Once in a while you'll have a meal where perhaps the food wasn't extremely good; but the experience itself is like something out of one of those food-travel shows, the characters or in this case character is somewhat unforgettable. Thus was the case with Yamaya Seafood. A Japanese, yes, "real" Japanese Izakaya-ish restaurant in, of all places Anchorage.
After sleeping off lunch in our "haunted hotel"; we strolled around town a bit. Stopping at several places to browse.
When it came time for dinner; I knew the Missus needed a short respite from the fried food and such and I was curious about a place I'd read about. Located near the Downtown Transit Center is Yamaya Seafood.
It's one of those "blink and you'll miss it" kind of places. I was curious as to how a Japanese; not Americanized-Japanese, but real Japanese restaurant would do in Anchorage. The entrance to the place is located on the side of the building. We accidentally walked in the front door; into what looked like a living room; sofa, television, mats on the floor, the dΓ©cor really looked like my grandparent's place. And then we were greeted by a little, but quite feisty woman, who totally reminded me of my aunts on Lana'i. I believe her name is Kazuko.
We were ushered into a dining room that really wouldn't be out of place in some little neighborhood in the Japanese countryside. All the while we were regaled with conversation and questions. Eventually, the Itamae/Chef came out; apparently he is Kazuko's son. We placed our orders; this being a one man operation; with Obaachan doing the dining room work, I expected things to take a while. And they did. But man did we enjoy ourselves.
We just sat back had a couple of Sapporo, all the while chatting with Kazuko-chan.
And boy did we have a lot of questions…..and oh my; did she have some answers:
As to why she moved to Alaska – "the clean air and the clean water…β¦.the beautiful mountains"
Where she lived in Japan – "Tokyo; but it is too dangerous and the too much crime" ??????
The cold? – "it's when the air is the cleanest…."
"When we first built our restaurant, you could see the beautiful mountains; but then they built the Marriott and bah, you can't see the mountains anymore…."
"There one cruise ship from Japan that comes in every year; that is our busiest week. We have to open up the dining room upstairs. But people who eat there have to come down and pick up their own food. I'm too old to be walking up and down the steps."
"Japan is too dirty (?????), here the air is so clean and the water is so pure; I want to live a long life…."
At one point the Itamae said "Ma; you need to stop talking. You are repeating yourself and sound senile!"
But we just loved listening to her.
About forty five minutes later the house cold smoked salmon arrived. It was amazingly good.
Rich and oily (in a good way); a nice mild smoked flavor, perfect salt, the texture was nice and meaty. The onion did a good job of cutting the richness.
Unfortunately, the mixed sashimi wasn't so good.
The salmon was excellent as expected; after all; this is Alaska. The hamachi and tako were still slightly frozen, the maguro had a metallic finish; the shrimp was mushy and watery. The shiromi was fine if edging on the fishy side. 
Perhaps we should have ordered something else. But heck; I'd pay twenty bucks just for the conversation. Sometimes the experience tops the food and we were learning a bit about life in Anchorage (it ain't easy) from one tough and feisty Obaachan. At, of all places, a Sushi Bar cum Izakaya in Anchorage. Travel is amazing.
Yamaya Seafood Restaurant
825 W 6th Ave
Anchorage, AK 99501