Gustatory Adventures: Rafters

A burger shop between Yagoto and Yagoto Nisseki Stations. Very small and cozy! If you are walking from Yagoto Nisseki, it will be on your left side, a bit after Toys R Us. The owner, Mr. Tanabe, is super-nice and talkative. My friend talked to him for dating advice! He's used to the influx of Nanzan students, and makes everything right in front of you. Try his home fries! We went there often for shakes - it's a wonderful place to hang out with friends, but be aware that there is only counter space (so no HUGE groups of friends). He even has a little to-go window for soft-serve icecream! Besides the shakes and the English-muffin burgers and the fries and the sundaes, I loved the counters and stools, and also, strangely, the very cute little bathroom.

Rafters is a nice place to relax with friends, during lunch break or for a late night milkshake. Make friends with Mr. Tanabe! He's very personable but he won't talk if you don't talk to him first.

Rafters is one of the places I'd love to go back to one day, if I ever return to Japan. An 11/10! The extra point is for awesomeness and nostalgia.

 Strawberry, mint, and Kahlua milkshakes. Plus Mr. Tanabe!

(I never got to try the French Toast or the crepes. This is a serious regret・後悔・こうかい)

Gustatory Adventure Day 3: Chinese Restaurant On the Way to Nanzan from Nagoya Daigaku, the Name of Which I Failed to Get

It's small and cozy! Catering to the college lunch time crowd, there's a selection of manga to read while you eat! There are daily specials! It's decently priced! It's Chinese food!!

So yeah, definitely not a bad place to stop by.

Kimchi Chahan, what whaaat

Gustatory Adventure Day 2: Kumsan Seoul 金山・ソウル

So for our second peregrination of gustatory glory Doro and I inflated our ranks and headed over to Kanayama Station, where a member of our group of gustatory adventurers had discovered the existence of a Korean restaurant called Kumsan Seoul. The kanji in its name is the same as that of the station, Kanayama 金山, but the romaji beside it displayed a Korean pronunciation, Kumsan.

Gustatory Adventure Day 1: Mountain

Wednesdays are gustatory adventure days for my friend Doro and I, and we started with a restaurant near Nanzan University called Mountain (マウンテン). You can reach it from Irinaka or Yagoto Nisseki station after a short walk. Mountain came to our attention after some friends went and returned with tales of having tried a green spaghetti that was sweet... and maccha flavoured! We knew this would be a good place to start. The restaurant has a pretty exterior....

...and decent seating. All of the windows made it overall a really nice place to eat. The service was average - not amazing but not terrible. Smoking is allowed though, so if you're sensitive to it be forewarned. I think most restaurants in Japan allow smoking. Some have separate seating, but from what I've experienced you usually have to walk through the smoking section to get to the non-smoking.

The menu has quite a variety within three categories: spaghetti, pilaf, and dessert. (Mountain is apparently known for it's sweet spaghetti. Maccha, or strawberry flavoured varieties, for example). There's also a wide selection of drinks (including floats!!). We agreed to have spaghetti and a parfait. Since we were getting a dessert, we opted to skip the famed sweet spaghetti.

 

These are all the different spaghettis you can order. Is spaghettis a valid word?

I ordered from the "one coin" section - all of the meals there are 500 yen - and decided on matsutake to tori no suupu supa (まつたけととりのスープスパ）. Doro asked for the spiciest spaghetti they had, which was called akai wanpiisu (赤いワンピース） and was not on the menu. (About the menu - it's entirely in Japanese; just a warning in case you can't speak/read it, to bring someone who can).

After a short wait we received our dishes. A slight digression - in America everyone's dishes are usually brought out at the same time. I suppose this is because it's considered rude to begin eating before other people. In Japan, it seems like dishes are brought out when they're ready. Your friend may get their dish a good ten minutes before you do. Anyway, we received our dishes and I realized why they may have named their restaurant Mountain.

  It is because you receive a mountain of spaghetti.