New Restaurant

Kelly and I noticed a new restaurant a last week when we first took Marley to his new school.  It is near the station and only about 15 minutes away walking.  We have wanted to try it but it never seemed to work out when we wanted to.  Yesterday we went swimming at the pool and then decided to try the new restaurant for lunch.  Oh are we glad we did!

We haven't found a noddle place we liked in town yet.  All the ones near us either only have ramen (which Seth doesn't like) or they are always full of smokers.  So when we went to this new place we saw they had udon and soba from the pictures in the window and were excited.  The place was completely empty except for the lady at the register.  She looks at us and nods. She then walks over with two mugs of hot green tea and two plastic cups of water.  She hands the teas to Kelly and Seth and then the waters to Marley and me.  It was clear she thought I was not only their child but not old enough to have a cup of hot tea.  We waited until she walked back into the kitchen before we all started laughing.  Kelly kept asking if she really looked old enough to be my mother, shes only 36.  The whole meal we all made funny comments about it.  Seth made a comment on improving my grades and stop partying while Kelly told me the soup was going to be hot and I should wait until she cooled it for me haha

Besides being treated like a preteen the meal was excellent! There was no actual menu with pictures or words even, just a list of Kanji characters.  So when she came over we just said 2 udon and 1 soba hoping we'd get something good.  It was!  I definitely like udon much better than soba.  Udon are thicker noodles while soba noodles are thinner and resemble spaghetti noodles.  The soup came with a tempura prawn and some sort of white and pink seafood-ish thing.  We have seen this pink and white piece of food on several dishes and in menu pictures.  We have even seen it the pink and white formed into a pig's face.  So I Googled "pink and white Japanese food in noodle dish" tonight.  I wish I hadn't haha

It is called Kamaboko, a Japanese fish cake.  It is processed white fish pureed and combined with additives such as MSG.  It is formed into two loafs, one pink and one white.  It is then artfully combined to form shapes, spirals, and other creations.  In the early years Kamaboko was made with minced catfish.  Kelly and I both agree it tastes a little like processed ham.

But we liked the restaurant and will definitely be returning soon!