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
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
1 comment:
Great to get a glimpse of such an exceptional meal. It sounds amazing. I'm curious...how come it didn't make it to 9.5 or 10.0?
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