The end-of-year Bonenkai party at the well-known chanko-nabe (chicken beef & fish hotpot) restaurant.
It’s the only thing they serve but renkon lotus root stuffed with meat comes out first.​ ​
The nabe follows after. Even though it comes with chicken and tofu vegetables are piled on top, from Komatsuna and spinach to nira chives.
If vegetables are cooked take off the lid and start eating. Chicken and tofu need a little more time.
But this sauce is so delicious and makes vegetables deliciously tasty.
Helping yourself to tofu directly with you chopsticks is acceptable and when the sight of chicken and tasty vegetables are gone a refill will come along with more sauce.
The sauce doesn’t get any better than when thinned with nabe soup. Leaving it uneaten is a big mistake.
The final course involves kishimen (flat noodles that originate from Nagoya) and mochi.
Even though most of it is vegetables, the nabe is amazing and filling. Moving on to the next end-of-year party was a real struggle (laugh)
On the next table, a big writer was surrounded by editors. It was funny as the most straightforward person there was also a novelist.