Seventy Dollar Lunch

So what does a 70-dollar per person meal look like? I took pictures.

To celebrate my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary we took them to a nice Japanese restaurant on the side of a mountain, a 70-bucks per person -- drinks not included -- lunch. The restaurant is called Shofukaku. The price-wise is about mid range.

First we were shown to a nice tatami-matted room with views of the mountains and the sea. Our kimono-clad waitress-lady said it was a lucky room. Yay! for lucky room!

Plum wine is provided to make a toast and then everyone is asked what they really want to drink. Tea and beer for us.

Food-wise we had ten courses. The first one was already waiting for us.



Another.


And another. This one is fish, mushrooms, turnip and fu.


Before I go any further, let's back up to the shrimp. The shrimp is wrapped in thin potato string-like stringy things. But wait. What is holding it up in that interesting position?



That would be a tiny glob of mashed potato and leek. It was very good, actually. Very creative too.



As we'd finish one plate our lady would return to give us more.

Here we have homemade plum tofu with some more shrimp (that funky white thing) in a clear soup.



Can't leave out the sashimi.



A sterno was lit under this little beauty and we were told to wait until it burned out before we opened.

Opening...


Fish, chestnut and konyaku with miso sauce.


And this baby.


It's chawanmushi, a kind of egg custard. Not sweet though.


Something I forgot to take photos of...

And then the waitress asks if it's okay to bring shokuji? Shokuji in Japanese means food or meal. So I made the joke what was it we'd been eating for the last hour if it wasn't shokuji? Evidently not a very funny joke. It ended up being rice, pickled veggies and miso soup.

I also forgot to take a picture of the fruit plate and cakes we had for dessert.



Here's a view from the restaurant. Mount Fuji. It was more stunning in the morning when we went into the restaurant but since we were a little late I didn't take the photo until much later and it had greyed up.



And here's the happy couple. I told them they needed to give each other a kiss. Boy that grossed them out.



All in all it was a very lovely day. Afterward, we went back to their place and play our little concert. Yep. It went down. We got a standing ovation. All I remember is during the second song ("Can't Help Falling in Love") my mother-in-law whispered to my father-in-law, "I think I've heard this song before."

So, yeah. They didn't quite recognize the Elvis classics. But HEY! They clapped and swayed back and forth. That was enough. I'll try to get a video up here in the near future.