Pre-holiday FUK day 2: hidden on the side

We had real trouble finding Daidokoro (大所).  The address points to an apartment building, but there didn't seem to be a door leading to any restaurant on the ground level... or was there?  We did see an innocuous wooden door on the side of the building's main entrance, but we forgot to check the pictures on Tabelog.  In the end I had to call DaRC, who walked out of the same wooden door we had ignored...

Napa cabbage and conpoy soup (白菜と貝柱のすり流し) - very nice with a little bit of yuzu (柚子) added, and a few black sesame seeds.  Interesting texture, too.

Next came a series of appetizers, starting with cream cheese flavored with dried persimmon (あんぽ柿), topped with a piece of kumquat (金柑) from Miyazaki (宮崎).  This was kinda interesting.

Ginkgo nuts (銀杏) from Oita (大分) and propagule (零余子)

“Anna imo” sweet potato (安納芋) - meant to be one of the sweetest around, and came with a little bit of yuzu juice.

Inside the cup was a combination of pen shell (平貝) skirt and tree onions (分葱).

We were next given some fresh stems of wasabi and asked to grind our own... for use with the upcoming platter of seafood.

Longtooth grouper (アラ) - these pieces came from a fish weighing in at 29.7 kg (!), and were nicely charred and smoky on the edges.  Still raw in the middle with a crunchy texture.

Octopus (蛸) - from Nagasaki (長崎).

Spanish mackerel tataki (鰆タタキ)  - from Ainoshima (相島).  Marinated with kelp (昆布締め), and very charred and smoky on the outside.  The center was still raw.

Bonito (鰹) - from Kagoshima (鹿児島).  So soft, and so satisfying thanks to the thick cut treatment.  The toppings of diced spring onions, myoga (茗荷), red perilla leaves... etc. worked very well with the fish.

Pen shell (平貝) - very charred and smoky.  Slightly bitter on the outside but it actually enhanced the sweetness of the shellfish.

Chawanmushi with oysters (牡蠣茶碗蒸し) - the steamed egg custard was made with eggs from Raizan (雷山) and bonito dashi　(出汁) as well as longtooth grouper broth.  A dash of ponzu (ポン酢) here.

Topped with small oysters from Iroha Island (いろは島).  Pretty tasty.

Grilled Japanese butterfish (だるま鯛焼き) - also known more commonly as 目鯛 thanks to their big eyes.  Served with grilled vegetables like green pepper, pumpkin, lotus root, turnip... along with a mixture of minced pork with miso.  On the side we have Mongolian rock salt, along with a sauce that was made with fish cum... which looked like someone had shot their wad on the plate.  That was a FUCK NO.

Braised longtooth grouper head - our main course was... amazing!  The 6 of us took down the head of that 29.7 kg fish, split between two plates.  Served with mushrooms from Oita.  This was so, soooo good!  Especially the fins which had been deep-fried before braising.  We were so happy!

Rice with propagule (零余子ご飯).

Kabosu ice cream (カボスアイスクリーム)

Denshu Tokubetsu Junmai (田酒 特別純米) - smooth and neutral.  Second sip was a little more dry.

A very happy and satisfying meal, but curiously enough, another restaurant which served us no meat - only seafood. Not that I'm complaining! That fish head made us very, very happy!

Time for more drinks...