Late Night Dinner

I had a late night dinner with the team last night on one of the little side streets not far from my hotel. Even though it was close, we took a taxi which wasn't helpful for getting oriented with the area around the hotel.  Sasamoto-san guided us to a small, site down in an alley that served chicken, peppers and pickled foods.As with most stores I have seen so far in Tokyo, the restaurant had an assortment of mall garden plants outside. The most beautiful were some very small roses that were shaped from the artist's hands using bonsai wire.  It had  a warm chicken smell with a hint of peppers they had been cooking on the grill. The walls were adorned with small pieces art including small ceramic cats. The restaurant had a total of maybe ten seats best which were best suited for my shorter hosts. The chefs did not speak English, and they made comments about my work associate Ryan who is about 6'5".  The drunk patrons were slowly leaving as we came in.

I sat on my stool as Stephen and Sasamoto-san ordered a dizzying array of foods. The amazing plethora of textures made the dinner a treat. I enjoyed the pallette of pickled vegetables that they presented to us, but was exhausted from the trip across the ocean. This quailed my appetite substantially. The most interesting food of the evening was definitely the skewered chicken skin and the chicken meat and bone. When I ordered tea, i did not realize that it comes cold unless I specified otherwise.
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I exited the restaurant a few times to grab some fresh air. The air was cool and crisp as late night businessmen moved silently home through the streets. Our side street, like others was extremely clean with a number of unlocked bicycles parked to the side.  We parted was around 10 pm when Ryan and I took a taxi back to the hotel. Sasamoto-san had an hour and a half trip back home.