After the NZ v SA game we decided to grab some food before heading back to our shoe box, and having walked past any number of perfectly acceptable looking places, we made a decision on an authentic looking bar/grill.

On entering we were told that they only served pig, but that was fine, lots of cuts of pork are delicious. We thought we’d play it safe and order the chef’s tasting menu, obviously the signature dishes and the best examples of his cooking. We should perhaps have looked more carefully at the menu. We also ordered our first sake of the trip, in hindsight another mistake.

What the waitress should have said when we arrived was they only serve the bits of pig nobody else would consider giving to a paying public. I am all for using the whole animal, but this was a bridge too far. Those of you who know Robert will be aware that he is pretty comfortable around offal, and in our 30 years together I have never seen him spit out a piece of meat in disgust. I think it was the grilled windpipe (but it could have been the rectum or gizzard – who knows) that went in and came back out, not only very quickly but with a good degree of force. I haven’t laughed so much in a very long time, particularly because he then went to take a large swig of drink to get rid of the taste, only to remember (too late) it was sake & not really suitable for swigging.

To add insult to injury on the walk back to the underground station we passed several lovely looking places.