Hello Tokyo

So Betsy like most young girls went through a phase where she loved horses.  Tonight she renewed her love for horses only this time it was the horse she ate at dinner.  Yes horse (see pic left), and not just any horse but raw horse or as the Japanese call it "basashi". 

We met up with my cousin Kevin who's lived in Japan 10 years and he was kind enough to show us around Tokyo today as well as answer all our questions about the country and its people.

Later we went out for dinner with him to a place that was almost like a tapas bar in that you ordered many small plates to be shared.  We ordered about 10 dishes including tuna sashimi, yakitori (Japanese version of sate, in this case chicken with leeks), cold soba noodles, korean style omelet, gyoza (potstickers) and a sashimi plate that contained many items we had never had raw such as calamari, shrimp, octopus, scallops.

The highlight though was the horse meat.  It was sliced thin and was completely raw, you dipped it in a chive/garlic/ginger soy sauce.  It was very lean with a little chew to it but very nice.  It was  so good it was the only thing we ordered a second helping of.

Of course this was all washed down by copious amounts of beer and sangria.  A great meal and a great night, thanks Kevin!