[Kanazawa, Japan] Izakaya Fuwari 風和利

After the brief detour to Shiragawa, we headed to Kanazawa on the coast. Kanazawa is the capital of the Ishikawa prefecture and I had been looking forward to all the eats in this segment of the trip!

Our hotel was across the street from the Omicho Market. We made a reservation at an izakaya a block away in a quiet alleyway called Fuwari. Their reservation was hard to come by and we had to eat super early (for an izakaya meal) but its well worth it.

Fuwari made it easy to order for the gaijins- they translated their entire menu into English, with all their recommendations, not just the portion that interested the gaijins.

We just ended up ordering a bunch of stuff that was recommended on the menu:

Signature pressed sushi. Its good.

Grilled chicken neck and potato with soy butter sauce.

An assortment of yakitoris:

Grilled rice ball in fish broth. Yum.

Lotus root tempura:

Fried chicken with vinegar broth, onion, shiso leaf, scallion. Well done.

Grilled octopus with green onion:

I don’t remember exactly what this was but it might be grilled garlic:

Shrimp croquette:

Breaded horse mackerel:

Deepfried eggplant and mochi in tempura sauce:

Grilled zucchini:

And the last dish- local oysters. I always try local oysters where available. This one was a total disappointment after a whole meal of good food. :sweat_smile: Completely bland. Oh well, can’t have it all.

Overall, Fuwari was an izakaya doing creative, delicious food all around. A welcomed introduction to Kanazawa.

Even the bus was cute in Japan:

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Looks good and reasonable prices. English translations a +, Izakaya Fuwari marked. We’re planning to hit either the Kanazawa or Kyshu area in a few months.

Too bad your oyster was bland and unsatisfactory. Somewhat unusual to see less than optimal presentation and taste in any Japanese eatery. The Fuwari oyster looks like an amateur hack job. (or, was it intentionally cut into smaller pieces?)

Had one of my most memorable and delicious oysters in recent memory in the Omicho market. Plump, juicy and tasting of the sea. Freshly shucked by a monger who probably opens > 1,000/day.

ETA: I like the note about otoshi at Y400, “a sort of cover charge”. Can’t recall noting it on any menu before, although I’m sure I’ve just never noticed previously.

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For otoshi, they usually give you some pickles and little snack to start out with, to perhaps prevent people to just order a bottle of sake and little else?

I forgot to take a picture of the sake though I very much enjoyed it along with many others we got with meals in Japan. On average the quality level for sake was very high over there.

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We’ve had some forgettable otoshi, which is ok. Price of entry, seat charge.

The BEST otoshi was at an Izakaya in Tokyo. Otoshi was a Croquette filled with a oozy creamy filling, like a chicken pot pot, in a good way.

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Wow. That’s enough to fill up somebody with a small appetite!