Oh….and before I start…if you’re easily affected by odd foodstuffs (think raw meat), then you MIGHT want to read with caution….
….
Right. With that out of the way. Tonight, I met up with one managers of our partner company and went to a typical Japanese bar for some dinner and a drink or two. A typical Japanese bar is called an izakaya and it’s quite different from the US one.
See…the focus is on the food and not so much the drinks. Sure there are Western bars around but…well….then all you get for food are typical US ones which…well….why the hell do I want to eat fried crap that I can get in any western bar here in Japan???
This was a place that I NEVER NEVER would have found…EVER…on my own. We walked a bit to Kawasaki’s downtown area and then went down an alley that I didn’t even know existed that was wide enough for just one person really and there were 2 bars in that alley. We went into one of them that focused on “yakitori” (literally cooked bird).
You go in and it’s a tiny place filled with already drunk loud businessmen (it’s 7:30pm). The menu is huuuuuuuuuuuuuge with most things on a stick. We ordered a big mug of beer and started to order a ton of food.
We got chicken on a stick (yum), chicken with wasabi wrapped inside on a stick (mmmm), chicken with cod roe wrapped inside on a stick (deeeelish!), salted chicken skin on a stick (mmmmmm), chicken marinated in kim chi sauce (oh god yes), pheasant eggs on a stick (fuck it’s good), egg yolk with a salt crust on a stick (surprisingly tastey as hell), and then we ordered something that you will probably never EVER find in the US.
Well…at least I can’t imagine any place selling this openly.
Sometimes called “sakuraniku” but is written using the character for horse and sushi. Yes. It’s horse meat sushi. Raw horse meat.
It came in small slices probably about an inch in length and about a 1/4 inch thick. You take one, put a teeny bit of minced garlic in it, a tiny sliver of what I THINK was fat, and some onions and dip it lightly in soy sauce before eating. And…it’s….really good!!!
It had a nice clean flavor. No odd gamey smell and the texture was..well….it’s thin raw meat… But it really was good! Yes yes…I know some of you may get angry that I ate a horse but really….it’s just like eating beef or lamb or any other meat. It’s just…a horse…and raw…
*ahem*
But yeah….it’s actually not that rare here. Just like you can get whale meat as well. Oh…and the whole “save the whales” thing? Yes, we should. But remember….this is NOT blue whale or sperm whale meat. It’s the smaller kind that is far far more abundant. And yes, it’s pretty damn tasty too if you want to ask.
And before you ask the next question…no, I have never eaten dolphin
But anyway, even without the horse meat, it was a damn fun experience. See…it’s one of those things where you HAVE to go with someone that knows the “system” first. But now that I’ve been to one, I can safely take other people to either this place or other places like it no problem.
2 big mugs of beer and all this food…I’m STILL full. Going to bed soon. I’m hoping tomorrow will be a quiet day. No meetings or anything planned unlike today so I’m hoping to get some work done for a change. Oh, and I need to do laundry…..pretty much out of the essentials. Ooops…
But too tired to do laundry tonight…
So…gooooooooooooooooood night!
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