Hey Hive!
I'm currently recounting our anniversary trip to Tokyo back in Feb 2023! It'd been at least 3 years since we visited Tokyo and the last time was pre-covid so we decided to go back and find some new places to explore while revisiting our favourite hot-spots.
Last week, after wrapping up our visit to Tokyo Tower, we went to get dinner at one of our favourite Japanese-Chinese restaurant chains - Gyoza Ohsho!
It was super savoury and delicious of course, and while we were in Shibuya we decided to stop by PARCO and check out the gaming shops one last time to get some merchandise I missed out on the first time we came here.
I was sorely tempted to buy a lot more but I held myself back.
Anyway, we're on to our final day for this trip so let's go!
9 Feb 2023. Thursday.
We had a somewhat early start to the day and managed to see some salaryman on the way to work. We also saw these adorable doggos going out on their morning walk!
We were pretty hungry and I wanted to try something new for once since we kept going back to the same few eating spots we already knew.
I was in the mood for some Western food and we found this burger place online that was nearby and had quite a few good reviews, so we decided to check it out.
At first, we worried that the restaurant was closed, but to our delight, it was open and welcoming us with open arms!
It really stood out with how red it was, and their menu seemed pretty regular with the normal burgers but also hot dogs and sandwiches. It really looked like a standard American-style burger place.
It looked a little cramped from the outside but it was actually quite comfy with quite a few tables and booths.
Inside, the ambiance mirrored the exterior with vibrant red hues, creating a striking and cohesive dining atmosphere.
We took a small table by the entrance and perused the menu.
So other than burgers, they also had sandwiches and hot dogs but also some sides and salads.
They also had desserts and drinks and it actually reminded me of the classic '50s style diner in Universal Studios.
I actually don't remember which burger we ended up ordering but they look about the same.
It was stacked pretty high too, almost the size of my head!
They actually gave instructions for how to enjoy the burger too, using these special tissue paper that was on every table. I guess for those people who don't really want to get their hands dirty. But we just used our hands anyway.
It was actually quite delicious from what I remember. It wasn't spectacularly memorable or anything but it was satisfying.
Since it was our final day in Tokyo we just wanted to chill and go to another hotspot we haven't visited in years.
But first, another quick snack! We walked past the shop within the station underground and the scent of waffles was too tempting!
Just look at those beauties!
They had a few different flavours to choose from, but I was surprised to see there was no maple syrup flavour; unless they all came with a basic maple taste.
Their waffles are all baked fresh daily and we could see them preparing the waffles right in front of us.
We decided on a chocolate waffle in the end and got one to share since we just had lunch.
It's pretty small for two people though, but we just wanted to taste it and see if it was good.
It was alright I think, maybe a little denser than I would've liked but still good. We have a favourite waffle place in Japan too but it's in Osaka iirc, and it's called Maison de gigi. I think that one is still better, although I may be biased since its logo has a cat.
Mr Waffle is still alright, but since we bought the chocolate one I thought they would drizzle chocolate sauce on it too but they didn't, so it was pretty plain.
It wasn't super chocolatey either despite the flecks of chocolate bits. I guess they're more simple in nature but I wonder how different this really tastes from the regular plain waffle.
We walked while savouring every bite of the waffle towards our destination in Akihabara!
Of all the times we came here I don't remember walking this way through the underground. We'd often find our way to the outdoor exit and walk on the street level, but this is actually quite pleasant with less people.
We passed by the Square Enix cafe where they were having a Dragon Quest theme.
I've only briefly played Dragon Quest so I'm not very familiar, but they had some interesting food items themed around the game.
The whole cafe was about Dragon Quest this period, but since neither of us are fans we just took a quick look before heading off.
Finally we stepped out into the street and were greeted by the familiar scene of Akihabara, which is known for being a gamer/weeb paradise since this area is full of anime and gaming-related shops.
You can tell just from the signs and advertisements this is a place for weebs.
There were tons of anime goods on display, even on the street.
We took a quick look but there was nothing I was really interested in.
The main reason we were here in Akihabara was for Seany to play his favourite game - Dance Dance Revolution! Only Japan and US has these special golden machines and I think he needed to play on these machines to unlock certain songs or something like that.
After a few songs Sean was all sweaty and tired and we left the arcade to head out into the cool air.
We've only really been in the main area of Akihabara near the station so we decided to go for a nice walk.
We saw this shop full of gachapon machines and couldn't resist going in to take a look at what toys they had in there.
The whole shop was wall-to-wall gachapon machines, it was truly a wonder!
There were some interesting ones including this mini SEGA console collection! I've heard of them before but unfortunately I didn't have the SEGA consoles growing up. If this were a SONY or Nintendo one I would've definitely gone for it.
As usual there were some questionable toys too, like this:
And this:
There were so many machines; it was really a sight to behold! We took some time looking at all of them to see if there were any interesting ones but I don't think we tried any of them.
But I think that's going to be it for today! Next time, we finish off this trip finally!
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Check out my previous post in this series!
Gyoza and Gaming 😋 - TacoCat’s Travels #291 (Tokyo)
