Hirafu – our last hurrah
March 12th, 2010. Posted by luane
On our last night in Hirafu we decided to venture into Kutchan and go to the highly recommended Torimatsu yakitori restaurant. This is a real local joint and as soon as we walked in were the talk of the restaurant – we even got sent a few sakes just for amusing the crowd!
There is a menu in English which really helps but it is best to communicate with the love of food. The grill is the hero here, and there is a list of all the fish that has been picked up at the local market that morning.
Our dry chilled sake arrived and was poured into a large cup filled to the top and overflowed into a saucer, it is the way the local drink it and tonight we are in for a lot of fun as well as good food and drink.
Seated at the counter, I can’t take my eyes of the grill master. It is great thing to watch as the room fills with smoke and he twirls and moves sticks up and down the grill, at one stage a whole bunch of small whole fish in cages are cooked for a large table of local business guys. Everyone at the counter is amused and bewildered at us being there and enjoying the food so much. We start with a complimentary dashi soup with shredded egg. It is delicate and delicious, the salmon and local mackerel is beautiful sashimi with the freshness of the fish screaming out. The tofu with shaved bonito and horseradish with slices of spring onion and a little soy is wonderful – I love the silky, creamy taste of the tofu made on the premises.
The Maitake mushrooms are a favourite of Sam and mine, just sautéed they taste so pure and balanced and once finished I longed for another plate, but we had ordered heaps of food. I loved the small chunks of delicate cucumber with a sweet taste and amazing crunch, paired beautifully with nutty and salty miso. The chicken and pork yakitori were good and smoky but the stand out for me was the local sausage, this was the best I had tried on the trip. The chicken wings were great to pick up and chew with your fingers dripping with juice, smoky, crisp and melting flesh between the bones, I love it! The grilled onions with shaved bonito were so sweet, a local specialty here and I would love a salad of them just dressed with extra virgin olive oil and Fourm vinegar to go with any summer BBQ. The skate wing was our last dish and by this stage about three cups of sake had gone down, we were really into the smoky roar of the local crowd drinking eating and having fun. We shredded the sweet delicate fish off the cartilage, and although our tummies were bulging, we were having such a great time and wanted more. Luckily sanity prevailed and we arranged a taxi and the bill, it was crazy cheap. All that food and sake for less than $100, it was so much fun, we will be back for sure.
Tags: food stories, Japan, Neil Perry, Restaurants, reviews, Rockpool Sydney, travel
