Street Food in Kamakura

For my last post about my recent Japan trip, I thought I would share some photos that I took while walking down Komachi-dori, one of two shopping streets in Kamakura. There is another that is oriented towards local stores called Wakamiya-Oji, while the guidebooks say that Komachi features cafes and specialty shops.

On my way over to the area from the Daibutsu, I had already walked about a half mile in this vicinity where I had encountered local wood carving artisans. The technique sculpts hardwood and uses lacquer to preserve the work, featuring many Japanese themes.

But by this time, an hour of train rides getting there and two temple visits behind me, my thoughts turned to getting something to eat – and there were plenty of choices, as you can see from these photos. They ranged from the familiar – crepes and sausages (I had it on good authority that crepes are a craze here, and the two stands I saw on Komachi-dori boasted long lines), to the unfamiliar – seafood fried rice and little confections made from bean paste.

On the Thursday night shopping trip, we came across a little food stand that had a long line, and I wanted to get closer to see what the buzz was all about.  And it just goes to show you what an advantage it can be to live in a big city...the line of more than 20 people streaming from the little window at the booth was waiting on fried octopus!

I’m told that high standards of cleanliness here make the street food offerings safe, not like you worry in some parts of the world. So that’s not why I didn’t try anything from these stands. Since I had no guide to help me choose what to try, I didn’t partake at the risk of offending someone if I didn’t like what I’d gotten – these were going to be all new tastes for me, my tastebuds all spoiled from industrially produced corn by-product foods, and here were so many items that probably were completely and certifiably free of any corn fractions.

At last I went by a little doorway where some people were standing and giving out handbills, inviting passersby back to the couple of restaurants that were there. One of the handbills had exactly what I was looking for – udon noodles, and that is where I headed for lunch. The last photo here is a picture of the combo I got, with the tempura fried vegetable mix featuring my favorite, kubocha.

Tomorrow's post will get back to more typical Hawksbill Cabin topics.  And by the way, I'm noticing as I post this, today's post is number 1,000.  How about that?