Gastronomy a go-go

Food served in a traditional ryokan is haute cuisine, and we have had the hautiest! Two dinners and two breakfasts following a set pattern, even though each one was completely different. Each dinner includes a series of small appetizers, mostly seafood, a plate of sashimi (thinly sliced raw fish), then a hot pot (such as sukiyaki). There is a miso soup, plain steamed rice, a tempura (lightly battered and then deep fried), Japanese pickles and 'salad'. Then dessert, which is usually fruit or jelly. I forgot to take photos of those - a slice of melon the first night and a trio of light jelly, sliced orange and a perfect strawberry the second night the first night we had plum wine with dinner, not because it was a particularly good choice with food, but because we love plum wine and haven't had it in ages. the second night we shared a small bottle of sake form the Hakone region, which was a much better food pairing choice.

Here are photos of our two dinners:

Now breakfast is a slightly different combination of dishes, even though to our western eyes, it seemed more like dinner than the bowl of corn flakes we grew up with. Here, there is always an egg dish, a fish, and a lighter miso, as well as streamed rice and tofu. We both tried each thing, and there might have been one or two items that were less to one taste or another, but collectively all the food was incredibly delicious and beautifully displayed. Corn flakes will never look the same. 

At the end of our second breakfast we were brought a cup of very good coffee. To prepare us for the outside world again perhaps? Well, they can try, but I think we could get used to living like this!