There's so much we've loved about Japan (except for the work part, of course), but certainly one of the best things about being here has been the food. We've had such a variety of great meals in completely different environments:
--A tiny family-owned restaurant on Ponto-cho in Kyoto (we don't know the name because it was written only in Japanese) where the only thing in English basically said "Appetizer, sashimi, sushi, fish, rice" etc. We had no idea what we would actually get, and since we were the only people in the restaurant, the three of them (who spoke very little English) hovered over the two of us and intently watched us eat each course (and afterward complimented us on our use of chopsticks!). Delicious.
--A little, hip
sushi place in one of the oldest parts of Kyoto where we again knew roughly how many courses we would get, but no idea what it would actually include.
--A couple of ramen noodle places for lunch in Kyoto where we either pointed at the plastic food in front or at pictures on the menu.
--An
izakaya (pub) near our hotel near Tokyo that was basically the Japanese equivalent of TGIFridays--not the greatest meal we've ever had, but not bad and just fine after a couple of long, jet-lagged days.
--A soba noodle place for lunch in Tokyo that merits a write-up all its own.
--A very
cool place for dinner with friends Jun and Lunako last night that may go down as one of the better meals I've ever had. Unbelieveable sashimi. Modern, casual twist on what is usually more formal and traditional. We also discovered one of the local drinks,
shoju, which we feared would be harsh like the schnapps back in Switzerland but was actually quite smooth. We also had sparkling sake (think rice champagne)--I was a bit skeptical, but it was niiiiiiiiice!
--A
shabu-shabu place where we sat on tatami mats while women in kimonos glided around and helped us figure out what to do. Basically, with
shabu-shabu you have a pot of boiling water at your table in which you boil thin pieces of beef (that you dip in yummy sauces) and add vegetables and noodles. When you've eaten the beef and vegetables, the water has basically turned to a stock to which they add more noodles and other yummy stuff so you finish with a nice bowl of soup. Then, when we left, at least three people followed us out and stood at the door bowing until we were out of sight.
While I've eaten sushi and sashimi over the years, it's never been a big favorite, and Gretchen has never cared for it at all. Now we're here sucking the stuff down like nobody's business! I find myself counting the hours until my next sashimi fix...
