Food in the Far East

Fall has arrived in Japan.....

Consistent with my last post on Japanese food, and most with times that I'm invited for a meal in Japan, there is no ordering, no consulting a menu, we sit and food arrives.  Small portions, many courses, endless procession of food.  But as I said, the portions are usually pretty small, so you don't really get too full, or OVER full.  But there ends up being a lot of food.  And some is quite interesting....

Uhmmm, yeah.

So that shit was sea snails.  The meat part was kind of OK, or at least not bad.  The brownish poop part at the end, from WAYYYYYY inside the snail tasted like POOP!  But it must have been brains or something cause the poop is probably somewhere near the exit...  

But I digress..  The location of the restaurant is the Prefecture of Niigata, west coast of Japan.  Niigata is known as the producer of the best rice in Japan.  And the best rice makes the best sake, or so I've been told.  Later many bottles were consumed.  But lets start with a little food first, and maybe a beer

You've already seen the appetizer, ha!  The next course was sashimi.  A mix of different fish and a shrimp.

Next was a sort of hot pot.  Everyone had their own individual pot.  Inside was....

The pale-ish grey stuff on top was bacon.  Under the bacon was a mix of veggies and tofu.  It was actually very good.

SAKE PLEASE!!!!   Along with the hot pot the first round of sakes were delivered.  A few I am familiar with, but not many.  

This on is my favorite.  Junmai Daiginjo

And then these too

Next was the fish course, cooked.  I think it was a red snapper, or something similar.  Very good.  A small mound of Daikon Radish accompanies the fish.  You pour a bit of soy sauce on the Daikon and eat alternating with bites of fish.

And then we had these....

This was a cold dish with mainly Lotus Root.  Also very good.

And then we drank this one...

And finally desert.  It was a grapefruit gelatin.  Presented in the rind of the grapefruit.  Perfectly molded and sectioned.  It looked amazing and it tasted great.  A great way to end the meal.  

I think I might have missed a few courses of food, but that happens after the sake rolls out.

I hope you enjoyed.

DVA