Ton Tong and dancing shrimp

When in Bangkok, we always make an effort to catch up with Brandon. We spent a bit of time working with him at Parrot Cay, he's a great guy, and must be as passionate about music as we are for food. Which means we always end up at some crazy Thai restaurant / bar out in the 'burbs listening to some super funky Thai folk music. And tonight is no exception !!

We know Brandon is working tonight, so decide to grab some dinner and wait for the call. We end up at Vientiane kitchen down on Suk Soi 36 after some Northern Thai / Loas cuisine. Little did we know we were in for some awful live music / performance. The food was okay, probably just such horrible association because of the deafening music.



Once we get the call we're told to head over to some obscurely random bar in some obscurely random place ... we try to relay to the taxi, but end up calling again and letting Brandon explain. About half an hour later we arrive ..... Andrew, another guy we worked with at Parrot Cay, along with one of his friends was also there. Just nice to catch up and have a chat. We quickly go through a bottle of Thai whiskey and listen to one band before skipping over to the other side of town to Ton Tong.



A few of the musicians who had just played also come along ... again, more Thai whiskey and a bit of food. First up, dancing shrimp; a dish we had not yet tried despite all our visits to Thailand. The little dish arrives and it's as if you can hear them kicking ...... live baby shrimp drowned in a fish sauce, lime and chilli dressing. Brandon gives them a little shake to slow up their movement.



There's loads of fresh vegetables on the side to be eaten along with it .... Then the little fella's are revealed. Kim and I both dive in, wanting to experience the sensation. And it's quite a sensation ... my first bite I actually had them sticking to my lips, tongue and roof of my mouth, the little spiky bits hurting like hell. But a little chomp and there's a firework like explosion of flavors, loads of dried chili, lime and lemongrass and cold, sweet little shrimp.



The next thing we were rather skeptical of was the sashimi. Sure, the fish was live, but it was swimming around in a murky warm water tank. After our time in Japan, I wasn't even keen to try it. I appreciate great sashimi, but really despise bad stuff. The fish is sliced as if a 1st year apprentice did it, there's some vegetable julienne and celery leaves along with enough wasabi to knock out the Japan winter ski team. I guess for Thai's in order to get the chili kick they require from wasabi they need that much?!



Kim tries the sashimi with the verdict that it's bloody horrible, so I just stick to the Thai whiskey ....

A great night spent with friends, old and new!

Torimatsu

Getting taken to a local spot by locals is always a sweet deal, you get the fast lane to a hot spot with out having to chance lady luck (though we have a fairly high sucess rate with random walk ins).

On this night we were out with Yoanna and Hisashi of Gyu+ fame, they were keen to show us their favourite iyzakaya in K-town.  Torimatsu has been running for many years and is wildly popular amongst those in the know, the getting to be in the know is the hard part, another great restaurant another small inconspicuous no english marked building.



The place was pumping but we managed to secure 4 spots at the bar right in front of the master, the whole night he was a constant blur of movement but still finding time to have a few words.

We left the ordering in capable hands and just sat back and waited.  First up with our first beer a snack plate of pickled octopus and seaweed.

Then a selection of yakitori; tsukone, this time the chicken mince rolled into little balls and skewered with the traditional egg yolk on the side.



Chicken breast spaced with lightly charred onion.



Pork belly grilled golden, mmmmmm porksicles.



And a new one for us pork lung, not one to say no, it tasted mild offaly with a firm texture, I quite liked it, but then I quite like offal.



We then moved onto a parcel of green onion wrapped in beancurd skin and grilled, wow so yummy.

Starting to feel quite good at this point, but that was just a warm up now the food really started flowing.

A fine sashimi plater of scallop, conch, octopus,mackeral, red snapper, himachi, a real cornicopia.



We were also presented with a do it yourself grill of squid unfortunatly the pics are a little blurry.  Then a delivery of two very fine grilled fish, one with a long dragon shaped head (names anyone??) First we pulled off the skin and reutrned it to the master, while we proceded to pick the flesh from the bones he grilled the skin crispy then returned it to our plates, lovely.



The other fish much more of a round shape, butterflied and grilled skin side down for the most of the process then quickly cooked on the glazed side. This fish had so much fat it was like a whole fish made of salmon belly, incredible, when we get the names we'll update ya.



The next dish took several repertitions as we could not quite believe what we were being told and then that no-one had told us earlier....ostrich sashimi. Not only ostrich but farmed just down the road, I mean seriously Hokkaido has every thing. Lean and a little gamey, very good.



A half chicken crispy fried and served with lemon and a pair of sissors, the name sake of the restaurant, Torimatsu. Super crispy skin but soft moist flesh, it vanished in a flash. I loved the sissors as the cutting tool so messy and interactive without being deadly.



"Now for dessert" sweet, sweets. Not your usual kinda sweet offerings but in this case meant as what Y and H usually have to end the meal.

Rice soup with umeboshi plum (which we have since found out is an apricot). Love rice soup and with it's subtle ume flavor this one was no exception.



Mochi cheese-u was the next to follow, wheels of soft potato stuffed with cheese and deep fried. I love these desserts.



By now we were all ready to bust but now due to the fact Yoanna had done the translation of the menu to english and that they were very much regulars there was a very special little treat for us that night. A whole hairy crab, wow!

Yoanna eagerly showed how to dismember the wee beasty. So sweet and very deserved of it's reputation as one of the worlds finest crustateans.




As we bid all a good night and rolled out there was some careful landmark noting to ensure a return visit will be possible.



Torimatsu
0136-23-2893.
North 3, West 1

Kutchan-cho, Hokkaido 

FujiSushi, Niseko Hirafu

This is our first shot at a sushi place in Japan we're both very excited.
Fujisushi is just across the road from work and always has a crowd.. out the front is a glass display case filled with models of the food you could be enjoying should you choose to partake in this establishment. I love that there's a whole industry dedicated to making life like food models, there's so much thought and attention put in to them.



Inside we sit an have a look at the menu. At a lot of Asian places some times the menu in English is minuscule compared to the one written in the native tongue, feels like your missing out on all the good stuff. The menu here is after a quick look the same size so you are free to enjoy the delights of a whole bowl of cod roe or raw squid noodles should you so feel like. Kat is a bit under the weather so she goes for a simple all in one bowl of pork katsu and egg on rice, it's simple but delicious and as well as the generous portion it is accompanied by miso soup, a pickle of diakon and cucumber and a small salad of unknown ingredients, all very good.



I opt for the tempura set, the tray comes out and it's huge, there's the tempura which includes two prawns and a great selection of veg, a fish soup, a chawanmushi with chicken and shitake, two types of pickle, a selection of sashimi, rice, an orange and oddly enough a small macaroni salad. The tempura is light and crunchy, the sashmi fresh and every thing is tasty even the macaroni, there's easily more than enough for one person, still rather that than not enough.



Funny, our first sushi restaurant in Japan and we had no sushi, still there's always next time and from the friendly service and tasty treats there definitely will be.

Fujisushi
Opposite the Seicomart