Surfing and Seafood

This summer I was finally able to really try out surfing at Oarai Beach. The first time I went with a friend and the second time I did it with a surfing school. I learned two things during my surfing experiences. One, surfing is fun. Two, surfing is tough. I haven't really stood upright on the surfboard yet but I am hoping to get there someday. Another thing I learned is that surfing builds up an appetite. Good thing Oarai has plenty of seafood places to choose from after a long hard day of fun surfing.

Rodeo Surf

Today, I will be talking about the second time I went surfing in Oarai. Even though my first time was a lot of fun (thanks Chris), the second time I went surfing was with a surfing school in Oarai. The school and surf rental shop is called Rodeo Surf. Rodeo is located in the Higashiibaraki district of Oarai near the parking lot area of Oarai Sun Beach.
I went in late September for this surfing lesson. It was actually a package deal. Beach yoga and surfing. My group did yoga on the beach, then had a small snack, and finally put on our wet suits and headed for the waves.

Let's Catch Some Waves

On this particular day, the surfing area ended up being far away. This was also the day of the Oarai Fireworks Festival. Usually, the owner of Rodeo drives his truck through the sand to the surfing point, but he could not do that because of the festival. So we had to carry and paddle our boards to our surf area which took about 20 minutes. When we finally got to our surfing area, my arms were dead from carrying the surfboard the whole way. Then, when I saw the waves crashing against the sand, and a few surfers catching those waves, I felt reenergized and couldn't wait to try it.
The instructor gave us great tips and tricks on how to stand on our board and catch the waves. The instructions were in Japanese but they were clear and understandable. We practiced a few times on the sand and then headed for the waves. I felt confident I would catch my first and stand upright while riding the wave. Eight waves later I was not even close to my goal of standing. It was frustrating but fun. On my last wave, I was able to stand almost upright before falling over. That would have to do for now but one of these days I will reach my surfing goal. After we finished our surfing lessons, my group showered, changed, and headed to a place around Oarai that was famous for seafood rice bowls.

Uodome

It is a bit of a drive and a very long walk from Oarai Sun Beach to Uodome. This seafood restaurant is past the the Oarai outlet mall, the Marine Tower, and the Mentai Park (which I wrote about in the old Ibaraki Eats blog). When you drive up to Uodome, you might find it a little difficult to find parking. The area where Uodome is located is the fish market and seafood restaurant district. Meaning that a lot of tourists and Ibarakians come here for fresh seafood. Uodome is in the same area that Kajima is in (which I also wrote about in my old blog). Kajima is also a seafood restaurant as is the restaurant next to Uodome.
I arrived at Uodome with my surfing and yoga people and was told it would be a 40-minute wait. We grabbed our ticket and walked around the fish market for a while. Then our name was called and we headed in.

The Menu

There is a lot of seafood to choose from on Uodome's menu. Unfortunately, there is no English menu but there are plenty of pictures to help. The special dishes are only in Japanese. They consist of sashimi dishes and seafood rice bowls. Both of these dishes are shown on the special menu section and all the fish that are being used for those dishes are shown beneath the dish.
I decided to go with the seafood rice bowl and got a separate order of Aji Fry since I heard it was famous here.

The Seafood Rice Bowl of the Day

When the seafood rice bowl got to my table, I thought it looked exquisite. Everything was arranged so well with a lot of precision that it looked like a seafood work of art. I couldn't wait to dig in. I poured a bit of soy sauce in there and grabbed some sashimi. I should also mention the seafood rice bowl brought soup, salad, and fried pieces of another kind of fish. I won't get into that since the fish was very small.
The sashimi was excellent and so fresh. Everything was going well. The more I got into my seafood rice bowl, the more cracks I started seeing in this work of art. Everything was great, separately. When I grabbed some rice and a piece of sashimi with my chopsticks, I got that burning sensation in my nostrils that you get when you eat wasabi. There was a small ball of wasabi in the rice. Then I started to find other things in there that I feel just didn't go with the sashimi on top. So this exquisite-looking rice bowl was built with precision and a little bit of chaos. There were just so many flavors in there that didn't work well together. It wasn't all bad but it was not great either.

Aji Fry

The Aji Fry or Fried Horse Mackerel in English, was on another level of deliciousness than my seafood rice bowl. I should have stuck to this from the start. The mackerel inside was pipping hot and fresh, the fried outside was crispy and tasty. I was expecting to get a lot of oil in my mouth when I bit into the Aji Fry but there was hardly any which shocked me. The Aji Fry dish brought three pieces of Aji Fry and they were all excellent. The Aji Fry also brought some cabbage and vegetables which were all great. I could have had way more Aji Fry since it was so tasty but between the seafood rice bowl and this, my stomach couldn't handle anymore.

There is Star Wars Art Around the Restaurant

Uodome, I had a good time at your restaurant even though I waited quite a while to get in. Your Aji Fry is amazing and I would like to have it again. Your seafood rice bowl on the other hand, as pretty as it looks, needs a bit more work. I recommend not having tiny hidden balls of wasabi in the rice to surprise your customers. I am not sure if I will be back but if I am, make sure to have that incredible Aji Fry ready.

So if you are around Oarai and are in the mood for some amazing Aji Fry, why not give Uodome a chance? Before that though, you might want to take some surfing lessons with Rodeo Surf. Who knows, you might see me at both, trying to stand up on my surfboard and having some Aji Fry later.
Enjoy!

For more information on Rodeo Surf, check out their website:
https://rodeosurf.net/

For more information on Uodome, check out their Tablelog page:
https://tabelog.com/en/ibaraki/A0801/A080102/8019180/

As I said before, the surfing was a package deal. It was a surf and yoga event. The organizer is a yoga teacher based in Tsuchiura named Yuka. She has been my yoga teacher for a while now and I enjoy her classes and the special events. She does surf and yoga twice a year so if you are interested to join that event or interested to join her yoga classes, check out her Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/yoga.space.lila/