Stuffed with Organic Veggies

   We’ve heard that a lady who used to run a little organic vegetable store in Okinawa-shi moved and opened a restaurant last year.  The lady had such a good touch and a wonderful view about foods that we tried to buy her greens every time we had a chance. Gotta check out her restaurant.   A nice open space.   So she still sells her veggies too.  Sharp looking veggies.   There is a long counter and a nice private little room for 4. Plus 2 tables out in the terrace.   Here’s Mika-san.  The owner.   It’s a buffet style.  JPY1200.   Steamed Cauliflower with garlic olive oil sauce.   […]

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Kyushu Trip Day 3: Fujimoto Onsen Spa

Fujimoto is a traditional Japanese Onsen spa, located a little off of famous Kurokawa Onsen.  We just love this place for many qualities and this is our third visit. Just see some photos of this beautiful spa.   They got only 8 rooms.  We’ve got a Japanese style room, but some rooms have beds. The rates depend on the seasons and dates, but it’s about JPY20,000 per night per person, including dinner, breakfast and of course Onsen.  We can’t afford to stay for several days, but we find it worth to travel all the way and stay even just for 1 day.   Ohagi for complimentary sweet. We go straight to Onsen […]

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Kyushu Trip Day 2: Fish, Soba in Kumamoto

We stayed a night in Fukuoka. Today we were renting a car and heading out to Kurokawa Onsen in Kumamoto. But first, we need to fill up.   Hakata Uogashi, on the 1st floor of fish market building.   This is my kind of restaurant!  Fresh fish in simple cooking for cheap price.   Sashimi Bowl, JPY980.   Breakfast of the day, JPY650!!! 2 breaded sardines and teri braised yellowtail.   The yellowtail was so juicy.   Grilled yellowtail.  JPY650!  This was a big fillet!   2 big sardines.  Simply grilled with salt.  JPY760! This kind of grilled fish like sardines and mackerels used to be so common for Japanese everyday meals before our […]

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Kyushu Trip Day 1: Sushi, Ramen, Street Stall in Fukuoka

Fukuoka has become one of our favorite get-away places since this LCC started flying out of Okinawa.  By getting the promotional rate, we bought the round trip for JPY14000 each this time.   Tatsumi Sushi. We came here 4 years ago.  Loved the quality and the price.   We love eating at the counter.  But we were a group of 4 this time and they have assigned a room for us on the 2nd floor.     A nice room with privacy.   Lunch course is available at JPY2900, JPY3900, JPY5200.  We chose JPY3900 course.   Starting with steamed egg pudding.  Based on very flavorful chicken broth.   A little salad.   Gari, pickled […]

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The best fish is what you catch

Many visitors say Okinawa doesn’t have good fish. I used to say that too before I moved here. It seemed that the cold weather made animals put on fats that we all appreciate if it’s fish or beef. And Okinawa was tropical. Fish had no reason to wear fats. That’s what I thought. The fish I had at restaurants here was nothing like what I could have in northern Japan or in distribution central Tokyo.   But I moved to Okinawa and started fishing in these waters, and I totally changed my ideas. There’s a deep-sea trench along Okinawa islands and there’s cold mineral-rich deep-sea currents flowing around here. This […]

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