Lucky lucky me … Hidemi, my Japanese friend, and I went to a restaurant at the foot of Mt Takao this week. Ssshh don’t tell Geoff that our trip got off to a shaky start because I got off at the wrong station. Hidemi is so patient and I soon met up with her and we made our way by train and then courtesy bus.

Set in fabulous gardens with carp ponds and a water wheel … and a lot of rain …. we were met at the entrance by a charming young lady is a kimono and we wended our way through the gardens to our individual chalet dining room. A perfect place to eat in these Covid times.

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The individual dining chalets have traditional tatami mats and a low table … fortunately this one had a space underneath for our legs. Windows have sliding doors (shoji) which are wooden lattice frames covered in translucent paper which gives such a lovely soft light. And in the room there was also a tokonoma (a lit alcove) featuring a hanging scroll and a special treasured ornament. Hidemi kindly answers my many questions and tells me that most traditional Japanese houses have a tokonoma and a tatami room.

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And now onto the all important food, which was Kaiseki, a traditional multi-course Japanese meal made with select seasonal produce. And it was delicious! Not only was it very tasty, it was so beautifully presented.

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Corn soup, with locally sourced corn and a wonderful array of little bites. Then pork in a tasty sauce served on a real leaf over a burner, served with Japanese rice (short grain and slightly sticky). Followed by tempura and soba noodles, and finally a bowl of ice with brown sugar syrup & roasted soybean powder to pour and shake over it. Yummy meal!

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I love these rain covers for this lady’s zori, the traditional footwear worn with a kimono.

I have offered to cook lunch for Hidemi and I have already warned her that my style is rustic and definitely not pretty! What shall I cook? Ideas please. It would be good if it was Welsh or at least British. Glamorgan sausages? Cawl?