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Depachika – Food Lover’s Paradise
You can’t go to Tokyo without checking out a depachika, the lavish department store food basements that sell everything from dainty wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets) and bento to$500 melons and European pastries. Depachika is a combination of ‘depa’ (department store in short) and (‘chika’) and they are truly a food lover’s paradise. In addition to buying wonderful meals and gifts, you can also sample your way through and end up quite full. Some of the highlights included:
- Handmade inari sushi made by nuns
- Refreshing fava bean and parsley smoothies from a smoothie bar called Vegetaria
- Fresh soy milk
- I also can say that I ate them most disgusting thing in the world but I am not sure what it was. The experience is seared into my gastrobrain.
You can find depachikas at:
- Takashimaya and Isetan in Shinjuku
- Matsuya, Mitsukoshi and Matsuzakaya Department stores in the Ginza
Desert Comes First is a great website that features some helpful information about Japan and beautiful photos of the depachika.
Convenience Store delights
Does the thought of convenience stores conjure up images of icees and melted cheese sauce? Well, in Japan, konbini (convenience stores) are Tokyo’s corner one-stop-shop where you can pay bills, buy baseball tickets, and send mail and buy bowls of udon, onigiri and fancy desserts. My favorite was the extensive choice of limited-edition Kit Kats in crazy flavors. Late night eating has never been so easy and tasty.
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