#saga beef

[mariobabyface]

久しぶりの自宅すき焼き、我が家風。

[tsunamijenn]

My YOI Nerd Pilgrimage pt. 29.3

Day 24: Caravan and Minako’s Bar

So, anyone that goes to Karatsu (and is comfortable with their bank account) NEEDS to eat at Caravan. But definitely call and make a reservation, because otherwise you might not get in.

Now, when I say you need to be comfortable with your bank account, I mean it. This might be small town Karatsu, but the food is so good that this restaurant has earned a Michelin Star, and thus, the prices reflect that. If you get the high quality Saga beef, Imari cattle rank A5, the smallest portion you can buy is 4 oz. at ¥7000 (current Google exchange puts that at ~$61.96 USD). Now, you don’t have to get the Saga beef, and it the prices will be lower, but 4 oz. will still be ¥2500.

But half the fun of coming here is because Chef is a HUGE YOI fan.

When you’re seated, he’ll put the YOI people on one end of the bar, and regular customers on the other end. And while everything is being prepared, he invites you to behold the glory that is his YOI collection.

And here’s some pictures if the video doesn’t want to load.

He even has a TV in that sectioned off part of the restaurant, and will play all the episodes while you’re there, so you can either focus on the normal background music playing, or you can listen to YOI while you eat.

And because I’m American, he brought this out and placed it in front of me.

(*≧▽≦)ﾉｼ))

But let’s get to the food.

It was phenomenal. The beef melted in your mouth. The veggies were grilled to perfection. Even all the small sides were delicious. I could’ve eaten so much more if it wasn’t so expensive.

Now, you may or may not be wondering “hmm...what is that bottle I see in the background of that last picture?”

Well, it’s part of a YOI collection of course.

So in the show itself, you see it briefly in the background in Yu-Topia Katsuki, and it’s the food you see as the small break in episode 3 (if I remember correctly), and it’s even the label for the small bottle that comes with the Casual Yuuri Nendoroid.

Even the shot glass I used for the shot of sake Chef gave us was from the same place.

It’s a real life company in Kyushu called  (資)光武酒造場, or Google translated to (Mitsuaki) Mitsutake Brewery, located in Kashima.

It’s about 3 hours away (by train) from Karatsu. I personally didn’t have the time to go to the brewery itself, but I was ok with it since you could still find it’s YOI products in several places in Karatsu.

They have 4 variations of the drink, three are YOI specific. Victor (pink), Yuuri (blue), Yuri (yellow), and regular.

When you order one, you get to pick whatever stir sticks you want and whatever color straw you want. I, of course, ordered all three over the course of my meal.

And then when you were done, you could take the bottles back as souvenirs.

And because Chef is so into YOI, he does a small ceremony when the first set of drinks are ordered.

Eventually we were done eating, but the 4 of us that were there because of YOI were still talking. So Chef cleared a table for us in the room of goodies, and brought us desserts and tea so that we could continue to enjoy ourselves, but would clear the counter space for the next customers.

Now this is when Chef went above and beyond.

As we were all definitely of age, when we were finishing, he asked if we knew where the real life Minako’s Bar was located. I said I did, and he said he has a bottle there, and that we could go and tell them that Chef sent us, and we could drink at Minako’s bar.

Let me put this into perspective with how big of a deal that was for us.

Minako’s bar, and it’s real life counterpart, is a snack bar. Now, snack bars in Japan are not what their names make them out to be.

A "snack bar" (スナックバー sunakku bā), or "snack" for short, refers to a kind of hostess bar, an alcohol-serving bar that employs female staff who are paid to serve and flirt with male customers. Although they do not charge an entry fee (and often have no set prices on their menus), they usually either have an arbitrary charge or charge a set hourly fee plus a "bottle charge". (Customers purchase a bottle in their own name, and it is kept for future visits.)

So this isn’t some ordinary bar. This is: you buy a bottle, you put your name on it, it stays there, and they use it to mix your drinks whenever you go. Aka, not something you can just willy-nilly walk into for one night.

If that doesn’t make you pause, then think about this. A bunch of people have posted pictures of the hallway outside the bar, but how many pictures have you seen of the inside? Before my trip, I personally wasn’t able to find any.

But Chef gave us permission to drink the alcohol he had already purchased. He gave us his name to give at the door so we could enjoy this rare experience.

So without further ado:

Minako’s Bar!

Chef’s very distinct bottle.

They brought out a white paint pen so we could add to the bottle.

They even let us behind the bar to take pictures.

I spent the rest of the night wondering how my life ended up like this, but also thanking ever deity that it still happened. I’m also 100% convinced that if I had been the only YOI person at Caravan that day, with no one that spoke Japanese that could act as a translator, that the offer wouldn’t have been made.

Moral of the story: If you’re going to do a YOI trip, learn Japanese!!!!!!!

Kanpai!!

<-Previous Post - My YOI Nerd Pilgrimage pt. 29.2 - Day 24: New friend adventures!

Next Post -> My YOI Nerd Pilgrimage pt. 30 - Day 25: Caravan (again) and fireworks on the beach!

Master List of posts

[summary-trivia-jp]

日本のトリビアまとめ #0003

佐賀焼 (さがやき)

佐賀焼（さがやき）は、佐賀県で生産される伝統的な陶磁器であり、その歴史は400年以上にも遡ります。以下に、佐賀焼に関する詳細を説明します。 1. 歴史: 佐賀焼は、江戸時代初期に朝鮮からの陶工が招かれ、佐賀藩の支援を受けて始まりました。藩の保護の下、陶磁器の技術が発展し、代々の

武雄温泉 （たけおおおんせん）

武雄温泉（たけおおおんせん）は、佐賀県武雄市にある歴史と伝統を持つ温泉地です。日本有数の歴史を持ち、その源泉は古くから人々に愛されてきました。以下に、武雄温泉に関する詳細を説明します。 1. 歴史: 武雄温泉は、奈良時代に発見されたとされ、平安時代には既に温泉地として名を馳せて

西山茶 （さいざんちゃ）

西山茶（さいざんちゃ）は、佐賀県西部地域で生産される日本茶の一種です。以下に、西山茶に関する詳細を述べます。 1. 生産地 西山茶は佐賀県の西部地域である嬉野市や杵島郡などで栽培されています。この地域は茶の栽培に適した気候と土壌を持ち、その土地の風土が茶の風味に影響を与えてい

佐賀牛 黒毛和牛

佐賀牛は、日本の黒毛和牛の一つであり、その特徴的な肉質と風味から高い評価を受けています。以下に、佐賀牛の主な特徴を述べます。 1. 肉質: 佐賀牛は霜降り（しもふり）と呼ばれる脂肪の入り方が均等で、柔らかく上質な肉質が特徴です。霜降りが多く、脂身がきめ細かく、口の中でとろける

[trivia-jp]

佐賀牛 黒毛和牛

佐賀牛は、日本の黒毛和牛の一つであり、その特徴的な肉質と風味から高い評価を受けています。以下に、佐賀牛の主な特徴を述べます。 1. 肉質: 佐賀牛は霜降り（しもふり）と呼ばれる脂肪の入り方が均等で、柔らかく上質な肉質が特徴です。霜降りが多く、脂身がきめ細かく、口の中でとろけるような食感があります。そのため、ジューシーで美味しい味わいが楽しめます。 2. 霜降りの豊富さ: 佐賀牛は霜降りが多いことで知られています。肉にまんべんなく脂肪が入り込んでいるため、肉の間に入り込む霜降りが均等に分布しています。 3. 風味: 佐賀牛の風味は、独特で深みのある味わいがあります。肉の旨味が豊かで、上質な脂身が特徴的なコクを与えます。 4. 管理と品質: 佐賀牛の生産は、厳しい規定と管理のもとで行われています。健康管理や栄養管理が徹底され、肉質の向上に努められています。そのため、品質の高さが保たれています。 5. 料理法: 佐賀牛はステーキや焼肉など、様々な料理法で楽しまれます。また、すき焼きやしゃぶしゃぶなどの鍋料理にも適しています。 佐賀牛は、その上質な霜降りと肉質、風味から、高級食材として国内外で高い評価を受けています。健康的な脂肪分と柔らかい肉質が特徴であり、その美味しさから多くの人に愛されています。

♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶

Saga beef Japanese beef

Saga beef is a type of Japanese black beef, and is highly praised for its distinctive meat quality and flavor. Below are the main characteristics of Saga beef. 1. Flesh quality: Saga beef is known for its soft, high-quality meat with an even distribution of fat called shimofuri (marbling). It has a rich marbled texture, fine fat, and a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Therefore, you can enjoy a juicy and delicious taste. 2. Abundance of marbling: Saga beef is known for its high marbling. Because the fat is evenly distributed throughout the meat, the marbling is evenly distributed between the meat. 3. Flavor: Saga beef has a unique and deep flavor. The meat is rich in flavor, and the high-quality fat gives it a distinctive richness. 4. Management and Quality: Saga beef production is carried out under strict regulations and management. Health and nutrition management is thorough, and efforts are made to improve meat quality. Therefore, high quality is maintained. 5. Cooking method: Saga beef can be enjoyed in a variety of ways, including steak and yakiniku. It is also suitable for hotpot dishes such as sukiyaki and shabu-shabu. Saga beef is highly regarded both domestically and internationally as a high-quality ingredient due to its high-quality marbling, meat quality, and flavor. It is characterized by its healthy fat content and soft flesh, and is loved by many people for its delicious taste.