Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2013

Summer is matsuri season and matsuri mean food stalls. But aside from the classic yakisoba and okonomiyaki, some regional variations pop up. Look out for these rare gems:

• Taiyaki Parfait: Gut the classic fish-shaped waffle and pop some ice cream on it for easy eating. Kyoto, Kobe.
• Fried Pizza: Tastes like gyoza, sounds like heaven. Just don’t run for the bus afterwards. Osaka, Narita.
• Candle Boy: Deepfried, mochi-wrapped sausage on a stick, sprinkled with almond slivers with chili, ginger-soy, sugar-soy, mayonnaise or sesame miso sauce. Yamagata.
• Poppo yaki: Steamed bread with black sugar that doesn’t pop and (hopefully) doesn’t make you yak. Niigata.
• Omelet Frank: Omelet-wrapped wiener with cheese, habanero and more. Nothing to do with Sinatra.
• Fried Monja: Okonomiyaki just got grosser. Crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside and apparently only 130 calories. Dip in cheese, kimchi, mentaiko and tuna mayonnaise. Adachi-ku.
• Niku Maki Onigiri: Meat-wrapped rice balls. What’s not to like? Miyazaki, Tokyo.