My wife and I went to a restaurant in Ito on the Izu Peninsula that specializes in rare moray eel dishes. The moray eel, known as the gangster of the sea, has strong jaws and a unique bone structure, making it difficult to cut and to process it without giving off an unpleasant odor. It is difficult to cook, and this is the only restaurant in Japan that specializes in a full course of various moray eel dishes.

Starting with sashimi, sliced raw fish, and parboiled salad, we had gang-fried moray eels with their whole heads up, rolls in omelet, and kabayaki, grilled meal. The moray eel meat, which has plenty of collagen under the skin and is very elastic, was well-processed, had no unpleasant odor, and went perfectly with sake. I was so engrossed in the deliciousness and the sake that I forgot to take pictures of some of the dishes.

It had been a while since I last visited Ito, so I spent a relaxing time enjoying the hot springs at the roadside station and fishing on the port embankment.