One day in November.. the weather finally turned chilly and snow crab season came around again! Could anything make me happier.. Whenever crab season comes, the place I always go is Matsuya. It’s closed on Sundays, so it’s a bit hard to go often, though.
Barley tea
I snapped this first just to test the white balance.
Matsuba crab set meal
At 4,200 yen it’s on the pricey side, but the portions are generous. Premium crab is an expensive ingredient to begin with, so I can’t really call the price bad. Even so, I think the Nihonkai set or the Matsuya set, which come with a slightly smaller crab, are better value for money. Since the portions are huge anyway, just pick whichever menu suits you.
A plate of sazae and uni
The uni had melted a little, but it was delicious. I suspect they prep the fish in the morning. It’s such a popular place that they couldn’t handle the crowds otherwise. With places like this, going early in the morning is probably when it tastes best.
Meaty matsuba crab
Matsuba crab is a branded snow crab, like Yeongdeok snow crab back in Korea. Around here the top-grade crabs from the local catch are called matsuba crab, while the ordinary ones are just zuwai crab. Since it’s a famous crab region, quite a few people come in winter and make a trip of crab plus the nearby hot springs. The taste is the best, of course. But the portion was a bit much, even for me.
Steamed dish
There’s just so much to eat that I had no choice but to skip dishes like this for now.
A plate of sashimi
Maybe because the harbor is less than a kilometer away, the freshness really comes through. Chewy octopus, squid that clings to your tongue, buri at its fattiest.. everything is delicious. Only the shrimp heads made it into the photo, but the bodies are behind them.
A plate of tempura too
Honestly.. with the sashimi this good, I worried whether the tempura would live up to it, but maybe because the freshness is off the charts, it tasted fantastic. I meant to have just one bite, but ended up eating the whole thing.
A clean, refreshing miso soup with a crab leg in it
They went big and put in a nice meaty one. Being right at the source really does make a difference.
Rice with hotate
The rice is loaded with scallops too. For a normal human being, just this rice and the sashimi would be plenty for a meal.
Shiokara
It’s salted, fermented squid, smooth with a nice kick, perfect with rice. I thought about buying some on the way out, but it came from Hokkaido and had a short shelf life, so I passed.
Kani miso
Maybe because the crab was big, there’s loads of kani miso too.
Job done
I’m the type who picks out all the meat before eating, so I piled the ponzu bowl high with crab meat. I got three rounds like this out of it, so I might not crave crab for a while.
The remains
That was a great meal. In the end I never even touched the chawanmushi. For a balanced meal, a set with a slightly smaller crab would have been the better call, but that day I wanted to eat crab to my heart’s content, so I pushed it and ordered the Matsuba set. I don’t think I’ll be craving crab for a while.