Final Dinner at Namaskar

One of our favorites places to eat during our two years in Fuji has been a small Indian restaurant near Fuji Station called Namaskar. We've taken quite a few people there including my parents, Kelly's family, and Kerry.

Namaskar has a total of two people who work there. There's the Japanese owner who also doubles as the waiter and the chef who is an Indian man that speaks very little Japanese and a little bit of English. Before we ever went there, we had heard stories about how the owner/waiter was a very grumpy man and not very nice. Our first few times there, we kind of felt the same way, but eventually he started to recognize us and we started to see through his hard exterior. Then last summer when the Haseltines were here, Jeff spoke to him as we were leaving and told him we really love the place. He said we went there a lot and then gave Jeff some keychains to give to Melanie and Claire. That's also when we found out that the chef speaks a little English.

Fast-forward to last Friday night. We decided to make it our last trip to Namaskar and ordered our favorite things. We had a great meal. Kelly had always joked about taking a picture with the owner on our last visit, but she was getting cold feet. So when we left, after we paid, I told him that in a few weeks we would be returning to America so this would be our last time to eat there. He seemed shocked and disappointed and then gave Kelly a really pretty Indian bracelet and me a cool Indian keychain. Then we got him and the chef to take a picture with Kelly. Here it is:

He's even smiling a little! Then after that, he offered to take a picture with me in it. I taught him how to use the iPhone camera and here it is:

It was a great last visit to Namaskar. Before we left I told him, "Oishii tabemono o arigatou gozaimashita." (That you very much for the delicious food.) We'll never forget that place.