i need a giant bowl

 It is one of my goals to make a big ass serving dish in ceramics.... whenever I can resume that life again.

Look at these GIANT bowls at Raku. 

Can you tell how big they are? Knowing that those are standard chopsticks, you can kind of gauge how freaking deep these troughs are. I mean, I'm going to tell you right now that I ended up taking home a full takeout container's worth of leftovers home even after eating to what felt like bursting to me. Like one of those tall ones that they put the broth into at pho places. It was maybe a little bit shameful, but I was still recovering from a weekend of unrestrained eating.

But first, apps. This smokey, charred yaki nasu (deep fried eggplant, spicy miso pork, quail egg) was my favorite thing I wish I didn't have to share. 

Featuring chicken tatsuta-age in the bg. So tender, so crispy.

I went with the special udon for the matsutake mushrooms and chicken + honeycomb tripe add-on. All the waiter had to tell me was that these were special seasonal mushrooms from Japan. Apparently these things are special - they symbolize fertility and happiness. I am now wondering if broth is not the best way to serve these mushrooms because apparently they are also known as pine mushrooms and are prized for their spicy or cinnamon-y odor and flavor that I definitely did not get despite the lightness of the broth. Or maybe my senses are just deadened.

But the mushrooms with the tripe = my favorite textures.