March 29, 2013

Izakaya Houryou/居酒屋豊漁

Edited to add price information where appropriate.
価格情報を追加しました。
 
Today, three of us, my wife, daughter, and me, went to the izakaya Houryou, the izakaya that opened last year near my house. The time has come to use the tickets I got at the tasting party.
今日は、私たち三人(妻、娘、私)は居酒屋「豊漁」に行きました。去年、家の近くにできた居酒屋です。試食パーティーでもらった券を使う時が来ました。 
 
Houryou means good catch (of fish). Recently, they placed this boat in their premises. What a surprise!
豊漁とはgood catch (of fish)という意味です。最近、この船が敷地内に設置されました。ビックリしました。
 
Sorry, too drunk to provide any decent descriptions.
すみませんが、酔っていて、まともな説明ができません。
Edited to add:  Now that I am sober, I can provide some descriptions.
追記: もうしらふになったので、ちょっと説明を付けます。

A mug of beer and the otoshi (squid) last night:
ジョッキ一杯のビールと昨日のお通し:
An otoshi is a small appetizer that you are served first when you enter an izakaya.
NOTE: An otoshi is not free. You will be charged for it. Roughly, an otoshi is around 300-500 yen.
お通しとは、居酒屋に入って最初に出されるちょっとしたappetizerです。
注: お通しは無料ではありません。料金を請求されます。大まかに言って、お通しの値段は300~500円程度です。
Otoshi: 330 yen
Beer: Complimentary, thanks to the izakaya's flyer that we brought with us, which said you are entitled to a complimentary mug of beer if you bring it with you.
お通し: 330円
ビール: 無料(持っていけばビールが一杯無料でもらえると書いてあった居酒屋のチラシを持って行ったため)

I ordered the shochu and soft drink nomi houdai (drink as much as you can) (90 minutes) plan (1,490 yen).
This plan enables you to select two from among 20 appetizers. As requested by my daughter, I selected french fries (fried potato in Japanese), and
私は焼酎・ソフトドリンク飲み放題(90分)プラン(1,490円)を頼みました。
このプランでは、20種類のおつまみから2種類選べます。娘のリクエストに従って、フライドポテトを選び、
I selected chicken karaage.
鶏の唐揚げを選びました。
A glass of shochu diluted with water.
水で薄めた焼酎:
I had five or so glasses of shochu in total, by diluting with different liquids (green tea, oolong tea, orangeade, and ginger ale).
焼酎は、薄める液を変えながら(緑茶、ウーロン茶、オレンジジュース、ジンジャエール)、全部で5杯くらい飲みました。

My wife ordered a tonkotsu miso ramen.
妻は「とんこつ(豚骨)味噌ラーメン」を頼みました。

790 yen.
790円。

My daughter ordered an "ebi-bonara" spaghetti. Ebi means prawn (shrimp, lobster). As you can easily imagine, it's carbonara with prawns in it.
娘は「エビボナーラ」スパゲティーを頼みました。エビとはprawn (shrimp, lobster)の意です。ご想像の通り、エビの入ったカルボナーラです。
890 yen.
890円。

I later ordered a mushroom pizza.
後できのこピザを頼みました。
790 yen.
790円。

"Retro" poster:
レトロなポスター:
Interior of the izakaya:
居酒屋の内部:
These citrus fruits, offered for free, were VERY DELICIOUS!
無料のこの柑橘系の果物がとても美味しかったです。
The owner/chef said they were arita mikan.
オーナーシェフによると、有田みかんだそうです。
We had a good time, but I thought it was not a good idea to take non-drinkers to an izakaya after all.
楽しい時を過ごしましたが、お酒を飲まない人を居酒屋に連れて行くのはよくないなあ、と思いました。

8 comments:

okasan said...

All you can drink in 90 minutes plus 2 appetizers for 1490yen, that's a sweet deal! I think you got your money's worth! Yeah, you don't want to be the only drinker at the table.
Tonkotsu ramen is one of my favorite ramen. While in New York earlier this month we waited an hour and a half to have a bowl of ramen! It wasn't even weekend at prime time. The busyness was because New York Times rated it as the best ramenya in NYC! It was good but I won't wait that long next time.

Hiroyuki said...

okasan: This izakaya offers three nomi houdai + 2 appetizers plan:
soft drink for 990 yen
shochu and soft drink for 1,490 yen
draft beer, shochu, local sake, and soft drink for 2,490 yen

If I hadn't been on a diet, I would have selected the third one!

Ramen is that popular in NYC???

Fräulein Trude said...

Carbonara with shrimps is a good idea. I wonder how this Izakaya manages to survive with those low price offers. The bar we are visiting once a month offers a membership for 1 year for 25 Euros. Members only pay half the price for drinks. This is also a great deal because we always drink a lot of cocktails (and have to suffer the next day...)

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki:

>I wonder...
That's a good question! According to their menu, a glass of chuhai (shochu + water, tea, etc.) costs 420-490 yen. But, anyway, as far as I am concerned, the cheaper the better (laugh).

You will be disappointed when you visit an izakaya in Japan, because an izakaya usually doesn't serve cocktails.

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki! Who would need a cocktail in an izakaya if you can have "shochu rokku"! (I have fallen in love with these huge Japanese ice cubes. We never have these in Europe (at least I have never seen anywhere). Of course it's nicer to get drunk with someone...
I like your izakaya more and more. I will ask the exact name and address if I come to your city one day. I am especially attracted by the "all-you-can-drink" option ;-)
I think ramen would be popular all around the world if only people started opening ramen shops... I have recently even seen a ramen shop in Lyon (France)! There were Japanese-looking cooks and it looked very Japanese... Unfortunately I have seen it only after my lunch, but we will test it next time we go there. It's cheap and looks delicious.

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: I didn't think that the ice cubes were particularly huge... Anyway, I liked them because they were crystal clear, not opaque like the ones we make in our home fridge.

I have already provided the exact name of the izakaya: Houryou, and it's about a 20-minute walk from JR Shiozawa Station.

As for nomi houdai, there are many izakaya that offer similar plans.

As for ramen, I often think that the most difficult part of ramen eating is that many non-Japanese people just can't slurp!

Sissi said...

Haha! You are right about slurping. It's horribly bad manners to make sounds when eating in Western countries...
Thank you for the address.
I must look out for this offer in other izakayas too.

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: Yes, I know. making sounds and burping while eating are much less offensive in Japan. In Japan, table manners are closely associated with the handling of chopsticks.