Well, another week or two has passed since our last post and life continues on in the same fashion. New experiences, new frustrations, and getting a little more used to life here day by day. Corin and I celebrated two years of being "official" on November 15th and, since we didn't end up going out of town like we had once planned, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We had spotted a place down by the river called Iomante: Restaurant and Community a while back and thought that our anniversary was as good a time as any to try out the posh looking place. During the day on Tuesday we had judged an English speech contest (two of my students won!) so were already dressed nicely for dinner. We arrived, parked and realized that we were 30 minutes too early for the restaurant to be open. So, we bundled up and wondered around downtown Kushiro to kill the time. We went into a few random shops and then, on our way back to the restaurant, stumbled into a little jewelry place by the name of Phantom Suction [the Japanese have an amazing ability to take two perfectly normal English words and combine them into some fairly ridiculous proper nouns.] Anyway, the shop was full of little creations made by the owner. Corin had been putting off getting me a gift since I really didn't want anything, but once he spotted a ring with ornate delicate curves, we knew that my anniversary present had been found! We delighted the shop owner by purchasing it then and there, while he marveled at last year's anniversary present, my teaspoon ring. We're hoping the next time we visit he'll have tried his hand at that style. The ring is a perfect way to remember how our second year together was spent on the northern most island of Japan.
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| Pretty things. |
On to dinner. We arrived at the restaurant a few minutes after six and were immediately seated, as we were the only customers (and remained so for the rest of our meal). The waiter took our coats and offered us the drink menu. We decided initially on water and then Corin deciphered enough to discover Shirley Temples were also offered. Two, please! We toasted to two wonderful years of laughter and adventures and settled in to figure out what to have for dinner. The menu had three options, each of increasing price. We went for Menu A, the 3800Y option, as B & C, the 5000Y and 8000Y menus, seemed a little too steep for two kids fresh out of college. Menu A came with bread, an appetizer, a main, and dessert. The mains could either be fish, meat, or poultry. Corin went with the locally raised Shibecha beef, while I selected a chicken dish. It should be noted that the restaurant was primarily French themed, so I was gearing up for a post dinner stomach ache by what I knew would be a lot of dairy. Although my stomach is just now starting to settle itself--four days later--it was well worth it. Luckily, we were able to explain to the waiter my allergy to wheat, "komugiko no arerugī," and they were incredibly accommodating. So, on to the courses (note: some of these are guesses as they spoke very little English and many of the foods were unfamiliar to us).
The first course was a thick slice of chicken pate, topped with local vegetables (cucumber and lettuce), prosciutto and a skewer of green olive, the plate dotted with aoli and a dollop of grainy mustard. It was delicious, although Corin and I both could have gone with the grisly parts of the pate. At this point, the chef came out to talk to the foreigners. He knew about the same amount of English as the waiter but was very friendly and asked if we were celebrating something. We replied that it was our non-marriage anniversary. After congratulating us, he went back to the kitchen and promptly returned with the tastiest french onion soup to "congratulate our memorial." An interesting translation but we'll take it! Our mains arrived and I inhaled the cream drenched chicken.
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| So much yumminess, so much tummy ache. |
It was carefully perched atop a purple potato slice and two carrot slivers. Everything was incredible. The chicken fell apart, the potatoes had the texture of La Renaissance's new potatoes, and the sauce, oh the sauce, was to die for. Cream, fresh shaved parmesan and probably lots of butter (I told you I was willing to deal with the consequences). Corin was a little jealous, even though his steak was delicious as well...just lacking the sauce factor. After the main, our first dessert came out. A small glass jar filled with shoyu spiked milk custard. I chose to avoid the double stomach ache and didn't eat this course. Corin told the waiter I wasn't really supposed to have milk, as well as wheat. Without a worry, the chef altered my second dessert to be a heart shaped macaron filled with chocolate ganache, alongside fresh grapes and sliced persimmon, with candy spirals and strawberry sauce.
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| Nom! |
A good thing since the original dessert, which Corin got, was cream cheese atop ice cream, swimming in a fresh pour of espresso. I am a huge huge huge fan of macarons so I was in heaven. When our third dessert came out, we were nearly stuffed but made room for green tea caramels, chocolate short bread (Corin), local artichoke bread (Corin) and anther macaron for me. Although the meal was definitely pricey, it was so worth the cost. We thanked the chef profusely and sincerely told him he had the best food in Kushiro. Fantastic food and celebrating two wonderful years together are indeed a perfect pair.
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| Token anniversary shot. |
This post is mighty lengthy so I'll end it there. More to come!
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