Ocean Terrace

There's a place in Niigata called Ocean Terrace. As far as I know, there are only three locations, but it's one of my favourite pasta joints. They've got this Hawaiian theme going on, but regardless of the strange atmosphere, the food there is incredible.

Garlic fries that are like mashed potatoes on the inside, with a crispy golden outside. Actually, these are the best fries I've ever had. Whenever I go to Japan, this is one of the places I have to eat.

Starter salad with huge shrimp.

This was a simple omlette served on top of a sauce similar to the sauce often found on Hambagu. Looks simple, but tasted great!

Japanese Pasta....no, I'm not talking about ramen

This picture was taken in late January, 2003. My friend Jay and I went to Japan to help my brother move back to Canada. Of course we took a three week vacation, with a one-week stop over in Hong Kong to this.

Jay and I started on this trip with the intention of going with nothing, getting a couple empty suitcases in Hong Kong, then go to Japan and fill them with my brother's stuff so he could move back here. Things didn't go quite as planned. Jay and I got the empty suitcases in Hong Kong, but ended up filling them up with all sorts of man-crap and by the time we showed up at my brother's door, we almost had no space left for his stuff.

Anyways, all that is way off topic. This is a picture of my first sampling of pasta, Japanese style. The noodles were cooked el dente, something I had never had in Canada until only recently. The noodles are served in a clear sauce and topped with mushrooms, salmon, and ikura. It was an incredible combination that would probably never be reproduced here.