OhMyGod – Guess What?!?!
80P and I are going to Japan and South Korea!
We’re doing a week in/around Tokyo and a week in/around Seoul. We’re looking for travel suggestions, especially where to eat. We’re also interested in taking an over-night trip from both cities. I would like to know where I can buy an entire new wardrobe and 80 would like to know where he can drink sake while I clothes shop.
Last night I went to a press dinner at Kushi, a Japanese style sushi, raw bar and grill. The owners there are really nice and knowledgeable about Japan and I tried to learn as much as possible so I don’t look like a total asshole when I’m in Asia. Oh and the food is kick-ass, especially the crispy duck thigh, the heritage breed chicken wing, the miso marinated fish and pretty much any of the sashimi.
Things I’ve Learned Pre-Japan
Patrons are given a warm, damp cloth at the beginning of meal to cleanse their hands and then use as napkin.
Robata is a grill.
Never drink sake with a rice dish. Sake is made from rice so it’d be a double starch. Imagine adding potatoes to pasta. However, sushi is fine to drink with sake, the rule is more geared to a bowl of rice.
Shoji is like vodka. If I remembered that correctly. An anti-hangover drink combines ukon, a turmeric tea, mixed with shoji.
Chicken is eaten raw in Japan. Chicken can be served sashimi style and eaten with wasbi and soy, like fish.