Damn, that was something special!
For my birthday, Marthese organised an evening at one of the best Kobe Steak restaurants in Japan (we’re still not entirely sure what it’s called, we think it might be called simply “Kobe Steak”). Our chef cooked on the hotplate directly in front of us and chatted with us all night, while cooking absolutely divine meat and veggies for us. The steak was out of control delicious, basically melted in my mouth. Despite the chef being politely bemused by Marthese’s vegetarianism (“Do you drink alcohol?”) and at one point cutting up small pieces of the steak for her to try, he was entirely accommodating and ensured Marthese had a wonderful meal. A truly memorable meal, one that will be hard to beat! Thanks, Marthese, an incredible birthday treat.
The restaurant was in Ginza, the classier end of town, and we popped into the Sony Building before dinner and checked out the wonderfully presented showcase. It still feels like a missed opportunity that they haven’t got permanent historical exhibitions, opting instead to have their top floor exhibition space dedicated to Mariah Carey music videos in “HD”. A fun visit though, and I stopped myself from buying a super fancy new tablet to replace this dying one. Got Tez some much needed Noise Canceling headphones for surprisingly cheap, though!
After our feast we made our way back to Shibuya to take in the lights and some live music on the street. Heading back to our apartment, we popped into a small basement bar where I suspect we paid a little too much for the amount of Sake they gave us, but the peaceful atmosphere and charming hosts (one who spoke passable English and another who spoke none) made it worthwhile.
These hosts were also quite curious about Marthese’s vegetarianism. “Do you eat beef? Oh, no, OK. Um, do you eat fish? OOOHH, OK. Do you eat cheese? AH YES! Aaahhhhh, cheeeeesee!!! Very good!”
Below are some photos from Marthese’s mobile:
Elias Rambles 