April 24: Tokyo

Luke woke us up at about 6:30 this morning, climbing all over us. We packed up and fed him some food that we got at the Family Mart last night. Auntie Kanako was meeting us in the lobby at 9 am so we had some time to kill. I journaled some more and edited some pictures while look played around the room and Christal studied/watched Luke.

Peek-A-Boo

Just when Luke was getting antsy it was time to go meet Auntie Kanako so we headed downstairs and checked out. She was waiting for us when we went down so we left our luggage with the front desk and grabbed a taxi to Tsukiji Market. By the time we got to Sushi Zanmai there was already a line outside. We waited about 20-30 minutes before we were seated at the counter. While we were waiting the host outside who was keeping track of the line informed us that there was a brand new menu that had been implemented about 2 hours before and it was the first menu update in years. Apparently they added more maki like California roll to cater to tourists. Once we were seated Auntie Kanako told the sushi chef we would eat whatever was best today. We started with otoro, which just melted like butter. It was rich and light at the same time with a slightly minerally tuna flavor.

Otoro

We were given aburi toro next, which is seared toro. It was just as good as the otoro, with a slightly smoky flavor from the blowtorch.

Aburi Toro

A huge piece of anago came out next. It was so big it took about 4-5 bites just to eat it. It had been seared to render some of the fat under the skin so that it would have a lighter flavor. The tare on it complemented the seared flesh well.

Anago

Next was hirame no kobu, which was basically halibut. It was very mild and had a nice tender, firm texture and clean flavor.

Hirame No Kobu

After that came kinmedai no aburi, so it was seared kinmedai. Again, the blowtorch lent a slightly smoky flavor which did not overpower the subtlety of the kinmedai.

Kinmedai No Aburi

Aji with a little ginger and green onion was given to us next. Usually aji has a fairly strong, oily fish flavor, but this one had an extremely neutral flavor. I could have eaten it without the ginger and green onion, it was that mild.

Aji

Next came nodoguri no aburi, which is blackthroat seaperch that was seared. It was excellent as well and had a similar mild flavor to most white fish.

Nodoguri No Aburi

Then the torigai no name came out, which is a Japanese cockle. Right before he served it the chef gave it a little slap, which caused the muscle to move, giving it the appearance that it was alive. It didn't have too much flavor, but the texture was amazing. It was buttery soft, yet it didn't break down too easily when you chewed it. It was different from anything I've had.

Torigai

After that was kani miso, which is crab innards. It has a very funky flavor that can be pretty strong and is a bit of an acquired taste. I think it is pretty good, but it is far from my favorite thing, and Christal isn't a fan of it at all, but she put on a brave face and ate it with a smile.

Kani Miso

Next was namadako, or fresh octopus. The outer skin had been removed and it was snow white. The chef had made tenderizing cuts into it, but it was so white my camera didn't even pick them up. He also seasoned it with salt, which helped bring out some of the sweetness. It was more tender than I was expecting, which was nice.

Namadako

Ikura was the next nigiri to come out. This ikura was slightly saltier than the one we ate at Budounoki and I liked both. This one seemed like each individual egg popped more for some reason.

Ikura

After the ikura was uni. Like Budounoki this was consisted of a lot of small tongues of urchin roe rather than a couple of large ones. This one had a little more of the coppery mineral flavor that I'm used to, but it was also more intensely sweet that the one in Fukutsu.

Uni

Then katsuo came out. The chef made lots of small checkerboard cuts in the fish which he said was a style used before the edo era of sushi and it helped to tenderize the fish. It had a milder, less fishy flavor than I was expecting, which was helped by the ginger and green onion on top.

Katsuo

Shima aji was the next piece than came out. It had a very firm, crunchy texture to it that made it unique. It had a mild flavor, but the texture is really what stood out and made it enjoyable.

Shima Aji

Next was akadai, also known as ark shell or red clam. The chef also slapped this one right before serving to make it move as it was set on our plates. It had a slightly chewy texture that I was expecting from a clam and the flavor was nice and mild.

Akadai

Shiro ika, or white squid, came next. It had a light sprinkling of yuzu zest on top that added a nice citrusy zing to it.

Shiro Ika

Then we had another piece of anago, but this time it was the typical nigiri size.

Anago

Maguro no hoppeta, or tuna cheek was next. It was seared slightly, which helped release some of the fat and juices. We had it this way last October when we came to Sushi Zanmai and it was just as good this time around. It had a very tender texture and the flavor reminded me of very juicy filet mignon.

Maguro No Hoppeta

Next came aka ebi. It was seasoned with salt, which brought out the sweetness of the shrimp and it had a tender, silky smooth texture.

Aka Ebi

The last sushi we had was toro to takuan no maki zushi, which was a toro and takuan roll. We each received two pieces, one topped with ikura and the other topped with uni. It was very good, but for me the taste and texture of the toro was slightly overshadowed by the takuan. Once again though I came away from Sushi Zanmai stuffed with amazing sushi.

Toro To Takuan No Maki Zushi

We walked around outer Tsukiji for a little while and then walked over to Ginza, which was only a few blocks away. I wanted to go to Dominique Ansel bakery again so we went to the Mitsukoshi department store again and Auntie Kanako did some shopping of her own.

Buckwheat Soba Croissant

We met back up with her at 1, about an hour later, after we had gotten a violet lychee cronut and a buckwheat soba croissant and her husband, Uncle Kenji, came to meet us too.

Violet Lychee Cronut

We took a taxi back to our hotel where we retrieved our luggage and then they accompanied us to Haneda airport. The route that they took us was much more efficient than the way we went to the hotel last night. Once we got to Haneda we checked in and then said goodbye to Uncle Kenji and Auntie Kanako. We walked around outside of security for a while and grabbed some soft serve at one of the stores. Somehow while neither Christal or I was looking Luke managed to take a bite from the bottom of Christal's cone so she ended up having to eat hers quicker than I've ever seen her eat soft serve, it was pretty amusing.

Oops

After wandering for a little more we went through security and headed in to the ANA Lounge since our seats for the flight were premium economy. The lounge was nice, they had some mini sandwiches, namban chicken, potato wedges, potato salad, salad, onigiri, chicken curry, stir fried udon, and a noodle bar with udon and ramen. It was a relaxing end to our trip.

Sansai Udon

April 23: Fukuoka to Tokyo

This morning we all woke up around 6:30 and got packed up. Our breakfast was the same spread as the first day, with the tamagokake gohan and salmon shiojake.

Breakfast

After we finished eating we got our stuff from the rooms and checked out. We drove to Hi-Ojiichan's grave and met Hiro-Ojichan there. Luke took a liking to a broom that Ojiichan was using to clean the grave and he held on to it for the whole time we were there.

Cleaning Hi-Ojiichan's Grave

After we had paid our respects we went and dropped off Hiro-Ojichan's car at his place and then we all went to visit Hi-Obaachan one more time. Unfortunately on the way there Luke fell asleep so he wasn't able to warm up more to Hi-Obaachan. Hi-Obaachan seemed a little bit tired too so we only stayed and visited with her for about 20 minutes.

From there we headed to Fukuoka. Ojiichan was wanting to try Doug's Burger because a Mountain View Japanese SDA church member founded it and they just opened one in Hakata station. I got the cheeseburger with onion rings for my meal and I thought they were very good. All the burgers were made with Tarama beef, which is a type of wagyu grown on Tarama-jima, a small island west of Miyako-jima, in between Okinawa and Taiwan. It was a very tender burger, almost falling apart in my mouth, and it had a very mild beef flavor. The lettuce, tomato and onion all were very fresh and the bun was a brioche bun so it was nice and soft. The onion rings were thick cut and panko crusted. They were good with a nice crunch, but not my favorite onion ring.

Cheeseburger w Onion Rings

Once we finished eating we went to the airport. We checked in and then headed up to the restaurant level where we found some soft serve to eat. When we finished we said our goodbyes to Hiro-Ojichan and went through security to our gates. Our flight was different than Ojiichan's so we said goodbye to him as well. The flight was on Star Flyer/ANA and it was pretty smooth. When we landed in Tokyo and were taxiing to our gate we saw the R2-D2 ANA airplane, so I was pretty happy.

R2-D2

Once we gathered our bags and got an internet connection we figured out how to get to our hotel with the Tokyo subway system. We checked into our hotel and then walked out to find some dinner, but unfortunately most places were closed since it was a Sunday. Eventually we found a small ramen shop called Kiwamiya. I got a large shoyu ramen and it came with a tare egg, and a couple of large slices of chashu. It was a very hearty and porky ramen with a tonkotsu style broth, but it had a cleaner flavor. I personally really liked it, but Christal isn't into the porky ramens. Once we finished we went to Family Mart to get some dessert and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

Shoyu Ramen

April 22: Munakata

This morning we didn't wake up until 7:45 and our breakfast reservation was for 8. Unfortunately the room was a little cool so Luke was up and down all night. For breakfast we had pretty much the exact same menu again as the second morning we stayed at Nansuikaku last time.

Breakfast

The saba teriyaki was well seasoned and had a strong fish flavor that is characteristic of mackerel. The stewed burdock on the side added a pleasant sweetness to cut the fishiness.

Saba Teriyaki

The maguro sashimi was excellent. It was silky smooth and tender and the flavor was not too minerally, but nice and meaty.

Maguro Sashimi

The natto was natto, very slimy and slightly salty. Perfect with rice.

Natto

This time when I ate the nasu shigeyaki I didn't use all of the ginger so I enjoyed it much more. It was very soft with a sweet and smoky flavor to it.

Nasu Shigeyaki

I saved the agedashi tofu for last. It wasn't crispy, but I don't think they intended for it to be. The dashi was packed with umami and the katsuobushi, green onion and daikon oroshi all brought it together nicely.

Agedashi Tofu

After breakfast we drove to Hiro-Ojichan's place to meet up with him and then went to Hi-Obaachan's house to pick some natsumikan and bamboo shoots. The natsumikan are apparently a summer orange so they usually harvest them in late March or early April and let them ripen until summer.

Luke Helping w the Harvest

The bamboo shoots, or takenoko, were pretty fun to harvest. we would walk around and try to spot the shoots that had just broken the ground and the just dig them out with a shovel. We got a pretty decent haul I thought.

Fresh Takenoko

When we finished with harvesting the food I changed in the house and then we headed to Sun Live department store to buy some omiyage. From Sun Live we headed out to lunch. Hiro-Ojichan made a reservation for us at Budounoki, a sushi restaurant in Fukutsu that was right on the beach. We got a omakase and it came out to only about $25 per person!

Our View at Lunch

We started off with okyuto that was dressed with yuzu. I think I personally liked this okyuto better than when it is dressed with just soy sauce.

Okyuto w Yuzu

The first nigiri to come out was suzuki. It had a mixture of chili and I think ume on top that really made it pop.

Suzuki

The yari ika came out next, which is a spear squid. The way they cut it was very elaborate and after they torched it quickly the flesh curled into a beautiful pattern. The flesh was slightly firm with a little crunch to it and it tasted very fresh.

Yari Ika

Kanpachi was the next piece to come out. It had a slightly firmer texture than what I'm used to, which was kind of nice, and the flavor was more mild than most I've had.

Kanpachi

Next was maguro. It was good, but nothing special.

Maguro

A torched sawara came out after the maguro and I think it was my favorite piece of the meal. The sawara was a little bit fatty and by heating the fish some of the fat rendered out and it had an almost fluffy texture to it with some smokiness from the scorched flesh and rice.

Torched Sawara

Next came baby abalone, which was still wriggling as it was presented. I thought it was pretty cool. It had a subtle abalone flavor with a firm crunchiness that, surprisingly, wasn't tough at all.

Baby Abalone

Then came a torched isaki, which is a white fish. This was my first time tasting this fish and it was very good, probably in the top three for the meal. The flavor was more subtle than the sawara and it was less oily of a fish.

Torched Isaki

Uni nigiri was next out and instead of having a couple of large tongues of uni this piece had lots of little tongues of uni. It was very sweet with less of a coppery/minerally flavor than I'm used to. It was most likely more fresh than what I'm used to.

Uni

Next out was chawan mushi. Again it was very good, with generous pieces of seafood buried in the bottom of the bowl.

Chawan Mushi

A big bowl of miso soup came out with a piece of a fish head. I was lucky enough to get a piece with an eye. They said the soup was made with all the leftover carcasses from the sashimi. It had a nice flavor with all the added fish carcasses in it.

Miso Soup

The ikura had a generous scoop of salmon roe on top of the rice and unlike most ikura nigiri it was wrapped with nori. The flavor was less salty than most ikura I've had, which was a nice surprise.

Ikura

Next came a nice piece of torched anago brushed with tare. It had a nice rich flavor that went with the salty-sweetness of the tare.

Anago

An asparagus nigiri with ume and miso was next and I thought it was very creative. The asparagus was cooked perfectly so that it was nice and crunchy yet tender.

Asparagus w Ume & Miso

The last piece of nigiri was tamago of course. The presentation was a little bit different than I'm used to, which was neat, and the flavor was pretty standard I thought, not that that's a bad thing.

Tamago

After lunch we went and visited Hi-Obaachan for a little while. Luke was pretty shy because he had slept through lunch and just woken up as we got there. After visiting with Hi-Obaachan we went to the Fukutsu Aeon mall to browse. We got Luke a late lunch and we had a few treats too.

Donut w Cream, Warabi Mochi & Matcha Glaze, 

After eating we did a little bit of shopping, went and looked at a pet shop and shared a matcha soft serve. Once we finished we went back to Hiro-Ojichan's apartment and hung out for a little while. At around 6:45 we went to Eichan Udon for dinner. I got the tonkatsu udon teishoku. The tonkatsu was nice and crispy and the pork was fairly tender. Overall it wasn't as good as Tonkatsu Wako, but it was excellent for an udon restaurant. The teishoku came with miso soup, chawan mushi, tsukemono, maki tamago, rice, matcha and a dessert and it was only about $10-11! Once we were finished we said goodnight to Hiro-Ojichan and went back to Nansuikaku for the night.

Tonkatsu Udon Teishoku