A taste of campus life

When I eat lunch, I bring a self-packed bento lunch from home to eat with my friends. I usually include tamagoyaki (rolled Japanese omelet), but I use a round frying pan to make it, so it may be more accurate to just call it a regular omelet. Sometimes I make them sweet; other times, I add mushrooms or komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach). When I was a first-year student, I usually ate on the second basement floor of Taki Plaza, on the grassy areas on campus, or in empty classrooms. Now, as a second-year student, I eat in the drafting room in the Department of Architecture and Building Engineering.

There are two Indian curry restaurants near Ookayama Station where you can get a free second serving of naan: one is Indian restaurant “kopila,” and the other is Indian and Nepalese restaurant “SIDDHARRTHA.” When I ate there for the first time after enrolling at Science Tokyo, I was really surprised by just how big the naan was. It’s surprisingly light for its size, so whenever I go there, I always get a second serving. If you’re in the area, be sure to check them out.

Food trucks on Yokohama Campus currently offer a chicken bento on Wednesdays and a curry-and-naan set on Thursdays, which are two of my favorites. When I pack my own lunch, I try to include frozen broccoli to make sure I get my veggies.

I often eat out in the area around Ochanomizu Station. There are lots of good restaurants there. One place I frequent with my friends is an izakaya (pub) that has generous portions for its lunch offerings. There are plenty of filling dishes to choose from, like karaage (Japanese fried chicken), curry, or yangnyeom chicken (Korean fried chicken). If you are in the mood for authentic curry and are up for a walk, there are several good places in the area around Jimbocho Station. Curry-lovers won’t want to miss the “Kanda Curry Grand Prix” held in the Kanda-Jimbocho neighborhood. Advertised as one of the largest curry-based events in Japan, it sees over 400 curry shops compete to be recognized as having the best curry in the country. The food at the restaurants that win or rank highly is especially good, and well worth a try if you’re in the area!

I eat at the dormitory for breakfast and dinner, but for lunch I bring a bento I made at home and eat in classrooms not currently in use. (If I oversleep and don’t have time to make a bento, I buy one from the Family Mart convenience store on campus, which offers a 5% discount if you show your student ID!)