We headed back from Akihabara pretty early to get ready for our fancy dinner at Hanasanshou, a 1 Michelin Star restaurant at the neighboring hotel (they actually have two of them in the hotel, which is still surprising to me even though Tokyo boasts more restaurants with ratings than any other city in the world). Mary chose this one because they offer the traditional Japanese kaiseki meal, an elaborate procession of small portions of dishes.
It didn't take us too long to get ready since we were all wearing rather simple travel-friendly outfits (except for poor Steve, who had to iron his fancy dress shirt). I practiced walking in my grown up shoes while Mary put on her make-up, and we headed out early to make sure we weren't late - but the hotel was literally two doors down! We had a little trouble locating the elevator and figuring out what floor the restaurant was on but once we found the elevator we were on our way! It had a little peekaboo window, and we were able to see out over a good portion of Tokyo as we rose up to the 26th floor (or so, I can't remember exactly). I've never been in such a nice hotel lobby before - it was so spacious and echoey that it reminded me of the cathedrals in Rome. I was pleased to have quiet shoes.
We were the first diners of the night and we were seated at a small table by the window. We looked over the menus, and Steve and Mary both ordered the kaiseki menu. I opted for the vegetable tempura for an appetizer and an eggplant dish for an entre. Steve wussed out and ordered a beer, while Mary and I both selected a different sake (she picked light and sweet, I picked heavy and dry). It wound up being the first time in my life that I actually enjoyed sake.
Hopefully Mary will post something about the meal later. She took pictures of each dish (they were absolutely beautiful - each dish had specially chosen plates and bowls and was decorated with all sorts of beautiful flowers and fanciful presentation. The appetizer was like a wildlife scene, I think that was my favorite.
Their menu was :
Starter: Dressed prawn, yam potato, broad bean and shell with soft roe
Appetizer: gizzard shad sushi, caramelized sweet fish, dressed stem of taro with pickled plum paste, boiled bamboo shoot, dressed cowpea with sesame dressing
Clear Soup: Clam, bamboo shoot and mugwort dumpling
Sashimi: Flatfish, fatty tuna and giant clam
Grilled Dish: Eggplant with sweet miso
Simmered Dish: Eggplant and octopus
Side Dish: Sushi - shell and bonito
Steamed Dish: Burdock root, bamboo shoot and mushroom with mugwort skin
Marinated Dish: Fat cod
Last Dish: Thin wheat noodles
Dessert: Seasonal fruits (cherries and some sort of Japanese apricot)
My tempura was really tasty - the batter was a bit spicy. I picked at it for several of their courses. I'm pretty sure it's rude to eat with your fingers in such a fancy restaurant, but it was impossible to pull apart the tempura with just chopsticks. The eggplant with sweet miso was also really, really good. The sauce had a really strong flavor that I couldn't place, but Steve agreed that it had a smoky quality that was reminiscent of barbeque sauce.
By the end of the night we were all out of booze, and the last 2 courses came with tea - first a really earthy jasmine tea, then a clear green tea. All in all it was really an experience. I had a great time observing the meal and got some tasty food myself! Plus, I now know for certain that I don't dislike all sake. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a few drugstores in an attempt to find something topical for Mary's bug bite, but struck out.
No comments:
Post a Comment