Ever go to a place and think, "I should tell other people about this place?" or, "I should save this location so I can find it later." Well, I do. So I started logging the spots I visit. Below you'll find a global map of the pins I've dropped so far, as well as a feed of all my latest spots.
(Hint: because the global map contains a lot of closely-clustered pins, you may need to zoom in significantly to select individual spots. Try going full screen!)
I had a few free hours the other day in Akita, and picked (based on a pretty lakeside picture of a red Torii gate alone) Lake Tazawa.
Getting there was probably more involved than the experience was worth:
(If my spidey sense hadn't gone off when I first arrived at the lake shore and decided to hop on the next bus to get to this shrine, I never would have made it back to the station in time. A combination of maturing language ability and dumb luck, I imagine.)
I first visited this yoshoku-style steakhouse in December 2019, then again with Aaron in February 2020.
Four years later, I made a three-hour round trip out of my way to find that the master had handed the business down to his son, and (thankfully) that he was every bit as talented at preparing matsusaka-gyu as his father.
Anyway, here's what 300 grams and ¥15,000 of Japanese sirloin (ロース) steak looks like:
Same as ever. Best steak I've ever had. And compared to Orlando's prices, an absolute steal at $95.
If you like your steak prepared in an American style (that is to say, thick cut, cooked for you, and eaten with a fork and a knife), then this might be the very best way to experience what many consider to be the highest-quality beef in Japan. Super glad I made the trip to come back!
I first visited Kanazawa's incredible fish market last year, including this silly video about my hunt for a fresh fish bowl (kaisen-don):
Well I came back today with the intention of getting there early enough to visit the shop I'd originally intended to go to. Last year it was sold out by the time I got there (noon?) and when I told the chef the story this morning he congratulated me on coming back for a "revenge dish".
So here it is, a crab rice bowl (kani-don):
Would recommend! 🦀
