Pom Pom Takoyaki

Takoyaki is one of my favourite street foods from Japan.  A ball-shaped dumpling made of pancake batter, and cooked in a special takoyaki pan, it is traditionally filled with diced octopus, and served garnished with pickled ginger and spring onion.  These days, it is commonly brushed with takoyaki sauce and Japanese mayonnaise, and topped with shavings of dried bonito fish.

Originating in Osaka in the mid-1930s, it is now popular throughout Japan where it can be purchased at yatai (street food stalls), or in specialty restaurants. Very tricky to make at home with much twisting and turning required while cooking in a searingly hot pan, whenever I go to Japan I make sure to get my fill of it. On my recent trip to Nara, where the pictures below were taken, Dr G and I enjoyed some fantastic takoyaki. 

It was great then to learn of Pom Pom Takoyaki, a new venture founded by two Japanese women living in London - Hana and Tomo.  Hana has been living in the UK for over 20 years working as an interior designer while Tomo only arrived in London in 2009 after a 3 year stint at the Ritz Hotel restaurant in Paris.

Pom Pom Ladies at Work

I was lucky to meet them recently for a takoyaki masterclass and tasting.  In Japan, takoyaki is made exclusively with octopus, but Hana and Tomo have decided to take it a step further and use a variety of different fillings. 

In addition to Pom Pom Takoyaki with the traditional octopus filling, they also offer a sticky teriyaki chicken-filled Pom Pom served with sweet teriyaki sauce, a Frankfurter and bacon version with crispy onion topping aka Pom Pom Hot Dog, and also Pom Pom Potato made with curried potato, peas and cheese with curried mayonnaise.

The sweet Pom Poms are also delicious and beautifully presented. Flavours include Pom Pom Banana served with hot chocolate sauce, Pom Pom Apple made from caramelised apples and cinnamon sugar and also Pom Pom Chocolat, Pom Pom Wheatgrass and Pom Pom Coconut.

I was so impressed by the quality and flavours of Hana and Tomo's Pom Poms that I decided to start serving them as canapés at my own Japanese Supper Club events. Unsurprisingly the feedback from diners has been fantastic, and I am really pleased to see one of my favourite Japanese dishes, and a relatively unknown one, become more popular in the UK. 

For more information about Pom Pom Takoyaki, prices and how to order click here. If you would like to order Pom Pom Takoyaki for a private party or corporate event, or simply to eat them at home, email hello@pompomtakoyaki.com. 

Alternatively you can meet Hana and Tomo and try out their Pom Poms on the 17th & 24th March at Hackney Homemade at St.John's church garden, off Mare Street http://www.hackneyhomemade.com/food/ or on 30th March at Brixton Sundowner Night Market. http://sundowner.b-electric.co.uk/2012/02/02/brixton-sundowner-2012/ 

Also Pom Pom Supper Club is in the pipe line, hopefully starting in April.

Learn more about Pom Pom Takoyaki on Twitter, follow them at @pompomtakoyaki.

Hana and Tomo's Pom Poms will also be available at the Japanese Supper Club at my home in Islington on 23rd, 24th, 30th and 31st March 2012.

Celebrating Pancake Tuesday!

This is a small piece I wrote about Pancake Tuesday for Time Out London. Click here to learn more.

**WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO THE WIZARD OF OZ AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM**

The good people from Theatre Breaks have given me a couple of tickets to give away for The Wizard of Oz musical this Thursday, 23rd February 2012 at 7:30pm. This is an Andrew Lloyd Weber's production at the London Palladium in the West End. For more information about this musical click here.

HOW TO ENTER THIS COMPETITION

To enter this competition, simply leave a comment in this post stating your NAME and E-MAIL address as MrBloggs(at)gmail(dot)com by midday on Wednesday 22nd February 2012. The lucky winner will be randomly selected using random.org and his/her name will be announced via Twitter (follow @thelondonfoodie) soon after midday on the 22nd February 2012.

If you do not use Twitter, I will also be publishing the winner's name here in the evening of the 22nd February 2012.

Food and Wine Matching Masterclass at Corrigan's Mayfair

One of the toughest problems when planning a meal is appropriately matching its dishes with wines. Just as bad wine can completely ruin a good meal, good wine can make an otherwise fairly ordinary one into something memorable.

Years of wine tasting and a recent WSET advanced certificate have opened my eyes to this complex area. As with many food and wine related topics, it is also a rather subjective matter. There are however a few principles one should bear in mind. One of the greatest misconceptions is that fish and chicken should always be served with white wines while red meats, particularly beef, should be paired with red wines.  The main issue is not the colour but the body of the wine. Whether light, medium or full, the body or weight of both food and wine should be carefully matched. So a Provençal chicken stew could go nicely with a bottle of red Grenache, much as a lightly chilled Pinot Noir might go with a seafood platter.  

Other considerations are the acidity of the food (for example tomato dishes are high in acidity, and match acidic reds such as Sangiovese, and fish dishes served with lemon go well with acidic whites like Sauvignon Blanc). Partnering of sugar levels is also important - as with sweet sherries like Pedro Ximenez, or naturally sweet wines like Sauternes or Saussignac matching with sweet desserts like ice cream or apple tart respectively. If you are stuck for a match, remember that wines are usually made to complement the local food, so regional wines will match their cuisines 9 times out of 10.

To  help us with this task, Richard Corrigan's Mayfair has teamed up with Les Caves de Pyrènes for a series of tutored masterclasses in which some of his signature dishes are matched with accompanying wines. At £120 per person, a fine glass of Grand Cru Champagne is offered, with canapés followed by a tutored four-course tasting menu.  For most courses, two different wines are matched and thoroughly discussed.

I was fortunate to attend one of these tutored meals recently, at Richard Corrigan's private dining room in Mayfair. The restaurant feels plush, with a grand piano dominating the entrance, and a restful colour scheme of beige, brown, red and gold.  The bar is marble-topped, with large flower displays, leather armchairs, and the whole feel is discreetly elegant and expensive.

The lunch was tutored by Les Caves de Pyrènes, an independent wine importer based in Guildford, Surrey which is a supporter of wines that are hand-made and naturally expressive of their origins. On this occasion, the tasting was about natural wines from the New World.  Natural wines are made with minimal chemical and technological intervention in growing the grapes and turning them into wine. They can be organically or biodynamically grown, are hand-picked, and have no added sugars, foreign yeasts or adjustments for acidity. They have minimal  or no fining and filtration or added sulphites.  My experience of natural wines has been mixed, and some have not been successes.

At Corrigan's Mayfair, we kicked off with a delectable platter of canapés served with a glass of Paul Dethune Grand Cru Champagne - a fine biscuit nose making for a very good start indeed. This was followed by an excellent starter of lobster raviolo with shellfish broth, served with sea purslane. The broth was intensely flavoured yet delicate, and the pasta generously filled with chunks of lobster that were well matched with the salty, crunchy sea purslane.

To match, we had 2009 Testalonga El Bandito Cortez from Swartland, South Africa - a wine made from old Chenin bush vines, and made the old-fashioned way by foot pressing!  It was a delightful wine, but in my opinion the better match with the food was the 2009 Pyramid Valley, Fields of Fire, Chardonnay from New Zealand. With a wonderful nose of nuts, green figs and vegetal notes, this wine had a lovely richness and minerality with good acidity and texture.

Our next course was a red wine braised brill served with confit cabbage, celeriac & razor clam.  I loved the presentation of this dish, and the artistry and flavour combinations resulting from braising white fish with red wine, and the two types of shell fish.

To accompany this dish, we were served a glass of 2010 Carignan Reserva from Villalobos, Colchagua, Chile (served slightly chilled).  This was a pleasingly light red almost like a dark rosé, aged in French oak, with clean fruit flavours. The better match, however, was the 2010 Pinot Noir from Louis-Antoine Luyt, Maule, Chile. A tiny winery in the Maule Valley, the French wine maker Luyt is the only significant wine maker in Chile following the rigorously anti-industrial approach to wine making  implicit in natural wine.  His efforts have paid off, with his 2010 Pinot Noir showing a lovely depth of redcurrant fruit with light tannins - it was a perfect match to the brill.

The Goosnargh chicken with wild mushrooms and English leeks was next - a very succulent piece of corn-fed chicken from Goosnargh in Lancashire (championed by Gordon Ramsay), served with an intensely creamy mushroom sauce.  This was the Rolls Royce of chicken dishes, served with a glass of 2010 Burnt Cottage Pinot Noir from Central Otago, New Zealand.  Central Otago is highly prized for its pinots, and this one did not disappoint, with aromas of red fruit and orange peel, and a pleasing natural acidity. Equally good was the 2010 Wildman Pinot Noir, Adelaide Hills, Australia - complex and refined, it had a velvety richness while remaining bone-dry.

For dessert, we had rhubarb crumble soufflé, served with a delicious stem-ginger ice cream.  This was a light and refreshing dessert with a good balance of tart and sweet, but how to partner a wine with this combination?  Once again, the tutor came up with the goods, proposing a glass of 2010 Framingham Noble Riesling from Marlborough, New Zealand.  A botrytised sweet wine, it had the high acidity characteristic of Riesling, giving a refreshing quality that perfectly matched the astringency of the soufflé.

If you would like to learn more about the subject of matching food and wine, Corrigan's Mayfair will be holding further masterclasses on this theme on Friday 2nd March (dinner), Saturday 21st April (lunch), and Friday 4th May (dinner).  To learn more about these events, which can also be purchased as a gift, click here www.corrigansmayfair.com/classes, or contact privatedining@corrigansmayfair.com.

Cost: £120 per person for champagne & canapés followed by a tutored four course tasting menu including all wines.

Likes: Some of the best natural wines I have ever tried.  Having a tutored event makes for a very special gastronomic and educational occasion. Very elegant restaurant, friendly service.

Dislikes: None

Verdict: Top notch food matched with excellent natural wines, in very elegant surroundings.  Although at £120 per person it cannot be regarded as inexpensive, for cutting edge wine and food with an expert to teach about natural wines and how to partner them with food, I think this is excellent value. Very highly recommended. 

London Restaurant Reviews - Morgan M Barbican

**THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED DOWN**

Since starting my training at Cordon Bleu I am beginning to gain some understanding of the skill, technique and artistry on discreet display in our top French restaurants.  Morgan M is the first French restaurant I have visited since I started the Grand Diplome, and I looked at it with newly informed eyes.  

Morgan Meunier has an impressive CV, which included 7 years training in a variety of 3 Michelin-starred restaurants in France.  He won his first Michelin star in the UK in 1999, at Monsieur Max in Twickenham, and later worked at The Admiralty in the Strand. 

Having run a successful restaurant (also called Morgan M, an old favourite of mine) in Islington since 2003, Morgan Meunier opened his new restaurant on Long Lane near the Barbican and opposite Smithfield's Meat Market in November 2011. The new two storey restaurant offers his affordable haute cuisine but with dishes that, while meticulously crafted, are modern and simple. 

The ground floor is an accessible and informal bistro, offering an haute cuisine small plates menu. The downstairs menu is more relaxed, with a selection of smaller versions of the classic dishes served upstairs, including the raviolo of snails in Chablis, garlic froth and red wine jus and Ballotine of Foie Gras with fig caviar.

I was impressed to see that unlike most restaurants which include vegetarian dishes almost as an afterthought, Morgan M has an entire 6 -course tasting menu specifically for vegetarians, 'From the Garden' @£46. On the occasion of our visit, Dr G and I went for the 6-course tasting menu: ‘The Winter Menu’ (£50 per person), with matching wines by the glass @£30 per person.

For most courses, there were two options, and therefore between the two of us, we were able to cover the whole Winter Menu.

We started with Cream of Mojette Beans, with lemon confit and pesto, served with
Le Lesc Colombard 2010, Ugni Blanc, Vin du Gers - this was a lovely, delicate starter, and set us up nicely for the dishes to follow.

Game Terrine with Foie Gras followed, served with a French bean salad, apple chutney and toasted Poilane bread, partnered with an Oloroso sherry (Don Jose Reserves Especiales). This was a magnificent terrine, studded with a fillet of rare venison.

In my opinion, the best dish of the night was the Crayfish and Lobster Cannelloni, with tarragon, Jerusalem artichoke soubise and a shellfish capuccino. It was served with a glass of Chateau Clement-Termes Gaillac Sec, 2010, from Southwest France.  If by the end of my year at Cordon Bleu, I can create such a dish, I will be a happy man. The pasta was light, the filling delectable and perfectly seasoned, and the shellfish foam was stunning.  An absolute winner!

Next, we had the Fillet of Wild Sea Bass, served with Torroxal Albarino 2010, Rias Baixas.  Perfectly pan-fried, the sea bass was served on a bed of carrot and ginger risotto, with a lemon and saffron broth. This was an unusual combination of flavours, but delightful nonetheless. It was served with one of my favourite white wines, a lovely Albarino from Rias Baixas. 

For the main course, we had Pot Roasted Fillet of Iken Valley Venison, with Farci of hare, quince puree and sauce Grand Veneur.  The venison was splendid, and the sauce Grand Veneur was a revelation. A classic sauce for large game (it translates as 'huntsman's sauce'), it is based on a sauce poivrade, in which some game trimmings and strained marinade is added to the bouillon, and then finished with blood and redcurrant jelly. Very seasonal, this was a warming but sophisticated winter dish, served with a pleasingly stalky Bourgueil Peu Muleau 1996, Domain de la Chevalerie, from the central Loire region.

The other main course was Oven-roasted Suffolk Pheasant, the leg braised with raisins, glazed pear, served with liver croutons and bread sauce.  Beautifully presented, I really enjoyed the gamey flavours of the bird, with the sweetness of the poached pear and contrasting savoury jus.  A great combination.   

As a palate cleanser, we were served a perfect Light Vanilla Rice Pudding with orange tuile.  Tuiles are a serious technical challenge (as I know from my patisserie classes!), and these were perfectly executed, filled with an exquisitely light rice pudding.

For dessert, we had the Passion Fruit Soufflé and Sorbet with Crème Anglaise, served with Moscata d'Asti, 2010, Bera Canelli, and Dark Chocolate Moelleux and Milk Sorbet, served with a glass of Maury, 2007, Domain Mas Amiel.  Excellent dishes to round off a memorable meal.

Cost: Winter Menu priced at £50 per person (6 courses) plus 6 matching wines at £30 per person.

Likes: Outstanding French cooking, good value for money for tasting menus and pre/post theatre options at £21.50 and £25.50 for 2 or 3 courses respectively.  Well thought out matching wine flights.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: At £50 per person for this menu, I struggle to think of many restaurants in London that can offer such great quality and cooking skill at so reasonable a price. Highly recommended.

London Restaurant Reviews - The Angel & Crown

Having thoroughly enjoyed a pub crawl taking in five of ETM Group's pubs last year (reviewed here), I looked forward to visiting The Angel & Crown, their new West End location in St Martin's Lane earlier this month.

In keeping with their other watering holes, this pub's first floor dining room is a rather smart venue, with wood panelling, tasteful artwork and a harmonious pastel colour scheme for carpets and walls.

(Picture Courtesy of The Angel & Crown)

The menu is seasonal and British, and the wine list is excellent, including some outstanding reds like Paul Jaboulet Gigondas, Chateau Batailley, Pauillac 2004, Gevrey Chambertin, Denis Mortet 2004, and Barolo, Marchesini. These are not wines to be found in most pubs, and these choices reflect the group's philosphy of bringing outstanding quality wines to all their pubs.

We had a selection of canapés including a delicious Pork Crackling with Apple Sauce, Devilled Whitebait with tartare sauce, and my favourite of the evening, Black Pudding and Scotch egg.

To accompany our canapés, we had a couple of their cocktails, all of which are priced @£7 (which is excellent value for the West end): London Bellini - pressed apple and elderflower topped with Prosecco, and St. Martin's Mule - Gosling's dar rum, vanilla vodka, fresh lime juice, homemade cinnamon syrup and ginger beer.

Starters vary from £6 to £8.50, and include some interesting items such as Snails, bacon and pearl barley @ £8, Cod cheek, cod tongue and fennel pie @ £8.50. I had the Potted Smoked Mackerel with Dill Pickle @ £7.50, which was delicious, along with a Riesling, Dr. Burklin Wolf trocken, Germany 2010 @£32.50. The wine was bone dry with pleasing citrus and passion fruit flavours, plenty of minerality and crisp acidity.

Main courses are priced between £11 and £16.50, and include Braised rabbit, grain mustard, faggots, bacon and peas @£14, and Shetland Isles mussels @ £14. I had the Pheasant and Partridge Pie with Roast Bone Marrow @ £14.50. This was a fantastically rich and gamey pie, beautifully presented with a marrow bone to support the pastry lid. For more information about The Angel & Crown's food menu, click here.

Chateau Musar is one of my favourite wine makers (reviewed here), and I was impressed to see it featured in the wine list. Usually, they mature their wine for 8 years before releasing it, but their new range of youthful reds Musar Jeune, Lebanon 2009 is very good @£31.50 - a blend of Cinsault, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes - a savoury wine with black fruit and gamey notes to match the pie.

To round off the evening, we had a Chocolate Mousse, Cornflakes and Crème Fraîche Sorbet @ £5.50. Despite the intensely rich chocolate, this was a rather refreshing and well-made dessert which was nicely matched with the luscious Pedro Ximenez sherry served alongside it.

I was impressed by the food and wine served at this new West End ETM Group pub, and was also pleased to see that they offer very reasonably priced pre and post theatre menus from 5pm – 6.30pm and 10pm – 11pm respectively, @ £14.95 for 2 courses or £17.95 for 3 courses.

Cost: I estimate that a 3 course meal will set you back around £25 per person excluding drinks, unless you opt for the pre or post-theatre menus, which are £14.95 for 2 courses or £17.50 for 3 courses.

Likes: Very good, reasonably priced, seasonal British menu, excellent wine list, very central location, elegant decor of dining room. The pheasant and partridge pie with bone marrow was fantastic.

Dislikes: Only the house wines for white, rose and red are priced below £20 on the wine list.

Verdict: Excellent nosh, well thought out wine list, great location. The Angel and Crown is an excellent choice for dinner and drinks in the heart of the West End. Highly recommended.

The London Foodie Goes to Japan - Kyushu Island (Fukuoka, Nagasaki & Beppu)

Leaving Kyoto, we headed by Shinkansen to the most southwestern of the four islands which make up mainland Japan - Kyushu.  Though Kyushu is not on the well-trodden path of most foreign tourists in Japan, this was an area I had heard good things about and decided to spend a few days exploring. From the open-air yatai stalls selling Hakata Ramen (noodles in thick pork broth) in Fukuoka to grumbling volcanoes and steaming hot spring onsen (shared, communal baths) in Beppu, and the moving Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki, there is a lot to be discovered.

Yatai Stall in Fukuoka

Fukuoka

Fukuoka is a modern and vibrant place, the biggest city in Kyushu. It is made up of two formerly separate towns - Hakata and Fukuoka. The shinkansen JR station is called Hakata, rather confusingly, and divides the two halves of the united city. If you visit, I suggest staying in Fukuoka where most of the restaurants, bars and shops are although accommodation is more affordable in Hakata, particularly around the JR station. This is where you will find most business hotels (Japanese equivalents of Travelodges) in the city for around 8,000 Yen for a double room (£67 at 120 yen/£).

Gastronomically speaking, Fukuoka is most famous for Fugu fish - a poisonous blow fish eaten only in winter. It is also known for Hakata Ramen (noodles in thick pork broth), Gyoza (fried dumplings) and Mentaiko (spiced fish roe) normally eaten on top of white rice or mixed in pasta.

Fukuoka - a modern and vibrant city

What to Do in Fukuoka

On our first night, we walked towards the entertainment island of Nakasu in the middle of Fukuoka in search of the Yatai stalls for which the city is renowned. Having walked for a couple of hours in torrential rain with no yatai in sight, we discovered that they normally come out after 10pm. The few yatai that we stumbled upon were completely full so Dr G and I decided to head off to Canal City - a newly built, state of the art hotel, shopping and restaurant complex nearby.

Where to Eat in Fukuoka

At Canal City we found "Ichiran", a bizarre restaurant at which diners can order and eat their food without any visual contact with waiting staff or other diners. We just had to try it. After purchasing tickets for our food and drinks from a machine located at the entrance to the restaurant, we sat at individual booths with partitions on either side, and a screen preventing us from seeing more than the hands of the waiting staff. The idea is to allow 100% concentration on the food in front of you.

Although we felt claustrophobic and came out in a terrible sweat in that tiny enclosure, the Hakata ramen (speciality of this city) was perfect - the broth was rich and highly concentrated with tender slices of pork belly and a perfectly soft boiled egg to accompany the silky noodles. It was a delicious dish and at only 790 Yen (£6.60 at 120 yen/£), it was also a bargain. A refill of noodles was also available at 180 Yen (£1.50),  and free water and tea was also provided. I loved the food, but doubt the concept would ever translate outside of wacky Japan.

Before leaving the next day for Nagasaki, we had a quick bite to eat at Yayoiken Cafe (see Travel Essentials below for details). 

This is a modest but decent restaurant, just two minutes from Hakata JR Station, serving everyday home-style Japanese dishes at very affordable prices. We had a delightful Sukiyaki and Spicy Pork Nabe for 890 and 860 yen respectively (£7.40 and £7.20).

Nagasaki

Considered one of the most picturesque cities in Japan, Nagasaki is located between steep hills and a very long, narrow harbour. The city has a long history of foreign contact (including during the two hundred year period when the rest of Japan was closed to the outside world), and so has an unusually cosmopolitan feel.

Nagasaki offers a wide range of accommodation widely dispersed around the city. The more budget hotels are around the main JR Station, but another area of choice is Chinatown in the southern, downtown district where Dr G and I stayed.

What to Do in Nagasaki

Without doubt, the main reason why people go to Nagasaki is to see the Peace Park, and the Atomic Bomb Hypocentre and Museum.  As shocking as Hiroshima's own account of the bomb, it is a sombre and heart-rending experience, but unmissable for any visitor. 

The city also has some impressive temples, including the Fukusai-Ji (Chinese Zen Temple), and the wooden Shofuku-Ji (Japanese Zen Temple) which dates from 1715, and miraculously survived the bomb intact. If you tire of temple-hopping, you might indulge in some Pachinko voyeurism at one of the city's many parlours, or go for a walk along the canal to see the famous but underwhelming Spectacle Bridge.


(Punters ranging from the too young to those old enough to know better spend their days and savings at Pachinko parlours across Japan - the music is deafening, the air thick with cigarette smoke, another quirky facet of Japanese popular culture)

What to Eat in Nagasaki

Portuguese, Dutch and Chinese heritage in Nagasaki extends to its most famous speciality cuisine - Shippoku. This multi-course meal is made up of many small dishes combining European, Chinese and Japanese influences, eaten at a round table, Chinese-style. It starts from 4,000 yen per head (£33), and needs to be reserved with a day's notice. Kagetsu is considered to be Nagasaki's finest Shippoku restaurant with meals starting from about 5,000 yen per person, see "travel essentials" section below for more details.

Having decided not to go for Shippoku, Dr G and I headed to Chinatown for dinner at Kouzanrou, reputedly one of the best Chinese restaurants in town. The three local speciality dishes we wanted to try were Champon, Sara Udon and Buta Kakuni, one of my favourite Japanese dishes also known as Nagasaki-Style Pork Belly (in fact I learnt in this trip that Buta Kakuni is the Japanese version of a Chinese dish).

Champon, also known as Chanpon, is a Japanese-Chinese noodle dish made by frying pork, seafood and vegetables in lard and adding a stock base from chicken and pork bones. A particular type of ramen noodle made for champon is added to the cooking broth and cooked. Our Champon also had fish cakes, beans sprouts, and cabbage. Dr G and I both felt underwhelmed by this dish - there were far too many competing flavours in one bowl, and in our opinion it lacked the clarity and depth of flavour of other less fanciful Japanese ramen soup noodles.

Sara Udon is a similar dish to Champon, containing pretty much the same ingredients which are stir-fried but using a thicker Japanese white noodle. Having been rather disappointed by Champon, we decided to skip Sara Udon and order a plate of steamed chicken in soy sauce. The chicken was very tender and tasted really good, reminiscent of the Singaporean Hunanese Chicken dish we both love.

The best dish however was the Nagasaki-Style Braised Pork Belly with Chinese Bread - meltingly tender meat in a rich, sweet sauce, a perfect Buta Kakuni.

Beppu

Beppu is a rather sleepy town, but is situated in one of the world's most geothermically active regions, which produces the world's second largest volume of near boiling water per day after Yellowstone Park in the USA. This is the main reason for visitors to come to the region of Beppu (which has a JR station) - to enjoy a long soak in one of the many onsens (natural hot spring communal baths).  

The Tourist Information Office staff on Ekimae-Dori  gave excellent service, spoke good English, and kindly booked accommodation for us as well as and advising on onsens (they had a large book with pictures of dozens of onsens in Beppu and Kannawa).  Their recommendation was to visit Kannawa, 30 minutes away by bus from the JR station, where most of the smarter onsens are.  

What to Do in Beppu

During our very short stay in Beppu, we headed to Kannawa to visit Hyotan Onsen. Arriving in Kannawa, we were surprised to see enormous billowing clouds of steam emerging from drains, buildings and springs all over the town - a dramatic sight.  

Hyotan Onsen was a large complex that catered for men and women separately. The age range was enormous, with extended families from infants to grandparents enjoying naked hot spring baths together.  There was a variety of indoor and outdoor pools, as well as a steam rooms, and waterfall-style showers falling 5 metres from bamboo pipes to provide water-massage.  There is also the option of a hot sand soak.

The outdoor pool was stunning, set in a beautifully landscaped garden with the traditional Japanese motifs including large black rocks, Acer trees and stone lanterns. The Japanese have used these onsens as a place for relaxation and bonding family and friends for hundred of years.

Photography was not allowed for obvious reasons, but if you are ever visiting Japan to enjoy an onsen experience, I would recommend this one highly.  It was clean, efficiently run, and elegant. It is opened from 9am to 1am daily and is priced at 700 Yen (around £6) per person.  It also has a very good restaurant, including many dishes steamed in the hot spring.

What to Eat in Beppu and Kannawa

Jigoku-Mushi is the method of cooking food by geothermal steam which has been traditional in the region for over 400 years.

At Hyotan Onsen, we had dinner at the canteen where this cuisine is available. 

Of the traditional local dishes we were advised to try, we particularly enjoyed mushi-dofu donburi @ 650 Yen (a rice bowl topped with soft tofu steamed in the onsen's hot spring, and bonito flakes) and dango-jiru @650 Yen - a delicious dashi and miso-based soup with vegetables and rice-flour dumplings (dango in Japanese), very similar to the dish my grandmother used to make in Brazil.  It brought back fond memories.  

We also had the local specialty of tempura chicken, with a crispy batter thicker than is the custom elsewhere in Japan, but equally delicious.  All the dishes at the onsen were very reasonably priced, and the restaurant was packed with families eating after an afternoon's soak.

Travel Essentials

Fukuoka

For delicious pork ramen with "faceless" service, visit Ichiran Canal City - 1-2-22, Sumiyoshi, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka (Canal City Theater bldg.) Website: http://www.ichiran.co.jp/

For everyday Japanese home cooking at reasonable prices, head to Yayoiken Cafe - 1 - 22 Nakagofukumachi, Fukuoka Hakata Ward, Fukuoka Prefecture 812-0035, Japan, t: 092-273-1727.

Nagasaki

For Shippoku dining, visit Kagetsu Restaurant - 2-1 Maruyama Machi, t: 095/8222-0191

For excellent Chinese food and local dishes, go to Kouzanrou in Chinatown - 12-2 Shinchi-Machi

Beppu

For an elegant and relaxing onsen experience as well as some good local cuisine, I highly recommend Hyotan Onsen - 159-2 Kannawa, Beppu-Shi, Oita-ken, t: 0977-66-0527, www.hyotan-onsen.com