Japanese Street Food

If you saw last week’s video you’ll know what’s coming up! There was so much interesting street food at Kawagoe Matsuri (festival) that I had to make a separate video just about the food. Now I wish I’d tried more of it (especially those butter potatoes… and the spice pasta!). If only my stomach was larger!

There were an unbelievable number of food stalls at the festival, all the way along the main street, the side streets and in market squares off the main road. Maybe it’s because I’m less familiar with them, but it seemed like there was an amazing variety of types of food, beyond the options in the UK that seem boring now.

Japanese food stalls

If you think Japanese food is healthy, here we have a carb-fest of potatoes, along with deep-fried cheese sticks! At first I was worried there wouldn’t be many vegetarian options but there was plenty to try, as well as lots of meat.

I enjoyed everything except the sweet potato wedges, which were really dry. I don’t know if they’re always like that or if I was just unlucky that time. What I really wanted to try was a baked sweet potato, but I didn’t see any – maybe they’re seasonal or regional.

Anyway, if you ever get the chance to go to a Japanese festival or try street food, you should definitely go for it! Many of the snacks were things I hadn’t seen in regular cafes and restaurants, so it’s a great opportunity to try something new.

If you want to visit Kawagoe, it’s an amazing place even if the festival’s not on – details on how to get there are in my previous post. It’s less than an hour from Tokyo by train so it’s perfect for a day or afternoon trip.

If you like Japan…

The Magical Kyoto tunics are now available in black! Pre-orders have been sent out (thank you to everyone who pre-ordered!) and they’ve just gone on general release, so they’re ready for immediate despatch in all sizes from UK 6 to 20. The original white version’s still available too.