Japan has plenty of drink options. My only gripe was the size and lack of ice. Most restaurants only have one size, extra small, which I suspect is around 8 oz. As for ice, you will need to ask. Restaurants tend to keep water in the fridge so it will arrive cold but doesn’t last very long. Most places we stayed at did not have an ice machine and instead provided teeny tiny ice trays. Unfortunately we couldn’t keep up with the rotating of making ice since we were gone for most of the day. Towards the end of our trip, we started buying cups of ice to fill our water bottles. I’m sure we looked crazy when we didn’t fill the cup with coffee.
Speaking of coffee, found this great little place called cafe wEstern. The coffee is roasted by the owner. Then he uses a contraption called “Japanese Style Slow Drip” to brew the coffee for at least 10 hours. It looks like a chemistry set with a bunch of flasks, tubes, toggles…think of Water’s lab in the TV show Breaking Bad. In the end, the coffee was smoooooth and delicious.
Yes, I went to Starbucks. Apparently they have regional drinks. I tried their “Gaburi Peach Frappuccino”.
Gaburi is a Japanese word used to describe taking a big bite out of something. The intended sensation for the Gaburi Peach Frappuccino is to make you feel like you’re really sinking your teeth into a whole peach and savoring its juicy sweetness with gusto. Helping to achieve that are the irregularly cut chunks of peach at the bottom of the glass and the peach-flavored whipped cream swirl at the top. [source]
I was crestfallen when I returned to my local Starbucks to learn more about regional flavors. Apparently Cedar Park TX is not Japan.
The pink drink looked good and did not disappoint. Sweetened condensed milk with chunks of ice mixed with a strawberry syrup.
Japan is very good adding details that made me smile. I ordered a simple strawberry slush. I was giddy when it showed up with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a straw in the shape of a heart.
At this particular restaurant, when you order an adult beverage, you have the chance to play a silly little game of rolling the dice. You can win one of the following
- Drink is 1/2 price
- Drink is free
- Drink is upsized and free
- Don’t play, you get exactly what you ordered
Can you guess my husband’s roll? My husband who rarely drinks. Yep, he rolled the Glover luck of double the size and it’s free! And yes, that is the “larger” size of the drink. I thought I was going to enjoy most of his drink but he finished it. I was proud of him. In our 20+ years of marriage, this is the most I have seen him drink.
