AM here, I stayed up way to long trying to finish this.  Just going to post this without doing much editing and pass out.  I can always edit later!

Oh, we're doing this now? Wife and I ate at Stubborn Seed (http://stubbornseed.com/menu/) in South Beach a few weeks ago. It's the new restaurant from the Season 13 winner of Top Chef - Jeremy Ford. Anyway, it was fucking superb. I'm not even sure what I would classify it as. I guess it's New American, but that feels like i'm not giving it enough credit. I've eaten at a lot of Top Chef-bourne restaurants, and this one is just MILES away the best. Anyway, this is most of the tasting menu. I forgot to take pictures of a few courses. Also, the first picture is the bathroom door.

(https://i.imgur.com/XHpl02U.jpg)

House Made Bread
fennel pollen | garbanzo chili dip
(https://i.imgur.com/6LfiqDY.png)

Kusshi Oyster
radish | thai chili mignonette | fresno pepper oil
(https://i.imgur.com/7YXUnmX.png)

Lavash
chicken liver butter | smoked chili jam
(https://i.imgur.com/4KKRu3s.png)

This one isn't on the menu, but it's basically an excuse to further eat caviar and lobster.
(https://i.imgur.com/6QqP8tb.png)

This one also isn't on the menu, iirc it was a rhubarb ice cream intermezzo with a butter crumble.
(https://i.imgur.com/VLPk8oE.png)

Smoked Foie Gras
quince | marcona almond | butternut squash
(https://i.imgur.com/nm3iIUc.png)


Jojo Tea Cured Cobia
finger lime | green strawberry | spicy celery broth
(https://i.imgur.com/NydxuJF.png)

Butter Poached Lobster
green curry | caramelized cauliflower | crispy garlic
(https://i.imgur.com/Pjd32Fr.png)

Umami Short Rib
trumpet mushroom | heirloom carrots | miso mustard butter
(https://i.imgur.com/DdDimDK.png)

There is a Japanese restaurant 2 blocks from my house that has Okonomyiaki and Hiroshimayaki dishes. Been there quite often so I have had a few selections on their menu. Good stuff.

CUT had a "sampler" plate that was the same cut of steak in American, American-Wagyu hybrid, and A5.  It was a good way to compare the relative merits of the steaks.

Wife and I both agreed that while you couldn't beat the texture of the pure wagyu, we preferred the hybrid as a good blend of the flavor of American beef with the tenderness of the A5.  

I must admit I did not expect that outcome.

(http://i.imgur.com/qB9DDQG.jpg)

aye my favorite restaurant in america

did you go because I wax on endlessly about it? Also:

So here's Snake River: http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/

I do wish Cut would switch to sourcing their American stuff from here though: https://heartbrandbeef.com/

Yes, I was taking your recommendation, and I thank you for it.

The only thing I didn't totally love was the blood-orange old fashioned; it was good but honestly not as tasty as their regular house old-fashioned. 

I think I've had all the drinks. My go-to drinks are the Pins & Needles and Pepino's Revenge. I swap the gin for vodka in the former and call it the Trill Cosby. What else did you get to eat? ALSO, HOW ABOUT THAT BREAD SERVICE.

I imagine that pairs nicely with a well-done steak.

I had ALL the bread, pretzel bread for the win...

Bone marrow flan and tuna tartare for appetizers, broccolini and the cauliflower sides.  Three or four old fashioneds.  I can’t remember which steak the wife had, probably as a result of said old-fashioneds  :awesome_for_real:

The bearnaise and the green chimichurri sauce were great, but the house steak sauce was the clear winner to me. 

I’m a bit bummed that after a week of seriously overeating I was too full for dessert, but we did have the small after-dinner treats, and I’ll be damned if the peanut butter one doesn’t taste EXACTLY like a Reeses’ peanut butter cup before they changed their recipe and fucked it up.

Next time I’ll schedule steak night for the first dinner so I can bloat on everything.

not one human eats well-done steaks, my man (yes, the vodka is better than the gin given the meal)


alright, if you go again - steak toppings:
roasted bone marrow (it's wild, trust)
yuzu kosho sauce (it's the only thing nearly as good as the house steak sauce, and maybe better on the A5)

also you can order truffles by the ounce

we really just need a VEGAS THREAD for f13 so people can post when they'll be in Vegas. I think we're going back twice more this year.

I didn't take a lot of food pics in Vegas, but I did have to take one of breakfast:

(http://i.imgur.com/52DDQ8A.jpg)

Since we were at the Paris, I took Abogadro's suggestion of Mon Ami Gabi for breakfast.  I make crepes frequently, but I don't know why it never occurred to me to put lemon marmalade on them, particularly since I usually put a little fresh squeezed lemon juice in the batter.  I had those for breakfast three of the days we were there  :grin:

I made some this last Sunday, but I made up some of the same raspberry compote I used for linzer torte and added that with the lemon marmalade and homemade whipped cream.  Fuckin' delicious.

From my instagram feed. Because yes, I'm one of those motherfuckers that films his food. FITE. ME.

Michelin Star chefs meal in the Maldives.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaWtaj-BM4i/

man you are way more active on IG than me

It’s pretty much all I use my camera for. Well, that and documenting shit I can’t talk about.

The shit I work on doesn't even allow a cell phone within 100 feet of the room.  THIS IS WHY CHINA KEEPS STEALING ALL OF OUR SHIT APPLE.

 :why_so_serious:

In other news, a friend of mine went to Singapore and got a hamburger.  I should submit this to r/WeWantPlates because its literal this time:

(https://i.imgur.com/ZPqxXIv.jpg)

Incidently, know where I'm going next time I'm in Singapore. 

i was gonna post my entire stubborn seed meal to r/wewantplates but then they brought out 2 plates

i was very upset - i deserved the karma for the price of that meal

What do you call problems even less relevant than first world problems?

Teleku problems? :why_so_serious:

Sublime.

white people problems

above that though is arab royalty problems

we can never peak as long as the world depends on oil

Oh, shit. Don't get me started on Dubai...

i have very strong opinions of arab business people

so, i won't

I will Instagram a lot but somehow I don't like to IG food.  Maybe because it all looks boring to me.  I'm more fascinated by a manhole cover than an aspic from Banska Bystrica.  True story, btw.

To be fair, that manhole cover you posted recently was freaking cool looking. 

Well, it doesn't have to be high quality porn, right?

(https://i.imgur.com/MVc77DE.jpg)

First time I had Vietnamese Pho soup, and it loved it. The image is somewhat deceptive on the scale, it's actually quite a big bowl. A full meal on it own.

Pho is just heaven in a bowl.

It's also always a full meal

Because of the wife, I'm more partial to bun xao now. Especially during the warmer months.

I lived on bun for a good chunk of my college career because it was one of the cheapest and easiest things to grab on the way to lecture.  Still love the stuff; it always reminds me of my static engineering class.

I love bun xao but if I'm picking a random Asian food that I could eat all day erry day it's gonna be tom kha.

Shabu-shabu or nothing.

i don't want to commit that much time to a meal every day tho

Fair enough. Though I just found a J. Kenji Lopez-Alt recipe for Kung Pao chicken that's a lot less time and kicks serious ass. https://www.seriouseats.com/amp/recipes/2017/08/gong-bao-ji-ding-sichuan-kung-pow-chicken-recipe.html?__twitter_impression=true

how did we get to kung pao chicken

I hate kung pao chicken

I love food lab tho

Random Asian recipes.

And fucking Kenji.

Pretty standard lunch at the office today.

(https://www.dropbox.com/s/mrmhsx3hgd77u9j/2018-05-10%2012.15.34.jpg?thumbnail=1&tw=800&th=800&tm=ABSTRACT)

Um where the fuck do you work??

And yes, we hate you.

Ground buffalo "taco" on Indian fry bread:
(https://i.imgur.com/Y292UDU.jpg)

And then this massive spread of Filipino food came out after I'd already grabbed my taco.
(https://i.imgur.com/GMwQcGw.jpg)

I had some envy but the taco was still really good.

That food is from Dropbox's cafeteria.

Edit: 's

Narc.  :awesome_for_real:

But yeah, there's even a FB page (https://www.facebook.com/pg/DropboxTuckShop/photos/).  Used to be a Yelp page too but we had to take it down because randos kept getting lured in by the 5-star rating and getting annoyed that it's not open to the public.

Sweet sweet ipo money

It was like that before the IPO. It might even have been nicer back then, not sure (they got a lot of flack for some profligate spending in their early days) as I haven't been back since the IPO. I've been in there a few times for Meetups, but never had a proper meal there (just snack/bar foods).

Can confirm, food is just as good.

Back when I started was after the "profligate spending" days (i.e. after they actually gave each department a budget), so the old-timers would (jokingly) grumble to me about how there used to be sushi every day and now it was just once a week.  Having come from a company where it was a special treat to find leftover pizza in the break room fridge, I did not mind.

The fact that they have a budget makes it fun because at the end of the year they spend all the surplus on a couple of meals and it's  :drill: :drill: :drill:

Good to know Dropbox has a similar budget spending policy as the US government.  I was starting to feel guilty.   :awesome_for_real:

No really, its funny.  At the end of the year, almost every embassy/section has left over money they did not spend.  But everybody knows if you don’t spend money that was budgeted for you, then they’ll cut it by that much next year, screwing you if you actually need it that year.  So at the end of the year, all embassies basically go on a buying spree to order what ever excess equipment or training they can get until they hit their given budget limit.

This is how almost everything works. Spend it or lose it. It's not just for governments or subsidiaries. After all, you can't take it with you.

Previous private sector experience was with companies that penny pinched like scrounge mcduck.  It was a bit of a cultural shift for me.   :awesome_for_real:

I typed that from my phone man.  Don’t judge!

Beef bulgogi tacos.

(https://www.dropbox.com/s/ehy73g97tnhy2ka/2018-05-22%2013.47.51.jpg?thumbnail=1&tm=ABSTRACT&th=800&tw=800)

So fuckin' good.  I'm gonna have dreams about that sauce.

I'm having a 20+ course meal at Otoko tomorrow.
On Friday I'm going to Night Court at Hot Luck Fest.

Whew.

Otoko was amazing and it was too intimate to take a bunch of photos. One of the top five meals I've ever had though.

So is there a reason we're seeing more high-end Japanese food make it into American culture?

It's good.

I meant moreso why now, like is there an influx of chefs coming over? Transplants? Connections to Asian culture on the rise?

Fucking Millenials.

Six pounds of Snake River Farms hybrid wagyu ordered for my birthday, with promo code and sale about 1/3 off regular price  :heart:

(No, I will not eat that all in one day by myself.  I will--grudgingly--share with my friends and relatives)

Am I going crazy, or did you not actually post the food porn, and just describe it like a savage?

It's not here to cook yet.  Would that make it food-pr0n foreplay?