The Fish Bone Restaurant

Posted by Jonelle Patrick on October 25, 2012 in Food, Just another day in Japan | Leave a comment

You know how in America some serious steak restaurants have honkin’ big showcases of  marbled beef displayed near the front door? Well, this is the equivalent come-hither to dine at a joint where himono is the specialty of the house!

Himono is basically fish jerky, but it’s different from beef jerky because it features the added chopsticks-defying plus of BONES. Whole fish are gutted and flattened to air dry for a few days until they have become super concentrated essence of fish meat. Then the himono is grilled – either with salt or with a brush of salty-sweet sauce – and accompanied by vast calming amounts of beer, because otherwise you might go postal on the delicious yet infuriating fish bits you’re trying to dig out from between the many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, bones.

Not that I’m bitter.

Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.