Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Dinner in Takayama


Our first night in Takayama we had dinner in this restaurant right in front of the train station and next door to our hotel, the Washington Hotel (?? in Japan??). We preferred the ryokan (which usually offers breakfast and dinner) to the western hotel but for the proximity to the train station this had to be it.

Sushi chefs at work. It was a very busy restaurant but like everywhere in Japan, you don't really get to hear or feel the crowd. It has individual booths for its patron. The menu was all in Japanese and we had the foresight to drag along our Japanese friend.


Hida beef raw sashimi style

A must do, mouth watering dining experience for any visitor to Takayama, it is a culinary feast always to be remembered, my first taste of raw beef.

Like Kobe beef, Hida beef is well-known for its fatty tissue and rich flavor. The ultra-thin slices of fat-marbled raw beef are served with wasabi and soy sauce as in sashimi. So tender it just melts in the mouth.

The famous yakitori - gizzard, skin, liver and meat of chicken. So good with beer.

Sashimi

More sashimi

Kimchi pork(?) in Japan?? That's what you get when you leave the ordering to a Japanese who had a craving for Korean. Nevertheless, it was delicious.


Topped off with a mug of really good Japanese beer, the Suntory Premium...a perfect meal.

K and Jo

4 comments:

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

drool..drool..drool...that...that sashimi is alive!

a feast, everyday said...

Yes, having sashimi in Japan is just so different from having it anywhere else in the world, got to be the ambience...

Anonymous said...

In fact all the dishes look really delish. Makes me hungry (well, actually greedy would be closer to the truth) just looking at them.

When it comes to presentation, without the heavy handed handling of the western cuisines, the Japanese win hands down.

And it's all about freshness, like terri mentioned, the sashimi seems breathing :-)

Cheers//frank

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

u know what they say, one mountain higher than the next?
KK has d worst sashimi, watery n bland. so u go to Spore or KL n rave over their sashimi. then u go to HK, which has excellent sashimi at cut-throat prices. but then u get to Japan, n it's SOOo gooood. but u know what, then u discover Tsukiji Market, the largest fish market in d world, n u have sashimi there, n it's like NOWHERE can compare. it's like ur mouth has finally discovered what d fuss is all about, n after tt nothing comes close anymore...true story:)