Gastro Monkey // 美食家

Hi, Friends! Looks like it's been almost a year again since the last time I tried to update my blog! I have so much to catch up on, and it's overwhelming to think about all of the 2018 Japan/Taiwan posts, let alone the past few years. My last two posts were an attempt to catch up on the trip out to Hawaii January of 2020, while this and the upcoming ones are dining during a pandemic. At the time, we were torn on going out to eat (selfish), and if we should just keep staying home (paranoid). We really couldn't win. In the end, we decided that we should try to eat out and support the restaurants we want to see come out of the pandemic. To do this, we wore masks, and actually kept them on when we were not actively eating. In following various restaurants on Instagram, it is disheartening to see how people refuse to be considerate of others.   In deciding where to go, I took into account how much risk we were willing to take (this was just after having the first dose of Moderna...

The first thing you see after stepping inside RAW (most likely after standing outside and thinking, this is it, it's finally happening - because those reservations are not  easy to come by), is this - a big wall that has the definition of "kitchen." The second thing is most likely all of the wood. The wood is Hinoki, a prized wood that is super fragrant. The smell evokes childhood memories of summers in Taiwan in our old house in 岡山, the last stop on the new-ish KMRT. From there, your exceptionally friendly waiter will seat you and your party. Then, you think, hm, I don't have any utensils. When am I going to get them? Have no fear friend, check the table. There's a drawer that should just be to the right of you that has all of that. Now, can I get one of those at home?  Next comes the menu. It changes seasonally, and doesn't have very much information listed. In fact, it looks like a game of BINGO: We were seated fairly close to t...