Isabella B.
Yelp
Kaiseki is the Japanese equivalent to haute cuisine, a multi-course meal with a theme using seasonal and local ingredients. Served at ryokans or upscale restaurants this is the most traditional Japanese cuisine one can undertake. Unless you're staying in a ryokan getting kaiseki reservations as tourists is somewhat difficult unless a local Japanese person makes the reservation. The No1DP and I were introduced via our tour guide who suggested this place based on tastes and budget - luckily this introduction (and that we were dining 2 hours to close) precluded a reservation.
The big perk is that it's widely considered by guidebooks and blogs as a good and reasonably priced introduction to kaiseki, about 1万円/person for a 10 course meal (~$100). Once shoes are taken off you are led into the bar or in more intimate sunk-in tables with attached door. Staff will go over the menu and ask for drinks as needed.
OPENING
- Sakizuke: Appetizer (Pike conger, scallop pressed with kelp, cherry tomato, green soybeans, okra, shisho sprouts, white taro stem topped with corn and tofu skin sauce). Equivalent to the amuse bouche, it was a combination of fish and veggies meant to stimulate appetite. Sauce is similar to corn potage.
- Wanmono: Japanese soup (Toasted Japanese sea bass, eggplant, green beans, burdock, yuzu). An integral course to whet the appetite consisting of a clear-broth soup and a minimalistic approach to ingredients. I wished there was less starchy ingredients.
MAINS: Each course highlighted a particular cooking style.
- Mukozuke: sashimi (Fresh catch of the day). The presentation was simplistic yet showcased the fresh fish.
- Oshinogi: small dish (sweet fish sushi, ginger root, water pepper, lotus root). The boiled/simmered vegetable dish is omitted in lieu of a more simple presentation of fish and vegetables. Served cold and refreshing and served as first palate cleanser to the heavier dishes ahead.
- Yakihassun: grilled dishes (Grilled grunt with Japanese pepper, noodles from yam with sillago, deep-fried freshwater shrimp, octopus, tofu from walnut, mountain jelly vegetable, green plum). The "hassun" (combination of finger foods on a plate) that serves as the backdrop to the rest of the meal. This was the most "foreign" part of the meal to me as I had to get used to tastes and textures not normally encountered in US dishes; namely the small shrimp bones that irritate teeth, a more sour than sweet plum and more pickled seafood and vegetables.
- Takiawase: simmered dish (Kamo eggplant, winter melon, snow pea, manganji green pepper, conger eel, sesame sauce, sprinkled yuzu). The mushimono (steamed dish) is in the form of a cold chawanmushi. Having the egg component cold allowed me to taste the individual components - delicate, citrusy and somewhat mushy. It comes in the lid to preserve the veggies from the air.
- Kawarizara: plate dish (Tomato with high sugar content, water shield, abalone, yam, cucumber, shisho flower, mixture of vinegar). Their sunomono, equivalent of vegetables and seafood soaked in vinegar, meant to serve as a palate cleanser. Tomato was quite sweet and that sweetness countered the vinegar mixture. Abalone became soft from the vinegar (it usually tastes like a more firm mussel).
- Aburamono: fried fish (Deep-fried tilefish and small taro, asparagus dressed with starchy sauce, ginger, Japanese ginger, negi). The agemono (deep fried dish) is fried tempura-style and usually served towards the end before the shokuji. The fish is light and fluffy and the taro is somewhat sticky. The sauce is thicker than soy and takes away the starchy aftertaste.
CLOSERS
- Shokuji: A set consisting of mixed rice from a communal pot (scallops and ginger), miso soup, assorted pickles and tea. Considered the "closing dish", this is carb-heavy though the No1DP and I enjoyed the little scallops sprinkled with our rice.
- Mizumono: dessert. Generally light it included a sorbet and pastry that would be ideal with tea. Mine was glutinous and topped with azuki. Sorbet helped reduced the glutinous aftertaste.
This ranks easily in my top 10 list of foodie experiences; this is the closest I have experienced a meal as an art form. Every ingredient was thoughtfully placed in the dish and it felt like each course had a purpose within the entire meal. With their foreigner-friendly approach I can recommend this as a way for foodies to be introduced to kaiseki. If diners are open to new flavors and textures kaiseki can certainly be an eye-opening experience. Many thanks to the No1DP for taking me here.