June 2008
The Tuesday Coffee Morning Girls have decided we need a well-deserved night out on the town. What fun!
Peggy chose the restaurant – a wonderful fish place. To get there, though, was a bit of an adventure. All four of us met in Shibuya then walked. And walked; luckily this is Peggy's stomping ground so knew where we were going. We eventually found ourselves in an old street that, from first impressions, looked quite historical and attractive. Until you realised there were several groups of gaijin men around. Peggy then announced that we were just up the road from a series of the infamous Love Hotels! Never mind; not interested.
We entered a tiny, cramped restaurant that apparently has a fabulous reputation. Sadly, I cannot remember the name now. It is usual here to ask the chef to serve whatever's best on the menu, or a set meal – which is the same thing really.
We started with sashimi that was the best I've ever tasted. The chef gamely tried to tell us what the various fish were, but even though we had our Japanese friend with us, it was hard to translate. It didn't really matter as it was all delicious and melted in the mouth. We had real wasabi too. It came as a fresh root and a small pottery dish with spikes inside. Thank goodness Yoko was with us as she knew what to do and expertly grated the sinus-clearing green condiment.
The restaurant was so small and so cramped that we were sitting almost on top of the neighbouring tables. As is common in Japanese restaurants, all the dishes get delivered to the table as soon as they are cooked. Soon we had to balance plates precariously around us while we ate dish after delectable dish.
Once finished, we extricated ourselves from the overcrowded eatery and headed off somewhere else. Next stop was a very posh bar high above the Shibuya streets. This was where we discovered that Deb was terrified of heights, so we poured a drink down her and left – the place had glass walls, not a good choice from someone with altophobia (apparently this is a word…).
We found another bar – you can't call them pubs as they have a very different 'flavour' and style.
I don't remember much else, apart from Deb and Yoko heading home while Peggy and I were having a deep conversation about the trials and tribulations our children are going through at school (there's bullying - I don't want to write about it just yet). We decided to find somewhere other than the street to talk and quickly found a basement bar which had only just opened, so it was empty.
I got home at 5am and watched the sun come up.
This is something I haven't done for years!
