Our little group was brought to this place for lunch
This alone would have been good enough for a satisfying lunch. Pickles and some gelatinous stuff in the bottom left. To the right, a bowl of soba noodles. A flask of hot soup stood at the table to be poured on the soba. Vinegar for dipping in the top right. And, snow crab legs and amaebi, raw sweet shrimp. The crustaceans were refillable as part of the all you can eat. I believe I had 2-3 additional servings of the crab.
There is also wappa meshi. It is rice topped with crab. this too refillable
A nice warming nabe rounds out the meal. Fugu and mushrooms are the highlight of the stew. Some patience is required as the everything needs a bit of time to boil and cook before ingesting. When the flame goes out, you can go to town. The soup was really nice when combined with some of the wappa meshi.
A little messy from the crab but my hunger was more than sated. We head off towards Numata and the weather begins to clear and the snow ceased to fall. This destination is farm that allows you pick your own fruit. We have these kinds of farms in California but the twist is that this is a timed all you can eat fruit picking. They do this around the year when different fruits and produce are in season. During this time strawberries and the draw.
In the gift shop, there are a number of items available from gifts to produce. Here they are making an apple baum kuchen. An apple, peeled and possibly baked, is incased in cake batter and baked. Then another layer is added and baked. This is repeated several times. When you cut into it, you see all the layers of cake and the apple in the middle.
But the real treasures are in the greenhouses ahead.
We are lead into rows upon rows of strawberry plants grown above ground with the berries hanging off the sides. Different groups are lead to a different section so as not to ravage any particular area and keep fruit available to those who come.
This is a variety called Yayou Hime that was developed in Japan. It is only available in Japan at the time. For 30 minutes, we can pluck and eat as many as we like. This is more than enough considering the lunch we just had. Go ahead, take your pick. You want to cradle the berry, invert, then push down as the stem releases.
A cup is provided for you for your waste. The ripe berries are sweet, tender and juicy. These dont have a very bright strawberry flavor but it was very good in combination with all its other features.
The flesh is soft and the berry can be ripped in half to view the insides
Unlike some varieties, the red does not go through the whole berry with the insides being primarily white. In the time allotted, I wasted a few minutes taking pictures but conservatively estimate 25-30 berries devoured. Most of those were of this size though I may have had a few that were smaller but no less enjoyable
The berries, I thought, really put a nice end to the trip. The day is nearly done and our journey turns back to where we started. We alight at another service area for a few minutes for human waste disposal. I had no need but I wanted to peer inside to see what they had inside.
This was more impressive than the other one we stopped at in the morning. There is a produce market in addition to a souvevir/gift shop. Locally grown and sourced vegetables freshly picked. Too bad I couldnt make use of any of it.
The food court is larger and has more offerings. Not enough time to scout out the individual stalls as I was still trying to take it all in. Also, they had free brown and green tea on tap. Both iced and hot to suit the weather or your wants.
On the road again. The setting sun in the land of the rising sun. Its dark before we get back into the outskirts of town. Some traffic slows down our progress as we are eventually half an hour behind schedule. I didnt have any pressing appointments so the delay was of no matter. A second stop at Shinjuku Station made it easier for those of us who had to walk to the hotel meeting point from said station much earlier this morning.
