**** Luxury/Michelin-starred

A seafood kaiseki in Ginza: Uchiyama

Uchiyama Ginza is a kaiseki restaurant specializing in creative multi-course Japanese cuisine that opened in 2002 in Ginza. It was my first kaiseki experience in Tokyo. I booked a lunch on Christmas Day 2019.

The visit

The restaurant is in the basement of an office building in Ginza. I arrived early and unfortunately they did not have a waiting area, so I went to a cafe nearby waiting for the start of the second lunch turn at 12.30 (they have a first turn at 11.30am for a taicha-zuke set; on the second turn you can choose among different options. Mine was the second most expensive menu out of four ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 yen).

I was the first customer in the room so I could take a picture of the counter. On that day it was fully booked. There were 11 seats at the table. I think they seated us from left to right in increasing order according to the price of our menu.

1. The service started with sesame tofu with freshly grated wasabi. We were advised to add soy sauce. The tofu was hot, it had been heated on the charcoal grill. Externally it looked like bread, but it was soft inside. The sesame flavor was very light.

2. Fried shirako: the pulp was still fresh inside. The waiter translated in English as “fish stomach”, but of course was the cod sperm sac. Perhaps they did not want to alarm the foreigners at the table.

3. Ikura on rice. This dish was a softball, but still good.

4. Hirame (olive flounder) sashimi with fish jelly. The sashimi had a muscular tone and it was cut in front of us.

5. Kobako-kani (a female crab) with its roe and Japanese vinegar. It is a crab variety popular in winter (most of the fish used was seasonal). This was a delicious dish, especially the roe. It was neatly presented with the meat from the claws stacked over the roe using the crab shell as a container.

6. Ika (squid) with squid bottarga. A simple, yet clever and delicious combination.

7. Kue fish (a type of large grouper in season during the winter, called ara in Kyushu) and seri (Japanese Parsley) soup. This was a perfect example of seasonal dish, suitable for the winter climate.

8. Suzuki fish (Japanese seabass) with shiitake mushroom, and Japanese orange. The meat of the fish was firm and flawless.

9. Fried taro potatoes (shrimp shaped). Another strong dish suitable for the season.

10. Then it is pretty common for kaiseki to end with a rice dish, bit this restaurant went above and beyond and they had a special taicha-zuke dish at the end. The dish included assorted vegetables, dried small fish, tai (seabream) sashimi in a sesame sauce.

The rice was “finalized” in front of us with traditional utensils.

We were advised to transfer the sashimi in the rice bowl.

And finally we added hot tea from a iron-cast teapot. The result was satisfying and filling comfort food. The dried whitebait and the vegetables added additional flavor to the mix.

11. The dessert was starch noodles in sweet sauce. What was remarkable was that they pulled the noodles in front of us.

Finally we got a bowl with matcha.

At the end of the meal they told us that we could keep the branded cloth napkin and we were given a pair of disposable chopsticks with the restaurant’s paper seal. I thought it was a nice gesture.

I got the check at around 2.30pm.

The check

The check was 11,000 yen (10,000 yen plus tax, or 102.5 USD). Of course it is a hefty price, but that’s expected for a kaiseki, in Ginza, and I thought I got what I paid for.

The restaurant used to be awarded one Michelin star. Then in the most recent iterations of the guide it was lost. Who cares. I think this was a very good example of kaiseki based on seasonal seafood and I would have no issues recommending it.

Where in Tokyo:
2-chome-12-3 Ginza Chuo City.
In Japanese: 東京都中央区銀座 2-12-3 ライトビル B1F.
Website: http://www.ginza-uchiyama.co.jp/ (I used their website to make the booking leaving my credit card number as a deposit, but there was no advance charge).

Nabeno-Ism (Tokyo), a French restaurant with a Japanese soul

French restaurants can be very fun in Japan, when the chef is Japanese and is not afraid to push the envelope (see my experience with Goh). Nabeno-Ism, headed by Robuchon’s alumnus Yuichiro Watanabe, is certainly a perfect example of this trend. Yuchiro opened the restaurant in 2016, after 21 years of work in the Robuchon group. During this time, he came to become the head of the main Robuchon’s restaurant in Tokyo and he maintained three Michelin stars status for 9 consecutive years. His new restaurant was immediately awarded one star that became two in the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Tokyo Michelin Guide. The symbol of the restaurant that looks like three stars is taken from Yuchiro’s family crest (the three stars being three dumplings to be offered to the gods). The name encapsulates various elements, including a reference to Osaka Abeno cooking school, where his journey as a chef bagan.

The visit

The restaurant is located in an area South of Asakusa, on the bank of the Sumida river.

From the rooftop you can get a great view of the Sky-Tree.

I and two friends had lunch on a Sunday in October 2019 and we had the Komagata menu with a fixed course and the choice of fish, pork, or beef as a main.

The amuse bouche was actually a spectacular composition of appetizers: chilled tomato soup, with orange juice, maple syrup, and lemongrass foam (center); a Japanese rice cracker with French butter, an anchovy, a caper, and spices (bottom-right); beetroot tartare and cream cheese in a Japanese-wafer known as monaka (center right); a marinated green olive and dried plum wrapped with sliced sliced dry sausage and pickled cucumber (upper right). Difficult to describe all these unique flavors. Too bad they were small bites.

As expected for a French table, there was a bread basket. The bread, freshly baked, was the only element of the meal that was pretty ordinary.

The second dish was a buckwheat mash, with kombu jelly, sea urchin, grated wasabi, green onion sprout, and a golden leaf on top. On the spoon there was a bit of Vodka cream to be used to mix the mash).

The next dish was pigeon. I am not a fan of pigeon even if I know it is an important component of French cuisine. However, the meat was so perfectly cooked that I overcame my recalcitrance and I enjoyed the dish. There was a combination of pigeon breast cooked sous-vide and a sort of pate. The dish was completed by deep-fried eggplant, ginger jelly, quinoa, and two kind of grapes.

Next was a salmon confit on a toasted brioche, topped by salmon roe (ikura), rice, and a house-made paste made with boiled eggs and spinach. Three sauces were “splatted” on the plate: Sorrel paste, fresh cheese with fish sauce, and lemon. I guess a dish to mark the time of the week, the Sunday lunch.

My main was a delicious scorpion fish (difficult to know the exact species). The fish was deep-fried (but still very soft) and came with broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. The sauce was made with sherry vinegar, heavy cream, and a hint of soy sauce.

The first dessert was a marinated persimmon ball, lime jelly, and Juniper berries ice cream.

The second dessert was a composition of pasted chestnuts wrapped in cracked meringue with ginger and cassia sauces, plus a scoop of Laurier ice cream

Tea and petit four concluded the meal.

In describing his philosophy on the restaurant’s website, Youchiro refers Shizuo Tsuji, the dean of Japanese high-cuisine, that advocated a French style expressed with Japanese sensibilities, unique, and fun. The meal I had certainly lived up to his reputation, was one of my best meals of the year and I appreciated the boundless creativity and the unexpected combinations, not to mention the artful plating. It was French cuisine with Japanese sensibilities.

The check

I do not have a picture of the check, but this menu, available for lunch, costs 10,500 yen (96 USD). Menus for dinner are, of course, more expensive. Both for dinner and lunch also shorter courses are available, but I would recommend the full experience. Considering the quality and creativity of the course, I think the price point is incredibly generous. A place to visit again and again, with the menu changing frequently depending on the season and availability of ingredients.

Where in Tokyo:
2-1-17 Komagata.
In Japanese: 東京都台東区駒形2-1-17.
Website: www.nabeno-ism.tokyo.

The story of two fryers: Tempura Fukamachi

If you read my review of Hanabi Japanese Cuisine, you know that tempura can be material for fine dining. Japan is full of high-end tempura restaurants. Tempura Fukamachi is one of these and has been consistently awarded one star in the Tokyo Michelin Guide.

One of the unique features of the restaurant is the two fryers (behind a copper screen) kept at different temperatures to better match different types of food to be fried. This should give you an idea that this kind of tempura has really little to do with the greasy stuff you may find in overseas Japanese restaurants as an afterthought in a long menu.

The visit

I had a reservation at 1.15pm, the second turn for lunch, during my October 2019 trip to Tokyo. I arrived early and I killed a quarter of hour in the museum of the national lottery, just next door.

There were 11 counter seats and two tables for two people each. In my turn at 1.15pm there were only 6 customers including me. To my question, a waiter said that walk-ins with no reservation are ok. If you wish to avoid the hassle of making a reservation, just try to show up at 1.15pm and see if they have a seat.

The store-front in a side street of Ginza with the potted plants and the yellow curtains cannot be mistaken.

My workstation had the classic tempura sauce, shredded radish (most people will mix the radish with the sauce, but not me), sea salt and lemon.

There were three lunch menus and I made my choice upon arrival. The most expensive also included a dish with sea-urchin, while the less expensive did not have he final rice dish. There was also a vegetarian option, but including prawns. In the end I had menu n. 2. Here’s an account of the dishes.

1. Two prawns heads: very crispy, we were recommended to use salt.

2. Two prawn bodies, again with salt and then with sauce.

3. Gingko nuts.

4. Chestnut, with salt. Unexpected, it was very good.

5. Kisu (white fish). One of the best dishes for its tender meat. A would say that it is a tempura classic.

6. Lotus root.

At this point customers with the highest-priced menu got a sea urchin dish. It was fried inside a nori and cut in two. There was a lot of sea urchin, perhaps worth the extra 3,000 yen. Sure it looked delicious.

7. Hotate (scallop). A very meaty specimen.

8. Shiitake (Japanese mushroom).

9. Asparagus.

10. Anago (saltwater eel).

11. Hot tea and vegetables as a palate cleanser (carrot, radish, zucchini, napa cabbage or hakusai).

12. Miso soup.

12. Rice dish with shrimp tempura on top (tendon).

There were three options for the rice dish: Ten-Don, Ten-Cha, or Ten-Bara. The Ten-Don is a fritter served on rice with some soy-based sauce drizzled over it. The Ten-Cha is a fritter served over rice and then tea is poured over it. The Ten-Bara is a fritter chopped up and mixed into the rice. My tendon was excellent and totally worth the differential with the cheaper menu. The Ten-Cha also looked very inviting.

13. ice ceam scoop.

The chef would dip gently the food in the flour and then in the liquid batter, then use one of the two boilers, with different temperatures, to fry it.

I would say that the main difference with a regular tempura was that the frying did not kill or overwhelm the original flavors. Sauces were not particularly useful from this point of view. The food spoke by itself.

The 13 dishes took around 90 minutes, I had paid by 2.50pm.

The check

After tax, I paid 11,550 yen (105 USD). It was an excellent meal and worth the hefty check, even if I am not big on tempura course menus. If you visit Japan, I would recommend to try this kind of cuisine at least once so you can compare it with more regular tempura. I also spent 1,500 yen for the reservation service from Japaneazy.

Where in Tokyo:
2-5-2 Kyobashi.
In Japanese: 東京都中央区京橋 2-5-2 A·M京橋ビル 1/F.

Flawless yakitori from Toriki, Tokyo

In my trips to Japan I always try to include a high-end yakitori (grilled chicken skewers). I had some particularly good in Osaka (Ueda and Ichimatsu). This was my first Michelin-starred yakitori in Tokyo. Please note that there is another restaurant with the same name in Shinagawa. The starred one where I went is in Sumida, near Kinshicho Station.

The visit

Needless to say, I had a reservation, for an early dinner (the exact time was chosen by the restaurant). At 5.30pm the door opened. I and three Japanese were the first customers and we were quickly seated.

I thought everyone had to be there at the same time, but other customers kept arriving at different times. So this was not a rule in this place.

On the table the drink menu was bilingual. I was also provided the translation of the skewers.

I just had a cold oolong tea.

I was sitting in front of the cooking station and I could observe the chef-owner cooking, making use of a fan to help the ventilation system and keeping the charcoal at the right temperature, and finishing the skewers with fine sea salt and yakitori sauce.

Chopsticks were presented with a small bowl of pickles and radish (to be used as a side, not replenished).

Appetizer: tomato, zucchini, salad, and cold shredded chicken breast.

Sabiyaki (chicken breast) with wasabi. It was supposed to be almost raw according to the menu, but it was mostly cooked. Flawless juicy tender meat. The wasabi was too spicy for my taste. The chicken was sourced from Kagoshima.

Sunagimo, gizzard. This is the kind of part that I can hardly eat in a normal yakitori place (just too chewy and hard), but here, be it the cooking (quite pink inside) or the quality of the chicken, it was excellent.

A slice of lemon was provided, but I hardly use condiments when the cooking is so perfect.

Palate cleanser: shredded raddish, with some plum jelly on top.

Small onion (Kotamanegi) and chicken tight (Kashiwa). Both delicious, especially the tight was much tender and juicy than usual.

Chigimo: liver, partly raw, with yakitori sauce. Another delicious skewer, the meat would melt in your mouth and had a nice bitter kickback.

Tsukune, chicken meatballs, recommended with lemon. This was a bit bland as compared to what I had in similar rstaurants. But good, with some tidbits of spring onion to boost the favor. Then there was a zucchini skewer that was carefully dipped in yakitori sauce during the cooking

Intermission: a chicken pot, with boiled carrot, artichoke, mushroom, and obviously chicken meat.

Here there was a pause to catch up with the new customers. The time was filled with conversation with my neighbors at the counter.

A matsusake mushroom with lime and soy sauce. The condiments in this case did enhance the flavor.

Kawa: crispy chicken skin. Crispy, but still tender inside. Great.

We were offered an half small tomato as a palate cleanser.

Tebayaki (chicken wing with bones) and shiratama (quail egg) with some salt for the eggs.

The chef taught me how to pull the bones that came out easily (you just need to lift them). The meat, still with its skin, was again so perfectly cooked. Not too hot, and still juicy inside.

Ginnan: ginkgo nuts.

Chicken soup with onion stripes.

Bowls of rice were available as an add-on, but I was fine at this point.

Japanese and Chinese spices were available along soy sauce, but I did not use them.

It took a little over 2 hours.

The check

The cost for the course menu and a drink was 7,535 yen (800 yen as service charge) or 70 USD. It was reasonable.

I found the whole experience pleasant, even if the timing was big dragged, and I would recommend it to other yakitori fans The menu however lacked the adventurous twists of Ueda and Ichimatsu I mentioned earlier.

Where in Tokyo:
1-8-13, Kinshi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, 130-0013
In Japanese: 〒130-0013 東京都墨田区錦糸1-8-13 小坂ビル1F.
(3 minutes from Kinshicho Station, take North exit.)

An evening celebrating Leonardo Da Vinci at Va Bene in Shanghai (closed)

An Italian friend of mine invited to a dinner organized by the Association of Italian Academics in China and the Shanghai chapter of the Italian Cuisine Academy in an Italian restaurant in Shanghai, Va Bene, to celebrate Leonardo Da Vinci. 2019 marks five centuries from the death of this boundless genius.

The dinner menu was designed by the chef of Va Bene and inspired by Leonardo and his time. Before the dinner proper, an Italian professor based in China, Andrea Baldini, spoke about Leonardo and his relation with food. There was a lot to be said. I am reporting what I heard from the professor. (He also framed his remarks within the context of creativity theory, but I will skip on this aspect since the focus here is food.)

To begin with, Leonardo is believed to have invented the saffron rice, a typical dish from Milan. While working for Milanese and French royalty, Leonardo was often involved in the organization of banquets and he invented a number of tools to expedite the work in the kitchen, including some pasta grinding machine. Leonardo was very much interesting in what we call today “plating”, that is the aesthetic presentation of food. He even started his own restaurant in Florence in cooperation with another illustrious artist, Sandro Botticelli. It was specializing in frogs, but it did not survive long (perhaps being ahead of his time). The table napkins are another invention ascribed to Leonardo.

The president of the Shanghai chapter of the Italian Cuisine Academy tried to argue that Leonardo may have been the illigimate son of a Tuscan nobleman and an Asian slave. So chances are that Leonardo was half Chinese! But do not quote me on this.

The dinner

The dinner and the presentations took place in the Va Bene restaurant in Xiantindi. They prepared an impressive table occuppying the all length of the dining room located on the second floor of a traditional shikumen house.

The dinner started with three type of canapes: cucumber with delicious cream cheese, lemon and mint; a creamy cod puree on a crispy semolina cracker; a small pastry filled with lamb ragout and cinnamon. I think they did a very good job with these amuse bouche.

The break basket was also there.

The appetizer platter included three items: chicken liver pate in a sourdough bread “oreo” with some orange jelly (top); a classic bruschetta with a piece of finocchiona (a type of Tuscan salami), Parmesan cheese foam and onion jam (creating an interesting mix of sweet and sour, pictured on the left); a fantastic porcini mushroom flan with sweat garlic cream on top (right). I appreciated the creativity of these appetizers and how the references to Tuscany and flavors of another time were gradually introduced.

The first main (“primo”) was the classic saffron risotto with a boost of bone marrow. This dish could not be missed since Leonardo is believed to be the father of this quintessential Milanese risotto. It was very good, I would say perfectly executed.

The second main (“secondo”) was a very inventive dish: roasted pork filled with beef, figs, and foie gras in a sauce made with egg yolk cream and anchovy mayonnaise. Two small boiled chestnuts completed the ensemble. This dish was inspired by a popular practice in banquets at the time of Leonardo that we might call “recursive filling”: the idea of filling a type of meat with another type of meat also filled with a third element. Strangely I did not find the dish very flavorful, but I really appreciated the inventiveness.

Before the dessert, we were offered pecorino cheese (both spicy and sweet) with fruit mustard. The cheese and mustard were excellent.

The dessert included a glass of vin santo, a typical dessert wine from Tuscany.

The dessert was one of my favorite dishes because it was delicious and made full use of the ingredients and cooking style of five hundred years ago. It was a very soft bread cake with raisins, Elderflower rosemary with almond milk.

Wines were a big part of the dinner with a selection from Tuscany and Lombardy, the two Italian regions more connected with Leonardo.

The check

The price of the dinner was 700 RMB. I wish there was a price for people like me that did not drink wine. Not a cheap dinner, but I appreciated all the organization and creativity behind. Certainly I do not regret attending and learning more about Leonardo Da Vinci in the kitchen.

Where in Shanghai:
Xintiandi, 2/F, North Block,
Lane 181 Taicang Lu.
In Chinese: 太仓路181号2楼新天地北里, 近马当路.

Venue closed in early 2020.

Michelin-starred Taizhou cuisine at Xin Rong Ji

With this post I declare the Shanghai Michelin Guide Scramble completed. Xin Rong Ji has two locations on the 2019 edition of the Guide: one in Shanghai Plaza and one inside the Pei Mansion Hotel. Now, by the time of my visit the Shanghai Plaza location had relocated to Nanyang Road and that’s where I visited. The new location has one star in the 2020 edition of the Guide. I will not dine in the location in the Pei Mansion Hotel (two stars) because it only accepts groups of at least 4 people for private rooms (and I do not have time to organize).

The Xin Rong Ji Group was founded by Mr. Zhang Yong in Linhai, Zhejiang Province in October 1995. The “new” (xin) in the name represents innovation. There are several restaurants brands operated by this group (Rongxiaoguan, Rongji Hotpot), the Xin Rong Ji restaurants are fine dining establishments serving Taizhou cuisine, a style of cooking from Zheijang focused on fresh seafood. The Shanghai location I visited also features Cantonese fare. The formula is borrowed from luxury Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong: contemporary dining space, artistic plating, and updating classic recipes with international ingredients.

The visit

The restaurant is on the second floor of an office building on West Nanjing Road. An escalator leads to the restaurant.

Near the entrance there is a display with fresh seafood from the market:

The restaurant has a large dining room so there was no problem finding a place for me, even if I did not have any reservation. Unfortunately the room was too dark for a photo, but it was very elegantly appointed. I was offered three slices of apple and peanuts with pepper as nibbles.

They had a bilingual menu. I would have ordered the business menu (actually a nice mini tasting menu) but it was for at least two people and I was alone. The full tasting menu was also interesting, but it required at least 4 diners. Unsurprisingly, this kind of restaurant is best enjoyed in a group. They also had a dim sum menu (it was Saturday for lunch), but it was only available in Chinese.

I ended up ordering their noodles with yellow croaker. The noodles were handmade and came with some egg dumplings. There were only two pieces of fish. It was a tasty bowl of noodles anyway.

Then I had two dim sum items from the main menu. The first was a dumpling filled with truffle sauce and foie gras. It was really tasty.

The second was an egg tart with a base of wagyu. This was not my favorite,

Finally I had a “small” portion of smoked pomfret. Pomfret is a fish that can only be caught wild in the East China sea. It was smoked to perfection. Maybe too many bones for my taste, but it was really good. In Shanghai you can find a similar dish with cod.

The check

This relatively quick lunch cost me 424 RMB (60 USD). There was no lack of food and the quality was excellent. The only downside was that being alone I could not try more dishes. I think the place deserves its star, but for this kind of cuisine I have some better restaurants in Ningbo that sooner or later I will review.

Where in Shanghai:
2/F, 688 Plaza, 688 Nanjing Xi Lu (West Road).
In Chinese: 南京西路688号恒基688广场2楼.

Top kaiseki cuisine at Kashiwaya in Osaka

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.

The top kaiseki lunch menu at Shuhaku in Kyoto (Summer 2019)

During my summer 2019 trip to Kyoto I was intrigued by the cuisine of Shuhaku, a kaiseki restaurant that boasts one Michelin star and was supposed to combine French and Japanese elements. Actually I found it a pretty regular Japanese kaiseki (which is good), apart from the dessert final moment that was pretty epic.

The visit

I booked and prepaid the meal through an online concierge service. There were three menus for lunch and I chose the most expensive.

The restaurant is located in a historic district near some major shrines. It has 8 seats at the counter, plus a table for 4 in a corner. During my visit the table was taken, only a couple of other diners sat at the counter.

The lunch started with a composition featuring 20 different local vegetables. It is a pretty common dish for this kind of course meals.

The second dish was a nice soup with a sizable piece of hamo and omelette with asparagus in tofu skin. Hamo (pike conger) was one of the main features of the kaiseki, as it may be expected as it is a seasonal fish popular during the summer in Kyoto.

The third dish was three kinds of sashimi: hirame (a flat fish), hamo, and tuna. It came with plum sauce with sake for the hirame, soy plum sauce for the hamo, and soy sauce for the tuna. The presentation with a plate resembling a drainpipe was pretty original.

The fourth dish combined ayu and hamo sushi. Ayu (sweet fish) is also a summer favorite and was grilled in a way that made everything edible, including the bones. Quite delicious.

The fifth dish was a marinated asparagus in vinegar.

The sixth dish was tairagai seared and presented on a hot stone.

The seventh dish was strips of Kyoto beef in broth with eggplant, plus steamed rice and pickles. This dish was a let down. I was hoping something more substantial that could help me appreciate Kyoto beef.

The dessert moment added some surprise as I was presented all the desserts available and I could choose all I wanted. The desserts mixed Western and Japanese techniques.

I picked up three.

The first was a banana mousse topped with red beans.

The second was a pastry with walnut and cream.

Finally, I had their sweet soup with matcha sorbet that was the chef’s favorite.

All the desserts were excellent.

The check

Using the online concierge service, for this menu I paid 11,180 yen. The cheaper menu was around 50,000 and there was a mid-range option for around 70,000.

This was a well executed kaiseki. I appreciated the seasonal ingredients (even if they overshoot with the hamo) and the dessert moment was great. A couple of dishes were a bif of a softball (like the Kyoto beef strips). I was just disappointed that I did not see the French influences apart from the cakes. I asked if the dinner kaisekis were different and the chef answered that they were not that different.

In the cheapest menu the most expensive seafood like hamo was replaced with mackerel and I would not recommend it. If you make the trip to Kyoto, treat yourself for something better. There was a party that I believe had the mid-range menu and I think the only major difference was that they did not get the Kyoto beef dish. If so, the mid-range menu was the best choice as the Kyoto beef dish was nothing special.

Where in Kyoto:
392 Kinencho, Higashiyama Ward.

Michelin-starred omakase in Kyoto: Gion Sushi Tadayasu

Gion Sushi Tadayasu got one star in the 2019 Osaka Michelin Guide. I elected it to try a quality omakase in Kyoto.

The visit

I made the booking through an online service for lunch.

The restaurant is located in a quiet backstreet of the historic Gion district.

Above the storefront before the opening and after with the classic curtains (noren).

The room only seated twelve people. Two chefs were working serving the guests. It was full. I was the only non-Japanese.

The appetizer was a bowl of cold noodles in a yuzu flavored broth. On a summer day, it was very refreshing.

The first nigiri was with karei (Japanese flat fish). I immediately noticed the tendency of the chef to put too much wasabi.

The second nigiri was shiro ebi (white shrimp) with caviar. I guess this is the way to go to win a Michelin star for an omakase.

The third nigiri was shima aji (striped jack, a seasonal fish).

The fourth nigiri came with tairagai (a type of scallop, but with firmer meat, Japanese pen shell).

The fifth nigiri had ika (squid). The chef put some grains of fine salt (so little to be invisible).

Sixth was katsuo nigiri (skipjack tuna).

Seventh was a toro (fatty tuna) nigiri.

Eight was a kohada nigiri.

Ninth was a uni nigiri. With a lot of uni, which was good.

The tenth nigiri was anago (sea-water eel) grilled. With its sweetness, it was a classic conclusion for the main part of the omakase.

The last course was a piece of tamago (Japanese omelet) and a bowl of miso soup.

The chef finally included a handroll with pickles.

The chefs were serving three different menus at the same time. Mine was the cheapest and shortest. I was finished after 90 minutes. For the more expensive menus there were additional dishes and more elaborated appetizers. I was satisfied with my menu.

The check

No check to display because I paid in advance through a booking service. Since I only had green tea (complimentary and rapidly refilled throughout the meal) there was no extra charge. The total cost was 7,128 yen (which includes the reservation system fees) or 66 USD. If you book directly it may be even a bit cheaper. I found the charge reasonable considering the quality of the seafood used. Overall, I did not feel a big step up from Chiharu in Osaka that was “only” a Bib Gourmand.

Where in Osaka:
572-9 Gionmachi Minamigawa, Higashiyama Ward.

Spectacular yakitori omakase in Osaka: Ichimatsu

In my summer 2019 trip to Osaka, I was able to score again a perfect yakitori in Osaka. This time was Ichimatsu (焼鳥市松), one of the two yakitori restaurants in town awarded a Michelin star.

The visit

I had a reservation made through an online service (it was totally worth the 800 yen spent). They have two turns for night. I joined the second one at 8.15pm. On a Thursday night, all seats were spoken for. The counter hosted 10 people and there was a small private room for 5 additional covers. The restaurant has a very understated store-front as usual for this kind of restaurants.

The welcome dish was warm ricotta cheese.

I just drank Fuji Water. Another opening dish was a small piece of chicken breast sashimi (it is always incredible how good it is… Japan is the only place where I would eat raw chicken), with a soy sauce mousse and sesame oil powder (this dish is not pictured).

The first skewer was chicken neck. It was a bit chewy.

Next was a skewer with what was described as the external part of the gizzard. It was nice as every skewer would carry new flavors.

Meantime we were offered some thinly-cut radish with soy sauce and olive oil. This side dish was replenished on demand.

The next dish was one of the most unique of the evening: chicken’s Fallopian tubes. I can say that they were sweet.

The next skewer was a classic: chicken skin.

Next we were offered some grilled shishisto pepper.

The next two dishes marked a departure from chicken. The first was a delicious piece of pork with vinegar. I believe the pork was from Kagoshima.

Then we had a Chinese-inspired duck broth with tofu and rice sauce.

Then we were back to chicken with a substantial wing, lightly crispy and salty.

The next dish included a piece of Japanese orange, marinated tomato, and (on the bottom) a specimen of chicken ovaries. It was basically what comes before the egg. It popped in the mouth with flavorful liquids.

Another soup had char-grilled duck with green onions and Japanese peppers, to mix.

An exotic chicken part came next: marinated kidney to wrap in a leave of lettuce. It was surprisingly delicious.

The mandatory meatball was a little rare and dripping-juicy. Every yakitori chef has a personal recipe for this skewer. It also usually marks the final part of the course.

In the end we were offered rice with cabbage and corn, chicken soup, ginger pickle. At this point it was also possible to order additional skewers from a menu.

A cup of tea completed the meal.

The check

The check was 9,850 yen (88.65 USD). It was on the pricey side, but everything was executed so well that I did not mind. It is not an experience for everyone, but if you like strong flavors and skewers, this is probably one of the best in Osaka

Where in Osaka:
1-chome-5-1 Dojima Kita-ku
In Japanese: 大阪府大阪市北区堂島 1-5-1 エスパス北新地23・1F.