Having lived away from American for 3 years…I am now fully embracing all the delicious food to be found stateside. Now, we all know Japan is the land of the most incredible food ON THE PLANET…but here are a few reasons why American still holds it’s own in the culinary kingdom…
SCONES BY MY AUNTIE. Now, scones do exit in the land of the rising sun…but NOT homemade scones by my Auntie Julie!! Also, funny fact, at Starbucks in Japan they name the scones “American scones” and I don’t really know why? Maybe because they are super sweet and large!
2. TRUE FOODS. This is the ANCIENT GRAINS bowl from True foods and this is everything about eating in American that I missed in Japan. It is really hard to find something like this in Tokyo…not sure why, since I could see this being popular with Japanese people…but anyway, I cannot tell you how excited I was to eat this incredible mix of quinoa + sweet potato + green beans + acovado + tofu + onions….omggggg
3. TACO CHUKIS. My good friend Anna took me to TACO CHUKIS in the Seattle area when I was up in Washington a few weeks ago. These tacos were AMAZING and their house special, the one on the right, with the pineapple on top…OH MAHHHH WORD.
4. LAZY DOG VEGGIE BURGER BOWL. The menus in America are extensive…way too many options…but for some reason my eyes gravitated towards this veggie burger bowl and it did not disappoint. I guess living in Japan made me really miss salads because this is kind of becoming a trend…
5. BACO BOWL FALAFEL BOWL. My friend Naomi took me to this place in Culver city and MY OH MY was this falafel bowl off the chain!!!!! The falafel was crispy, light, and paired so well with the mix of colorful and flavorful ingredients. I also had to get a bowl of beets on the side because how could I not?!?
6. JONS DONUTS. I grew up down the street from this donut shop and have distinct memories of my dad buying me the cream cheese and strawberry jam croissant on weekend mornings. Thank God this place is still in business years later because nothing beats their donuts. (*ok I really do love Mr. Donuts in Japan…but I put that in a separate category haha)
7. BOBA GUYS. Hyped up boba shop? def gotta try it. And, when I went on a Sunday afternoon, some start up company was giving away 200 free bobas if we signed up for their newsletter. So, win win!!!
8. HOMEMADE BAGELS. Bagels are hard to come by in Japan. There is of course, the ever famous BAGEL & BAGEL chain in Japan, but that’s about it. So being back stateside I really love eating these…and my auntie just happened to come over the other day with this fresh batch of homemade everything bagels!!!!!
9. ZUPAS CAFE GRAIN BOWL. This is a chain my friend took me to in Arizona and wowowowowowo it was so delicious. This grain bowl had everything amazing on it and the cherry on top was that they give you a chocolate covered strawberry with every meal!!
10. ZOE’S KITCHEN, FALAFEL BOWL. Apparently I really love falafel…never knew this about myself until I moved back to the states…but I seem to be ordering it every time it’s on the menu. This place had the BEST hummus and Mediterranean bowls ahhh!!
11. THE QUINTESSENTIAL AMERICAN LUNCH. I bought this on my flight back AZ-LA and just had a moment of complete reverse culture shock and the realization that “I AM ABSOLUTELY IN AMERICAN NOW” …because nothing, and I mean NOTHING, screams American childhood like a PB&J sandwich. I remember back in Japan, my coworkers would go all bug eyed when I would whip out my peanut butter and jelly and spread it on bread. They couldn’t believe that was actually a meal! hahaa. Pair that with carrots and ranch (which also does not exist in Japan) some grapes…and you have the perfect American lunch. But why $10 tho???
IT’S GOOD TO BE HOME….&&NOW I JUST NEED TO FIND A WAY TO WORK OUT AND STAY IN SHAPE …hahaha