Whale restaurant

My last meal in Japan was at the Tokuya (House of Virtue) whale restaurant. This is the logo of the place which is proudly displayed everywhere even on the giant neon sign above the highway on the way to the airport.

Even the chopstick rest is whale-shaped.

A array of little whale treats, we chose: deep-fried whale heart salad, whale breast sashimi, whale tongue sashimi, whale tongue bacon, etc. We also had a whale hotpot with udon noodles. That was quite nice and probable the only tasty thing. Whale is very tough and otherwise tasteless. The blubber and skin were just very fatty.

You can read more about our whale experience on my sister's blog.

Okonomiyaki

Now I'm in Osaka visiting my sister.

We stumbled across the Negibijintei (Beautiful Onion Woman) okonomiyaki restaurant while searching for some rice for lunch. This place is near the Umeda train station and is amidst a one of those restaurant floors in a multi-level transportation/shopping complex. [corrected "Senri Chuo" to "Umeda" 4 Sept 2005]

I ordered a standard okonomiyaki and my sister chose the seafood one. According to my expert sister, this place makes okonomiyaki with a lot more spring onions than usual. The fritatas come pre-made and you warm them on a hot plate set in the middle of your table. You can brush a sweet soy sauce and sprinkle bonito flakes on top while the plate keeps it warm until you're ready to eat it. Then you use the little fish slice to cut a bit off and eat it.

Sukiyaki

My second dinner in Tokyo was at the Mo Mo Paradise sukiyaki/shabu shabu restaurant. My dining companions, my friend L that I've known since I was 8 years old and her husband D, reckon that it's actually supposed to be the Moo Moo Paradise since there's giant cartoonish cow on the signboard.

My first time eating this dish and it was delicious. The broth is sweet, savoury and very tasty. We flavoured it with the thinly sliced beef as well as enoki mushrooms, spring onions and rocket.