Numazu good dining and drinkingen-ushttp://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289180MapBuilder.Net868012Fri, 22 Jun 2007 06:28:15 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289aiai restaurant is a fusion restaurant with a great selection of French wines. For more information check out the Numazu blog here. 35.10078857423265 138.8593018054962235.10078857423265138.85930180549622862222Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:55:02 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289Best chocolate mud cake in Numazu. For more on the B-House and Numazu check out the Numazu Blog here. 35.11025039565721 138.8613241910934435.11025039565721138.86132419109344859089Sun, 17 Jun 2007 07:43:12 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289International beer bar. For more information on Sakura, picture or more about Numazu click the link to my blog here. 35.101916502072285 138.8574215769767835.101916502072285138.85742157697678929890Wed, 18 Jul 2007 19:18:14 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289This seedy little dungeon of delight is a great place for a drink. To find out more about Blankey's and Numazu go to the Numazu Blog here.35.10029263214963 138.8580787181854235.10029263214963138.85807871818542855372Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:28:17 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289Coeur is a wine cellar, cafe and sometime cooking school all wrapped up in one. It specializes in quality wine and a small selection of Western Deli foods. You can select a wine from the shelf and drink it with a great cafe style meal or take it home. For more information on Coeur and other Numazu restaurants check out the Numazu Blog here. 35.12003143000514 138.862917423248335.12003143000514138.86291742324831116075Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:24:38 -0500http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289Farao Calm is a seaside restaurant in Numazu. For more information on Calm and Numazu click here. 35.048408335944025 138.8859200477635.048408335944025138.88592004776906239Sat, 07 Jul 2007 23:54:29 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289The Fishmarket Taproom is the home of boutique beer master Baird Beer. For more information on Baird Beer and Numazu Click here. 35.08416189776789 138.856415748596235.08416189776789138.8564157485962793507Fri, 18 May 2007 21:57:49 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289Gold Rush, Numazu Location: South side. Follow the main street south that travels under the rail tracks (this is the main street to the west of the station.) and keep going until you reach the red sails. Style: Hip Hop night club. Menu: mostly club spirit mixes and some beers. Average cost around 500yen Gaijin Friendly: Appears to, though we were in a large group 7/10, for now. Rating: 6/10 Cost: The night we went Ladies go in free and the Guy paid 1000yen entry that included a free drink. Not bad. Now it took me about 4 months to realize why there were so many snack bars in this country and none of the buggers were serving fish and chips. For those of you not in the know, the snack bar is for the working man or woman who would like to have a little taste of something on the side while still going home to the three course meal of family life. But I digress. From initial appearances Gold Rush looked like another of Numazu's many snack bars but it wasn't long before I was informed by a friend that the place was indeed a night club. The occasional drunken stumble home from town past the club also reveal the heavy beats emanating from the ground floor. Over the ensuing months I was confident to have a good look at the notice board out the front without appearing like a dirty young (though my wife informs me, "old") man. The club appeared to have quite a diverse line up featuring traveling DJ's and some locals. I just needed an excuse. The excuse came a few weeks ago when we were celebrating a friends birthday party. There was a group of about 7 or 8 of us and the birthday girl wanted to have a dance. My wife mentioned Gold Rush and we were off. We made our way up the stairs and into a sort of a lounge bar. We all got a lot of stares on our arrival but this is not too uncommon in Japan. The patronage was made up predominately of girls with the odd splattering of guys uncomfortably trying to look cool. Now even on the main street of Nakamise women dress in some racy gear. Now, if you can imagine the raciness magnified three or four time then you will get a pretty good image of what the girls were wearing at the club (fhew! Difficult passage to write if I wanted to sleep in bed and not on the couch), As for the fellas, the standard pair of oversized baggy pants that hang just that little too far below the buttock as to look uncool, by Australian hip hop culture standards anyway. But, ladies there appeared to be some handsome guys out there for you. So we lined up to get our drinks as the patrons returned to their conversations, makeup administration and vacant stares. As we were getting our drinks we were discussing the fact that there did not appear to be a dance floor. However, the birthday girl did notice a set of thin stairs near the bar and went to investigate. With birthday girl luck she managed to find that spiral staircase down to the nightclub area. Once we all got our drinks we were off down stairs. The spiral staircase was an interesting touch to the club. I was the only entry point to the dance floor and the stairs were quite difficult to negotiate in the relative dark. I can imagine it would be a great test of sobriety for those poor inebriated sods who were destined to be trapped on the dance floor until they developed coordination enough to climb the their way back up and out. Everything down here on the dance floor was black. Taking up one wall was the dj box and on the other were the majority of dancers standing there looking at the DJ's or in some cases going out on a limb and moving side to side to the music. However, the birthday party ignored the status quo and jumped straight into dancing. I was surprised at how terrible a dancer I have become and wished to return to my early 20's for some rhythm lessons. I certainly didn't fit into the dancing scene anymore but I was determined to give it a crack and make the most out of the night. Just as I was getting into the music I began to feel the beginning of the ill fated monster of excessive pit sweat and my self confidence began to crumble. I made the decision to ditch the shirt and stick with the singlet I had on underneath. I new I was gonna cop some serious teasing after but it would be far better than swimming in a shirt drenched from the pits down. (Okay I know this is a gross segway but this night pushed me to find a solution to the problem and an internet search and subsequent purchase later I was all set.). Okay enough of the gross. The night went on and the girls in our party began to drag some of the local boys out on the dance floor. This was mostly against their will but gaijin women are strong. I think they managed to get one or two guys to dance while the others acted like little teenagers running away at the first approach. It really was pathetic. I thought I was having confidence problems. Admittedly, the music was really quite good for the club. They didn't abuse the gangsta rap stuff too much like they do have a tendency to do in Australia and most of the rhythms and mixes were good to dance to. I was time to head somewhere else so we wound our way back upstairs with a few glimpses at the refinance of the dance floor. Which now consisted of two big guys standing in the center bopping ever so slightly while staring at the dj's. Numazu's Gold Rush is worth a visit. While there is quality music there was little dancing happening in the club that night. However, we did see some young dancers practicing their choreographed moves outside the club on our way out. When it comes to people watching it's not a bad place there is some interesting fashion and equally amusing mate seeking behaviour. While I think it would be quite safe to go their alone I can guarantee you will not get a dance. Although these guys and gals all have the images of hip clubbers they still retain their Japanese shyness for good or ill. For more information on Numazu go to my discussion board here http://numazu.proboards101.com 35.09895401235067 138.8570970296859735.09895401235067138.85709702968597859033Sun, 17 Jun 2007 04:30:55 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289Deliscious pie shop near Numazu. For more information and photo's check out the blog here. Scott 35.11345821284971 138.826053142547635.11345821284971138.8260531425476756633Wed, 02 May 2007 23:50:30 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289We like to watch movies. In particular we like to make a night of it. My wife and I had just cased out the movie times and we had a few hours to wait. Although the microwave dinners were a novelty when we first started frequenting the cinemas here, their rubbery plain flavour had worn our taste buds down somewhat. So we started to scout around for a place to eat. We had scouted around a bit trying to decide what we were in the mood for. Neither of us committing to a decision we wondered aimlessly looking for an affordable bite to eat. After return to the Joyland cinema entrance we decided to head out towards the rail underpass road. We first looked at the Japanese restaurant on the corner but after a few uncomfortable moments when we stepped inside and realized that we could not read the kanji riddled menu and were not in the mood for charades we stumbled back out again. Feeling my impatience begin to creep in I decided to check out the menu of the Italian restaurant. The meals were cheap. I was a bit dubious about the actual size of the meals considering the price but we decided to ascend the stairs regardless. There is something about having to take stairs to a café or restaurant that is a little bit daunting and exciting. Perhaps it is the reduce chance of a quick getaway or the feeling of exclusivity but my heart always pounds a little faster. Upon reaching the entrance of he restaurant we were met by a very friendly waitress. The restaurant certainly had the family run air about it and the warmth from the waitress and the chef were quite comforting. The décor of the place was plain and definitely appeared that the owners were on a budget. However, with the clever use of table cloths as wall decorations and dividers really enhanced the family atmosphere in the restaurant. While the chairs were a little uncomfortable the view of the street certainly kept us distracted until we placed our orders. Our glasses were filled with cool barley tea as we perused the picture menu. Fortunately for us most of the menu had accompanying pictures. The range in food was also enticing. Their menu offered soups, pizzas, any number of spaghetti dishes, bakes and casseroles, desserts and a wide variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Still being dubious about the size of the meals in relation to the cheap prices I ordered a Cream spaghetti, mushroom and bacon bake, and my wife ordered a tomato based seafood spaghetti. We also though to share a large pizza. A few soft drinks were also added to the order. The waitress shuffled off with a warm smile and returned a few moments later with a cabbage and carrot salad each and a small bowl of popcorn for us to share. My wife and I shared a glance wondering if we somehow managed to order some extra salad by mistake. We shrugged our concern off and got into the salad and popcorn. At each table in the restaurant there was two salad sources. One was a sweet sesame and soy mix and the other a mustard and Japanese mayonnaise (which I am addicted to). These salad dressings seemed to be home made and tasted delicious. About five minutes after finishing these appetizers our mains came out. To my delight they were big meals, before even trying the food I was impressed by the value. During the interval between appetizer and main I had found a container full of parmesan cheese. I put a liberal amount on my spaghetti bake and let it melt in while I attacked the pizza. The pizza was delicious. Many pizzerias try and excuse away their lack of topping by saying that it takes away from the overall experience of the pizza. What rubbish filled spin-doctoring. Into the Dreams pizza were amply filled with chunks of onion, mushroom, capsicum and ham with a liberal spread of mozarella cheese on top. The pizza sauce was sweet and rich and added to the overall flavour of the pizza. After taking my 3/4 of the pizza, I got stuck into the creamy  spaghetti, mushroom and ham bake. I was delicious. The cheesy top was well crusted with even patches of browned cheese. The sauce was rich and creamy and flavorsome and the spaghetti worked great as a bake over the preferred potatoes. My wife’s seafood tomato sauce based pasta was likewise a wonder to the taste buds. There was plenty of seafood in the dish, definitely ignoring the traditional Japanese ethos of ‘less is more’. The sauce also tasted different from the pizza sauce indicating to us that the chef had not used a premix sauce that he adapted to all meals. Feeling well stated after our mains we were confronted with a Barley tea jelly and a dollop of ice cream. We were so surprised by these added extras that we forced ourselves to polish them off. We walked out of Into the Dream feeling full, happy and only 3200yen lighter in the pocket. All in all, Into the Dream was a great dining experience. Perhaps it is not the most formal restaurant in the world but this casual dining adds to the overall feel of a home kitchen that is often missed by traveler and foreign citizens abroad. The sheer good value of the meal and the wonderful extras definitely put a smile on our face. So much so that we had to try it again the following week to make sure it wasn’t a fluke and again were shown the same great service. We will certainly be returning to Into the Dream. For more details on the Numazu area visit http://numazu.wordpress.com/2007/06/09/into-the-dream/ 35.101714617302164 138.8577246665954635.101714617302164138.85772466659546906231Sat, 07 Jul 2007 23:44:28 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289This is a sushi and sashimi restaurant in the famed fish markets of Numazu. For more information on Itchibaten and Numazu in general click here. 35.083520991810616 138.857751488685635.083520991810616138.85775148868562032315Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:19:20 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289Magic India is a restaurant in Numazu, Shizuoka Japan. If your would like more information on this restaurant or Numazu in general feel free to click here. 35.10064198638262 138.8583683967590335.10064198638262138.858368396759031062412Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:44:10 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289Niie is a funky chilled restaurant bar in Numazu. For more information on Niie and Numazu in general check out the blog here. 35.10073590795993 138.8572150468826335.10073590795993138.857215046882632180679Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:54:31 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289The Riviere is a cafe lounge bar with exceptional views of the Kano River and Numazu. For more information on this or Numazu in general please check out the blog here. 35.096920146000244 138.858325481414835.096920146000244138.85832548141481933272Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:48:48 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289SpeakEz is and English Style bar and haunt for many Expats. SpeakEz frequently features live music and events throughout the year. SpeakEz also has an English School as part of it business. For more information on SpeakEz or Numazu please drop in and visit NumazuTraveller 35.1012090254364 138.8623917102813735.1012090254364138.86239171028137756631Wed, 02 May 2007 22:45:07 -0400http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289Steak House Chiro Location: south side of Numazu station. Basically head west from the station and head down the 4th street on your left (4th street including the one the leads into the station. Well according to the map on the back of the business card.). It is on a street on the left about 40m down. More accuate details when I get this Numazu map thingy set up. Style: Kobe beef teppanyaki (bar top grill) English menu: yes Picture menu: no Gaijin friendly: Yes 10/10 Rating: 7/10 Ph: (055) 951-666 Opening Hrs: 11:30am-2pm/5pm-10:00pm It was our seventh anniversary and high time to make another perfect excuse to have a decent feed. My wife and I have vowed to dine at all the places that we had spent the previous year saying we should try out but never actually going there. We had earlier done this in Thailand and by the time we were ready to leave after our three-month stay we had a wonderful list of dining opportunities with very little dining experiences. Steak House Chiro was one of those places on our list. Situated on the south side of Numazu station Steak House Chiro first caught out attention one afternoon when we were returning from another meeting at the Numazu Kyo-iku Kaikan. From the street the first thing that caught my eye was the slogan for Kobe Beef above the door. Kobe Beef has a reverence in Japan that is on par with the Hindu reverence for their beefErh cattle, sorry. Great poems and writings have been made about this epic beef of Japan, describing its sensuous flavor and aroma that fill your whole being with joy as the meat melts before your tongue sending you into a state of Nirvana (well a beef eating nirvana anyway). It was time to try this mythical beef. The parameters of the excuse were met, so my wife and I ventured forth to celebrate seven years of eating together. Entering most Japanese restaurants is a bit of fearful thrill-seeking for me. No I don't get out much, but I must say I have evolved from the old school day knock and run to entering and wondering if this is going to be another time where I Russian RouletteEthe Kanji menu. The worst or best thing about dining in Japan is that you are generally greeted, seated and hot towelEd before you have a chance to see if the menu either has pictures or is in English. Fortunately the obaasan (grandmother) was having none of this and shepherded us to our seats with some friendly greetings and a strong guiding hands. The interior of the Steakhouse Chiro was an interesting attempt at replicating a German Pub with high and what might have once been cream or white ceilings featuring dark brown support struts. The dark lighting and antique knickknacks also added a certain flavour to the restaurant. While still trying to overcome my earlier hesitation I was currently looking around for some tables when I found my self being guided to some stainless steel bar top hotplates. It was to be Teppsnyaki then. My eyes were then immediately attracted to the fuzzy grey woolen cushions on our seats. We made a few wasted comments on these delights before sitting down allowing our buttocks to be swallowed by the wool. From about the waist down the restaurant had a well designed, though a little aged decor. However, as I sat down I noticed the back wall of the open kitchen and found all the signs of a real estate agent who might like to use the word 'quaint'. The back wall is the main thing we will be staring at for the night so it does merit some comment (yes, yes staring into the eyes of my love one on our anniversary should be all I should worry about but hey, it's not our first year anniversary is it?) Old stained tiles ventured all the way up the wall to meet the mumbling of the ventilation fan and a slightly off white, in the wrong places, air conditioner. But hey, everything else looked fine and we were soon to be taking the shamanic route to bliss using our drug of choice, Kobe Beef. While I was marveling at the back wall, my wife was trying to catch a glimpse of the couples menu near us. From first reconnaissance reports there appeared to be no English and no pictures. While this is a little off putting I am still fond of what I find using the old close your eyes and point method of ordering. However it was not long until the same obaasan wearing a different dress arrived with menu in hand. To our delight there was an English menu below the larger Japanese scrawl. The menu featured both tenderloin and sirloin Kobe beef with three combinations of garlic, soy or garlic and bacon. There were also 'lesser' cuts and some appetizers. The wine list featured a variety of decent German wines and of course the typical Japanese fair of spirits, beer and 101 types of sake. For appetizers the smoked salmon with caper salad caught our eye. And of course for the main we were going to have the beef. While it may seem to be a 'sell out' to some, we both decided on the tenderloin with bacon and garlic instead of tasting the beef as it was. I lost little sleep on the decision. Those die hards of keep it plain will just have to stop reading. Many Japanese diners appreciate the subtle art of suffering a little for their meal. Whether it be for the potentially life threatening gentle numbing sensation of eating blowfish or over dosing on wasabi, the dining experience of suffering is not lost in this country. Coming to Steak House Chiro, I believe that I would be saved this culinary experience until I saw the bibs being brought out and tied around our necks. It was to be in the form of humiliation this time. Fortunately, we were not alone and even my wife's bag had to suffer this indignation. Further, I must say that they were very nice linen bibs; no pastel coloured teddy bears in sight. Perhaps the bibs were a cunning means to induce some heavy drinking, because it was not long before we were through our first glass of wine when our appetizer arrived. Thoughts of bibs washed from our mind as we set our sights on this starter. The smoked salmon was delicately folded onto the plate forming a wave meeting a shoreline of caper salad. The salads simple lemon dressing was a good choice with the tang of the capers and the sweetness of the smoked salmon. Though, being critical I must say that the salmon lacked a certain amount of smoky richness, but not a bad start to the evening meal. After our starters we had an opportunity to survey our surroundings a little more. From what we gathered the restaurant was run by a family of what seemed to be (twin?) sisters who waited and their husbands who cooked. Though it was possibly as equally unlikely this was the case, but it is my narrative and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy. It was now time for my wife and I to recall all the events in my wife's memory that we had experienced. The cold sweat of the first round of 'Do you remember...' was setting in. It is the all too common curse of men to forget every important event and associated detail that our loving partners have painstakingly catalogued by height, weight, colour, texture and cost. Men, it is enough to just remain standing at then end of this gauntlet of failed memories and the odd submissive, "But honey that's why I need you to remember all the good things for me." The teppanyaki chef must have been aware of my distress and came to my rescue by starting the meal. After inquiring into our preference for the meat Emy wife medium (she must had enough blood in the last interrogation) and me rare (feeling pale and in need of a transfusion)* - he was ready to get started. First he grilled slithers of garlic on the hot plate with a touch of grape seed oil, the rich aroma reaching us was amazing. He cooked these for some time until they were golden and placed them to the side of the heat. There are very few aromas that I like more than that of garlic. Its unique scent is only second in my book to a quality smoked bacon. Lucky for me this was our chefs next treat to prepare. I really like the idea of teppanyaki, you are virtually having two meals. First the one you taste with your olfactory senses and then later with your gustatory. Perhaps this is why I like cooking so much. It's twice the meal with only half the calories. Bacon well cooked, put to the side and mixed with the garlic, it was time for the blessed beef. As our chef brought over the steak I noticed its dark texture suggesting it had been aged and softened for some time (both the chef and the beef). On closer inspection of the tenderloin I could see that there was just the right amount of marbling to even make the pickiest roman engineer happy. Briefly searing my wife's steak and then mine in a mixture of grapeseed oil and what appeared to be a very mild brown vinegar, our steaks were sliced in to chopstick friendly pieces and mixed with the garlic and bacon. After a quick frying of a mountain of sprouts everything was ready to go on the plate. Before us was also a tray of sauces and pepper. The sauces included a mild misso sauce and another with what tasted to be misso, garlic and soy. I am sure that all were meant for the steak but ended up being for the sprouts. After having added garlic and bacon to the steak I couldn't justify further flavours to the mix when tasting such a famed product. Well the wait was over and I was ready to taste this glorious beef from Kobe. Chopstick at the ready I picked up a piece and raised it to my mouth taking in its aroma on the way. I was not disappointed. This was quality beef only second to cuts from cattle raised on rich green pastures; my personal favourite. Tasting the steak confirmed by guess about the aging of the beef. The uric acid had done its work in conjunction with the marbling to leave a sweet tenderness to the meat that suggested that it could almost be rendered apart with the tongue. This was a treat and it was difficult to slow myself down to get the full enjoyment out of the meal. I also took the opportunity to take the garlic and bacon separately before enjoying it as a whole ensemble. First the garlic, having been grilled on the hotplate began to caramelize but its natural strength of flavour and sweetness suggested that it may have been the aromatic, purple stripe garlic; a rarity in Japan. The bacon was also another treat. This was the good stuff. Slightly thicker than a standard cut and yellowed in the smoking process, the bacon was a delight. Now for the combination. Precariously balancing garlic, bacon and steak between chopsticks I carefully raised it to my mouthElosed my eyesEnd tastedEnd took a chewEnd moaned in delight. This was amazing and the automatic groan appeased the chef's eager anticipation of approval. The firmer consistancy of the bacon and garlic blended with the smooth melting nature of the beef was spiritual, had I not been insulting 3 religions in one bite of course. The sweetness and acidity of the garlic brought out the flavours of the tenderloin while the bacon rich aroma and flavour added a new level to the complexity of the taste. The groans of delight we were making were a perfect reminder of our first months of courtship. Well to my mind anyway, and something that I 'do' remember. We took our time enjoying our meal and savoring each bite. However, the couple to our right was causing us some distress. From what we could see an older man had taken his much younger partner out for a meal. From the mans one-sided conversation and the woman's disinterested grunts indicating that she was either listening or breathing and her distinctive dress sense reminiscent of the local ladies of the reed life, we concluded that the man had taken out his 'snack' for a meal. But this was by no means the cause of our distress. Indeed our experiences in seedy Pattaya, Thailand have numbed us to any ill feelings we could have had about this situation. Nevertheless the truly distressing part of this couple was that the woman had taken one piece of her steak and left the rest to go cold. Left the rest!!! I had half a mind to sidle over next to her and start picking at her plate. But, what deepened the insult was that the man had asked for a doggy bag for her to take the remainder of her meal home for breakfast and that they need not pack the meat. We were stricken, but thoroughly amused. By the time we had exhausted our jests and hypotheses about the couple it was time to leave. Steakhouse Chiro was definitely a great launch into the world of teppanyaki for us. While the above waist level, decor, and the obaasans sometimes, over helpfulness proved a little distracting we thoroughly enjoyed our experience here. About 18,000 yen lighter we left the restaurant feeling sated and happy in the knowledge that we enjoyed a great meal and celebrated our seven years together in style. What better way to finish the evening than with a quick trip to McDonalds and a McFlurry. Yes, disgraceful indeed. Cheers Scott Garbie For more information on Numazu please check out http://numazu.wordpress.com/2007/06/09/steak-house-chiro/ *Really my wife is not that bad and I even managed to remember something she didn't this time, "check and mate, baby cakes" She knows she is the brain of the outfit. 35.101113348829145 138.855932950973535.101113348829145138.8559329509735