Casual Japanese Wine and Dine

A few weeks ago I had a good time at Kappo Ro Ann, the Japanese restaurant specializes in Kumamoto cuisine, so I thought I should also check out Sara, its sister restaurant under the same management on the other side of the harbor, and this time with a few more friends. Similar to Kappo Ro Ann, Sara focused on the ingredients and cooking from one particular region in Japan, and in this case, it’s Saga Prefecture in the northern part of Kyushu.

Seiromushi Pit Stop

With time to spare on our last day of the journey before catching the return flight home from Fukuoka early evening, we made a slight detour to visit the town of Kashima right near the boundary between Saga and Nagasaki prefectures for a morning stroll along the quiet path known as Sakagura Dori, or Sake Breweries Street, lined with sake breweries housed in old buildings dated back to the late Edo period.

Then we headed north and stopped by the town of Saga on our way for a quick lunch at Kira, a restaurant specializes in beef cuisine. The restaurant, with a few branches around Kyushu and in Tokyo in addition to its original Saga location, is owned by JA Saga, the regional farm cooperatives. They are the champions for fresh farm products from the region, especially Saga Beef, perhaps their best known export famous for the rich wagyu meat taste and marbled fat.