After a lovely day including Japanese class for me, school for my son, baking zucchini muffins for friends (which they loved), and playing at the park (it was actually a beautiful day); I wanted to take it easy and dine out.
There are several restaurants near our local train station. Since we didn't want to be out too late (son's bedtime), we decided to go to the izakaya. An izakaya is a restaurant with only small dishes of food, similar to tapas. I love going to these places with friends because you get little bites of so many different types of food.
I also like that many of these restaurants in Japan have enclosed booths. The little rooms allow for privacy and a more relaxed atmosphere.
Tonight, my husband ordered for us, which is pretty normal for us these days. He picked several dishes he thought we would enjoy.
We started with a salad called "colorful tofu salad." It was a green salad with tofu, tomatoes, peppers, thinly shredded yuba (tofu skin) that was dyed various colors, and topped with sesame dressing. It was big enough to share between the three of us.
Then came our egg dishes. My husband knows how much our son loves tamagoyaki - a rolled omelet. It is served with grated daikon radish. He also ordered one of my favorites - marinated quail eggs. The eggs are hard boiled and then soaked for days in a savory broth.
The stuffed eggplant was a very surprising treat. It was almost like gratin inside an eggplant! It was creamy, cheesy, and filled with goodness. It was rather rich, so it was another great dish to share. Just a couple bites was all we needed.
We ended our meal with a small nabe - soup that is cooked at the table. The chanko nabe had pieces of chicken, chicken meatballs, and some vegetables. The light flavorful broth was a much desired contrast to the heavy eggplant.
Going to an izakaya is a great option for people who aren't sure what they want. There is typically also a lot of fried food options, we just didn't want that tonight.
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