Sashimi and Sushi - Kanazawa
Sashimi for dinner
We stayed at Pongyi - a wonderfully welcoming and warm guest house in Kanazawa - we asked for some recommendations for food and they said most of the Izakaya restuarants (Japanese style pub) near them served fantastic seafood, and probably would be able to accomodate me, or we could try the train station.
We first of all tried in at the train station, where there was a large shopping mall with numerous restaurant options I asked in a number of them with no success. We wondered back towards the guesthouse, checking in a few places, but they were so busy they just didnt have the time to go through what I could eat, with heavy hearts we moved on.
We then came across Soroban a Japanese Izakaya bar and grill, and thought we the hell not?! We went in, only a couple at the bar and an upstairs area (which I assume was full as the waiters were up and down those stairs like billiard). I handed my GF card over, and I got the "uumm" "oooohh" and "aaahhs" that I'd been getting across the whole of Japan... he really tried to help but spoke very little English. One of the other diners came over to try and help translate using an google translate - which was super helpful.
They explained that although I couldn't necessarily eat much on the menu, the chef could put together all the things I could have in a series of dishes, which of course we said yes!
We had a plate of fresh sashimi that we had with soy sauce (GF that I brought for me!) followed by more sashimi in an oil, vinegar and chill sauce - delicious! We ate so quickly he told us to slow down!
Followed by a mushroom and truffle omelet - yummy! No skimping on the truffle oil :) forgot to take a photo! The chef was very helpful and eager to please, but obviously the language barrier does make it tricky and slightly awkward, but the fact they were trying so hard to make us feel welcome made the experience such a unique and special one. Next up was a delicious concoction of raw vegetables in cute shapes, tricky to pick up with chop sticks but entertaining to our fellow diners!
The veg was accompanied by a anchovy and sea urchin dip which was so yummy, especially as I LOVE anchovies 😊 We had to take more time with this one as our chop stick skills were being tested to the max!
The chef became more confident with his English and things got easier so naturally we asked questions about who we were, what we were doing, why we were in Japan etc. Was lovely catching up with him and figuring out how to say certain things with only a few confusions along the way, as expected. He was very sweet to us, and was an incredibly good sushi chef. We weren't sure if we paid for the next two dishes as he said they were gifts... one was a plate of salami that melted in the mouth. More chatting and then some delicious raw beef with seared edges coated in black pepper, very spicy but delicious. It's safe to say we were full! For all that plus a few drinks was around 4000 yen (roughly £24) - considering what we got it was very cheap!
When we were leaving it was chucking it down with sleet, and us being unprepared foriegners we didn't have an umbrella, so he let us have one of his so we could get home and stay dry. Lovley person and exquisite food, we will go back if we ever happen to be Kanazawa again. Sushi for breakfast
Naturally being in Kanazawa and rivalling Tsukiji fish market for fresh sushi, we had to have sushi for breakfast - believe me it's not as weird as you think having raw fish first thing in the morning!
The fish market was a maze of different vendors and we gawked at the masses of fish that was on offer, we'd been to Tsukiji market in Tokyo which was unbelievable, but this was still fascinating. We had a little puruse, and I liked to look of a tiny sushi place which had a queue and was super busy inside - always a good sign! I checked it was ok - which of course it was - we made our selection and after about 10 minutes of waiting we squeezed ourselves around the bar. It was fun, super cheap and the sushi was delicious!
