Scenes From Japan: Foodtripping in Nagaoka (Day 1 Neneya)

Chow time!

Day 1: Neneya

May 20, 2013

We found this restaurant after walking within the vicinity of Nagaoka Station for almost an hour. We were starving and extremely exhausted from travelling for almost THE entire day (left Manila at 9am, arrived in Tokyo at 230pm and checked in at Hotel Mets in Nagaoka at around 6pm already). We unpacked a few of our things for work, freshened up a bit and went down around 7pm to eat but to our dismay would find out  that most restaurants around the area close early (at around 730pm most shops are already closed). 

We were almost ready to give up and opt for a fastfood meal at the KFC store that we found near the Cocolo supermarket but decided to check out the other side of the road and found this gem of a restaurant at the second floor of a building that turned out to be housing several seafood restaurants as well. This was a private dining restaurant - meaning, every table is enclosed in a small room (the one we were ushered in was just big enough for my co-worker and me) - and we were expecting premium food prices but surprisingly, according to my Japanese co-worker was just right (not too pricey).

We opted to dine light so we ordered food that were mostly with veggies. The main course was a rice dish since the Niigata Prefecture is really popular for it's rice (and yes, sake).

Oh after taking a bite of our appetizer, my co-worker and me agreed the one hour walk was worth it. We took our sweet time finding a good restaurant to welcome us and we found just the perfect place.

Without further ado, I present to you photos of our day 1 foodtripping:

Even in a province like Nagaoka, almost everything is still automated. Even these doors are operated by those buttons at the left. Ah, the perks of being in a first world country

what looks to be canadian bacon on a bed of greens and some cherry tomatoes

munching on our appetizer with  a tall glass of my all-time fave dinner drink - Ume Sour to go with it

the sweetest, most savory raw cabbage i've ever tasted.
would've been best if they used less seasoning here but still it cannot be denied that
vegetables are the best here in Niigata.

Mozzarella slices on a bed of slightly spicy Kimchi.
Not very fond of Kimchi but it was really good combo here with the spring roll chips and the mozzarella slices

the highlight of this dinner. it was so good. but i forgot to ask what it was called.

Eating was probably my stress reliever on these back-to-back trips to Japan. But suffice to say, regardless of how much weight I've put on in just a week, I'm happy I had the opportunity to take my palate to explore the food offerings of this beautiful country.