Satoshi had a class on Saturday, so we didn't do much...plus it had snowed overnight, so the rooftops were white.
The snow melted then fell again in the afternoon.
Sunday the temps were up a bit and the sun was out, so we went to check out the ume (apricot) at Yushima Tenjin (which is also called Yushima Tenmangu).
If you remember, we visited this shrine in September.
But before visiting the shrine, we had lunch at Ponta Honke.
This tiny restaurant has apparently been in business since 1905 and invented their particular way of cooking tonkatsu in lard at a low temperature slowly raising the temperature as it cooks.
Satoshi ordered the kaki fry (fried oysters)...the oysters were huge (maybe 6 to 8 inches long?!) and very "meaty".
Not rubbery like they are sometimes served at other restaurants.
At 3000-something yen, they were worth it.
The coating does fall off when you grab a piece, but the tonkatsu never tastes greasy or heavy.
That little nub off to the right was a deep fried potato.
Everything was delicious!
We were glad we got in at the first seating too...when we left the line outside was long! and the wind super icy.
Definitely not a place to frequent all the time, but I'm glad we got to try them.
They were having their ume matsuri (apricot festival) though many trees still had not bloomed.
Ponta Honke
3-23-3 Ueno
Taito, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3831.2351
Hours: 11:00-14:00 (Lunch), 16:30-20:00 (Dinner)
Closed Mondays
5 comments:
oh man, haven't had fried oysters in ages. I really miss the pre-shucked oysters in a jar that I used to get in Hawaii. I can only find oysters in the shell here, and they aren't big and meaty enough for turning into fried ones.
OMG it's just about a week more! Thank you for posting these pictures of Yushima Tenmangu. Interesting that there are that many people there, almost like hanami, but no drunken revelry?
Or maybe because it was a weekend? I had that on my plan for one of my Tokyo days, and Rikugien.
V
The fried oysters we normally see here Rowena are teeny compared to these!
No drunk revelry, V, but there were tons of people.
Take care you two.
Kat
Those oysters are making me hungry Kat!
I think you would've enjoyed these Kirk :)
Take care.
Kat
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