fried chicken | oh my omiyage

This past weekend was a long one – we had Monday off for Marine Day! So we went surfing early in the morning (I mean really early. TOO early.). We planned to visit a new branch of Eggs N Things in Shonan, but there was a line a block down the street even before the restaurant opened at 9am. So instead, we went to Koya, which serves traditional teishoku in a homey, beachfront location with a nice covered patio.

I love all of the wood blended with the traditional Japanese details normally found at teishoku restaurants. The wooden tables and benches were fabulous and included little additions to make them more useful – like the basket to place your purse and some copper pipes under the table to hold the menus.

Even their menu was a “clipboard” made from a slab of wood and held together with string and a chopstick. How cute is that!

Many restaurants in Japan serve teishoku (pronounced: tay-show-koo), which is a set meal that usually includes rice, miso soup, a main, and some pickles or small sides to eat with your rice. Since it was still around 9am, they were serving asa (pronounced: ah-sah; meaning: morning) teishoku. A traditional Japanese breakfast usually includes the above with some type of salted or marinated grilled fish. That’s what I got! Although I snagged some karaage (pronounced: ka-ra-ah-gay; meaning: fried chicken) that was pretty tasty :)

Japanese people mix a raw egg with soy sauce and add it to their hot rice for breakfast. I was a bit adverse to this in the beginning, but it’s yummy! Japan’s eggs are amazingly tasty, fresh, and beautiful (yes I said beautiful!) so it’s ok. I wouldn’t try this in the States though!