David @ Tokyo

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that a local drinkery was advertising whale on it's menu, with a topical comment related to Sea Shepherd putting thoughts of whale dishes in Japanese consumers' minds.

I popped past again this evening to see if they were still doing whale - and they are:


The signboard has been modified since, and this time the whale in the image on the right (sorry you can't see the whale picture due to the bright light) is saying "an arrest warrant for Sea Shepherd".

It's not clear whether this is in reference to the arrest warrant for Peter Bethune, or the arrest warrant for Paul Watson following reports of Peter Bethune implicating Watson in Bethune's boarding of the Shonan Maru #2 and other related offences, but the arrest warrant for Watson has been featured heavily in the news here in recent days, so that's probably what it is.

Also noted on the menu is "sakura shrimp" and "sea eel sashimi". They focus on sea food.


So yes, I did get along to the restaurant on April 20, together with isanatori (who may very well be Tokyo's number one whale eater).

Here are the whale items that were on the menu that day.

First up - fin whale sashimi. Asked the chef about their food sources, and he said they get their marine products through Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market. We figured that this fin whale is more likely than not some of that exported in from Iceland, courtesy of Hvalur hf. Our thanks to Kristjan Loftsson and company if that is the case!


Whale bacon (minke):


Fried fin whale (tatsuta-age style):


Fin whale shoga-yaki style (kind of stir fried with ginger):


Here's the menu. It's not a cheap place - the fin whale sashimi was going for 1,500; the minke bacon for 1,600 and the fried whale for 900.


I mentioned to the chef that I had seen his signboard and blogged it - attracting the attention of the odd person of the anti-whaling persuasion (see here). He was happy for me to take pictures of the food and joked that I should pass on his gratitude to Sea Shepherd for their (I suppose unwitting) contribution to his business, and so there you have it.

His whale picture on the signboard (see prior post) had apparently been popular with other customers. He said he was eager to keep serving whale for a while.

Labels: Iceland, whale gourmet