I awoke Saturday morning after Faneuil Hall Friday and got my act in gear. I had a bus to catch. They leave just about every hour from South Station to Cape Cod. I ended up making it on the 1:15. Impressive after a night of drinking, I know.
And so began a mother / daughter filled weekend. We stopped at the store to grab some essentials for lunch. I turned Mom onto Utz chips and Honest Tea! She couldn't believe how good Utzs were, and admitted she would have never thought to try them.
She also loved the Honest Tea and Honest Ade
She whipped us up amazing Bruschetta sandwiches for lunch.
A thick crusty loaf of bread layered with fresh tomato, mozzarella, basil, arugula, balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil.
For this sandwich alone she deserves a day to be celebrated. Mind you, this is only the beginning of a weekend of good eats. The afternoon was cold and drizzly. We headed to see a movie at the
Cape Playhouse Cinema in Dennis.
We saw a documentary called Babies. I had never heard of it so I went in with no expectations, and an open mind.
I don't say this about many movies but I'm calling this one a
must see. It was incredibly captivating. I highly, highly recommend. The Cape Cinema is also a treat.
The painted ceilings in the theater are stunning. We exited to find the rain had passed and the sun was out. We headed to Corporation Beach in Dennis.
It was high tide on the other side of that jetty where we wanted to hike, so after a few pictures of the landscape and breathtaking sky, oh and this beer bottle cap, we tooled over to Chapin Beach.
Chapin was w-i-n-d-y. To let you know just how much, I took this video.
My hair is gonna look great at dinner tonight!
I also documented the tide coming in and our huge shadows in the dunes.
We headed home to freshen up for dinner at our all time favorite restaurant
Inaho. Located 3 minutes away in Yarmouthport center, my parents have been coming here for as long as I can remember. They introduced sushi to my sister and I when we were about 10 and 12 respectively. Ok so we ate only California rolls, white rice, bento boxes, and miso soup for awhile, before branching out to sample tastes of raw tuna or octopus. Japanese food as a whole was our favorite. Inaho served as our restaurant of choice for birthdays, graduations, anything that was deemed celebration worthy. Our family recognized Inaho as the best sushi on the Cape, easily. As we pulled up a stool at the sleek lacquered wood bar, we reminisced how they used to have a teeny tiny 3 seat bar in the corner where waitresses poured their own sake and cocktails were essentially non existent.
Impressed at how Inaho has kept up with the demand and changing times (eating sushi at the bar is hip, yes) we sipped on some fabulous drinks. I had a
Murai Nigori Unfiltered Cold Sake ($9)
I had been seriously craving cold unfiltered sake ever since DeMane served it to me at her place last month. I need to figure out where I can buy this stuff by the bottle.
Mom had a cocktail crafted special for her with this new Asian sake liqueur called Ty-Ku.
The rim lined thick with the finest sugar crystals and the double lemon/lime garnish were exquisite touches on this Ty Ku martini. We were offered seats at the sushi bar as opposed to a table. This couldn't have worked out any better - as the sushi bar is my Mom's favorite seat in the house.
We immediately ordered 2 carafes of hot sake. As I've stated in the past, hot sake
always accompanies my sushi. Like Mother, like daughter!
I had to get a miso soup. It came steaming hot with the thickest chunks of tofu and long wide strips of seaweed, just as I always remembered. This is the perfect bowl, the one I compare to all others. As I sipped it I realized, others may come close, but no one will match Inaho's.
Being adventurous eaters, we ordered a salad we'd never tried before.
Hijiki Salad -
cooked hijiki seaweed, carrots and tofo. This strange looking salad was lightly bathed in a warm seaweed broth and topped with sesame seeds. The dressing as a simple broth served to highlight the mild flavors in the dish.
What a visually stimulating presentation. I love how the bowl cradles the salad and the single piece of lettuce sits at the top adding a pop of color to the dark intimidating seaweed. Great job Inaho. Great choice Mom. Next out was maki roll #1 of 2. The
Vegetable Jalapeno Roll ($12). I can't seem to recall the type if fish. But it was superb.
I consumed each larger-than-a-proper mouthful roll all in one bite. I chewed for a long time, rice and roe overflowing out of my stuffed mouth.
The crispy tempura battered jalapeno and flaky fish drizzled in a sweet sauce was savored and worth every awkward mouthful.
Maki roll #2.
Orange Dragon ($16). Have you ever witnessed a more beautiful maki roll? Shake your head no. No, you haven't. You haven't tasted heaven until one of these immaculate bites graces your taste buds.
Please look at that glistening salmon.
Sushi doesn't get any better than that. Well proportioned chunks of fresh fish to avocado, in a roll so tightly adhered you can't tell where once rice kernel ends and the other begins.
The colorful pyramids of roe and tempura flakes piled atop the bright orange salmon not only look phenomenal but add complementary elements of taste and texture to the maki.
I will not apologize for taking 800 pictures of this roll. My picture taking (and my Mom's) sparked the couple who sat next to us interests from the get-go. We chatted with them on and off the entire evening. We learned Don and Joyce own a B&B on the beach in Falmouth called the
Beach Breeze Inn. (Gosh, it looks adorable.) They were super friendly and expressed how they couldn't wait to see my sushi pics when they checked out the blog! I hope they are happy their picture made it up. Don was laughing so hard at himself (Why am I looking in the opposite direction?!) which prompted us all to have a laugh. Mom and I were on our second carafe of sake. Don was on his second pot of magic tea.
"What do they put in this green tea anyways?" ~ Don
Now the sushi chefs were chuckling at our antics. And them guys never crack. They are serious and focused the whole night through. To make sushi as good as pictured, I don't doubt you have to be. It is truly an art.
I seem to have been distracted when our last plate was delivered.
My girlfriends aren't big on slabs of raw fish, and none of them will eat unagi! How I've longed for a tender on the inside, sweet glazed crispy skin on the outside piece of eel.
Unagi is life changing. I've even come across other food blogs, where the blogger eats sushi and steers clear of the unagi. I am starting to feel like everyone else is sain and I'm (besides my immediate family) the only crazy one out there who likes it.
If there is anyone else who shares my love of unagi, please comment and let me know when we're going out for sushi. (Or justify my love of eating this creepy sea creature.)
Tuna. Fresh wasabi. mmm.
Inaho's modern atmosphere isn't overdone. Tasteful Japanese lanterns hang in the wooden booths with woven mat seats. A deep red wall with a bamboo window separates the sushi bar area from the main dining room.The exterior is a charming white house with black shutters, surrounded by a zen garden with large stones placed throughout and marble benches lining the brick walkway.
And a red door.
It has been way too long since I've visited what still remains as one of my all time favorite sushi restaurants. It takes me back to the days of Dad's spicy tuna handrolls, Leah's tails in the air, days of Bento Box chicken, fears of wasabi, and learning how to use chopsticks. Present day, I've really come to appreciate a perfect slice of raw fish or maki roll. Inaho does it best. All of it.
Happy Mothers Day Mom!!
And so began a mother / daughter filled weekend. We stopped at the store to grab some essentials for lunch. I turned Mom onto Utz chips and Honest Tea! She couldn't believe how good Utzs were, and admitted she would have never thought to try them.
She also loved the Honest Tea and Honest Ade
She whipped us up amazing Bruschetta sandwiches for lunch.
A thick crusty loaf of bread layered with fresh tomato, mozzarella, basil, arugula, balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil.
For this sandwich alone she deserves a day to be celebrated. Mind you, this is only the beginning of a weekend of good eats. The afternoon was cold and drizzly. We headed to see a movie at the Cape Playhouse Cinema in Dennis.
We saw a documentary called Babies. I had never heard of it so I went in with no expectations, and an open mind.
I don't say this about many movies but I'm calling this one a must see. It was incredibly captivating. I highly, highly recommend. The Cape Cinema is also a treat.
The painted ceilings in the theater are stunning. We exited to find the rain had passed and the sun was out. We headed to Corporation Beach in Dennis.
It was high tide on the other side of that jetty where we wanted to hike, so after a few pictures of the landscape and breathtaking sky, oh and this beer bottle cap, we tooled over to Chapin Beach.
Chapin was w-i-n-d-y. To let you know just how much, I took this video.
I also documented the tide coming in and our huge shadows in the dunes. 
We headed home to freshen up for dinner at our all time favorite restaurant Inaho. Located 3 minutes away in Yarmouthport center, my parents have been coming here for as long as I can remember. They introduced sushi to my sister and I when we were about 10 and 12 respectively. Ok so we ate only California rolls, white rice, bento boxes, and miso soup for awhile, before branching out to sample tastes of raw tuna or octopus. Japanese food as a whole was our favorite. Inaho served as our restaurant of choice for birthdays, graduations, anything that was deemed celebration worthy. Our family recognized Inaho as the best sushi on the Cape, easily. As we pulled up a stool at the sleek lacquered wood bar, we reminisced how they used to have a teeny tiny 3 seat bar in the corner where waitresses poured their own sake and cocktails were essentially non existent.
Impressed at how Inaho has kept up with the demand and changing times (eating sushi at the bar is hip, yes) we sipped on some fabulous drinks. I had a Murai Nigori Unfiltered Cold Sake ($9)
I had been seriously craving cold unfiltered sake ever since DeMane served it to me at her place last month. I need to figure out where I can buy this stuff by the bottle.
Mom had a cocktail crafted special for her with this new Asian sake liqueur called Ty-Ku.
The rim lined thick with the finest sugar crystals and the double lemon/lime garnish were exquisite touches on this Ty Ku martini. We were offered seats at the sushi bar as opposed to a table. This couldn't have worked out any better - as the sushi bar is my Mom's favorite seat in the house.
We immediately ordered 2 carafes of hot sake. As I've stated in the past, hot sake always accompanies my sushi. Like Mother, like daughter!
I had to get a miso soup. It came steaming hot with the thickest chunks of tofu and long wide strips of seaweed, just as I always remembered. This is the perfect bowl, the one I compare to all others. As I sipped it I realized, others may come close, but no one will match Inaho's.
Being adventurous eaters, we ordered a salad we'd never tried before.
Hijiki Salad - cooked hijiki seaweed, carrots and tofo. This strange looking salad was lightly bathed in a warm seaweed broth and topped with sesame seeds. The dressing as a simple broth served to highlight the mild flavors in the dish. 
What a visually stimulating presentation. I love how the bowl cradles the salad and the single piece of lettuce sits at the top adding a pop of color to the dark intimidating seaweed. Great job Inaho. Great choice Mom. Next out was maki roll #1 of 2. The Vegetable Jalapeno Roll ($12). I can't seem to recall the type if fish. But it was superb.
I consumed each larger-than-a-proper mouthful roll all in one bite. I chewed for a long time, rice and roe overflowing out of my stuffed mouth. 
The crispy tempura battered jalapeno and flaky fish drizzled in a sweet sauce was savored and worth every awkward mouthful.
Maki roll #2. Orange Dragon ($16). Have you ever witnessed a more beautiful maki roll? Shake your head no. No, you haven't. You haven't tasted heaven until one of these immaculate bites graces your taste buds.
Please look at that glistening salmon.
Sushi doesn't get any better than that. Well proportioned chunks of fresh fish to avocado, in a roll so tightly adhered you can't tell where once rice kernel ends and the other begins.
The colorful pyramids of roe and tempura flakes piled atop the bright orange salmon not only look phenomenal but add complementary elements of taste and texture to the maki.
I will not apologize for taking 800 pictures of this roll. My picture taking (and my Mom's) sparked the couple who sat next to us interests from the get-go. We chatted with them on and off the entire evening. We learned Don and Joyce own a B&B on the beach in Falmouth called the Beach Breeze Inn. (Gosh, it looks adorable.) They were super friendly and expressed how they couldn't wait to see my sushi pics when they checked out the blog! I hope they are happy their picture made it up. Don was laughing so hard at himself (Why am I looking in the opposite direction?!) which prompted us all to have a laugh. Mom and I were on our second carafe of sake. Don was on his second pot of magic tea.
"What do they put in this green tea anyways?" ~ Don
Now the sushi chefs were chuckling at our antics. And them guys never crack. They are serious and focused the whole night through. To make sushi as good as pictured, I don't doubt you have to be. It is truly an art.
I seem to have been distracted when our last plate was delivered.
My girlfriends aren't big on slabs of raw fish, and none of them will eat unagi! How I've longed for a tender on the inside, sweet glazed crispy skin on the outside piece of eel.
Unagi is life changing. I've even come across other food blogs, where the blogger eats sushi and steers clear of the unagi. I am starting to feel like everyone else is sain and I'm (besides my immediate family) the only crazy one out there who likes it. 
If there is anyone else who shares my love of unagi, please comment and let me know when we're going out for sushi. (Or justify my love of eating this creepy sea creature.)
Tuna. Fresh wasabi. mmm. 
And a red door.
It has been way too long since I've visited what still remains as one of my all time favorite sushi restaurants. It takes me back to the days of Dad's spicy tuna handrolls, Leah's tails in the air, days of Bento Box chicken, fears of wasabi, and learning how to use chopsticks. Present day, I've really come to appreciate a perfect slice of raw fish or maki roll. Inaho does it best. All of it. 
Happy Mothers Day Mom!! 
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