Saturday, December 08, 2007

One more Japan installment...

I've been meaning to post more on Japan for a long time and still have some cool pictures to share.

One of the most incredible things about Japan, for me, was the unbelievably delicious food. I recognize that I got special treatment by my amazingly generous host- Terai-san- but the food I ate was superb.

The first meal I had in Tokyo was the best sushi of my life!

The fish was the best I've ever had... and I grew up on the Gulf of Mexico and know a little bit about seafood.

Shochu- it's kind of like a Japanese version of Scotch. It is really, really yummy stuff and goes very well with sushi.

I quite nearly ate my weight in sushi... and loved each delicious bite of it.

This is the sushi chef/ owner and his wife. I have his business card somewhere and will find it and post it later- since it has his name and the location of the restaurant.

This was the most beautiful cappuccino I've ever seen. It was in a small cafe inside a large department store- kind of like the Japanese version of a Macy's or Bloomingdale's. The taste was very good too.

The second night's dinner was tempura. I didn't get any pictures of the food because I was spending all my time eating. It was SO yummy... true tempura is mighty good stuff and not even remotely greasy for being fried food.

This is the chef/ owner. He thought it was very funny that I wanted to take his picture... which I suppose doesn't happen too often.

Dinner the third night was teppan grill. OHMYGAWD it was delicious!

As Americans, we often think that we invented beef. I mean, beef is kind of a symbol of all things American. Well, I've eaten enough beef to keep the state of Texas afloat over the years, but I can honestly say that Kobe beef lives up to it's worldwide reputation as a premier beef. I had Kobe beef a few times in Tokyo and each time the flavor and tenderness were unlike any beef I'd ever had.

Our chef was as much of a showman as he was a culinary genius. The food was incredible and he was as entertaining as he was skilled.

I didn't manage to get photos of other meals or chefs, but I ate like royalty and enjoyed each grain of rice that entered my mouth! I was entertaining to my hosts, who found it funny that I was so enthralled by the food and interested in getting photographs of everything. But they also went out of the way to make each meal as memorable as possible and rewarded my enthusiasm for Japan, the food and culture with tons of gracious generosity. It's been a few weeks since I returned from Tokyo and I still think of it fondly and am still grateful that I was able to see Tokyo- and I can't wait to get back.

Tim

3 comments:

Vincenzo said...

great food pictures and anecdotes. i love seeing good food as well as great stories to go with what people eat. i was in Japan once (ok, i was in Japan three times) and had the fortunate experience to slip into a sushi bar that was also superb. anyway, just had to leave a comment on your food stories.

Ron George said...

Hey man, what are Japanese bathrooms like? I hear there's a certain distinction to them. Its almost as if you have to relearn everything :)

Ron
CB

StevenCX said...

That's some impressive coffee skilz!