Quaint little Izakaya

Restaurant Review

I peered over the shoulder of a stranger seated in the plane’s window side and the emerald sea jumped into my view below…first time in Ishigaki Island, a semi-tropical island, south of Okinawa. We were more than thrilled.

The parents of our daughter-in-law were waiting for us at the arrival gate, smiling, We waived our hands big through glass wall, I pointed to one of two baggage claim area and motioned that we had to get our luggage first. They nodded, still smiling. We spent three days with our new favorite people in this beautiful island.

That night we’re invited to their cozy restaurant Kurashita (蔵下), short walk  from the city hall, near shopping arcade. The interior of the restaurant has Izakaya feel though, geared toward French (but not limited) because of his extensive training as a French chef. He worked as a chief chef at a top floor restaurant in Ishigaki Nikko Hotel for more than 20 years before opening his own restaurant 10 years ago. This is truly a Mom and Pop shop, chef dad cooks and the mom works as a server.
I don’t remember the names of most dishes (sorry, my bad) but it was marvelous!.

First course – appetizer plate. lots of seafood, loved the sea grape.Sea grapes ( 海ぶどう) Close up!

Second course – seared beef salad

Third course –  Shell fish (see that shell in the pic, don’t remember the name though) gratin

Fourth course – Puff pastry over the soup

Fifth course -  fried sea weed accented this dish.

Sixth course – The chef got us remarkable Ishigaki beef so tender and flavorful!

Seventh course – Rice in soup, packed with umami!

Finale – Purple sweet potato Mt. Blanc cake! Delish!

They showered us with their generosity and kindness throughout our Ishigaki excursion which we’re very grateful! Meeting their group of friends since grade school added to the enjoyment.The next day, they took us to Yakiniku place for dinner and that was also delicious. Check out my new hair do…I stopped coloring my hair 8 months ago. Now my hair is 60% gray! Chic, right?

At Yimamura (やいま村). Why don’t we take picture with traditional Okinawa costume? Ah…for real? Yes, really, let’s! 

Although I maybe biased on the restaurant review (just a tad), I highly recommend this place if you ever have the chance to visit this fabulous Island.

Please visit a Travel blogger, Minoru’ Photo Diary to enjoy spectacular views of Ishigaki.

The Painted Lady

Restaurant review

What time do you want to eat? My husband is checking on the iPhone app ‘Open Table’. Ah…what are my options? ‘5:30 or 5:30’ he shouted back. Good! I will take 5:30! Nestled in the college town of Newberg, the Painted Lady has great reviews. I have called for a year and a half on several occasions to get a reservation but I was not successful. Either it was completely full or the only available time is like 8 in the evening. The restaurant offers course meals so we may well be eating desserts at 10 O’clock? No, that’s not a good time…Are you sure you don’t have anything earlier?

Mind you, we don’t eat this fancy often but we’re adventurous when it comes to food. I’m a serious reader of restaurant reviews. When I hear rave news I clip the page for the next special occasion. The most interesting food we ever had was probably that worm (wichity grub) in Alice Springs, Australia. White fat worm cooked in heated ash until it pops, then eat like the aborigine do. It tastes like scrambled eggs! is my husband and tour guide’s opinion. The most disgusting food I ever had was definitely vegemite which is also from Australia. ‘It’s great on toast’  our Inn keeper chimed in. You think so huh? I can’t disagree with you more. I know that it is an acquired taste that must take a lifetime to achieve, but we only had two weeks.

We drove past the Painted Lady. The old Victorian house does not look like a restaurant except for the sign board. Cozy and charming inside, with white, crisp linen tablecloth and polished silverware all saying, let the magic begin. We don’t drink alcohol so we ordered this fruity soda. It really goes well with meals and not interfering.. Complementary home made hummus and seasoned walnuts to start.  Chef’s trioCurry Oregon shrimp cannoli with avocado, cucumber pearls and pistachios.The cucumber pearls had great texture and color.Venison Carpaccio, arugula salad and Espellete aioliSeared diver scallop over cauliflower puree, capers and Beurre NoisetteSlow roasted salmon, wild mushrooms and cream parmesan risottoBraised veal cheek, potato puree, heirloom carrots and herb saladPork two ways with mustard scented Brussels sprouts and celeriac pureepalate cleanser- Mint sherbet Chevre cheesecake topped with strawberry/rhubarb compoteTrio of Chocolate decadenceComplimentary after dinner bits were boxed for us to take home. My son was delighted.The restaurant staff were all very professional. Attentive, knowledgeable and very nice.

I attended herb class taught by a friend.This is rosemary loaf made by my friend’s daughter was fantastic. It goes well with herb butter. I must get the recipe.Pecans seasoned with herb (rosemary?-I was eating and not paying attention ). They are absolutely nuts! Basil is gift from host. Love it!

What’s up with this weather? We had 80-some degrees the other day and today is upper 50’s, confusing.  I have this tree in our back yard. Golden chain tree? Pretty yellow flower only lasts a week.

Visit

Sho (匠) Japanese Restaurant

What perfect timing!  I was assigned to do a restaurant review more like introduction as a free-lance writer for local Japanese newspaper called Yuuyake Newspaper (夕焼け新聞) last week. As more time has passed, it’s getting more difficult to prepare food while the kitchen remodeling is underway. It seems our family didn’t have decent meals in what… a week? Funny, it feels much longer but whatever. Anyhow, I could sit down and have nice, hopefully free, meals. I was psyched! Habanero roll

On day 3, I give up on the idea of eating healthy food during construction. We welcomed frozen pizza because no-washing-required food is our first priority. Sure, crock pot and pressure cooker are great but large pots need to be washed in big tub sink in the up-stairs laundry room. And where are the all the fats and food debris supposed to go?  I was soaked just get two things from the refrigerator the other day. Currently it is housed inside the garage. I had to go out the front door to the garage and visa-versa.  It must be Murphy’s law. The harder it rains the more things I forget to get from refrigerator. Maybe I am just getting old. Memo to myself-make list of what I need before going out the door. 

Because I can’t cook… let me rephrase that. I meant to say I can’t cook in these circumstances. I’m a good cook. Once in a blue moon, I’m a fabulous cook but because I can’t cook… oh my word! Let’s move on, I try not to look at other food blogger’s blog for fear that I start drooling on my keyboard. I can’t help peeking sometimes however. Many food bloggers take such glorious food photographs. Oh, oh I think I’m falling in love… I must make it as soon as my kitchen is back…Wow! Incredible! Fantastic!…. Two hours later, my recipe file (actually just a pile, I don’t know where my recipe file is. One of boxes I assume) plus the printer is out of paper.Canyon

I checked the Sho Restaurant web site the night before. I must do homework, right? Substantial number of colorful pictures grace the pages. It’s promising. I drove in the rain for only 15 minutes, it’s closer than I thought without getting lost. Thanks to my GPS. I should have invested in the company. Anyway, Sho restaurant offers a variety of Japanese foods for all ages, roomy interior and kid friendly menu. I had the deluxe bento dinner which is filled with fish dishes. I usually don’t care for cooked fish but interestingly enough I really liked the fish head cooked in sweet soy, ginger sauce. Original sushi rolls are colorful and have memorable names. Bird of Paradise, Route 66, Canyon, Hawaiian Sunshine and Hanabi (fire cracker). Names are so enticing.Yellow tail cooked in soy ginger sauce はまちかまの煮付けMackerel cooked in miso さばの味噌煮

I tried the pork cutlet curry rice too. As I mentioned in my blog before, I love fried foods. I gave two thumbs up for both the curry flavor and the pork cutlet. Sho offers a number of desserts on the menu too. imported from Hawaii, Mochi ice-cream. Ever popular in Japan, green tea roll cake. What I want is strawberry shortcake possibly available in the near futurePork cutlet curry riceGreen tea mousse roll cake

My left over was doggie-bagged. Good! I don’t have to cook tonight. Do you feel lucky? Do ya? You are allowed to say that like Clint Eastwood.

I hope you had a fun St. Patrick's Day! I only made the table settings, the green drink and bought a shamrock.

Today was a messy day with sheetrock work – new sheetrock, sanding and put on texture.Here is the new window over the sink.