Tim and Karen's report Shimazu -Kaiseki@Numazu-

I am an Australian who has been lucky enough to live in Mishima and Numazu for nearly 4 years.
I was given the chance to sample some of the areas first restaurants and would like to share my experiences with you.　I went to only Japanese style restaurants in the hope to introduce this unique, traditional and delicious style of restaurant to people from all over the world.
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‘Shimazu’ is situated near Senbon (one thousand tree) beach, about 10 minutes by car from the South side of Numazu station. It commands spectacular views of Suruga Bay and offers a dining experience that will surely be memorable for all the right reasons.

Upon our arrival on a rainy Sunday evening we were warmly welcomed and ushered into an extremely private room with seating for 6, overlooking a rather stormy but intriguing Suruga Bay just about to plunge into darkness. The waitress asked for our drink orders and also kindly checked to see if we had any allergies or couldn’t eat anything in particular as we had pre-ordered the 6,000 yen sushi kaiseki course.

Soon after our drinks arrived so did the first dish which was seared tuna (cooked like a rare steak) with yamaimo- which is a type of yam, and grated wasabi. Yamaimo can be a little confronting to foreigners as it is a gooey, stringy white substance, but it has a nice mild vegetable taste and it complemented the tuna well.

Next was shirasu (baby sardines) topped with ginger and spring onion, served in a bowl made from a whole piece of bamboo.
The fish looked like they should still be swimming – they were so fresh it made me comment that they almost allowed you to ‘taste the view’ due to their delicate salty and deliciously fresh flavour. It is worth noting that the waitress could not have been more helpful, and while she didn’t use English, she explained things very clearly in slow, simple and easily understood Japanese.

We were also served by a waiter who took this helpfulness to an even higher level by actually having a piece of paper with the English translations of the fish in our next dish, which was sensational sashimi.

Overall, the service had the perfect balance of politeness and friendliness. The sashimi was presented like a piece of art, and consisted of shrimp, tuna, scallop, herring roe, flounder and yellowtail. The tuna was as good as any I have ever tried, being soft and succulent. The scallop was also superb. I found the flounder to be a little too chewy for my liking, but it too was extremely fresh and delicious. The herring roe had an interesting crunchiness to it and went well with the shiso leaf it was layered with. The shrimp were also excellent, being sweet and creamy rather than gooey as they can sometimes be.

The next dish was a somewhat unusual cold soup-type offering with more yamaimo and sea urchin. It was served on ice and was actually quite pleasant with a mild fishy flavour, but my companion said that the dish took her ‘out of her comfort zone’, which could mean that it would be a little strange for Western tastes.

The plates that the dishes were so artistically presented on were a mixture of very traditional Japanese and more modern Western style, giving the impression of an interesting fusion of East and West cultures.

Our next dish was again beautifully presented, with tachiwo (knife fish) served in jelly, grilled Suzuki (sea bass) and green peas.
The jelly had a surprisingly strong but delicious flavour and the sea bass was excellent. I am not sure if it was just because it was cooked, but it was so moist, succulent and delicious that I could have eaten a lot more of it. The green peas were crunchy with a slightly nutty flavour that went well with the slightly sweet sea bass and knife fish jelly.

This was followed by what is known as ‘hiyashite mono’, or chilled food, and it consisted of a boiled prawn/shrimp, pumpkin, green bean and Satsuma imo which is a slightly sweet potato. It was served with a mild fish stock and soy in a thick soup-like sauce which complemented the other flavours and was the perfect follow-up to the previous dish.

Unlike other kaiseki restaurants we have been to, the timing between courses was perfect and we never had to wait too long for our next dish, while at no stage did we feel rushed to finish the dish we were eating. Tempura arrived next and was excellent, the carrot, corn, eggplant and sweet potato were perfectly cooked – not oily, and served with a delicious salt mixture that brought out the flavour of each vegetable. It was the first time I tried corn tempura, and I would certainly like to eat it again.

At this stage our hand towels were changed prior to the next course which was sushi. As with all the other dishes, the sushi was superbly presented. It came on an unusual rectangular tray-like plate, and held yellow tail, sea bream, cooked shrimp, salmon, and tuna sushi rolls all carefully and artistically arranged on it. The yellow tail melted in your mouth, as did the sea bream. The salmon had a mild flavour and was deliciously tender and not too oily, and the salmon eggs were also not too strong in flavour or too salty. The cooked shrimp was very large and succulent. In summary, the sushi was excellent and we appreciated the relatively small size of the rice balls that the fish topped as we were both getting full by this stage.
To finish the meal we had a delicious miso soup with a seafood flavour that came from the cooked shrimp head floating in it. Finally, dessert was a tropical fruit flavoured sherbet and a blueberry mousse, both of which were light and refreshing, and an ideal way to finish a truly memorable meal.

We departed feeling full and satisfied. Shimazu has the perfect combination of excellent food, great location, good value and friendly, efficient and helpful staff, so you really should go and experience it yourself!


Shimazu
Address:1907-155, Senbon-gorin, Numazu
Tel:+81-55-963-6760
http://www.sushishimazu.com/
Budget:Lunch 3,000 yen Dinner 6,000 yen
Open:Weekday:11:30am～2:00pm,4:30pm～10:00pm
Closed:Mon.


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Tim and Karen's report Fukube-shabu shabu@Mishima-

I am an Australian who has been lucky enough to live in Mishima and Numazu for nearly 4 years.
I was given the chance to sample some of the areas first restaurants and would like to share my experiences with you.　I went to only Japanese style restaurants in the hope to introduce this unique, traditional and delicious style of restaurant to people from all over the world.
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Fukube is situated in a nice Japanese style building about 10 minutes by car from the South side of Mishima Station. There is a nice Japanese garden along the path to the door that gives the impression that you are going to have a traditional style meal. Once inside, you are greeted by an impressive selection of shochu (a Japanese spirit that tastes a bit like half-strength vodka) and a smiling waitress welcoming you.

We were shown to a private area where you sit on the floor to eat, but were also offered the choice of another table with chairs – which we happily accepted. We ordered the 6,000 yen per head ‘Shabu Shabu’ course, which features the famous Japanese beef ‘Ashitaka’. The name Shabu Shabu refers to the way you eat the dish by dipping or swishing raw beef into a boiling pot of water and vegetables.
On our table was a large hotpot that held a clove of garlic, some ginger and a piece of kelp in it, and as we waited for the water to boil we enjoyed the small bowl of pickles that were served.
When the plates of beef arrived we were impressed by the amount and the obvious quality of the highly marbled rib roast steak. Once the water was boiling we put some of the vegetables and other accompaniments to the beef in the hot pot. These included tofu, three types of mushroom, clear noodles, white radish and Chinese cabbage. We were served 2 dipping sauces for the shabu shabu; ponzu – which is a slightly citrus tasting soy sauce, and a sesame dipping sauce.

Our first taste of the beef made us realise why it is so famous and expensive. It was unbelievably tender and delicious! I preferred it dipped in ponzu, while my partner preferred the sesame sauce. The vegetables and tofu were nice as well, but paled in comparison to the beef. One small thing that surprised us was that we were not served any rice to go with the shabu shabu.
Towards the end of our meal we were offered a choice of udon or chinese noodles. We asked for udon, but were given the chinese noodles (we think) which was an example of how the service was generally not very good. We were offered little in the way of explanation about the food or the way to cook it, and were only asked if we wanted something to drink once.
Dessert was nice, a not too sweet and refreshing orange sorbet, but it was spoilt by the fact that although our plates and hot pot had been cleared away, the waitress failed to wipe down the table which after all the swish-swishing of the meat had become quite messy. Although the restaurant was not busy at all, we felt the service was minimal, and that we should hurry off as soon as our meal was finished. Certainly, we did not wish to linger over the messy table.

Overall, the meal was quite good but the service was not what you would expect at a relatively expensive restaurant like this.

Fukube
Address:4-17, Minami-cho, Mishima
Tel:+81-55-973-8211
http://www.fukube.jp/
Budget:Lunch 2,000 yen Dinner 10,000 yen
Open:11:30am～2:30pm,5:00pm～10:00pm
Closed:Mon.


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Tim and Karen's report Dokan Kagari -steak@Numazu-

I am an Australian who has been lucky enough to live in Mishima and Numazu for nearly 4 years.
I was given the chance to sample some of the areas first restaurants and would like to share my experiences with you.　I went to only Japanese style restaurants in the hope to introduce this unique, traditional and delicious style of restaurant to people from all over the world.
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Dokan Kagari is situated down a dark side street running between Senbon Beach and Numazu Port. It is on the ground floor of a quite imposing-looking new building and has a nice traditional Japanese water feature by the entrance. We visited on a very warm and humid Saturday evening and were pleased by the cool and open plan layout inside.

Upon entering, we were a little surprised at how open it was – basically a large room with two long hotplates, with seating around them in the form of an oval. It felt a little like walking into someone’s house, and although our welcome by the waitress was very friendly, it almost felt as if we were intruding when we entered the room and everyone looked up. However, we soon relaxed and were entertained as well as fed by a rather serious looking but obviously skilled chef.

The waitress and also the chef spoke a little English, and we were promptly offered drinks and asked if we preferred sirloin or fillet steak. My companion selected fillet steak and a very reasonably priced Beaujolais from the extensive wine list, and I chose draught beer to accompany my sirloin steak.

As we had ordered the 6,000 yen course it was not long before our entrée arrived. We had some cold corn soup, smoked salmon, beef, shrimp and something that looked and tasted like the jellyfish you often get at Chinese restaurants in Japan. The reason we were not sure was because there was no explanation of the dish, which was disappointing even though the food was very good.


Next came some pieces of fish cake, konnyaku and sweet corn that were grilled in front of us on the hotplate. The fish cake was excellent and the chef explained it contained fish, scallop and crab. The konnyaku, which I am normally not a big fan of, was surprisingly good too, and the sweet corn, which was cooked on top of what looked like a pancake batter, was excellent.

When our steaks arrived we were very impressed by their size and watched with keen anticipation as they were carefully cooked in front of us. The chef performed tricks with the salt and pepper shakers, and used these seasonings liberally over the steaks. It was not long before they were cooked to perfection. To say that these were probably the best steaks we have ever eaten is not an overstatement, as both the flavour and texture of them was superb. The fillet was so incredibly tender that it almost felt like eating high-class sushi, as it seemed to just disappear on the top of your tongue.
The sirloin was excellent as well, with a slightly stronger beef flavour and a firmer texture. The vegetables that accompanied the steak were also delicious, with the large green asparagus being slightly crunchy, and the eggplant not bitter at all. I found myself eating a lot of the garlic chips that were provided, as they went well with everything we had.
The fatty end of my sirloin steak was removed and cut into small pieces that were then grilled for a long time, to make it almost like steak “pork cracking’, and was surprisingly delicious – if somewhat unhealthy. The salad that came with the steak was only average, but enjoyable as it balanced the other strong flavours we were enjoying.
Before our next course we were given ice water and some miso soup, this was followed by rice where you could choose either garlic or fish flavour, so we had one of each. The fish flavoured rice was nothing special, but I enjoyed the garlic rice even though my companion thought it was too overpowering.

We were both very hungry when we arrived at the restaurant, but by this stage were full and satisfied. As far as the performance went, dessert was the main attraction as brandy was used in a spectacular fiery display – and the lights were even dimmed to add to the effect. A lot of time is taken to poach the peaches in contreau and brandy for the “peach melba” dessert, which was beautifully presented and tasted as good as it looked.
Overall, we found this restaurant to be very good, and although it is not overly cheap it is certainly worth going to if you enjoy steak and wine.

Dokan Kagari
Address:26-3, Senbon-nisimachi,Numazu
Tel:+81-55-952-3600
http://nttbj.itp.ne.jp/0559523600/index.html?Media_cate=populer&svc=1303
Budget:Lunch:2,100 yen Dinner:6,000 yen
Open:Weekday:11:00am～1:30pm,5:30pm～8:30pm
Closed:Wed.


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Tim and Karen's report Unashige -eel@Shimuzu-cho-

I am an Australian who has been lucky enough to live in Mishima and Numazu for nearly 4 years.
I was given the chance to sample some of the areas first restaurants and would like to share my experiences with you.　I went to only Japanese style restaurants in the hope to introduce this unique, traditional and delicious style of restaurant to people from all over the world.
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Growing up in Australia where the act of eating eel is an extremely unfamiliar practice, I have unconsciously avoided it during my nearly 4 years of living in Japan. However, I constantly hear about the delights of eel from friends and students, and in particular one restaurant in our area is often mentioned – Unashige!

So, at around 5.30pm on a Wednesday evening we found ourselves arriving for a meal of eel. Surprisingly, at this early time the restaurant was already very busy, however we had no problem getting a table, and as in all good Japanese restaurants were given a choice of smoking or non-smoking, as well as tables or tatami-mat seating.

The interior décor was bright, spacious and clean, and we were seated at a table next to a window that looked out onto a nice pebbled Japanese style garden. The walls were decorated with an array of interesting eel traps and for some reason an ancient Japanese musket. There are also fish tanks filled with eels in the entranceway to the restaurant.

There was an impressive number of staff on duty, even at our early time, so they obviously expected to be busy. The staff of mostly mature women were friendly and professional, and it was nice to be looked after by experienced people instead of the young part-time students at many other restaurants.

We ordered a dish each, choosing ‘ishiyaki bibinba’ and ‘unajyu’. The food arrived promptly, and while the unajyu was a simple affair of rice topped with tempting looking eel, the ishiyaki bibinba came in a bowl carved from stone with various ingredients on a tray. The waitress very kindly explained how to eat my ishiyaki bibinba – it involved first stirring the ingredients in the bowl and adding soy sauce, wasabi, and other sauces as I liked.
The rice at the bottom of the bowl had baked to a nice, crispy texture which went really well with the eel and spring onion. The sauce I chose gave a subtle flavour, and the eel was most impressive with its delicate flavour (not as smoky as another eel restaurant I know). When I added wasabi it really brought the dish to life and made it even better. There was a great mixture of texture and flavour, and my companion couldn’t stop taking spoonfuls of it even though it was my dish!


The unajyu was not as impressive as the ishiyaki, but it had a mild and pleasant flavour that was not too oily, and the rice was plump, soft and delicious. The accompanying soup was very smoky but nice enough. Both dishes were quite large serves, so it seemed very good value for money.

To sum up, the service was excellent with the staff being efficient, friendly and attentive, and the eel dishes were most enjoyable. I particularly recommend the ishiyaki bibinba – I know I will be going back soon to enjoy it again.

Unashige
Address:239-3, Fushimi, Shimizu-cho, Shizuoka
Tel:+81-55-975-6879
http://www.unasige.com/
Budget:3,000 yen
Open:Weekday:11：00am～2：30pm,4：00pm～9：00pm,Weekend:11：00am～8：30pm
Closed:Mon.


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Tim and Karen's report Garden Basara -Kaiseki@Nagaizumi-

I am an Australian who has been lucky enough to live in Mishima and Numazu for nearly 4 years.
I was given the chance to sample some of the areas first restaurants and would like to share my experiences with you.　I went to only Japanese style restaurants in the hope to introduce this unique, traditional and delicious style of restaurant to people from all over the world.
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It is often said that a great restaurant takes you to another place and during your visit there makes you feel truly special. Garden Basara is a restaurant that achieves this and more. From the walk up to the restaurant through lovely green gardens to the calm, sophisticated interior with its clean lines, mood lighting and spacious area, we found ourselves relaxing and forgetting about the outside world.

The restaurant was quiet on a Sunday evening, so we felt especially pampered by the attentive staff. We had the 7,000 yen set menu, which turned out to be a delightful surprise after surprise.
First, we were each served a rectangular platter with an assortment of delicacies. There was a mini peeled tomato in a lemony soup, Japanese marinated vegetable, white fish on succulent wakame, an extremely tender slice of duck with a touch of mustard, a creamy ‘tamago-yaki’, a slightly chewy shellfish and crispy fried iwashi (sardines) which had a lovely fishy flavour and was not oily. The presentation was awesome, right down to the turban shell and hydrangea flowers. This was only the beginning, however, and the waiter’s friendly explanation of each dish in English was much appreciated.

Next a soup with a ball of shrimp and mushroom was served. The thin broth was rich in flavour and very smoky. The shrimp ball had an egg-like consistency, and was extremely flavoursome. The garnish of shallots was crunchy and matched it perfectly.









After the soup we had a dish of sashimi consisting of tuna, squid and flatfish. Again, the presentation was exquisite, and the freshly grated wasabi was totally different to the instant paste found in other restaurants. The squid was surprisingly creamy, and the tuna was presented in generous slabs. The flatfish was a little chewy, but nice.






Following this we were served a teriyaki-style chicken dish with a beautiful salad presented within a slender glass. The teriyaki chicken took the idea of ‘teriyaki’ to new heights with its subtle taste that was not too sweet, tender pieces of meat and the delicious crispy skin. The salad was also delicious and the dressing had a bit of a bite to it! It is worth mentioning that dishes were brought and taken away at very comfortable intervals. We never waited too long before courses, and once finished with a plate they were immediately cleared away. The table always looked beautiful with its pristine white tablecloth, decorated with the never-ending arrival of beautifully presented dishes.






We then enjoyed an unusual concoction of eggplant and daikon served with a sesame sauce and grated ginger. It was an unusual blend of flavours but it worked well.











Our final dish before dessert was a white fish tempura wrapped in a shiso leaf and a white asparagus tempura. These were served with a small bowl of green tea powder, and the result was a salty, exotic taste. The fish was delicate and delicious, and the white asparagus was crunchy with a nutty flavour. White rice and miso soup also arrived to signal the end of the main courses.




At this stage we were served ‘hojicha’ and green tea, and it was a nice touch to be given another hot towel. We had shown interest in the ‘hojicha’, and to our pleasure the waiter brought two small bowls with the tea leaves in them for us to see!









Dessert was an exotic display of traditional Japanese desserts mixed with more western style ones such as a rich slice of chocolate and a mango sorbet. Even though we were full, we still enjoyed tasting each offering. We finished the delightful evening with an excellent coffee and an outstanding double espresso which was strong but not at all bitter, and unlike any other coffee I’ve ever had in Japan.
All in all Garden Basara offers an exquisite dining experience where you are truly treated like a king.

Garden Basara
Address:347-1, Clematis-no-oka, Tono, Nagaizumi
Tel:+81-55-989-8778
http://www.clematis-no-oka.co.jp/012_shisetsu/100_basara/100_top.html
Budget:Lunch 5,000 yen Dinner 10,000 yen
Open:11:00am～3:00pm、5:30pm～10:00pm
Closed:Wed.


Tim and Karen's review


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