Girls Night Out... with Blowfish!

Back in September, I had the opportunity to hang out with Kim and Shawna at one of Shawna's favorite restaurants in downtown Iwakuni. Thankfully, Shawna can speak Japanese and she was familiar with the menu, otherwise I would have been completely lost! The lady who owned the restaurant and the chef were obviously very fond of Shawna and gave us a very warm reception. The place was so tiny, as are many restaurants in Japan. It's basically one bar with no additional seating, and I would say you could fit 12 people max in there. I honestly don't know how some of these hole in the wall, mom and pop places stay in business, but this restaurant is apparently very popular because they serve really fresh food and have lots of options!

Now, on to the blowfish! In Japan, you have to possess a special chef license to be able to serve blowfish, or "fugu" as it's pronounced in Japanese. This place struck me as a bit dodgy so I'm not sure how legit their license is, LOL. The licenses to serve this fish are very difficult to get which makes this dish pretty expensive thus finding blow fish at a restaurant is really rare! So, I guess I'm lucky I didn't get poisoned, because if the fish is not prepared properly, the blowfish toxin can be lethal when consumed.

Here's the blowfish!

Seaweed, scallions, and a squeeze of lemon added a good flavor to the fish itself. In the background are what we assumed to be livers.

The platter also included fish roe and fish skin.

As you can see, it was served sashimi style - raw and thinly sliced. I honestly didn't think the fish itself had much flavor but when you added all the other components, it was pretty darn good! The livers were actually my favorite part! It's funny though - I feel like I'm getting braver about trying new foods, but I realize I have to eat them when they're brought out super fast before I have time to really look at or think about what I'm about to consume otherwise I may lose my nerve, LOL!

Here's the spread of what Shawna ordered for us, minus the tempura plate and the appetizer of the day that we received as soon as we sat down and the final dish we automatically got at the end (yeah, we ate A LOT). Also notice the plethora of sauces - it was really difficult to remember which sauce went with which dish.

This was the special fish dish of the evening. Tuna, octopus, mackerel (I think) and another white fish that I can't remember. The big leaves on the plate are actually an herb that taste like a cross between mint, basil and cilantro. You're supposed to use them like a burrito and roll up a piece of fish, the other toppings and sauce inside and eat it like a wrap. YUM!

We were sitting at the end of the bar, so this is the extent of the entire place!! That's the chef in white in the back and the owner, the Mama-san, sitting down behind the bar. Apparently some of the regulars down at the other end kept asking if we were married and thought we were all beautiful, LOL. It's interesting to know what the folks are saying - thank you Shawna for your understanding of the language!

At the end of the meal, we all split one beer and toasted to Mama-san and the amazing meal!!!