Odori Kitchen: Delicious Italian Cuisine by the Sea

I like to eat. I think my list of my top 5 favorite things to do is as follows:

1.  Eat
2. Watch movies, anime
3. Sleep
4.  Dance like a crazy person
5.  Shop

I eat when I am sad.  I eat when I am happy.  I eat when I am hungry, or bored, or stressed out. I eat all the time, and I am picky.  I’m not going to eat just anything.

Luckily, I have found another place to add to my list of drool-inducing restaurants.

Odori Kitchen in Shirahama has made the cut. In fact, they passed with flying colors.

First of all, you need to check out their website.  It’s extremely well made and easy to understand, with beautiful, high-quality pictures of the food.  I was wavering between two restaurants to visit that day, but Odori Kitchen’s website really sealed the deal.

So, my friend and I headed down to Shirahama.  We didn’t really check the driving instructions very well, but there were plenty of signs to lead the way.  The restaurant is up a little hill along a narrow pathway leading from the road along the shore.  You can’t really see it from the road, but when we got up the hill, we were pleasantly surprised. 

The restaurant is an adorable little white hut of sorts, surrounded by an impeccably manicured garden.  Just walking up the path feels like walking into another world.  I was really excited when I noticed the table on the patio, but it was blazing hot outside so we opted for an indoor table.  However, it seems perfect for a romantic dinner for two or a long meal with friends.

Anyhow, we made our way inside the building - which was spotless – and were immediately greeted by the waiter and let to a table by the window.  From the window (I say window but that entire wall was windows and sliding glass doors), you can see out over the roofs of houses to the ocean. 

a portion of the view from my seat.  can you see the ocean?

Looking around the restaurant, I noticed the interior was designed in excellent taste – the floors, although glossy, have a rugged concrete-ish look, while the walls and the tables are a simple, glossy white that give a modern feel.  There are unfinished wood shelves and plants as accents, and the chairs and the bar are a bold navy leather.  Like the garden, the interior was comfortable, yet provided a fashionable escape from the everyday.

the chairs under the bar are actually blue (I think)

I like that the wine list tells you what part of Italy the wines come from

After looking at the menu, filled with dishes that use fresh, local ingredients,  my friend and I decided to get the 1200~ yen lunch special (the 1600~ yen special includes dessert).  First, the water brought us hors d’oeuvres, which consisted of rosemary focaccia, a savory Italian-style omelet, a sizeable and refreshing green salad, and local-specialty, namero (think of minced, flavored sashimi).  Then came our pastas - I had the Satomi Pork Meat Sauce Tagliatelle and she had the Sanga-Yaki and Spinach Tomato Sauce Spaghetti.   

appetizer plate

I had the meat sauce tagliatelle.  yummy!

sanga-yaki spinach pasta

The pasta was fantastic!  The meat was in larger chunks than I am used to, perhaps minced instead of ground; I really enjoyed the texture of the pork and along with the slightly firm handmade tagliatelle noodles.  The larger bits of meat also meant that I got an occasional fatty bit, but the fat was, surprisingly, mildly sweet and really melted in my mouth.  I felt like I hit the jackpot every time I came across one.

After we had the pasta, the server brought my friend and I our drinks, and after we finished them we went home.  I noticed a sign on the wall on the way out that says that if you are coming to the restaurant and plan on drinking, they offer a pick-up/drop-off service.  If you live within a certain radius and make a reservation for 2 or more people, someone from the restaurant will pick you and and drop you off for only 500yen per person. That's an amazing deal considering a daiko usually runs 1500 and up.

When the waiter walked us out and thanked us for coming, I told him I'd be back, and I meant it.  Anyone up for dinner sometime?

Liz