Food, Glorious Food!

The food in this country is truly delicious! I have eaten so much for the past two weeks, three meals a day,  a variety of flavours, tastes and textures and with few exceptions, have not rejected any.

When I first saw that we were to have breakfast, lunch and dinner each day, I cringed and felt the scales would topple over on my return…that may still happen!!!

However, I have never felt full or hungry, in the way I sometimes do with a Western diet. Most Japanese people  whom I have observed, are slim, with little or no obesity obvious. Yet, watching them eat, as we have done, they eat large amounts of food. Occasionally, breakfast has been a bit if a challenge, but there’s always fruit and yoghurt available. While curious about food, I do draw the line at eel curry for breakfast!! I have now become a breakfast devotee of French Toast! Yummy.

We have been experiencing Japanese food almost every day, with a few exceptions when we were served  Western food. Mastering the chopsticks was a bit of a challenge for me initially, although we are always offered forks, but I have managed a certain dexterity!!!

From the Bento Box to the Cabbage Pancake and everything in-between , it has been a culinary adventure. Restaurants have been spotlessly clean, with food being served in rapid succession!! Sometimes too quickly. I have learned what to add to my rice, to bring the bowl to my mouth, to slurp my miso soup, to cook my food on the burner and while there seems to be an inordinate amount of food served, I scoff it all, yet never feel full!!

Either our Guide or a member of the Restaurant go to great lengths to explain the various foods, from sauces, to spices, to vegetables to meat and fish. We have had lots of delicious Wagu beef and my only disappointment was pork, which I found a little bland. There are little or no carbs, except of course for rice, in their meals, and sauces can be salty, yet very tasty.

Water is served automatically with all meals and occasionally one gets Sake. A list of wine and beer is offered and my experience of the wine is quite good and it is reasonably priced.

We have eaten in hotel dining rooms, private rooms, small restaurants and restaurants in shopping centres!

However my favorite venue and menu was lunch in a beautiful elegant restaurant, in a lovely small town called Obuse.

Here the menu was totally fish, shellfish and white fish, all delicious. The Restaurant was beautiful, elegant and the most typical Japanese of all we had visited  with bamboo matting under foot ( shoes had to be removed) to lovely porcelain dinnerware, to magnificent wall prints. This all with a background of classical music and tinkling water!! Sunday Roast beef at home will never compare, I fear, but how lucky am I to have had the chance to experience such culinary feats.!!!