Sake to me*

A friend of a friend of ours took us to a very cool restaurant one of our last nights in Tokyo. They are known for the food and sake pairs and this friend of a friend happens to know a lot about sake. It was a really cool experience to go beyond the hot sake at Rusans or the dreaded sake bombs and really get to appreciate sake for what it is meant to be- a delicate rice wine with as much depth, flavor and variation as the grape variety.

I loved, loved, loved the way it was served...





I dare any wine lover to give sake a fair shake and not be impressed.




*my inner dork could not resist!

we survived!

I swore up and down we wouldn't do it; I mean we have 2 mortgages.

Behold the deadly blowfish or fugu...




Although I was acutely aware of my throat and whether or not it was closing up on me, I did enjoy it. We had the sashmi (pictured) which was delicate in flavor and also some fried fugu, which tasted like fried chicken. Fried chicken that you need a license to prepare and one where the cops literally dispose of the liver because it's a lethal substance.

soba

We've yet to really get into the cold noodle thing, but I still think the way they are served is so pretty...

Um...

I have to say I was pretty offended...

The cold stuff- Japanese style

It's triangular, it's purple, it's sweet potato in flavor, so no, this isn't your average ice cream cone...



It was really delicious though. Getting an ice cream maker is at the top of the list when we move home. That and about 1 million other things.

Ryokan Meal

We stayed at a traditional Ryokan in Haikone. As part of the experience you eat dinner there at the hotel. After the tofu extravaganza at the monastery we were a bit worried.

When the lady came into our little paper walled room with this plate we were even more worried…



Then she walked in with two of these…



and all was right with the world.

After eating both plates, rice, udon noodles and all the veggies, we somehow in our gestures to tell her we were full, ordered two more plates of meat.

We were all in a beef coma and barely conscious when she opened the door the last time. We were so relieved to see it wasn't more meat that somehow we found room for the delightfully creamy pumpkin pudding that came for desert…

We'll be safe from vampires for years to come...

During a check for all things “Only in Japan” our Spaniard cohort came across "the garlic restaurant". Using garlic isn’t anything new, I know, but here it's the star ingredient, even the chairs were shaped like cloves of garlic.

You can smell the restaurant a mile before you get there and I’m sure people could smell us from a mile away after leaving.

The offered up an array of dishes spanning many different cuisines. We started with a chunk of the main stuff, roasted and served with a miso dipping sauce…



It was really good, but we all wanted bread to smear it on.

For our mains we decided to share and each picked a dish. We went with a Korean pebble pot dish (served in a stone pot so the rice gets crunchy), some sort of Asian beef and rice dish, pesto, carbonara and a garlic and cheese pizza…



Everything was delicious, but that pizza…that pizza was one of the best I've ever had.

Granted we’re all getting a little sick of rice these days, but it was seriously so good we ordered 2 more to split and plan on going back this week.

We had two great discoveries at the restaurant. One, crunchy fried slivers of garlic are a MUST for pizza and two, Panola hot sauce is the jam.



It seems that me and the Bestie aren't the only ones who love hot sauce with their pizza. Apparently it's always served alongside a slice. I've never seen this sauce in the States, but someone has got to find it and find it quick. Buy a case, I'll pay you back for it!

URGH!!!

Remember how I said “You never know until you try!”

Well, sometimes that isn’t true. Sometimes you know the one thing in the world that you’d rather die than eat. You know that something that you can’t even touch or handle when cooking is something you’d rather not ever, ever, ever, ever have in your mouth.

Yes, ladies and gents…I ate raw chicken!!!!!!!




Lesson- do not just put whatever someone puts in front of you in your mouth. Yes, I should have learned that at age 2, but these Japanese with all their delicious fare and cutesy little bowls had me fooled.

I’ve got your number now, Japanese servers and chefs. I’ll never forgive you. NEVER!!

Okonomiyaki

Hiroshima or its region or prefecture or whatever is known for their okonomiyaki. A kind of noodle pancake, none of us were hungry, but we were all about trying it. It took us forever to find the place, but once upstairs we settled down for some good ol’ okonomiyaki. We chose to go with the regular one which only had veggies and pork inside…





The same sauce that was used on the octopus balls covered the top, but luckily I was able flip the top over and eat just the noodles, cabbage and pork.

It was pretty tasty, but I wouldn’t put it in the top things we’ve had since we’ve been here. You never know until you try though!

Street Food- Japanese Style

We decided to hit a nearby "fair" for lunch after visiting the Castle in Himeji. There were a lot of interesting items being served up, but the toothless little old men motioning us to their booth of stir fried noodles and veggies won us over...



Afterward I hit the ice cream stand for a twist of vanilla and green tea...




I'm seriously addicted to green tea ice cream. So good!

We had some street food the next day in Miyajima where I had my first taste of octopus balls...



I'm really not into the sauce, although the pastry with chunk of tentacle inside was pretty tasty.



I, of course, got a bean cake before leaving, but unfortunately couldn't take a picture since I had to eat it before this guy attacked me for it...



If you think I'm joking take a look at the brochure New Guy had in his back pocket...



These deer weren't messing around!

I loved you while I could...

One of the many great things about Tokyo is you can’t swing a stick without hitting at least 5 restaurants. The food choices here are endless.

We wandered through the side streets of Shibuya one day and happened upon some righteous spicy noodle soup…



One not so great thing about Tokyo is that it's a really big city, so enjoy a good meal while you have it in front of you because you’re likely to never find that particular restaurant again :(

The Best and Worst of T-day

Possibly the worst Thanksgiving meal ever...



That is actually saying a lot considering my sweet cornbread dressing disaster last year in Puerto Rico and another T-day spent choking down a plateful of first attempt (and so not successful) recipes the year before that. I have to say I CANNOT wait to have a normal (read: Southern) Thanksgiving dinner when we are home for good.

BUT- it was really nice sharing our holiday with friends who have never celebrated it before and the best was teaching them how to make hand turkeys.

The awesome Spanish bullfighting turkey...



And my personal fave, the striking French turkey...