By Amber Shupe, Semester at Sea, Spring 2017
Coming into Japan, I had no idea what to expect of the food besides that there would be lots of sushi. I was never a frequent eater of Japanese food back home except for Americanized sushi, so I was a little nervous. But as I started eating different meals, I realized that I actually love Japanese food and it was some of the best food I’d ever had. We ate a lot of different kinds of ramen and sushi.
My favorite meal of the entire trip was the sushi we had at the fish market in Tokyo. It was one of the most incredible places I have ever been. It was fantastic and I know I will never forget that meal or that market. It consisted of multiple streets lined with stores selling fresh fish and restaurants full of sushi and colorful window displays. There were street vendors all around selling various kinds of fish and crab. Although we did not try any, it all looked really good. We went into a sushi restaurant that had been recommended to us and we all tried to order some things we knew and some things we didn’t. I ordered shrimp and crab sashimi and squid tempura. The sushi was the freshest I have ever tried and with the little bit of wasabi they put on top, was an absolute burst of flavor and I loved it. Then the squid tempura was something that I saw on the menu and decided to order because I’d never tried it. It was very chewy but to my surprise I liked it a lot. I would definitely eat more of it if I could! I want to come back to Japan as soon as possible and enjoy more of the country and their amazing food!
