昨日、神戸で借りているマンションまで来て下さったご家族と、今日は西梅田の「しゃぶ亭」で夕食をご一緒しました。

We had dinner with our friends, who came to  visit from Tokyo at a Shabu-Tei in Nishi Umeda today.

このお店には随分昔、結婚して間もない頃から行っているので30年以上通っているでしょうか。一時帰国で夫と滞在するときに時間余裕があれば、必ず行っていました。でも、ここ何年か行けていなかったような気がします。夫が数日しか滞在出来ないと神戸のお店だけで一杯一杯になってしまうので。

We were introduced to this restaurant by a friend of mine very soon after we got married (or could have been even before) so we’ve been going there for more than 30 years. We always went there when we had enough time when we stay in Kobe, but I have a feeling we hadn’t been there for some years because if my husband stayed in Kobe only for a few days our meal times were all taken by visiting our favourite restaurants in Kobe.

いつもは、ごく普通のしゃぶしゃぶコースを取っていましたが（以前から同じメニューだったのかどうか、もしかすると変わっているかも）、今日は特選ポークとビーフのコースにしました。夫とお友達のご主人はジャンボコース（お肉が倍）、お友達とお嬢さんはジャン母コースをシェア、わたしは普通のサイズ。最後に雑炊を2つ追加してシェア。やはり、特選のコースはお肉が霜降りで厚さと大きさもあって食べ堪えがありました。お野菜がもう少しあると良いのになと思いますが（生き始めた頃に比べて減りました）、最終的に苦しいくらいお腹いっぱいになリました。デザートに夫は白玉入のお善哉が食べたかったようですが残念ながら西梅田店にはなく、コースについてきたシャーベットだけいただきました。やはり、ここのごまだれが好きです。美味しかったです！

We used to take their standard beef shabu shabu course but today we took their ‘special’ pork and beef course. (The menu might’ve been changed since we were there before). My husband and my friend’s husband had a ‘Jumbo’ course, which has double the quantity of meat and my friend and her daughter shared a ‘Jumbo’ course. We also added 2 portions of Congee to share. The special beef was quite marbled and also larger and thicker so more substantial than standard beef. Although I wish it included more vegetables and Tofu, we were all very full by the end so I suppose it was OK. For a dessert, my husband wanted their shiratama with red bean soup but it wasn’t available at this particular branch (it’s available only in 2 other branches), so we just had a small scoop of sorbet, which came with the course. We really love their sesame sauce, it was as delicious as ever.

これはわたしの標準サイズのもので、ジャンボは倍。

This is mine, a standard size, jumbo had double.

今日はみんな、つい、しゃぶしゃぶに一生懸命で（1人ずつのお鍋なので、各自自分でしゃぶしゃぶします）ついつい無口でしたが、一緒に食事が出来てとても楽しかったです。遠くからご家族で会いにきてくださって、本当に嬉しかったです！次回は、イギリスに是非泊まりに来てください！

We were all concentrating on cooking shabu shabu as you have to cook it yourself in an individual pot, but it was lovely to be together with them. Both my husband and I really appreciate them coming all the way to see us! Next time, please come to England and stay with us!