Chasing Mount Fuji Part IV: We may have found a gem

We headed to Hakone the following weekend after our Yamanashi sojourn. Now, several friends told us that Hakone is a truly romantic destination for a wedding and I’ve got to agree.

There’s a quaint and rustic charm about Hakone but yet it’s built for city dwellers who just come over for a quick getaway. No fear for those who don’t drive because Hakone is extremely well-connected in its public transport system. Besides the bus, you can take the ferry, train, and ropeway to get around this mountainous hot spring hub.

It boded well for us in the end — the car rental shop in Odawara refused to rent a car to us because the kangaroo’s driver’s license was expired. Get this: it’s been expired for two years, but curiously, he had no problems renting a car for our previous road trips in regional Japan.

So this trip was pretty fruitful in terms of wedding location hunting so I can’t show you any photos. But, I’ve got tons of food pictures for those of you who love Japanese food.

This is the only picture of the hotel we are considering having our cross-cultural nuptials. It was a good sandwich, though they were very anxious when I asked for a no-meat version — there was a lot of going back and forth between our server, the restaurant manager, and the kitchen.

As an aside: I’m loving the US because there’s almost always at least one or two pure veggie options on the menu, regardless of where you go.

We stayed at the Hakone Green Plaza Hotel, which was actually a contender but while it was a cozy joint for an onsen and pig-out weekend, it was a bit run down and dowdy for our tastes. Anyway, Mount Fuji could only be seen from the women’s bath, and clearly, having a party there would be out of the question.

I was a bit miffed that this hotel wouldn’t provide a vegetarian meal for me. In onsen hotels, it’s usual to book a room with a kaiseki dinner and breakfast package, but even with a week’s notice, the hotel refused to cater to my request. Now, before you disregard me as An Angry Vegetarian, I’ve had wonderful vegan/vegetarian meals in onsen hotels in various locations outside of Tokyo. All I had to do was ask. So you see, the bar had been set pretty high already.

But Hakone Green Plaza also said no to bringing my own food or serving my companions their meal in our room when they said it was not allowed to bring outside food into their restaurant. Hmm, I was fine with the whole no outside food deal because it is quite unsightly in a nice restaurant, but the fact that they told me to dine in my room, separate from the kangaroo and his mum, was just ridiculous.

Anyway, we found a lovely soba izakaya just 10 minutes away from our digs. And this would also answer any questions of how the kangaroo and I dine out with our contrasting food preferences.

Tuna sashimi.

Tofu salad with sesame dressing — this was delish and refreshing.

Vegetable tempura is always a winner.

Humble izakaya fare but this tamagoyaki was savoury and scrummy.

The kangaroos said the fried chicken, or karage, was good.

I loved my mushroom soba noodles in hot broth. It was just what the doctor ordered on this cold wintry night in Hakone.

The kangaroo slurped up duck soba and he loved it although he is not a noodle person.

And we washed it all down with some hot sake.

As you can see, what we had was very typical of a regular izakaya but it’s Japanese comfort food and I actually miss it when I’m away for a long while.

I soaked in the onsen once in the evening and once in the morning. And nothing beats rounding up the whole onsen hotel experience with a hearty Japanese buffet breakfast.

The kangaroo’s brekkie is below. He doesn’t like Japanese-style breakfasts because of the preserved veggies and pungent fish and also I think rice and soup just don’t do it for him.

A hop and a skip on the ropeway, two trains, and a stroll through Yoyogi Park on this early spring Sunday brought us home in Akasaka once more.

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