Thanksgiving in Tokyo

Thanksgiving Day had us taking the shinkansen (bullet train) back to Tokyo. After a half day of travel, the boys were ready for a drink and the girls a massage, so Sue, Tree and I headed to the reflexology salon next to our hotel in Tokyo and signed up for foot massages. $29 and 30 minutes later, we felt renewed.

For Thanksgiving dinner, we went to a shabu-shabu restaurant in Shibuya. Shabu-shabu is a fancy hot pot meal where huge pots of broth are set out on the table, with a burner. Customers cook their own vegetables, noodles and thinly-cut slices of the best beef. You've heard about Kobe beef? The beef we had that night was of even better quality and practically melted in your mouth. Even the non-red meat eaters in the group had to try some beef. In addition to amazing beef, we also enjoyed the best bonito tuna we've ever tasted. The restaurant specializes in bonito and prepared it several different ways. Our favorite recipe called for the bonito to be lightly seasoned in garlic and soy sauce - unbelievable!

After dinner, Sue proclaimed that it wouldn't be Thanksgiving dinner without dessert. So we ordered green tea and black sesame ice cream. The ice cream was terrific but Sue said she still needed pastry, so the group headed to Shibuya station for cream puffs and chocolate cheesecake. Okay, now Sue was satisfied (and so were the rest of us).