Tuesday 19 March 2013

Japan - Hakuba - Kikyouya Sushi

tuna rolls, salmon, tamago (egg), ikura (salmon roe) ect..
As you walk in the door at Kikyouya Sushi, the first thing you notice are the walls are plastered with comments and drawings from past dinners which includes: olympians, celebrities and travellers from Japan and around the world. It gives Kikyouya a homely feel and throughout your dinner you catch yourself reading stories of peoples visits.  When we arrived we removed are shoes in Japanese fashion and were seated on cushions at a low japanese table in between two other groups, at one table there was a family and the other table was full of some very tipsy Japanese men, with a giant empty bottle of Shochu.



fish print surrounded by a few comments from past guests
Our neighbours had drank so much that their faces were bright red and the veins in there temples seemed to be sticking out of their heads.  They were very friendly and right away they were asking us questions where we were from? Where we were staying? How long were we visiting? Then the wanted us to have a all to have a drink of the Shochu, which of course we did! The funniest thing was that throughout or meal they kept leaning against us, like they forgot they didn't have backs on their chairs, I think they needed the support, they had lost the control to be able to sit up!
thick sushi roll

Now for the food it was amazing I especially enjoyed my piece of Unagi (fresh water eel) tender grilled eel with a sweet soy based sauce. As well as the thick sushi roll with anago(sea eel), omelet, cucumber and kanpyo  (pictured above). We had a mixed platter of sushi, tuna and avocado rolls, edamame, tempura, salmon sashimi and more... everything was fresh and beautifully prepared. The miso soup was excellent as well, it had a smokey salmon flavour, and a piece of salmon in the bottom.
my piece of unagi (freshwater eel)



Its great out with such a huge group of people we got to order so many dishes, a few people even had Fugu (puffer fish - if its not prepared correctly it can be fatal because of its tetrodotoxin) But not too worry Master chef Masuo has a certificate in preparing Fugu correctly. But...I still didn't try it, I have had enough experience with poisonous sea creatures to last a life time. (box jelly fish sting, not good) The few at our table that tried it survived! They said it was a very chewy fish.

Master chef Masuo treated us to a wonderful meal, he even even showed me a whole puffer fish and where the poisonous parts are located, as well as his photos from the last time he visited Hong Kong.  If your visiting Hakuba I recommend a visit!
Master chef Masuo!

the crew including are tipsy friend from the next table (back left)
Kikyouya
0261-72-3633
1909-4 Hokujo, Hakuba-mura
Kita-azumi-gun, Nagano-ken 399-9301

No comments:

Post a Comment