I had this meal in August 2017, before starting this blog, but it was so magnificent that I took detailed pictures and I even kept the menu (not the best pictures, but they should give an idea).
Kashiwaya (柏屋) is a traditional Japanese restaurant in Osaka specializing in kaiseki menus. Hideaki Matsuo is the the second-generation owner-chef and he fully mastered the art of kaiseki to the point to get three Michelin stars confirmed year after year.
The visit
I had a reservation for lunch. I had obtained the reservation just emailing the restaurant and choosing the menu type. Now it is more complicated. You need to pre-pay the meal. For lunch they had a particularly affordable menu and I went for it.
The restaurant was in a nondescript building in a residential area. I almost missed it. The service was outstanding at every given time. I was escorted in a private room with a sunken tatami that had been arranged for my visit with one leather padded backseat. A lady in a kimono began bringing in the food. I was immediately offered some complimentary tea that was refilled throughout the meal.
The set menu that I had was inspired by the season: the end of summer. A card, in English, explained that the 15 days from 23 July are the hottest of the year and in Japanese this time is called taisho. It was further explained that in 2017 23 July coincided with 1 June in the old calendar and at that time people would climb the Mount Fuji to visit Asama shrine to purify the six roots of perception. The note concluded explaining that “Kashiwaya is preparing dishes expressing the middle of summer to purify six roots of perception, five senses and consciousness”. (The roots of perception in Japanese culture are he eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind.)
All kaiseki offered in this restaurant are exquisitely linked to the season and its cultural significance.
The fist dish was a sakizuke (amuse bouche) with octopus, zucchini, and loofah. To make it more refreshing the ingredients were placed on frozen dried dashi soup and the soy sauce was mixed with red plum meat.
The second appetizer was a composition of several elements: sweetcorn kudzu cake, fried scallop coated with rice cracker, fried winged bean with soy sauce and water pepper (on the right); then a blue taro stem, grilled shiitake mushroom mixed in sesame sauce and pine nut; cooked sweet potato; new ginkgo nut and ginger cooked in sweet and brown sauce on a pine needle (on the left).
The third dish was an example of nimonowan: a simmered dish in Japanese cuisine. It was a lightly grilled eel, with winter melon, grated ginger, and light kudzu sauce.
The next dish was called otsokuri as sashimi is called in the Kansai region. However it was not just raw seafood. The dish was pretty phenomenal as it sported five different preparations of hamo (conger pike), the traditional summer fish in Kansai. To be exact, the dish had tataki-yose (seared), yudooshi (parboiled), otoshi (live hamo boiled instantly and taken out), yubiki (blanched), yakishimo (the skin side of the fish is quickly charred or seared on an open flame or on charcoal and then is quickly transferred into a bowl of iced water).
The next dish was an example of yakimono, specifically a grilled sweet fish (ayu, also a summer favorite) served with water pepper vinegar.
Then there was an atumono dish. It was a mix of local vegetable showcasing Osaka’s terroir. There was a piece of tamatsukuri kuromon shirouri ( a type of oriental pickling melon, originated near Tamatsukuri-mon (Kuro-mon), a gate of the Osaka Castle, with a tubular shape and longitudinal white stripes), dried shiitake mushrooms, Mitsuba parsley, grated ginger in Yoshino kadu sauce.
Then there was a dish served in a bowl (hachimono). The dense soup had herring, aubergine, pumpkin gluten cake, taro bud, green pepper, and grated yuzu.
The gohan (rice dish with seasonal condiments) came with five different sides.
Finally there were two desserts. One called mizumono (seasonal dessert) was a glass with wine flavored peach, Pione, Muscat, milk sauce, and honey jelly. Very appropriate for such a hot day.
The second and final dessert (kashi) was a baked wheat cake with jelly served with green tea.
I do not remember the exact length, but as you can imagine it took some time… luckily I had a book with me.
As you can say this was a magnificent meal, like one served to a powerful feudal master… certainly the setting and the service could make you think so. Now that I analyse the menu to write this review, I can appreciate even more all the details embedded into each dish. And please consider that this was their entry-level lunch menu.
The check
After adding service charge and tax, I spent 12,687 yen (now 117 USD). I checked on their website and this special lunch kaiseki is still available (it is called Ume), as three more kaiseki menus. Honestly, if I was to go back (and one day I might!), I would go for one of the the highest-priced menus (from 16,000 to 30,000 yen before tax and service charge). It is such a perfect experience that makes sense to see what the chef can do with a higher budget.
Where in Osaka
2-5-18 Senriyama-nishi, Suita.
In Japanese: 吹田市千里山西2丁目5番18号.
Website: jp-kashiwaya.com/senriyama/top.html.
They also have a branch in Hong Kong.