Nagasaki: Day 2b

That evening, my LOLs decided to treat themselves to an amazing French dinner. Not to be left out, I didn't mind splurging either. Although the dining room was a bit rustic, the table setting sure wasn't. In fact, I have never seen that many forks on one table before (except maybe at Grandma's Thanksgiving dinners for 15, but then each person only gets two!)

After the waitstaff graciously pulled out each of our chairs, the maitre de presented the beverage menu. Our choice? Unzen's "famous" lemon soda. You would have thought that we had ordered an expensive bottle of champagne by the way the entire staff handled the bottles. Whenever our glasses were just slightly empty, they would come, wrap the glass soda bottle in a cloth, and pour ever so gently so that not a bubble of lemony fizz would be spilled.

The maitre de then presented us with the first course -- a bite-sized croissant with an anchovy inside. She described it in Japanese and with the use of the printed menu at each place setting and my handy-dandy dictionary, my ladies translated the best they could. I then took notes because I knew there would be too much to remember in an eight-course dinner!

Course two (requiring the outside-most set of silverware) was fresh conger eel served with lemon, plums, tomatoes, and caviar. Fresh bread made from natural yeast was also served. I'm not sure what the excitement was regarding the natural yeast, I was just delighted to see fresh baked bread!!

Course Three (above) was fresh trout served with trout caviar, black truffle mushrooms, garlic potatoes, and fresh vegetables with cream.

Course 4 (above) was sea urchin, some kind of fish called a sillaginod, and okra on top of a block of okra gelatin. While course 5 was flying fish, shrimp, and artichokes served in a parsley and spinach sauce. Course 6 (below), was the taste bud clarifying course and consisted of the three largest blueberries I have ever seen served on a bed of ice.

Course 7 (below) was filet mignon stuffed with pickles, oranges, scallions, and served with a truffle mushroom sauce. As weird as it might sound, it was absolutely delicious, as was every other course! Each flavor was so light and the fish didn't taste like fish at all.

Dessert with coffee was the final course. Poached figs served with fresh vanilla ice cream, fig sorbet, and garnished with a crisp cream cookie completed the absolutely amazing and 2.5 hour dinner.

After a cool shower and a late night soak in the hot springs it was off to bed.... only to wake up several hours later dreaming I was boiling in a pot of rotten eggs. It was then I learned something else about my LOLs -- air conditioners aren't necessary when windows can be opened!! However, for this Florida girl who has incredibly active midnight dreams, ACs are very important especially when spending the night in a sulfur hot springs resort!