Last one, I promise - Shimokitazawa Spicy Food Festival (激辛フェスティバル / Gekikara festival)

The very first Shimokitazawa spicy food festival was finally coming to an end and I felt that I had one more dish in me.  What was it to be?  Unfortunately I was dictated to by time as finishing work late at night limits the amount of choices.  I made my choice and went off in the direction of Shimokitazawa Arena one of the many small bar / live music houses in Shimokitazawa.

We were, again, greeted with a smile (Shimokitazawa has to be one of the most friendly and welcoming places for non-Japanese people in Japan!) and we placed our order.  Soon we could hear something sizzling away in the small kitchen and the small of something delicious began to waft through the air as Tetsuya and I sat back and took in some Women's Olympic triathlon.  Soon enough the food arrived.

I have no idea what flavour the black one was, but it was the first time I had seen a sheer black sausage before.  There was a distinct smell of curry to the dish which was coming from the cabbage.  Once the sausages were gone, I switched my attention to the cabbage (I have a bit of a strange eating habit by where I eat all of one food item on my plate before then moving on to the next one and so on until the dish is finished.  It used to mystify and annoy my Father no end!).  There was a strong curry and a very distinct cumin flavour to the cabbage which also packed some nice heat too.

All too soon, it was over, as was my Shimokitazawa spicy food festival adventure.  It had been a delicious ride and I had ended up visiting so many restaurants, bars and cafes that I had not been to before.  I only hope that this is the first of many years of spicy food festival in Shimokita.

Thanks for reading, not only this one, but the whole series.  I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did eating for them and I hope some of you living in Tokyo were able to make it to Shimokita to eat some great food.  If you did, please let me know in the messages below.  The next food festival coming up in Shimokitazawa is the annual curry festival in only 2 months.  I highly recommend getting along to that one too.  you never know, I might see you there!

Until next time, bye!