Chicken tonight

Well, last night. There's a chicken speciality restaurant two doors down from the hotel who do chicken tempura, which I just had to try. The front door was upstairs, so we didn't know what to expect until we got there.

There was a traditional sliding door, but with an automatic door opening button. As we walked in, the lobby was filled with a group of young men on their way out, so we couldn't immediately get to the entrance. 'Someone tell them they've got customers.' 'Hey, you've got customers.' One of the staff came out to meet us and showed us the lockers for shoes, then we followed them around labyrinthine polished wood corridors to a tatami room which looked like you had to sit on the floor but actually has a hollow under the floor so you sit normally with your legs below what looks like floor level.

They had an English menu, we had four different types of skewers, deep fried chicken, omelette with dashi and chicken - very like battered fish, but with chicken. Dad had sake, and it all came to just over 20 pounds. The head waitress spoke English, and all the staff were very nice. Great place!

Off to Himeji Castle today.