tokyo part 3

we were fortunate to be able to go out to a fancy japanese dinner with the hinos while we were in tokyo.  we sat in our own private room and we definitely ate things we have never before eaten.  it was a great dinner.

this slate that they cooked all of our food on is actual lava rock from mount fuji.

our table was in the ground.  so we sat on the floor and our legs were able to hang down into the floor.

everything was so beautifully prepared and in the most gorgeous dishes.  this was a pallet-cleansing salad.

and then came time for all the meat.  ryan was so excited.  our cooks were beautiful japanese women dressed in traditional kimono. we had pork, shrimp and beef.  when they prepared the shrimp, they cut off the tail, but kept the rest of the body on the grill to make it nice and crispy.  it was the first time that we had eaten an ENTIRE shrimp.

the location of the restaurant was in the middle of what could have been paradise.  it was surrounded by cherry blossoms, hugged by a tiny stream that released a small waterfall hovering above flowers.

we had a wonderful trip visiting the hinos and tokyo.  we taught them how to do ugly face, shaky face and to play our favorite card game, 1400.