Posted October 25, 2012 by Jonelle Patrick Food

The Fish Bone Restaurant

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.

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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo

A young woman dressed as a Gothic Lolita is found dead in a car with a pair of strangers. But the more Yumi Hata learns about her friend’s death, the more she’s convinced it was murder…*read more*

Jonelle Patrick View All

Writing mystery books set in Tokyo is mostly what I do, but I also blog about the odd stuff I see every day in Japan. I'm a graduate of Stanford University and the Sendagaya Japanese Institute in Tokyo, and a member of the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime. When I'm not in Tokyo, I live in San Francisco. I also host a travel site called The Tokyo Guide I Wish I'd Had, so if you're headed to Japan and want to check out the places I take my friends when they're in town, take a look!