Blog de las Letras

    Kyoto was described to us as a "tofu-forward" city, and after spending a week there, our co-op-y little hearts are happy to report that it lived up to that reputation!  We had the privilege of dining at two tofu kaiseki  multi-course restaurants in Kyoto.  We say privilege because getting a reservation at these spots is non-trivial.  From what we've read, businesses in Japan heavily weigh relationships, so one cannot simply expect to get a reservation if one is available.  Some sort of "in" is helpful.     One restaurant, Shoraian , only takes reservations over the phone.  Since we don't speak Japanese, you see our problem.  Fortunately, we used our "phone-a-friend" lifeline and asked a Japanese family friend to see if she could call on our behalf.  Even though she called a week ahead of time, out of the four days we said we were free, only one was available AND apparently it made things go smoother when she claimed I was h...

    Our most expensive meal yet in Tokyo was surprisingly also the best deal.  Matt's sister is now in town and we were looking to indulge in a Japanese classic: maguro , or bluefin tuna.  There seems to be no better place to do this than at Maguro Mart, where we ordered their 8-course flagship tasting menu.  For about $33 USD, you can try tuna, tuna, tuna, tuna, tuna, tuna, tuna, and finally even more tuna with rice and seaweed.  Did we get sick of tuna?  "No."  But as Matt put it, we felt we could take a "tuna break" for a few days after.  It's a good thing we only had a light brunch earlier in the day because this meal was BIG.  See for yourself. As expected, even the walls and dishes are maguro-themed at Maguro Mart Tuna cooked in a delicious, thick dashi broth and tuna yukhoe (tartare with raw egg) 7 different tuna sashimi cuts including cheek, chin, and top of head Stewed tuna Tuna sashimi with an uni and salmon roe sauce...

    Tired of the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, we caught a train out of the big city. The first leg passed right by Mt. Fuji! This photo is from the internet, but it is an excellent approximation of our view of the famous volcano:     After all of our effort booking and rebooking our train tickets so that we would be on the Mt. Fuji side of the train, it was too rainy to see anything. But we dutifully stared at the clouds in the general direction of Fuji-san until it faded behind us. About 20 minutes later, the weather cleared up. Clear skies once we passed Mt Fuji     On our journey we were sustained and nourished by two bento boxes we purchased in Tokyo Station. These were no ordinary bento boxes, dear reader. We found them in a store that specializes in bento boxes from all over Japan, and so we lunched on the finest delicacies from two random prefectures. We guiltily tried the morsel of shark meat in one of them, shamefully admitting that it's actually ve...