Tonight is our last night in Kanazawa, off to Hiroshima in the morning.
Hotel adjacent to Kanazawa station, myriad restaurants and supermarkets easily accessed by protected covered walkway. So nice and much appreciated during these chilly rainy days.
Nodoguro. Black Throat Seaperch, also known as Rosy Seabass is harvested in limited quantities from Nov to Feb. in nearby waters. Many restaurants actually list the orders of fish available on any given day, rather unusual.
The sets were beautifully presented, with bites of Tsukemono (pickles), KimChee, Mushrooms and Miso Soup.
DW had the Oden, various ingredients in a Dashi Broth. The ritual is to save the last of the broth to mix with the last of the rice, Wasabi and Nori added.
I ordered the Nodaguro. Only 10 orders were available that day. Loved the fish! Rich, buttery, flaky and fatty. To my taste, quite similar to Chilean Seabass, which I love.
A very satisfying lunch. Walking back to our hotel, we HAD to stop and browse the Omicho Ichiba Market (again). I’d had THE best Oyster on the Half at a stall stall here a couple years ago.
We tried to hit Ramen Taiga just before noon yesterday. The queue was already beyond my acceptable tolerance level. Tried again today 20 minutes before the 11am open, still missed. There were already 11 peeps in line.
This ramen shop ONLY has 12 seats. We missed the first seating by one seat. Our party of two had to wait for the second seating. It’s semi-cool, turnover is quick.
This time, wife had wet ramen. I had Tsukamen with dipping broth. We both splashed for the added supplement of extra Cha Siu, Bamboo and the gorgeous Japanese Soft Egg.
Raining like heck throughout the night. We walked around town the last few days and did not see any discernible damage from recent storms or seismic episode.
We will fly to Hiroshima today. The rail to that area is not operating along the route. Other than that, life seems quite normal.
Former Okayama resident here. You indicated that’s on your list of cities.
Some specialties of Okayama include Tsuyama Horumon Udon, Chiya beef (arguably tastier than Kobe beef), Hinase Kakioko (Oyster Okonomiyaki), Takomeshi (Rice with Octopus), and Kibi Dango.
Some specific suggestions:
Ramen - If you go to the castle or Korakuen (or even if you don’t) Tenjin Soba 1-19 Tenjincho, Kita Ward, Okayama, 700-0814
If you’re short on time or the weather is bad, AEON Mall (yes, a mall)
It has a wide variety of good to great restaurants inside, but more importantly has a grocery store on the first floor with a slew of prepared foods - many of which go on sale after 5 pm, so you can try all kinds of things at discounted price. It’s only a 10 minute walk from the main train station. https://aeonmall-okayama.com/
Fantastic!!! Thanks much for your suggestions and advice. Good guidance for us Okayama noobies. Really looking forward to trying the specialties there and Hiroshima.
There is so much good food at every turn!
Haven’t eaten any good beef yet this trip. Must rectify that.
Thanks also on the Aeon Mall. Love food shopping at the mall supers, especially the hour before close. We’ve made many a meal with incredible ingredients at favorable discounts, especially during inclement weather.
Sure thing. I consider Okayama my home away from home so I’m happy to provide suggestions.
If by some miracle you are up late and want drinks in an interesting environment, you may want to check out Magic Pan. It’s a bar/restaurant and the owner is a former flair bartending champion who puts on a show every hour or so. It has a nice view of the small river across the street and is open to some stupid hour like 3 or 5 am. Drinks are mostly of the tropical variety. It’s maybe 10 minutes walk from the station. It’s on the 2nd floor of a building right on the corner so head up the stairs to find the door.
That is Awesom! We are paying $20+++ for a Bowl of decent Ramen and that is before Tip, Back of the House, Medical Insurance, Odd Day of the Week, We Are Too Cool and all the rest of the possible Charges/Fees!
