Hayashi – Miyajima Island, Japan.
A visit to Miyajima Island should ideally be done alongside, before or after your stay in Hiroshima as it a very short distance away; for our trip, we decided to spend two nights at a ryokan on the island, which we thoroughly enjoyed – the hospitality of a family run inn, amenities such as traditional dinners and sleeping on a futon in a tatami-matted room was a heart-felt experience. The most rewarding feature of staying overnight for me was having the opportunity to admire the magnificence of the torii gate with all the tourists gone and the feeling of being enveloped by the ethereal atmosphere at night.
During the day, the ometesando (main street) of the town has crowds of tourists exploring the plethora of shops selling their wares and ushers advertising their seasonal dishes of oyster to passersby. When I read that deer free roam the streets online, I soon found this was an understatement; the deer are everywhere and will be in the most inconspicuous locations (such as inside the actual stores themselves).
Hayashi is one of the many places to eat, we literally walked up and down the main street 3 times before we decided on this place (we were lured by the eye candy of fresh kaki being grilled outside).
Here Comes The Food
Anago-musubi (600 yen): Barbecued sea eel rice balls. The eel is slathered with a rich and thick sauce that mars the delicate flavour. Compared to unagi, the flavour of anago in my opinion is much more light and subtle. A nearby table spots our rice balls and with no-doubt salivating palates order a couple to kick off the meal as well. The texture of the eel is soft and easily falls apart in the mouth. Oishii desu.
Kaki-udon (800 yen): Udon is served with boiled oysters and seasoned with green onions and seaweed. The broth has been infused with the oyster aroma and has a warms us up.
Kakidon (1200 yen): Our partner and I had a routine we adopted during this trip, once we had finished half of our order, we would swap. This was one of the rare cases that I managed to sneak away with more than two-thirds of the dish finished before she noticed and promptly swapped. The kakidon was perfect in my books. The egg yolk still runny and being cooked by the warmth of the rice and kaki – when runny egg yolk is involved in a dish, I’m automatically won over as it is one of my favourite things to eat. The simple flavour of the overall dish: kaki, together with the rice, onions and egg yolk put a smile of my face.
Hayashi
Located near and one the same street as the world’s biggest rice paddle.
Bonus shots from our stay on Miyajima Island:
Itsukushima shrine
Wait till all the tourists are gone, then you will have the whole shrine to yourself.
World’s biggest rice paddle; If that’s the rice paddle, whose the person that uses it?
On top of Mt. Misen
Travelers beware – Deer will eat your paper!
5 Storey Pagonda.
Each statute has a different face.
Dai-Shoin Temple
Hope you enjoyed the review and pictures! 
February 20th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Every post of yours makes me save another dollar towards getting to Japan some day not too far away!
February 20th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Love the bonus shots bro!
February 20th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Beautiful photos – as always!
February 21st, 2010 at 12:41 am
Fantastic fabulous photos!!! That photo of the kaki grilling is a sight for sore eyes!
February 21st, 2010 at 11:40 pm
Beautiful photos and love the simplicity of the oyster dishes.
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:21 am
oh wow, I regret not visiting this island. Everything looks so good, from the food to the picturesque surroundings. Next time, before I go to japan, I’d have to have a lengthy discussion with you =D
February 24th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Simply stunning.. Seems like everyone is going to Japan; I want to go too!
February 26th, 2010 at 8:07 am
Hi Fiona – hehe thanks, look forward to hearing about your trip in the near distant future
Hi Richard – thanks man.
Hi Karen – thanks!
Hi Trisha – it is isn’t it? I’ve yet to see this in Sydney.
Hi mademoiselle délicieuse – totally agree, simple is better.
Hi linda – don’t hesitate to shoot me an email
Hi Phuoc – gogogo