Text 30942, 92 rader
Skriven 2012-11-10 09:35:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: Yokohama I 539
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There's a ramen district right by the east entrance of the
station, so after finishing our Malbec for breakfast we took
a stroll there to see what was what. As we can't read any of
the signs, all the recommendations in the world didn't help
- we had to find a place by gosh and by golly; it helped
that it was early not all of the places were open; we took
a tour of the area before choosing one that had pictures of
pork on its signboard up front. It was on the third floor,
with a fishy-oriented place on 4. Naturally, Lilli wanted
to push 4, but I reached over and pushed 3 instead. There
was already a smattering of custom at 11, a good sign, or
perhaps it was the only place open.

The joint is not tourist oriented, but I asked hesitantly
for an English menu, as I have difficulty with pictographic
scripts but can't read kana (or any nonroman noncyrillic
alphabet script) at all. Surprisingly, one was found, and
between its pictures and its Jinglish enough of the dishes
were vettable for ingredients that we ate pretty well.

Lilli went conservative and got the simplest thing on the
menu, rice with red-cooked pig belly, poor people's food
but excellent, a serving big enough so I could have more
than a taste listed on the menu for Y300 ($3.60) but charged
at Y200, maybe because she's a cute little old lady.

I got dan-dan noodles in tonkotsu broth for Y850; this came
with little bowls of rice and pickled veg. The broth was
excellent with its rich and concentrated porkiness, and I
almost regretted the addition of the sesame paste. Soba
noodles were a peculiarity - I expected regular ramen -,
and both taste and texture were slightly wrong. There were
three thin slices of roast leg on top, and I was slightly
envious because Lilli had gotten more than that of tastier
stewed belly meat; turns out that after working my way
through the big bowl of noodles and broth that the bottom of
my bowl was lined with similar slices of pork, and though I
was full, I was not too full to enjoy this unexpected treat.

Kirin autumn brew cost Y500 for a double bottle. Very crisp,
though with pronounced malt flavor, about as hoppy as the
regular lager, which is to say much more bite than AB Kirin
Ichiban.

It was time to pack up and take the train to Yokohama. The
shinkansen takes 15 and goes to the new station, but our
hotel is near the old station, and there are expresses that
take 20 or less and cost a fraction. We found one that was
scheduled at 17 but actually took only 15. Got off, turned
the wrong way, and walked through a sort of yellow light
district, then diagonaled it up the street to the Sheraton,
a couple blocks off. Here we were greeted in a most friendly
way and told to please check in at the lounge, which we did.

Very pleasant accommodation, with a separate lady's closet
and wash-up area opposite the entrance hall from the toilet
room and the bathroom. As Lilli is not one of those women
who takes hours for her toilette this was largely redundant,
but the gesture was much appreciated.

Before dinner we decided to wander around a bit, so we went
down into the bowels under the station; it's a huge mall
that essentially goes from one department store, Sogo, on
one side of the station, to another, Takashimaya, on the
other, with all sorts of restaurants and stores in between.

We poked around the Takashimaya food hall and then Queens
Isetan for a while, marveling at the high quality (making us
hungry) and high prices (quieting that hunger again). We
settled on a bottle of Ikeda red wine for supper, which
turned out to be a quite respectable vin ordinaire at cru
bourgeois prices, not a huge surprise. Slightly overripe,
tobacco and barbecued meat notes.

Did a dry run to the Yokohama City Air Terminal, which is
really just a booth at the east bus terminal; good thing we
did, as we found a way to get there from the hotel without
any stairs.

At the club lounge, terrific views north and west, mixed
nuts, a no-name red Bordeaux. I had a Ballantine's, which
was better than I remember. Some woman had posted herself
next to the hors d'oeuvres tray, and miraculously every
time I noticed the staff replacing it, by the time I got
there there was one sad-looking item left. That was fine,
there were candies and mixed nuts available. Also salad,
which I wasn't interested in. Anyhow, the ramen lunch had
spoiled us for food, and not only did we not scavenge here,
we decided not to go out for dinner at all, relying on the
wine for our additional Calories.
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