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Zen – Hakuba, Japan

March 16, 2012
Japan, Japanese
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Zen – Hakuba, Japan

Although Zen is known for it’s Soba, their Japanese small plates are a great option as well, especially for larger groups.  Reservations are recommended although not necessary.  Typically tatami mats can be a little uncomfortable but here they have seat backs to help your back and make it a little more comfortable.  Below are my favorites dishes of the night.  The menu is quite large so if you have a good group you can get away with ordering a lot of dishes for everyone to try.

Sashimi – Salmon and Tuna Sashimi

Tataki Kyuuri – cucumber with spicy Japanese sauce

Chicken Karaage – Fried Chicken

Agedashi do-fu – deep fried tofu in soup

Yanaimno – yanaimo and spicy roe pizza

Tako no peperonti-no – octopus with spicy olive oil and garlic sauce

Assorted Tempura

Gobou no Karaage – deep fried burdock

Maeda – Hakuba, Japan

March 5, 2012
Japan, Japanese
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Maeda – Hakuba, Japan

Every year we go back to Hakuba my husband and I make this restaurant a must for lunch.  It usually happens on our first day in town because we’ve been thinking about it for a year and just can’t wait any longer.

The katsudon is to die for.  The breaded pork cutlet is so tender and with the egg on top and the perfect rice underneath, this dish disappears fast!  Another favorite is the tempura udon and most recently for me the tempura soba…same dish just with buckwheat soba noodles instead of the udon noodles.

I’m not sure what this was but it was so tasty.  Some sort of pickled or fermented vegetable.  That’s a vague description but I really have no inkling as to what it was.  Most likely a veggie we don’t have in the states.

This was some of the BEST Kimchi I’ve ever had!  I could have eaten this whole plate by myself.  Next time:)

My tempura soba…DE-lish!  I couldn’t eat even half the noodles but I loved everything about this.  You could tell the noodles were made fresh…they were incredible!  I’m probably going to be dreaming about this until the next time we get back here.

My husband’s tempura udon…you can’t go wrong with this one!

Mmmm…the katsudon…this is unbelievable – that is assuming you eat pork.  I’m afraid to try this dish in the states assuming it might not live up to my expectations.  I don’t want to ruin it.

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