Thanks - Part Two

宮崎市　－　Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Pref.
居酒屋でんでんでんありがとう！
Thanks to Dendenden Izakaya!

延岡市　ー　Nobeoka City, Miyazaki Pref.
延岡駅の近くに居酒屋呑んのん有ります、皆さんありがとうございました。色々美味しかった！
Thanks to Izakaya Nonnon for some great food, sake and fantastic service from all the lovely ladies. We will never forget the female customer who downed loads of whisky, passed out and then, soon after waking up, was sick all over herself and couldn't stop crying - even after the youngest grandaughter of the owner cleaned her up (she was a boxer too! They're everywhere in Kyushu!). She sounded like a cat being strangled or an erotic trombone! Thanks ladies!!!! 居酒屋呑んのん　NonNon

豊後大野、三重町、大分県。　Bungoono, Mie Town, Oita Pref.
魚レストラン喜久の安田家族は本当に、本当にありがとうございました！
店の食べ物はめちゃめちゃすごかった！皆様は本当に優しかった、ありがとう！！！
Thanks so, so much to Restaurant Kiku in Mie Town. The food was quite extraordinary. I got to catch my own fish (filefish/leatherfish?) from a large tank inside the restaurant, which main man Takeshi then gutted and prepared into amazing sashimi, ably assisted by James! He served the sashimi with an amazing Jalapeno dressing, a recipe that he has perfected since his time working at the Nobu restaurant in London. Not only was the food top class and absolutely remarakable, given the quaint, seemingly uninhabited town it is situated in, but the sake was also pretty damn good too. To top it all off the family invited us to spend the night in the Izakaya and supplied us with provisions for the following day. As has been mentioned, it was not the first time I have fallen asleep in an Izakaya (and probably not the last), but it was the first time I have purposely slept on a bed of izakaya floor cushions surrounded by bottles of booze...great feeling!
The next day we were taken on a brief tour of Mie and then Taketa Town. The waterfalls of Ono Town were breathtaking.

The kindness and generosity shown to us will not be forgotten and it definitely spurred us on for the remainder of our journey - Thank you ever so much for everything!
For Kiku location and contact info check here - Kiku Restaurant

Top photo is of me and Mrs Yasuda. The bottom one is of James and Takeshi, her son and chef that studied and worked for three years at the Michelin-starred Nobu London restaurant, which you can find out about here Nobu London

日田市、大分県　ー　Hita City, Oita Pref
焼とり一幸のマスター、ママ、とお客様はありがとうございました！！！
メニュは本当にオリジナルとうまい！サッポロ生ビールも美味しかった！三九！焼とり一幸日田

Thanks to Yakitori Ichikou in Hita City. We were initially drawn to this place because it had the same name as the fantastic place with "the boxer with the big head" that we had previously got sloshed-up at in Miyakonojou City, Miyazaki Prefecture. We soon realised that this establishment not only had a great name but great food, drinks and customers to boot! Our amazing run of stumbling upon "Izakaya Gold" was continuing unabated until the last evening, Yay! The menu was pretty spectacular for such a humble looking restaurant... I will write more about it in a future food blog, but here is a taster - lovely beef ribs!!

You can find out more info on the restaurant here Yakitori Ikou Hita

The third and final installment of our Thanks will be published tomorrow