koutagawa
A little over a year ago, I was told about a restaurant where you can enjoy delicious clay pot rice, but due to its irregular hours and being fully booked with reservations, I finally had the chance to visit "Gao Gao" for the first time. The entrance has a glass accordion door that overlooks the greenery of Imaizumi Park, creating a pleasant atmosphere with a gentle breeze coming in. The restaurant, with about 50 seats, is mostly filled with women. For lunch, they offer the "Hanakago Gozen" with options like the main "Hanakago Honzen," a limited edition "Seasonal Hanakago Gozen," and a slightly luxurious "Hanakago Steak Gozen" made with beef fillet. Additionally, there are six types of clay pot rice to choose from, allowing for 18 different combinations. The dishes, such as shrimp fry wrapped in nori, chicken kinkan, beef tail stew on tofu, salt-grilled mackerel, sashimi of Japanese horse mackerel, and fried chicken with yuzu pepper, all packed in the hanakago, were delicious. I decided to indulge in the "Seasonal Fresh Fish and Salmon Roe Clay Pot Rice," which featured a large sea bream fillet and premium rice called "Kuma-san no Chikara" from Kumamoto prefecture, selected as the top grade in last year's rice taste ranking. The new season's rice was even more flavorful and aromatic, making the meal even more enjoyable, especially when finishing with ochazuke. For dessert, I chose the matcha water shingen mochi with condensed milk, a non-calorie treat made from natural water and agar, with the delightful flavors of matcha and sweet milk.