Do you remember 2019? That was a good year. Everyone was out and about, shopping, eating out and going to movie theaters. We didn't have to worry about a pandemic at all. So many events were going on and travel wasn't restricted. That was nice. One of my favorite memories of 2019 was a seafood pop up tent that just showed up near Tsuchiura station. It had a cartoon character on the sign with an oyster for a head. This was Kakibugyo.
Kakibugyo
When I first saw this tent in the late winter of 2019, I had no idea what was going on. I had gotten there while they were opening and the staff told me to come back at night. I asked the staff what this tent was and they answered that it was a kind of seafood buffet. This really piqued my interest. I told the wife about it when I got home and we decided that is where we were going for dinner that chilly night in winter. When six o'clock rolled around, we were off for some seafood.
When the wife and I got to Kakibugyo, the tent was almost at capacity. Luckily, we were able to get a table. The staff gave us a tray and tongs and showed us to the buffet table. The table had all kinds of seafood you could imagine. Oysters, shrimp, mussels, clams and all other kinds of seafood. There was also corn and other vegetables. I asked the wife if all this seafood was from Ibaraki and she explained that it wasn't. It was from Miyagi prefecture. These guys traveled all the way from Tohoku and set up this awesome tent in Tsuchiura. That is pretty impressive.
Our Seafood Bounty
The wife and I got our tongs ready and decided that we were mainly going to have oysters since that seemed to be the most recommended seafood in the tent. We also grabbed some small clams, mussels, corn and a weiner on a stick . After we had gotten all our seafood, we had to pay at the register. This place wasn't a pay once and grab whatever you want buffet. It is a grab what you want and each item has a price tag buffet. I honestly don't remember the price of everything but I remember that it was pretty reasonable. Not too expensive but not cheap. After we payed, we were ushered to our table.
Grilling Time!
Our table had a small BBQ grill in the middle which you see in all yakiniku restaurants in Japan. It looks like we were going to grill our seafood on our own. The staff gave us instructions on how to cook everything and left us to our own devices. We grilled our oysters first and drank some beer while we waited for the oysters to be done. After the shell started opening up, we grabbed our oysters and started to sauce them up. We were given lemons and soy sauce for our oysters. I first tried it with the soy sauce and I loved it. I remember the oysters being really fresh and tasty. The wife was glad we spent most of our money on the oysters. I was so impressed with the oysters that I honestly don't remember much about the other seafood. I do remember that the corn was a bit of a let down, but the huge mussels were outstanding. They were so tasty and warm.
Delicious Oysters
After we finished our beer and seafood we left the tent and thanked the staff for their awesome fresh seafood. I told the staff we planned on coming back and I did send some customers their way. Unfortunately, the wife and I could not make time to go back because of our schedules.
The tent was open for about two weeks and then that was it. I wasn't sure if that tent was ever going to return to Tsuchiura again. It didn't. But in the late winter of 2020, it did show up in Tsukuba. The tent was set up in the parking lot of IIAS mall. Sadly, I caught it too late and wasn't able to go.
As of now, I have heard nothing of this awesome seafood tent and haven't seen it. I am not sure if they set up somewhere else in 2021 or if they just couldn't open because of the pandemic. I am sure it is the latter. I hope that when this situation is over and things get somewhat back to normal, I can find that tent again. I really did like their oysters and nothing is more relaxing on a nice evening than oysters and beer.
Hopefully, this is the year we can all enjoy BBQing some oysters around friends with beers. I am 100% it will not be now, but maybe in summer or fall. If you do end up seeing the tent somewhere in Ibaraki, please send me a message. I would love to go grill me up some oysters.
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