Thursday, July 31, 2008

Katsumasa -pork cutlet@Numazu- Izu Gourmet Guide

"Katsumasa" is a pork cutlet specialty restaurant.
To accompany the pork cutlets coutomers can enjoy all you can eat cabbage, miso soup and rice in this resutaurant.
You can choose between normal white rice or rice with barley and between pork soup or miso soup with kelp.

Weekends are busy and most customers need to line up before getting a seat.
When it is crowded, a clerk passes the guest a pocket beeper, so the guest knows when a seat becomes available.
When I visited the restaurant last Saturday evening, many guests were standing in line outside the restaurant.

Tonkatsu is an adaption of pork cutlets from Western cuisine and now, the pork cutlet is a typical dish in Japan.
I ordered a jumbo sirloin pork cutlet set and my companion orderd a Kurobuta set.
Kurobuta is the name of a famaous pork farm in Kagoshima.
I also ordered a large mug of beer which goes well with pork cutlets.

After ordering my meal the waiter brought some delicious Japanese pickles as well as a bowl of sesame seeds.
I enjoyed the pickles while grinding the sesame seeds in the special bowl they are served in.
Everyone seems to enjoy granding the seeds and it helps to pass the time while waiting for your order.
The aroma from the ground sesame seeds was sensational and made me very hungry indeed.

When my order arrived it was everything that I hoped for.

I mixed some Katsumasa original souce with the ground sesame seeds and poured it over my pork cutlet.
The taste of cutlet was superb and the texture of the crumbs as well as the tenderness of the meat
was very satisfying.
I tasted a piace of the Kurobuta with only a sprinkle of salt and the taste justified the reputation of this
farm in Kagoshima. The flavor of the pork is so good that it needs no sauce or spicies to be added.

I chose the rice with barley and the kelp miso soup which were both very good.
The cabbage was fresh and tasted so good with my choice of wafu dressing (which is a traditional
mix of soy souce and citrus juice) that I asked the waiter for some more.
He offered more soup as well but I declined because I was getting full as I ate every last piece of my 250 gram
cutlet and some of my companions cutlet, too.


Overall the meal was of very high standard and made me think of the poem below which is proudly displayed
at the entrance of the restaurant.

Some of the words are difficult to translate from Japanese to English, but the overall meaning should be clear
to anyone lucky enough to eat at Katsumasa.

The mouth is pleased with Saku Saku bread crumbs.
Tender meat extends to the mouth.
Hoku Hoku rice is sweetish.
My stomach wants shaki shaki cabbage.
The person smiles when he or she eats a delicious pork cutlet.
Now, eat a delicious pork cutlet.

written by





Katsumasa
Address:2-13-11, Haramachinaka,Numazu
Tel:+81-55-967-8300
http://www.masago.net/page/katumasa1.html
Budget:2,000 yen
Open:11:00am~10:00pm
Closed: open 365 days a year
Overall evaluation:
Taste:
Atmosphere:
Service:
Value for money:

Please see a page here about detailed information on WIREDiCON.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Sakuraya -eel@Mishima- Izu Gourmet Guide

Sakuraya is a famous eel restaurant that has been operating since 1856 which was the end of the Edo period the décor is very traditional with antique and a unique floor.
Its popularity is such that it employs a full time guard to manage the queues of people eagerly waiting to eat there. Because of this we went early for lunch at 11:20 and avoided having to wait.
The restaurant already had several customers happily eating their eel dishes and it made me look forward to the meal to come.


The menu has various eel dishes including ‘unajyu’ and ‘unadon’ which are basically eel on rice served in different shaped dishes and ‘shirayaki’ which is plain grilled eel.
I ordered ‘unajyu’ and my companion ordered ‘shirayaki’ and we enjoyed looking at the interesting décor while we waited for our meals.



We were surprised to see the size of the restaurant as from the outside it looks quite small but it actually can seat many people.
We waited 20 minutes for our meals and the staffs were not overly friendly or talkative, but they were getting very busy. The eel was superb and was probably the most tender and best tasting eel I have ever eaten. When I added the sunsyo (Japanese pepper) I found it very spicy so be careful if you use it.
My companion gave me a taste of the shirayaki which was also superb and made me nostalgic of my childhood when I ate plain eel. Although there were a few small bones it still melted in my mouth, reminding me of eating tachiuo (cutlass fish) and was truly satisfying.

I would highly recommend Sakuraya and will go there again myself. Next time I will order a course menu with rice wine and go with a close friend.

written by


Sakuraya
Address:13-2, Hirokoji, Mishima
Tel:+81-55-975-4520
URL:http://sakura-ya.net/
Budget:3,000 yen
Open:11:00am~8:00pm
Closed:Wed.
Overall evaluation:
Taste:
Atmosphere:
Service:
Value for money:

Please see a page here about detailed information on WIREDiCON.