Japanese food in Sao Paulo
Lonely Planet, tourist brochures,...everyone says that the Japanese food in Sao Paulo is really good. It would make sense, because Sao Paulo has the largest population of Japanese people outside of Japan. As I learned in the Museu da Imigracoa Japonesa, they started coming to Brazil to supply the labor shortage around the turn of the century, particularly for coffee plantations. Later, they started to concentrate in Sao Paulo city. Thanks to this, people often think I'm a local (I've already been asked for directions four times!)
So far I've had more misses than hits, as far as Japanese food in this city.
My first night I tried a restaurant called Kazan, right around the corner from my guesthouse (called a pousada). Nori was soggy, rice was very sweet. Interestingly, their California roll had mango instead of avocado! Reminded me of in Rio, when I had sushi with beef and salmon salad in one, and just kiwi in another.
So today I ventured to the Liberdade neighborhood, which is sort of like a Little Tokyo, only now there are also Chinese and Korean immigrants. On Sundays they have a fair in their Praca da Liberdade with stalls selling slippers and knick knacks, and a very busy side street filled with food stalls.
First I had takoyaki (octopus in pancake-y balls). For takoyaki, I make an exception to my personal ban on eating octopus, since I think they're really cute (and appropriately today I was wearing the T-shirt I bought in Rio, with an octopus and the Japanese words "tako" on it). These were excellent; fresh and tender inside, though maybe a bit too much bite on the outside. Also, not too salty or overladen with mayonnaise as they sometimes are.
After going to the museum about Japanese immigration, I came back to try the dish that almost literally EVERYONE was eating. It was yakisoba, but looked unlike any yakisoba I've ever had before. And tasted unlike any I've had before. On the bottom were mushy noodles and some vegetables, and on top was beef and/or chicken (I got both) in a LOT of gravy. It was a lukewarm, saucy mess. Ranks right up there with the Chinese food at EPCOT's Chinese pavilion (another surprise) as some of the worst Asian food I've ever eaten.
To cleanse my palette, I went for some mi-fen (or "bi-fum" as the stall said). It was pretty good, pretty standard, and I'm glad I finished with it. Interestingly, mi-fen is Chinese, but the stall also sold okonomiyaki, or as they put it, "Pizza Japonesa."
