Lunches to Remember

On Wednesday, we went into Tokushima to meet Tomi and Kiyo-san, Ayu's mom and grandmother, for lunch at one of their favorite raman restaurants.

There's a wait to get in which is common with popular ramen places at lunch. It was a very hot day and Kiyo-san brought her umbrella to provide some shade.


This is very traditional ramen. The broth simmers for about 24 hours, and the egg cooks in the hot broth. There's a hunk of pork, some sprouts, cut-up veggies, and perfectly cooked ramen noodles. Eating noodles with hashi (chopsticks) takes some practice, and it is perfectly acceptable to pick up the bowl, get a mound of noodles with your hashi and suck it in with slurping sound and all!  It was utterly delicious and totally satisfying.

We capped it off with a visit to a wonderful second-hand clothing store, and then Ayu put us on the bus back to Kamiyama. Sitting up high on the bus gave a different view than from the little cars.


Today we walked over to a local restaurant here in Kamiyama for lunch. It is run by friends of Micah and Ayu, and we had yet another utterly delectable meal! 




There are no choices, and this is what is being served for lunch. However, they were kind enough to leave off the chicken and give us extra veggies.


The drink menu. Here there are choices.


This is a picture of what they had served for breakfast.



Lunch arrives: salad with their house-made dressing, toast with an egg plant paste, rice, a mushroom, a slice of egg plant, a slice of zucchini, a roasted bell pepper and a slice of fig that had been marinated in honey and some delicious mystery ingredient. It's all beautiful, and the flavors were fantastic!


Not even a grain of rice remains.




As we leave, we notice this book shelf by the door.

As we walk home, it is remarkable how we can be satisfyingly full yet not leadened.


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