22 Jan Roadside Stop, Japan

This particular roadside food stop had a snack store, a proper restaurant, a canteen-style eatery that used a ticket machine and two food stalls out the front. The food stalls were selling things like barbecued chicken and red bean fish-shaped waffles. I was the only one who was hungry so I bought a bowl of udon with two slices of chicken and a big fish cake (¥550). A2 purchased a packet of two onigiri; one had preserved plum in the middle and the other was plain with furikake on the outside (¥200). Dad tried a snack for ¥130, which consisted of mashed sweet potato wrapped in a thin layer of bread. Mum sampled a cone of purple sweet potato ice cream for ¥280.

This area is known for its black pork and sweet potato, so most of the food items for sale had sweet potato in them. They even had cooked-then-frozen sweet potato for people to buy. Mum thought of trying the sweet potato chips, which came in both orange and purple varieties, but when she realised there was sugar syrup added she changed her mind.