Isaribi -Hamada Station Hotel-

Hamagochi project – Isaribi –

Hamada faces the Sea of Japan, so local residents can enjoy various fresh fish. Some love to eat sashimi, or raw fish, and some eat cooked fish.

Isaribi is a restaurant that is famous for ‘Kamameshi’, which is boiled rice mixed with various seafood. It is a very famous local delicacy.

All customers who want to eat “Kamameshi” have to wait for 30 minutes for the rice to boil and the dish to be prepared. Needless to say, they will start chatting while the “kamameshi” is being cooked.  Waiting patiently until your dish is ready is part of Japanese food culture.

While you are waiting, good smells will waft from the bowl of boiling rice that is cooking at your table. However you should not open the cover even if you want to see the cooking food, as this will make the “kamameshi” taste bad. The more you wait, the more delicious and satisfying the mixed rice will become.

Half an hour after the staff first started heating up your bowl, they  will return to your table and stop the cooking process. This is a sign that the “kamameshi” is ready. If you can hold out for a few more minutes, the rice will be steamed. This is a true food lover’s way to eat delicious “kamameshi.”

-Isaribi-

64-1 Asai Town, Hamada city, Shimane prefecture

0855-22-8111 ( Japanese only)

Open: 17:00~22:00

Closed: Dec 30~Jan 1

Written and photos by Aiko and Takuya