Sagara was near Fukue Port on Nagasaki’s Goto Islands.
We walked through a quiet covered shopping street.
Most of the surrounding lights were off; only izakaya and restaurants were still open.
I ordered Issho, a sweet-potato shochu well known on the Goto Islands.
Shochu commonly ranges from 25% to 30% alcohol; this one was 25%.
In Japan, shochu is often drunk mizuwari style, diluted with water.
If it tastes too strong, you can add more water to suit your preference.
We ordered Sagara’s basic kaiseki course.
The appetizers included grilled turban shell, wonderfully crisp fried shrimp, smoked ham, rolled omelet, and fried fish simmered in sauce.
It was an excellent selection to accompany a drink.
As we ate and drank, they brought what looked like a teapot.
Inside were fish cakes in a delicious dashi broth.
We ate the fish cakes, then poured the broth into a cup to drink.
A marinated fish dish followed, though I could not identify the fish.
It looked to me like a very large anchovy.
The main sashimi dish was yellowtail.
The thickness surprised me: the slices were about three times as thick as the sashimi I usually encounter.
Yellowtail is also a well-known Goto Islands specialty.
Dipped in soy sauce with wasabi, its rich, moderately fatty flavor was delicious.
Tempura came next.
It included pumpkin, shrimp and asparagus, another shrimp item, and eggplant.
At good tempura restaurants in Japan, salt is sometimes served instead of dipping sauce.
This was so crisp and delicious that I could understand the choice of salt.
Then came Goto beef, known for its tenderness, with a Chinese-style sauce.
Even the pieces of carrot had been carefully carved—a detail that felt very Japanese.
The final savory part of the kaiseki was a rice set with miso soup.
Something I find interesting about kaiseki is that the rice comes at the end, after the other dishes.
That order felt unfamiliar from my Korean dining background.
The seasoned mushrooms on the rice and the Japanese steamed egg were delicious.
Dessert was a simple fruit purée.
No individual serving was especially large, but the slow succession of dishes left us full by the end.
After enjoying the food of Goto, we headed back to our accommodation.