On our way to my Chinese homeland, the girlfriend and I happened to have a layover at the Tokyo-Narita Airport in Japan. This was great for the girlfriend since she loves her sushi and also great for me because I was hoping to find myself some Melon Fanta. Sadly, the Melon Fanta was nowhere to be found, but at least we found some sushi. The little airport restaurant was appropriately named “Sushi” (I thought Japanese people were supposed to be creative) and we took a seat inside.

A quick glance at the menu showed that the restaurant certainly was used to catering to Americans, with a California Roll, Veggie Roll and other such things the Japanese wouldn’t dare eat. But they did have some special local Japanese tuna and the section of the menu called “Various Types of Shiny Fish” ensured that you knew you were in Japan. I decided to keep my order simple and got a Salmon Roll. Within a couple minutes, my food was prepared and returned to the table. The pieces of the roll were small, which was fine with me because I had already figured I would be hungry in an hour no matter how much I ate. I snagged the chopsticks from a drawer on the table, poured myself some soy sauce and prepared to eat. Strangely enough, wasabi was nowhere to be found. This wasn’t a big deal, but I hoped the roll wouldn’t be in need of that strangely spicy Asian kick.

I grabbed a slice of my roll, topped it with some white ginger, dipped it in the soy sauce and delicately placed the entire piece in my mouth. After biting in, I found where they had hid the wasabi. In the roll! This was actually awesome because they had figured out the perfect amount of that green spice paste to put in the roll. Aside from the wasabi, I found the roll to be pretty good. I’m no sushi expert, but my girlfriend seemed to feel as though the sushi was really fresh and wonderful. And I have no reason to disagree. We may have only been in an airport, but I feel like even a Japanese airport should have better sushi than the best sushi place in LA.

So an hour later, when I was starting to feel hungry again, at least I felt like I had a good meal in Japan and was ready to tackle me some true Chinese food.

Shakey’s Pizza and I have a long history, dating all the way back to when I lived in Japan. I discovered Shakey’s in Kyoto and found it to have the best pizza in Japan, at least at that time. They had a modestly priced buffet and although they still served crazy Japanese-style pizza with mayonnaise and corn, they also had good old fashioned pepperoni and cheese. Plus they had delicious fried potatoes and Melon Fanta. Needless to say, every trip to Kyoto came with a stop at Shakey’s. Little did I know at the time that Shakey’s was not just some Japanese anomaly, but had begun in the US. At one point it was a pretty big deal in the US, but now there are more of them in Asia than in the US. Yet, it wasn’t until I moved to LA that I realized I could enjoy the Shakey’s goodness without a plane trip to Asia. Although I knew of Shakey’s in LA for awhile, I finally got the chance to check it out myself and see if it could live up to my memories.

I was able to convince some of my coworkers to join me at the location in North Hollywood to check out their Bunch of Lunch Buffet. This amazing deal was only 8 bucks and included pizza, pasta, potatoes, fried chicken and even salad (gross). I quickly learned that the potatoes I remembered so fondly were not simply called potatoes here. Instead, they were called Mojos. Rather than being sliced into stringy bits like fries, these had been sliced into circular hunks, breaded, seasoned and deep fried. This process created some pretty fantastic Mojos.

But what of the pizza?

Well although Shakey’s in Japan was the best American pizza I could get, it is certainly not the best American pizza I can get in America. But that doesn’t mean the pizza is bad. In fact, for a buffet, the pizza is pretty decent. It’s not the kind of pizza I would crave too often, but it is definitely the kind of pizza i can see myself craving when I just want to eat a butt-load of pizza. The crust is flaky, yet firm enough to hand being picked up by hand. They even had a crazy pizza that day with mac and cheese on top. Nothing beats carb on carb on cheese action.

Then there was the fried chicken. This was something I definitely didn’t remember from Japan. The breading on it was pretty decent, but the chicken itself was a bit too dry. Never fear, though, because in case of emergency dryness, every table is equipped with a beer button. Yes, a button simply made to order beer and nothing else. This was too good to be true, but since this was a work lunch, I had no chance to take advantage of it.

Finally, there were the mashed potatoes. These spuds were…well…just okay. There was nothing really wrong with the flavor except for the knowledge that you could make them yourself. From a box. Yes, they were fake. Or at least they tasted that way. If not fake, then they did a really good job of capturing the taste of faux potatoes. Even if these mashed potatoes has been good, they still would have played second potato to the Mojos.

Mojos were definitely the stars of the Shakey’s show; crispy, crunchy, flavorful and delicious. The pizza wasn’t bad and certainly didn’t hurt my memory of their pizza in Japan, but there is just too much good pizza in the country for Shakey’s to be anything more than a buffet stop at a great price.

Kobe Beef is a world renowned form of meat that seems to have taken upon mythical status. It is exotic, yet signs for Kobe beef can be found everywhere. Technically speaking, most of the “Kobe Beef” outside of Japan isn’t really Kobe beef at all. The correct term for this is Kobe-style beef, which employs similar concepts but isn’t quite the same. Many restaurants just say Kobe beef because no one really knows the difference and to tell customers the difference would scare off potential buyers. True Kobe beef is only made in the Hyogo prefecture in Japan, which the city of Kobe is the capital of.

The best way to get real Kobe beef is to go straight to the source, Kobe, Japan. I was lucky enough to find myself in Kobe one day, so I didn’t have to add a thousand dollar plane ticket onto what would already be the most expensive steak of my life.

By the time I made it to Kobe, I had already been in Japan for a few days and had sustained myself with convenience store food in anticipation of the price of the Kobe beef I would get at the end of my journey.

The place I went to had a pretty good set meal and cooked in the teppanyaki style, which is similar to Benihana, but without the entertainment. These were Kobe beef people with only steak on their minds. The strong scent of cooking beef filled my nostrils as I ordered my steak. The process of raising the Wagyu cattle which Kobe beef comes from creates beautifully marbled steaks, which give the beef their perfect taste and texture. My beef was so perfectly marbled when it first came out, it made my stomach growl with excitement. The chef salted it and gently placed it on the grill.

After a few minutes of cooking, I put the first succulent piece in my mouth and

began needlessly chewing as it just melted in my mouth. I’ve never had meat so tender and juicy and delicious. I tried my best to eat slowly, but I just couldn’t wait to get each subsequent piece onto my tastebuds. When the last bite made its way into my mouth, my stomach gave me a little nudge, as if to thank me. Even after I finished I couldn’t bring myself to eat or drink anything but water until the taste finally disappeared into my memory.

The true Kobe beef experience is one that every unvegan and meat lover should undertake at least once in their life. In fact, I think even vegetarians and vegans would appreciate a steak such as this. The price ($40-50) is quickly forgotten as soon as you take your first bite.

For the uninitiated, this is an experience not to be wasted on a hamburger, which destroys the beautiful marbling. Even if you’re not eating official Kobe beef, it can only be enjoyed to the fullest in steak form. And if you’re lucky enough to get your Kobe beef in Japan, you’ll be spoiled for life in realizing that all other burgers and steaks are like tofu in comparison.

For more about what makes Kobe beef real, check out this site.

This is good news for anyone hoping to delay their entrance into nursing homes or for their children who would have to shoulder the responsibility of dependent parents if they didn’t go straight for the nursing home.

It’s bad news, though, if you are a vegan or vegetarian. The study also found that eating fish and eggs, as so many vegetarians do, had no positive effect on later independent functions.

The reasoning behind the results is most likely because of the increased muscle mass that only the protein in meat can provide.

If I can just delay going to the nursing home for one more day, I will eat as much meat as I can.

(via Reuters)