This year, I also visited this restaurant.
I visit this restaurant every year in April or May.
Last year it was in May, but this year we visited in April, so the menu had changed.
Indeed, it's a restaurant that allows you to experience the four seasons.
Of course, I made a reservation. However, due to the high prices in recent times, the course that cost 18,480 yen last year has now risen to 20,680 yen, an increase of approximately 2,000 yen.
Well, once again, I sit at the teak counter and order a beer to get started.
First, it starts with a drink before eating. They have dried and scattered Japanese sake with petals of cherry blossoms preserved in salt. It's April, so naturally, it's cherry blossoms.
The appetizer consists of pickled cherry eel. It's moist and extremely delicious.
Next, there are wakame, maitake, and dried Kyoto sweet potatoes. The texture of these dried sweet potato pieces is really enjoyable. It feels crispy and chewy.
Next, there is a bowl made with high-quality ingredients like i-name. The soup is delicious, featuring the elasticity of i-name and the rich flavor of the broth. The cabbiet also has a good sweetness.
Next is the sashimi of herring and red clams with seasoning. The red clams have a crispy texture, and there is no unpleasant smell from the clams.
And, it's a dish that feels like a seasonal one. Ingredients include bamboo shoots, beef cheek, fresh onions, white vegetables, pickled vegetables with vinegar, golden cod, mung beans, and shrimp. Each of these ingredients has a rich and delicious sauce. Especially the mung bean tempura was something I had never tried before, but the texture is interesting and the taste is excellent.
Next, the highlight of this restaurant is its strong appetizer. Usually, it's cod, but since it was April, we had kaki salmon grilled over charcoal. The aroma of grilled salmon filled our mouths, and with its moderate fat content, it was truly delicious.
The dishes included grilled clams, hard-shelled clams, and Shizuoka mini tomatoes. The Shizuoka mini tomatoes had their skins removed, which made them particularly sweet. Both the clams and the hard-shelled clams were well-seasoned, and they were just the right intensity for pairing with alcohol.
The fried items are made by frying various ingredients, and they can be eaten with a crispy texture, similar to pancake.
この料理は、土鍋で炊いたご飯です。
The rice is served first in a tender state, followed by freshly cooked rice, and finally rice that has been steamed. However, the taste and texture of the rice vary significantly in each case. I thought that there wouldn’t be much difference between the cooked rice and the steamed rice. But to my surprise, the rice after steaming actually had a surprisingly sweet taste.
And as accompaniments to the rice, there were fragrant dishes, jayaki, and fish served with vinegar-miso. All of these dishes helped to enhance the taste of the rice, so there was no issue of not having enough rice.
Finally, as a dessert, we serve ice cream made from sake koji, topped with cherry pie, and concluded with green tea.
Indeed, Japanese cuisine pairs well with Japanese sake. After drinking raw beer, I was served "Kojisamon," "Kurigatamotsun," "Kumon-engo," an unknown brand name, and "Shichida."
This restaurant, although it's my first visit, always offers a menu that allows me to feel the season. I think no matter how many times I visit, I won't get bored with it.
The atmosphere is calm, but it's not completely quiet. The appropriate conversations between customers and the chef can be heard clearly.
There are many foreigners here, but so far I've never encountered any troublesome customers. I think it's good that the chef uses a translation machine to serve customers with care. So, I don't expect to have any unpleasant experiences.
I hope to be able to visit here again next year.
We visited this restaurant located about 3 minutes walk from Ginzaichi Station on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line.
This restaurant is located underground. As you descend the stairs, in front of the door that leads to the entrance, there seems to be a courtyard-like space that gives a sense of warmth and harmony.
And then, pull the door open and enter the interior. A little further inside, there is a counter. This counter is made of planed wood. It has been well maintained, so it looks extremely beautiful.
Today, I ordered a "Lunch Kaiseki Course (18,480 yen)".
In a calm atmosphere, let's start with a drink before eating.
Before eating, a "sake" is served, but during certain times of the year, "calamary juice" is also offered. It's a taste I've never tried before, but it feels like something that smoothly enters the stomach.
The appetizer consists of softly boiled eggplant, which is seasoned with eggs and vinegar. It is then wrapped in bamboo leaves to create a type of sushi. This dish has a mild and delicious taste. Although it is soaked in vinegar, there is no unpleasant sourness at all; instead, you can taste the sweetness of the eggplant.
Next, there are eight-course dishes that evoke the feeling of the four seasons. Among them are white-baked eel and squid soumen. However, the dish that deserves special attention is the fried young carp. This dish uses peeled potatoes to wrap the young carp and dashi with green onions. The peeled potato provides a good texture, while the mild bitterness of the young carp complements the dish perfectly. Of course, sake certainly enhances the taste even more.
Next, there is a bowl made with Toshiraz, a high-quality ingredient. The soup made with Toshiraz has excellent elasticity and rich flavor. The sweetness of the cabbage is also well preserved.
Next, a sashimi of premium fish, the inaime, is served. This inaime not only has a firm texture, but it also has a strong flavor and is delicious.
And the main feature of this restaurant is its strong appetizer, which is salted cod grilled over straw. The aroma of the grilled cod spreads throughout the mouth. The cod itself is not too strong in flavor, and it has a moderate amount of fat, making it delicious.
The dishes are made from beef teriyaki. Since it uses coarse-ground beef teriyaki, not only does the texture of the dish stand out, but its umami flavor is also outstanding. Additionally, it contains mountain pepper, which adds a spicy touch that enhances the overall taste. This is a dish that is quite rare to find elsewhere.
This is a drink. It uses hake as the ingredient, so it has great elasticity and offers a satisfying taste. I forgot to mention its name, but it contains thick mussels. The elasticity of this drink is truly remarkable. It's delicious.
This is a mixed rice made with green peas and jingelys cooked in a earthen pot. As side dishes, there are fried cherry shrimp. When eaten together with the mixed rice, it has a fragrant taste and is very delicious. I'm not quite sure what this mixed rice is called, but it's simply delicious. Moreover, since this meal includes enough food for everyone, it's really convenient as we don't have to finish everything at once.
Finally, as a dessert, there is ice cream made from sake koji. It is topped with matcha-flavored shuanggel. The dish is concluded with a topping of green tea.
Indeed, Japanese cuisine is best paired with Japanese sake. After drinking raw beer, I ordered Dong Kui Sheng, Kaikun, and Shang Xi Yuan (4 Seasons Spring) as well as Tianjiu.
This restaurant, although it's my first time here, always offers a menu that allows me to feel the season. I think I won't get tired of visiting here no matter how many times I go. Of course, the staple dish here, grilled sea scallops, is a classic choice.
It has a calm atmosphere, but it's not completely quiet. The appropriate voices of customers and the chef can be heard throughout the place. Of course, the service is very polite, so you won't have any unpleasant experiences.
I would like to visit again.
