A simple misunderstanding

Thanks to the ban on dine-in dinner service that's been in place for more than 3 months, there are a number of places in town I haven't paid a visit to since the start of the year. I figured we should show some love to Nikushou, so we booked ourselves seats for lunch today.

Then I found out Fat Donkey was quarantining at a hotel just around the block, so I managed to get RAW Yeah to pack up a few of their wagyu katsu sando, a green salad, and an order of beef curry rice. I got to the restaurant about half an hour before lunch, picked up the goodie bag, and walked to the hotel and dropped off lunch for my friend.

I had asked the boss before arriving about items that were seasonal and special, and he rattled off a couple of things. It would seem that my Japanese was a little rusty since I ended up confusing one thing for another...

Spring mountain vegetables and seafood with mustard vinegar miso (蛍烏賊  春山菜  黄身酢味噌) - a great way to start! Looooove firefly squid, and of course the collection of chilled vegetables including French white asparagus, Taiwanese bamboo shoots, canola flower, and spikenard (独活) were very refreshing.

Grilled freshwater eel with sansho pepper sauce (うなぎ  山椒焼き) - it's been quite a while since I last had this, and I really do like the crispy skin. The thick eel was succulent from the collagen, and the sansho (山椒) sauce did add a little numbness.

Next came two different types of sea urchin:

Sea urchin in salt water with Chinese yam (塩水雲丹 山芋) - I always love the raw, unprocessed sea urchin transported in sea water. This was so creamy and sweet, and paired very well with the Chinese yam.

Purple sea urchin (紫雲丹) - these were from Kawakatsu (川勝) in Yura (由良) on Awaji Island (淡路島). Much more depth of flavors, a lot less sweet, and a little more iodine.

OK... so here's where my Japanese got mixed up. RAW Yeah mentioned he was arranging for some kakiage, but for some reason the word karaage stuck in my head. So when I heard that fried chicken wasn't on our menu - and it's always been off-menu - I jokingly protested. And the kitchen agreed to make us some.

Chicken karaage (チキン唐揚げ) - I've always loved the fried chicken here. It's a shame they didn't give us any shichimi (七味) to go along with it, or the famous house mala (麻辣) sauce.

Abalone kakiage (鮑かき揚げ) - I absolutely LOVE kakiage (かき揚げ) and it's my preferred item in a tempura meal. Today we've got the usual mix of onions, shiitake, sweet potato, asparagus, along with sakura shrimp (桜海老) and abalone. So delicious, but sooo much grease...

Konbu marinated oyster with Tosazu wakame (真牡蠣昆布締め　わかめポン酢) - good balance thanks to the acidity from vinegar.

Now we finally get to the 5 cuts of beef for our yakiniku...

Thick cut wagyu tongue (タン) - the Austrian ox tongue always looks so damn good when it's thick cut.

And the texture is really springy. I really wouldn't mind having a few more pieces.

Hida A5 chuck tender (トウガラシ) - this slice was reasonably thick, and when taken in one bite, turned out to require some effort to chew.

Hida A5 rib fingers (飛騨牛 中落ちカルビ) - so tender and melted in the mouth.

Hida A5 chuck flap (A5飛騨牛 ザブトン) - the boss likes to serve it more charred on one side. This is always a little thicker and more satisfying, but remains tender thanks to the marbling.

Nikushouyaki sirloin (肉匠焼き サーロイン) - the signature sirloin, served over rice with egg and soy sauce. A great way to finish our meal.

This was a little too much food for lunch, but we left feeling satiated. See you in a few days, RAW Yeah...