Impromptu crab and beef

Tonight we had our first team spinning event, which also happened to be the first time I've tried out this form of exercise.  While most people went their separate ways after the class, I decided to spend some time with my new colleague who was in town on his own.

Based on a few guidelines from my colleague, I ended up asking RAW Meat Bro for help.  He was busy attending some fancy schmancy dinner, but he was kind enough to make last-minute arrangements for me at Nikushou.

We weren't very hungry after the intense workout, so we went à la carte and just picked out a few things.  Quality over quantity.

Summer bamboo shoots in mentaiko sauce - on the house.  Nice and refreshing way to start our meal.

Live Hokkaido kegani with vinegar jelly - what we have here is crab meat which has been steamed and stuffed into part of a shell of Japanese horsehair crab (毛蟹), chilled, and dressed with some crab tomalley (蟹味噌).  The ponzu (ポン酢) jelly was particularly refreshing and helped stimulate the taste buds to highlight the sweetness of the crab meat.  Delicious.

Next came a trio of Japanese sea urchin:

Purple sea urchin (紫雲丹), in sea water - this was from Yoichi (余市).  Surprisingly this tasted more salty, whereas my previous experience with sea urchin that had been transported in sea water was that they tasted extra sweet.

Incidentally, since this came from Hokkaido, it is also referred to as 北紫雲丹.

Northern sea urchin (北紫雲丹) - delivered flavors which were deeper, and the texture was more solid.  Taken with sea salt.

Japanese green sea urchin (馬糞雲丹) - with a lot more bitterness on the palate.  Also taken with a pinch of sea salt.

I only ordered two types of beef on the grill, and the staff was kind enough to scale down the portion to offer us one piece each.

Hida A5 Ichibo (飛騨牛A5イチボ) - the aitchbone came as a slightly thicker slice, and definitely delivered a stronger, more meaty flavor.

Kobe A5 Misuji (神戸牛A5ミスジ) - this was more marbled and tender.  Slurp.

Shizuoka Amela tomato - these ripe Amela (アメーラ) are always delicious.  We needed a palate cleanser after the beef.

Seasonal fruits - always delicious with these ripe Japanese melons, peaches, and grapes.

Many thanks for RAW Bro for the kind arrangements.  As my colleague was looking to drink more beer, I ended up taking him to Coedo Taproom afterwards...