The little fish that could

We headed out to Akabane today to enjoy the Akabane Fools Festival.  We knew it would be small, but feature a parade, which is always fun for our son.  We found that we could take the bus, with only one transfer, which would keep us at street level for the trip.  Our son often complains about spending so much time underground when we are traveling, so it is nice to be able to stay above ground whenever we can.

After disembarking the bus, we found the festival.  It consisted of just a couple of booths selling beer, candy, and a couple other beverage options.  There was also a stage providing a variety of singing and dance performances.  The parade wasn't going to start for over an hour, so we decided to find a local restaurant to eat lunch at before the big attraction began.

We were looking for a soba restaurant owned by a friend's family, but it turns out it is closed on Sundays!  So, we were not able to dine there.  While we walked back toward the station (where everything was set up for the festival), we wandered past a fish restaurant that looked really good to me. 

Ajiya offered one type of fish on their menu - aji, or horse mackerel.  Aji is a very versatile small fish that can be served raw, grilled, or fried.  This restaurant served it all three ways.

Upon entering, we purchased our meals using a vending machine which printed out tickets after we paid.  We handed the tickets to a restaurant employee and we were seated at a table.  Our meals came quickly and we dug right in.

Our son ordered the kids set, featuring rice with seaweed, french fries (a staple on kids plates in Japan these days), a small cup of soup, and aji tempura.  He loved the meal and ate it all, except for some of the fries.  It wasn't quite enough for his 5 year old appetite, so he also enjoyed some of our meals as well.

My husband ordered a combination plate with fried aji, miso soup, pickled cucumbers, some vegetables, and a rice bowl with raw aji on top.  It was a large meal, but he enjoyed every bite.

I selected a different combination plate with fried aji, fried aji meatball, and fried aji fishcake, as well as plain rice, miso soup, and vegetables.  It was a fantastic meal, but I felt full very quickly and needed help to finish.

While Ajiya wasn't the soba we were looking for, it was very delicious and we were all happy with our meal choices.  Aji is a delicious fish that can be found all over Japan.  We eat it in some form or another at least every other week!  While delicious fried and raw, my favorite way to eat it is grilled.  But I tend to make grilled aji at home and eat it raw or fried in restaurants.