Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

   Seeing as I'll be away from Japanese food for a few weeks, we went out for lunch yesterday at Hatchi no Ki, a restaurant in Kamakura that's famous for its amazing food. (Thanks again, Otousan!) ...I think I've posted pictures of it before, maybe last November.
  There are two buildings, one of which serves shojin-ryori (food for Buddhist monks and therefore perfect for any vegetarian guests), and the other of which serves traditional Japanese food. We opted for the non-vegetarian menu this time since everyone in attendance loves fish. (For those of you who don't already know, traditional Japanese food contains little or no meat per se, just fish). It also tends to feature meals that contain tons of small dishes, so this course would've been pretty much impossible to make at home. I didn't include nearly all of the dishes this time, but here are few samples of what we ate.
 

My flight leaves tomorrow afternoon, so my next post will be in a few days from the US!

                                       Yuki enjoying some local beer
 
                             Eel with cucumbers in vinegar dressing, yuba (the top that gets skimmed off when tofu is made), and greens with a sesame sauce