Dinner

Our dinner last night was a trip. We went to what the local staff consider the very best Spanish restaurant in all of Tokyo, and the food was quite impressive. I arrived a little after the rest of the people meeting for dinner. We drank a few beers, and then out came the very nice red wine and the first of many small dishes. First to come to the table was very thin slices from a boar leg that had been aged for three years, and was proudly displayed at in a prominent location in the small restaurant. The display was very off putting (see picture above), at it was the whole leg, hoof and all. The taste was very strong and quite gamey. Not bad, just very strong.

Next came hot pans filled with sizzling garlic, chili peppers and pasta. The smell was wonderful, and I dug in.

Two bites in I had made the determination that it was not in fact pasta, and was in actuality hundreds of baby eels.

And I still had a mass of them on my plate. I didn't want to offend my guests, so I did finish them. They were not so good.

They also brought out a wonderful paella and various fried seafood. Shrimp with head on, of course. Everything was very fancy and everything was not to my taste. What a great experience, though.

After we said good night to most of our party, Melody and I along with two of the local staff members went to a small shabu-shabu place for a night cap before heading back to the hotel. We drank wonderful saki and ate delicious sushi. Along with a small bowl of salty pickles with pink, transparent noodles that were the texture of soft plastic. It tasted less than wonderful. We were then told that it was imitation jellyfish. But the saki and sushi made for a great end to a very large day.