I've found that with many good meals, it's not always about the food. Sometimes it's about the entire experience.
When my husband and I were in Nara, Japan, we stopped by a small cafe just outside the deer park. The cafe was in a traditional Japanese house and we were directed to a small table where we removed our shoes and sat on the floor.
Our host spoke good English which was refreshing after our travels. We had been in Japan for over a week and only found a handful of people who spoke limited English at best.
We dined on green tea, homemade green tea cake, and little azuki bean treats.
My husband and I are both green tea fans and the tea was the perfect amount of bitter and sweet. The cake had a delightfully overwhelming taste of green tea. I'm the type of person that likes a cake to taste what it's supposed to taste like. If I'm told it's a green tea cake, I want to taste the green tea. This cake was divine - moist, a strong green tea flavor, and a sweetness that complimented it perfectly. It was devoured within minutes.
While we enjoyed our tea, our host brought out an old phonograph that he cranked by hand.
The first record he played was Bing Crosby, followed soon by Glenn Miller, and even Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.
When we finished our tea and the music continued to play, our host brought out photo albums of guests in his café, special art shows he had on display in the café, as well photos of the seasons outside in the garden.
He encouraged my husband to try on his antique robe for rice wine makers and took numerous pictures of us.
We took in every minute of the experience. The music, the hospitality and the overall feeling was intoxicating and I've never experienced such a comforted encounter in a cafe before and I'm not sure if I ever will again. As we sat there, my husband and I both knew this was a rare occurrence.
When we had stayed for over an hour, we decided we should get on our way. We stood up and grabbed our coats.
"Oh, do you really have to go?" our host said as his face turned sad.
We informed him that we had to get on with our travels and thanked him profusely. He thanked us for coming and said he hoped we would return. Being that the cafe was about 4,000 miles from our house, it wasn't likely but if there was a chance, we would be back.
When we reached the street, my husband and I turned to each other. "Best part of the trip, hands down."
It makes me happy just to think about it. Sometimes it's the little things in life. :)
My husband and I are both green tea fans and the tea was the perfect amount of bitter and sweet. The cake had a delightfully overwhelming taste of green tea. I'm the type of person that likes a cake to taste what it's supposed to taste like. If I'm told it's a green tea cake, I want to taste the green tea. This cake was divine - moist, a strong green tea flavor, and a sweetness that complimented it perfectly. It was devoured within minutes.
The first record he played was Bing Crosby, followed soon by Glenn Miller, and even Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.
When we finished our tea and the music continued to play, our host brought out photo albums of guests in his café, special art shows he had on display in the café, as well photos of the seasons outside in the garden.