We had plans to go camping this weekend, but ominous rain predictions changed those plans. Pulling out my 'professional radar interpreter' skills from my teaching days I decided we should head North, best decision ever! See our Blue Dot North of Sendai and ALL THE RAIN?!?!
A quick google of the best things to do in this new to us town and we find a suggestion for Jesse's favorite foods: Yakitori! We open the door to a tiny restaurant of 8 seats along a bar. The menu? This blackboard above the counter. Hint: Google translate does not do well with this situation. But Jesse's amazing and his Japanese words plus a little pointing got us some good food!
The bowl on the right? That came from a giant pot that I'm sure had been percolating all day, just sitting on the counter. I'm sure it's full of interesting parts of chickens but it sure was tasty.
We joked that this tiny restaurant didn't really know what to do with us. They let us sit down cause it was easier than trying to explain to us not to sit down. So we after we finished ordering what we were able to we sat around chatting and finishing our drinks, featuring a super tall beer bottle and tiny little glass. Any guesses to how many pours it takes to to empty a litre of beer into a tiny little glass?
Also, Japan in its ever attention to detail- love the handmade decorations (out of felt!) tucked into tiny corners!
Also, Japan in its ever attention to detail- love the handmade decorations (out of felt!) tucked into tiny corners!
A big reason we picked this town to explore (aside from the radar of course!) was a beautiful gorge nearby!
And across that Gorge was this Man and his snack shack! We deposited our money and watched the basket whisk away. A short wait later and it rushed to us full of goodies and tea! This area is known for its Mochi, my understanding is that it's rice that you pound into a paste and then turns gooey and they cover it with different toppings. This particular set of toppings included red bean paste, a black sesame sauce and miso.
And across that Gorge was this Man and his snack shack! We deposited our money and watched the basket whisk away. A short wait later and it rushed to us full of goodies and tea! This area is known for its Mochi, my understanding is that it's rice that you pound into a paste and then turns gooey and they cover it with different toppings. This particular set of toppings included red bean paste, a black sesame sauce and miso.
Leaving the Gorge we stumble upon a nearly deserted glass museum sidenote: this link will be worth your time, it is the epitome of websites in Japan, a bit outdated and a bit mis translated, but always a good read! Beautiful treasures in a small basically abandoned theme park.
More exploring and more food tasting! Next up, a local Sake Brewery! A beautiful building nestled in gardens, with yummy drinks that came with instructions on 'proper' ways to taste.
We hit the brewery in between meal services so the not many different options to choose from. Being in the famous Mochi town, we decided to give it another shot. This time in sampler plate style. Mochi 'noodles' on the left, then 4 bowls of toppings. Red bean paste, edamame, black sesame seeds and tiny baby shrimp. The black sesame was our favorite! The tiny shrimp, not our favorite. Glad we decided to give Mochi another try, this was much tastier than the Gorge Basket delivery ones, but still not a food we'll seek out.
Loving exploring Japan's smaller towns and smaller train stations cue ominous music. Especially when they are full of silly picture opportunities!!!
After a most unsuccessful morning train travel, we stopped in Sendai for a good lunch. More Sake tasting and yummy food that is more the style of our palate! And after 10 months, Carri realizing that maybe she does like Sake a bit. Certain Sakes, not the gross ones! Now we just need to learn to read enough of the labels to differentiate the gross ones from the good ones.