After Mount Fuji our tour headed out for lunch by lake Kawaguchi. There was an option in the tour to include lunch or wander around town in search of lunch. After learning my lesson in London I opted to eat the included lunch. There was a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option that our guide asked us about on board the bus before calling and finalizing our reservation. What we had was hoto-nabe set at Miharashi-tei. All of their set meals require reservations.
Our set include some sashimi (raw fish), clams, lotus root cooked in a wine sauce, rice, tea, salad, fried fish (whole fish fried) and hoto hot pot. The hot pot had udon and vegetables and was what an old warlord use to make for his soldiers (samurai) before going into battle. We left it covered until it began to boil.
There was also a vegetarian option. Our seats for lunch were assigned. Groups and couples ate together and single travelers were put together. There was also all you could eat rice. All of the food was delicious, I loved the sashimi which was a surprise to me, since I normally don’t but it was the smallest of tastes that it was perfect, I even enjoyed the tiny clams.
The only thing I didn’t really like was the fish that they fried. It was the whole fish that you eat, bones and all, which I’m mostly fine with, it just tasted like the breading and not in a good way, it was bitter and earthy tasting.
The view from our restaurant was lovely. So after we ate a lot of us went to the big open windows to take pictures before heading down into the town. We had a ropeway to catch but there were a ton of souvenir shops that was cheaper then what I saw on Mount Fuji, so I bought some Mount Fuji soda to taste, mostly in love with the design on the bottles.
