My first proper Japanese meal in Japan was in an exquisite restaurant in the KKR Hotel. The hotel isn’t very big, and seems targeted primarily for business travelers from what I’ve observed. There’s hardly any families in the hotel. Instead, every other day there’d be a seminar or conference on the third floor with a lot of well-dressed Japanese in business wear around. All the better for me too: when I think of Phuket, Ayara Hilltops Resort and the dozens of noisy Singaporean families, I shudder!
The Matsuri Restaurant itself is located on the fourth floor and offers a scenic view of Kumamoto Castle sitting on top of the hill. The restaurant adjourns an open-air garden balcony too which I think will offer some amazing photo opportunities. My Thursday lecture will begin in the early afternoon (my lectures at the college begin at 0830 normally), so I’ll have a bit more time that day during breakfast to step out of the restaurant then to take pictures.
Coming back to my second day dinner: here’s what it all looks like: beginning with a nicely laid out table and dinner tray. No clue what the Japanese characters mean though: maybe I’ll get one of my Japanese students to translate.
Beginning with appetizers: from the left, a sort of cheese cake/toufu, a cold-dish that tasted like crab meat and octopus, and a spicy veg side.
The followed by sashimi of two types: yummy!
Then a tempura-liked breaded crumb fish/prawn something, sprinkled with lemon juice. Very yummy!
And then the main course: a sort of spicy soup with fish and toufu, miso soup, rice, vegetable sides, and tea. The waitress staff politely asked – twice – if I wanted more rice.:)
And dessert, but not before a story. Neither of the three kimonoed waitresses serving could speak English, or rather I couldn’t speak a word of Japanese, so there was some difficulty for them to ask if I wanted dessert. The wait staff repeated the word “desehto” several times, and had to run back into the kitchen each time to get a new translation. And I could only managed “Er, I’m so sorry – I don’t understand…?” The ding-donging went on for five minutes until she gave up: she disappeared into the kitchen, and brought out this tray:
And that was only when I realized that she meant “dessert” LOL.
you can say “OISHII!!!!!!” and say it with a lot of feeling like going to cry like that =D i think the japanese words say “four seasons’s something” and “kumamoto city/castle view, special/premium banquet or something like that” haha… it’s actually in kanji which is chinese characters so if you can read chinese you can agar agar guess the meaning.
haha… that’s how japanese speak english… they’d say “dezaato” to mean dessert haha… milk is “miruku” haha
wa… salivating neh… =PPPPP i can’t wait ^^
next time you can say “wakarimasen”. it means “i don’t understand.” sounds like hokkien for “wa kwa li ma sian” (i see you also sian) haha
oishi!!!
AHHHHHH!!!!! Dear, I’m so envious!
Looks wonderful. I think you’ll be doing just fine. : )
btw the meaning of the words on the placement is i agar agar guess one hor LOL better ask your jap students to confirm haha…