Kitamachi [Utou] / 北町 「善知鳥」

This is the restaurant that we took my mother to on her second night in Tokyo.  The name of the place is Kitamachi [Utou] which is located in Ushigome Kagurazaka.  The owner of this restaurant is a friend of ours and is also a childhood friend of Mikako's.  This is probably one of Tokyo's most lekker restaurants!  "Lekker"?  It's a new word I learned from and South African ex-pat living in Tokyo who's blog I read regularly.  You can check out her site by clicking on "Rurousha" on the right side of this page.  "Lekker"is an Afrikaans word meaning "good, nice, great", etc.  It can also be used as a adjective for "tasty or delicious" as the food in this restaurant was very lekker.

横田基地から戻ったら、うちで一時間くらい休んでまた出掛けました。夜の目的地は牛込神楽坂にある和食の料理店北町「善知鳥（うとう）」。 この店のオーナーは私たちの友達です。美香子の幼馴染。以前お母さんが日本に来た時連れてあげたかったけど、その時お父さんも一緒で、うちの父は和食がちょっと苦手なもんで、諦めた。今回お母さんが一人で、私たちも長い間顔出してなかったので、良い機会と思い予約を入れました。

Is it food or is it art?  It seems such a shame to eat it.

これは料理？ それとも芸術品？ 食べるのがもったない感じがする。

Such a beautiful presentation.

見た目も良いんですが、味も絶品！

Sashimi (unfortunately I can't remember the types of fish we were served, but they were all delicious).

刺身 （残念ながら、なんの魚か覚えてません）。



We ordered the omakase course of which there was more, but I had to respect my friend's request to refrain from taking pictures once more customers arrived.

今日はお任せコースを注文しました。料理はもっといっぱい出ましたが、友達のお願いで他のお客様がいらっしたら写真は撮らないことにしました。



The next day my mother would be heading to her home town of Maizuru and would be back in Tokyo the following week.  Until then...

次の日、お母さんは実家にある京都府舞鶴に出発します。東京に戻るのはまた一週間後。