Ted gets close to the bone

… and the Bone Daddie didn’t mind one bit … but I digress. A few years ago The Doll and I and my long time well-travelled gourmet friend who shall remain anonymous (Adele) went to Japan. We got one of those rail passes that allowed us to travel on the high speed “Shinkansen” or as they are appropriately known the “bullet trains”. So … off we whizzed on a great adventure that would take us all over the biggest island in Japan – Honshu (please do not ask about the olive tree island and the lost "only copy" of the tourist info in english).

We travelled from the beautiful and serene ancient city of Kyoto in the north to the peaceful and philosophical Hiroshima in the South. Somewhere in between we checked into a hotel, which being Japan meant it was geared to solo business travellers. We were given a single room each with all the usual stuff including a TV set  ... with a coin slot in the front.  Adele and I were somewhat perplexed as to what the coin slot was for as the TV seemed to work perfectly well without any money … then The Doll told us why …

Later in search of dinner we came across an “Izakaya” or Japanese pub. By the time we arrived many of the patrons had possibly been there for a while and we were invited to sit down with them.  They gave us lots of suggestions for food and drink and then ordered for us as well. Lots of delicious dishes arrived, followed lots of cheers and hilarious conversation that you can only have when both parties only speak 10 words of each other’s language.  

So … when I saw that the Bone Daddies “Flesh and Buns” restaurant in Covent Garden billed itself as a “Japanese pub” I convinced The Doll to have lunch. The “Bone Daddies” name is the clue that they make their stocks by boiling down bones (ah just like real stock then) and use that in their food. We ordered ceviche, soft shell crab, chicken wings, char grilled peppers, mushroom rice, seasonal pickles, and buns. Not a single thing tasted remotely Japanese but it was all really good.

Afterwards I looked up who the owner/chef was and discovered it’s an Australian guy who worked for Nobu amongst others before striking out on his own … now I understand the eclectic menu and frankly its very London right now to have small "sharing dishes" but these guys will feed you properly". There are several Bone Daddies in London each with a different theme … ramen noodles (naturally) to Japanese pizza (who knew) … and these fluffy buns ... do try them they are fun and tasty … take along some Japanese friends for a real treat.