The Japanese Food Adventure Chapter 3 - Day 20. Kawasaki Amusement Game Park and Shinjuku

Little Mermaid was our choice for breakfast this morning. It's a cafe chain serving a wide selection of savoury pastries and cakes. I had a thick slice of toast served with potato salad and a coffee, it was cheap and cheerful costing just ¥380 (£2.55).

After breakfast we headed West on the train to Kawasaki. We'd read about an amusement game park there and were keen to check it out. It was easy to spot in the distance with it's large rusted exterior.

As we walked through the main door at the front it was looking like something out of Half Life.

These are the lifts that take you upstairs to the six gaming floors.

If you use the back door you pass over this illuminated stepping stone pond and through a red octagonal corridor.

Inside has been themed to look like the walled city of Kowloon.

Each floor is vast and contains different types of games, this floor was dedicated to retro video games.

There was row after row of video games to choose from, many costing just ¥50 (33p) per go.

Up on the next floor were many gambling games.

You could even play billiards up on the top floor, there were over 50 tables!

There was nothing much else to look at in Kawasaki so we returned to Tokyo.

We wanted some lunch so went in search of somewhere to eat in Shinjuku.

If you stay at Hotel Gracery in Shinjuku, it's possible to book the Godzilla view room where you get an excellent view of Godzilla's head!

With so many restaurants in the Shinjuku area it was really difficult to decide which one to eat at. In the end it came down to somewhere that served something appealing to my wife as many places served just meat and fish. My wife ordered this mixed vegetable dish, she was tempted by the many mushrooms served with it.

I chose a shrimp and rice set meal costing ¥1100 (£7.40)

It included miso soup.

A slab of tofu topped with wasabi paste and chives.

And a tiny salad.

The main dish was what I was most excited about though and it tasted sublime. A trio of battered shrimps served with rice which had been cooked with egg and onions. 

With our time in Japan getting ever closer to the end I was keen to track down some favourites that I hadn't tried yet on this trip. First on my list was Mitsuya Cider, a soft drink that tastes like a cross between Sprite and ginger ale. I love it and managed to pick this 600ml bottle up from Daiso for just ¥100 (67P)

Having explored Tokyo on ground level we decided to take a look across the city. The best place to do this is from the observation deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. It's free to visit the observation deck, just take the observation lift from the first floor of the main building.

The views of Tokyo 202 metres above the ground are breathtaking, down below you can see Yoyogi Park.  You can view the city from nearly every angle and on a clear day it's possible to see Mt Fuji.

Another thing on my list of things to do before leaving Japan was to try some conveyor belt sushi. I've eaten at Yo Sushi back at home on a few occasions but here it was much more fun and slightly more complex. A few regular items were doing the rounds on the conveyor belt, if you liked the look of any you could take them.

On a screen overhead you could order anything from the vast menu on offer here.

When your order was ready a boat would glide along a track from the kitchen to where you were sitting. Simply take your food and press a button sending the boat back from where it had come from.

I tried a few different sushi here including this one with a pink fishy foam on top. 
It tasted ok but I wasn't really a fan of the foamy texture.

These ones were much nicer and beautifully presented too. Sushi here cost between ¥99 - ¥280, at the end I took my stack of plates to the till and paid on the way out. 

Asahi Red Eye sounded interesting so I bought a can to try back at the guesthouse.

I wasn't convinced that I'd enjoy a tomato beer but to my surprise I really enjoyed it. It contains 20% tomatoes and 80% beer and costs ¥210 (£1.40) for a 330ml can.

The takoyaki stall beside the guesthouse was open tonight so I ordered some coated in cheese, mayo and takoyaki sauce. They were beautifully cooked and contained plenty of octopus chunks inside the crispy battered balls. They cost between ¥500 - ¥680, depending on the topping you required, traditionally they're topped with takoyaki sauce and sprinkled with fish flakes and green lavar.

Up on the roof terrace my wife enjoyed a beer whilst I opened a can of Chu Hi. Our time in Japan was almost over but we still had one more full day here so over a drink we discussed how we would spend it.

I ventured out to 7 Eleven and returned with a final nightcap and some snacks.

A ¥110 (74p) pork dumpling.

And some chocolate mushrooms, I love these! I'd never tried the strawberry flavour before, quite nice but the chocolate flavour were still my favourites.

Click here for Day 21
The big rumble