Kaiseki - 懐石
[Note: This post covers an event from a few months ago, but life’s been busy and I’m just now getting around to writing about it. That being said, the details are all pretty foggy, but hopefully I remember enough to make reading it worth your while. If you are not completely satisfied, please file a complaint with our customer service rep.]
A while ago, after ordering pizza from a local pizza shop, we had a 25-minute window to kill until our order was ready. Instead of standing around aimlessly, we decided to roam around aimlessly. In Japan, especially in our neck of the woods, there are more restaurants than you can count. Seriously, walk a square block and count all the restaurants you find. I guarantee you missed at least sixty-five restaurants.
While roaming, we came across a very classy looking restaurant that I suspected was a single counter high-end sushi joint in a back alley. Outside the main door, they had business cards and menus so I grabbed one to inspect and translate later. Turns out, it wasn't a Sushi restaurant as I had initially expected, but a Kaiseki restaurant.
Kaiseki, for those who don't know, is a traditional Japanese meal consisting of many seasonal and well-sequenced dishes based on the building of flavours and textures. Elsa and I had never done it, so we enlisted some friends of ours and gave it a shot.
There were three different options available for course selection. The most basic was Sakura (桜), the middle tier was Orchid (蘭) and the most expensive was 瑠璃, which translates to the name of a bright blue metamorphic rock, lapis lazuli. We all chose the Orchid menu, though we didn't really know what that meant going in. But, we all agreed that picking the cheapest option would be lame.
Walking in, the place was very welcoming. We were seated in a cosy private room just for the four of us and given a drink menu. We ordered some cold sake and the dishes started rolling in. I'm not going to pretend like I remember what all of these things were, so I'll just put the photos in order and meet you at the finish line.
Course 1- Shirasu and some sort of Uni something on top
Course 2- Some sort of white fish
Course 3 - Sashimi
Course 4 - Eel and potato
Course 5 - Fish and various vegetables
Course 6 - Tempura
Course 7 - Wagyu Course
Course 8 - Oyster dish
Course 9 - Rice and miso
Course 10 - Dessert
Whew, that was a lot of dishes. All were interesting, but there were definitely a few that were more delicious than others. The two that stick out the most are the wagyu beef and sashimi courses. Both were so well prepared and fresh that they nearly dissolved upon touching your tongue.
The beauty of the whole experience was that many of these dishes are things you wouldn’t try outside of the Kaiseki environment. And, if you decide to go back to the same restaurant a few months or years later, you’ll probably end up eating ten completely different courses than you did previously. We may have to do just that.
