The Best Meal I Have Ever Eaten

The great surprise of the Okunoyu Ryokan in Kurokawa Onsen (see previous post), was the wonderful food. It now ranks as the tastiest meal I've ever eaten, and so is worthy of a blog post in its own right. Seizing the luxurious option of having our dinner served to us in our own tatami room, we arrived to find a banquet spread across our table...


It was like a Greatest Hits Compilation of Japanese food. And, as with all Japanese meals, the whole lot was served at once, allowing you to pick and choose whatever took your fancy.

First, light juicy Tofu, fresh, springy mushrooms, sweet pumpkin and sharp pickles.


A Mediterranean creamy salmon, fresh scallop, soft sweet potato, and a plum so sharp it sucked the juices out of your mouth.


Sashimi - raw, fresh fish in soft cuts that melt in your mouth.


Salmon sashimi - with sliced spring onion, grated daikon (Japanese radish), and enough wasabi to blow your nose off.


Light, fluffy Tempura - essentially fried vegetables and seafood, but unlike any frying we know in England. Juicy but not damp, succulent but not chewy, and lightly dusted with seasonings.


Beef sashimi - raw, succulent; simply floated away as you chewed, and you floated with it. The best of the lot.


And then, a light touch of novelty.

Resting on a small, iron stove, a wire basket cups a single portion of Nabe - Japanese vegetable stew. With a click lighter, you set the little paraffin tub burning, and let it heat your stew as you picked your way through the many, many dishes. Just as the paraffin ran out and the stew came to the boil, it was perfect for eating. Of course the vegetables were super fresh and delicious, but the soup was unbelievable. The thick, floating gobbets of pork fat (that us westerners would feel obliged to cut off and throw away) saturated the juice would a beautiful, heady, soft flavour.

And then, the final, gratuitous, course. When you're already so full that you can't even eat the soft, fluffy rice that arrived Chinese-style at the end of the meal, well, you always have space for dessert, right?


Absolutely stuffed.



Two of the simplest, most powerful pleasures in life; beautiful food, and powerfully hot baths.

It made me smile a lot.