Complete and Creative

Some Memorable Moments Between Food and Me (2/2)

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Chicken Cheese Katsu at Kawafuji in Tsuru, Japan

Tsuru is the little town in the countryside of Japan where I studied. My buddies and I frequented the restaurant Kawafuji, most of us having tried the Chicken Cheese Katsu as our first meal there and eventually going back to it after trying the other stuff.

It’s just so good! The melted cheese is stuffed inside the strips of fried chicken. Each time we had it, it was like going on a survival mission. You had to be extremely hungry to finish that plate of delicacies and come out without a crippling case of food coma.

The restaurant Kawafuji in Tsuru, Japan. It may not look like much on the outside, but the interior is quite homey. And you can’t beat the Chicken Cheese Katsu!

The Belgian Waffle

This little wafer must pack the most overwhelming sweetness per square centimeter of any snack I’ve ever tried. And you can’t just go to any waffle place. There’s one that I recommend, less than a block south of the Sheraton Brussels in Downtown Brussels. It’s on the main shopping street, but it’s pretty much a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, but you can’t miss the smell.

Here’s the original waffle article.

Dog Meat at a Restaurant in an Alleyway in Ho Chi Minh City

It does taste like chicken. For you dog-lovers, take solace in the fact that the dogs used for dog stew are never the species they sell at pet stores. Only specific species that grow to a particular size are used for dog stew.

Breakfast at the La Playa Ocotal Resort on the Western Coast of Costa Rica

The food was only okay, but the view of the Pacific and the nearby mountains was unrivaled. I don’t usually stay at resorts when I travel (a luxury I can’t afford…yet), and I don’t think I’ve actually stayed at a resort since that time almost four years ago, so till this day that was a unique experience. When you stab your fork into a juicy piece of cantaloupe while observing the serenity of the sea, the ocean wind ruffling your hair, with good company around you, life is good.

Here’s the original article on Costa Rica.

NEGI RAMEN OMORI AT HAPPO IN TSURU, JAPAN

You may remember this name from this article.

I love the Happo ba-chan and ji-chan (affectionate titles for people you would address as “auntie” and “uncle”)! Great food starting at the low, low price of 400 yen (that’s barely $3). “Negi” means green onion, and “omori” means large. It might not be an exaggeration to say that Happo, which means eight treasures, is my favorite restaurant in the world.

My buddies and I went there more often than we went to Kawafuji (which seems to be the reverse of the preference of newer generation international students in Tsuru). Even when I was alone I could chat with Ba-chan, who always teased me when I was there with a girl and no one else, American or Japanese.

When things were busy, we had to write down our orders, and Ji-chan would show off to the other customers my excellent kanji (for an American). Ba-chan even called me Yamamoto Terry after a while (their surname is Yamamoto). When she gave me their cell phone numbers, she wrote “mama” and “papa.” I was near tears when I said goodbye to them, but it’s good to know that I have multiple places where I can stay when I go back to visit.

Indonesian Food in Lund, Sweden

An Indonesian friend of mine who used to voluntarily cook for me and another friend back when we were all studying in Lund Sweden complained that I didn’t mention her cooking in this article. So here it is, Shanna!

It was always spicy, but it was always good.