Lunch at Dai San Harumi, a guest blog post

This is contribution from my friend Rickard Zerpe; enjoy!


The street rep of this joint puts it right up there with with the big guys; like for example Mizutani, and the word is that the captain of the establishment, Nagayama-san is a stern and somewhat eccentric fish otaku so it was not without a dash of fear we entered his modest sushi bar in Shimbashi.


working hours ;-)


Rickard and Marcus


Nagayama-san surprised me with his chatty and happy manners. He proudly fetched a copy of one of his sushi books for us to use through out the lunch to look up the various fishes that made up the 10.000 Yen omakase we ordered.


ready for omakase...

Due to the new years holiday, the supply of fish was a bit limited, something that turned out to be a mixed blessing.

Nagayama-sans opening of the meal was a bit of disappointment. For the life of me I cannot remember what it was and we failed to nail the little bugger on photo too. My memory tells me it was some sort of white, stringy fish that left me far from impressed. Might have been Hirasuzuki, Sea Bass.


Saba (Mackerill). What a comeback! The Saba was nothing less than jaw dropping deliciousness. The only Saba I have tasted that could rival this one was at the aforementioned Mizutani. Due to the limited supply of fish this time of year, Nagayama-san served us Saba twice.


Kohada. Nagayama-san continued the course with another master piece. The Kohada is supposedly very difficult to get right, but Nagayama-san really came through here.


Ika (Squid). One member of our party can usually not stand squid, but he had nothing but praise for this one.


Shibi maguro (Young tuna). Not so fatty as the Oootoro, but very rich in taste.


Ootoro (super fatty tuna). Excellent! Accordingly to Nagayama-san he usually does not serve this one for lunch, but due to the limited fish supply he chose to serve us this 2000 Yen a pop Ootoro. This was the high point of the meal for me.


Ikura (Salmon Roe). Nothing to complain about here. Very good, though a bit pale in comparison to the amazing Oootoro.


Hotate no kaibashira(scallops). Excellent.


Kisu no kobusime (Japanese sillago). The Kisu is a bit blend in taste. To remedy that, kelp is used to inject flavor in the fish. Very good.


Kuruma ebi (Prawn). I cannot remember anything in particular about this one.


Miso soup


Uni (Sea urshin). Very tasty. The uni carried lots of interesting flavors.


Mushi anago (Steamed sea eel). One of my favorites. So rich in taste! A bit messy on the fingers though.

Temaki sushi. I have no special memories of this one except that Nagayama-san urged us to eat it very fast. In fact so fast that we failed to catch it on photo.

Tamago. Good, but not all that memorable.


Onigara yaki (Grilled shrimp). Awful! Onigarayaki is supposed to be crunchy and crispy, but this one was undercooked and hence virtually impossible to chew. After chewing on a tiny piece for a few minutes I gave up. None of us could eat it. A total disaster. Too bad Nagayama-san ended the otherwise excellent course in this way.

With the exception of the disastrous closing of the meal, Dai San Harumi delivered an exceptionally good lunch to a very favorable price. The highlights of the course definitely compares with that of the big guys, but the quality seemed a bit more uneven if, compared to, for example with that of Mizutani.

Dai San Harumi,
1-17-7 Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

What is Kaiseki?

Well... it dates back to the 16th century and during the centuries it has evolved, changed it's meaning, practice... Today, Kaiseki is considered an art form; and that's what it is! In my book, it is an synergy between food, flavors, textures, colors, presentation...

I've visit quite a few Michelin star restaurants, gourmet eateries and cutting-edge cafes all over the world, but this is on different level... almost an transcendental experience.

The restaurants it self is a actually a Kaiseki temple deployed on 4 floors (the 6th to 9th floors of the Yasuyo Building) and our table was on the 8th floor.

This is my first time ever I had Kaiseki dinner, so I'll take this as a reference point.


Our table

The dinner consists of a sequence of courses, in this particular case in 20 different courses. Courses are grouped based on preparation techniques like pickled, raw, grilled, fried... In short, it is like an... opera. Each dish is a component, same as prelude, aria, recitative, arioso in the opera and whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

This is what we had:


Right: Sakizuke (an appetizer similar to the French amuse-gueule) matsutake (pine mushrooms), crown daisy, steamed scallops, yam, iwanashi (pigaea asiatica), ikura (salmon roe)
Bottom: Shinogi (a rice dish) steamed rice, mukago (propagule), green laver


Up: Yakimono (broiled seasonal fish) grilled barracuda "shuto-yaki" (with bonita's shiokara), green pepper, hajikami (ginger)
Left: Futamono (a "lidded dish") steamed muraenesox cinereus, matsutake (pine mushrooms), integlifolia, citrus sudachi
Right: Su-zakana (a small dish used to clean the palate, such as vegetables in vinegar) crab, grilled shiitake, edible chrysanthemum, spinach


Same as above from different perspective.


Up: Hassun (the second course, which sets the seasonal theme) grilled wild duck with Japanese pepper, boiled ayu (sweetfish), chestnuts, ginkgo, prawn


Upper right: Takiawase (vegetables served with meat, fish or tofu; the ingredients are simmered separately) brassica rapa, eggplant, anago (congridae), carrot, string beans


Upper right: Ko no mono (seasonal pickled vegetables) cucumber, Japanese radish, pickles with perilla frutescens
Bottom and upper-left: Tome-wan (a miso-based or vegetable soup served with rice) miso soup with pholiota nameko, tofu, welsh onion (bottom), rice with furikake perilla frutescens flavor (upper-left)


Mizumono (a seasonal dessert) fruits and green tea


Higashi (Japanese dry confectionery)


Matcha (powdered green tea) and Higashi (Japanese dry confectionery)


At the end, me and Rickard ready for a tea ceremony :p

And that's all!

What's The Verdict?
This is definitely a must for gourmet fans!

Rating: 9.1 (out of 10.0)

Kyo Kaiseki KAKIDEN
Yasuyo Bldg. 6th - 9th floors,
3-37-11, Shinjuku,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Colza, arguably the best Teppanyaki restaurant I have ever had

Day 6, my last dinner in Tokyo this time around :-/
My next hop had me back to Osaka. I've already had a one-off experience today at Sushi Mizutani (see other post), so I've been... well a bit reluctant with my expectations. Nevertheless, after a while, my early reluctance had turned to excitement!

Rie told me this place is considered as one of the better Teppanyaki restaurants in Tokyo. I'm definitely a fortunate guy; this was the 2nd trip in my life to Japan, and I've already checked out a handful topnotch restaurants in Tokyo :-D

In addition, this was my chance to sample Matsuzaka beef (there are rumors that it is even more delicious than Kobe beef). Anyway, this is relatively big place with a few rooms, the service is very friendly and the atmosphere is quite casual. I guess the Teppanyaki grilling table looks familiar to most of you. There are a couple of fixed menus with a few options to add or chose from. There were already couple of other guest on the table so the grill was hot and the cooking began immediately.


A quite hardworking chef who actually is fluent in English :)


The chef baking shiitake (mushrooms) and grating potatoes


The chef preparing the grated potatoes with butter
Shiitake (right)
Kidney bean (bottom)


Scallops


Abalone


The biggest lobster in the house, on my request :-D


Seems to be shrimps... but not for sure - ask Rickard for more info :)


Something...


Top: garlic chips
Up-right: kidney bean and shiitake
Bottom-right: grilled grated potatoes
Bottom-left: Miyazaki beef (filet)

The Outcome
I've sampled Miyazaki beef and it's absolute beef heaven. Only thing comparable or more tender is Kobe beef (see other post). Everything we had was delicious and... simply incredible. As it turned out, this was one of the best Teppanyaki restaurant I have ever had! Not only our chef took a great care to create a unique flavor for every dish; it's also a great fun being there. It cost us about 160€ per person, including beer and sake.

Rating: 9.2 (out of 10.0)

Just like Sushi Mizutani and Kyubey, eating here has shaken and change my perception of food. Actually, I've already plan my next trip to Japan!

PS. I'll try to add some interesting video soon as I can.

Colza
Ginza Nogakudo bldg, B1
6-5-15, Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tokyo, 104-0061

Kyubey, Edo style sushi in one of the most famous Japan's sushi restaurants...

My second dinner in Tokyo is one of the greatest experience of my life. Once again, thanks to Rie, we got a dinner reservation at Kyubey, one of Japan's most famous sushi restaurants. The Tokyo Michelin Guide 2008 awarded Kyubey one star.

Kyubey is located near Shimbashi Station in Tokyo, bit away of the main Ginza avenue, and quite difficult to spot. This is ca. 70 years old restaurant!



In Tokyo, restaurant expansion over the years goes upwards and around. Now it has 5 stories and 3 annexes. We end up exactly in annex B1F, seated at the sushi counters with about 6 other customers and and two sushi chefs. Everyone was quite friendly to us, especially the chefs. This is quite different experience from the formal and uptight atmosphere in Sushi Mizutani (see other post).



Interior is minimalistic and perfect, and the wooden counter is so beautiful, that I start joke about where to install one in my kitchen.



We went with "omakase" course that is the chef's choice.

It starts with seaweed salad with spring onion dressed with vinegar, suzuki salad, and so on. Like all topnotch sushi places, one should not use any soy dipping; the chefs decide whatever sauce you need. Couple of things I've never tried before, like fried fish bone; it taste like a chips, daikon and shiso; very refreshing and cleansing feeling, grilled otoro nigiri; fatty, melting and just f.....g delicious!


The Uni (sea urchin) gunkanmaki were just fabulous.



After a while we were asked if we had enough... Of course me and Rickard were far from done! We had two more rounds of otoro nigiri (see the picture). I think the chefs were pleased from our enthusiasm and decided to pull out the big gun: grilled otoro nigiri! I honestly couldn't make a difference between Kobe beef and that otoro. It was incredible!





Obviously Kyubey is used to experiment and have introduced new stuff. Rickard told me this guys have invented gunkanmaki sushi... For example they used a bit tempered rice, but it had just right temperature and vinegariness.



Eating dinner in Kyubey and lunch in Sushi Mizutani, back-to-back, prompting the inevitable comparisons. Both are truly spectacular and different. For example Sushi Mizutani is more conservative and one can feel many different flavors in same moment, where in Kyubey, different flavor pop up each time I chewed sushi piece. There is a big difference in rice also. By my opinion, in Kyubey I've been kind of... not aware about the rice... it is just a supporting ingredient, texture if you like. In Sushi Mizutani, rice is a backbone.

Rating: 9.8 (out of 10.0)

It cost us about 150€ per person, including beer and sake, and I'll be back. I promise!

Kyubey
7-6, Ginza 8-chome, Chuo-ku
Tokyo

Sushi Mizutani - Is the best sushi in the world?!

Continuing with my Japan trotting, on Day 6, thanks to Rie, I got reservations at lunch time for Sushi Mizutani. The Tokyo Michelin Guide 2008 awarded Sushi Mizutani three stars.

A tiny restaurant, can accommodate only 10 people seated around the counter, and sushi master Mizutani him self in the middle.

The atmosphere in the restaurant is quite formal and we’ve been asked not to wear any perfumes… Some trivia, sushi master Mizutani worked previously at Sukibayashi Jiro, the other three Michelin stars sushi restaurant in Tokyo. This for sure makes him one of the best sushi chefs in Japan.

I would never be able to locate this humble restaurant in Ginza, on a small street, in the basement level.





We were genially greeted by the master Mizutani and as first arriving customers, we were allowed to take few pictures.



Of course, we order “omakase” the chef’s choice. The order had move from non-fatty to fatty sushi or sashimi and than finish up with an omelet and a maki roll, unleashing my five senses. Some of the sushi pieces we had:

• Karei (Japanese flounder, flat fish): first time I've ever had. It has semi-transparent meat, very delicate sweetens, subtle scent, refreshing feeling.
• Kawahagi (File fish, skinpeeler): first time I've ever had. Served with the liver on top. Isn't fishy and it has a light flavor. Intense sweetness from the soft liver.
• Uni (Sea urchin): Gunkanmaki. This yellowish delicacy, the moment I've placed it in my mouth, the rich sweetness has filled my senses. Buttery after taste.
• Aoyagi (Japanese orange clam): Concentrate umami and texture. Each time I chewed the soft meat, more flavor is released.
• Maguro (Bluefin Tuna): Sweet and acidic. Perfect.
• Chutoro (Bit-fatty belly from Bluefin Tuna): Just perfect, melting in my mouth.
• Otoro (Fatty upper belly from Bluefin Tuna): Melt-in-my-mouth texture, major umami factor, absolutely ridiculous. I never tasted anything like this in my life!

In a nutshell, it cost us about 110€ per person, including green tea. This is one of absolute best sushi experience for me, in a comparison for everything I've had before, inside or outside of Japan, save aside sushi Kyubey (see other post).

Rating: 9.8 (out of 10.0)

Next time I'm around, I'll go back.

Sushi Mizutani
Ginza Seiwa Silver Bldg. B1F
8-2-10 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tokyo