A few more images of the tranquil garden of eating at bissori (as featured in my Tokyo Food File column in today's Japan Times)...
'Bissori' is an onomatopoeic word in Korean for the sound of falling rain. It's also used poetically to describe the sound that the oil makes when preparing jeon. (Forest in the Boat is the name of the company that runs Bissori.)
In summer, the garden dining area is calm, cool and shady, like the central courtyard of a Moroccan riad...
...above us only sky (and a canopy of cherry foliage)...
In the evening, after dusk has fallen, it has a different feel, subtly illluminated to bring out the ochre colour of the walls.
The furnishings are simple and straigthforward, matching the honest, healthy flavour of the cooking. One of the specialities of the house is jeon, Korean pancakes often known as chijimi in Japan.
Above: a small starter of jeon made with garlic and negi scallions, which came with my set lunch; below: the large, plump, moist jeon served at dinner, stuffed with seafood and negi – almost a meal in itself.
It's all beautifully arranged — like this platter of bossum, soft-simmered pork served with fresh salad greens, which you use to wrap the meat.
Service is gracious and friendly — Kuriyama-san was more than happy to give us explanations (in Japanese) about the Korean dishes featured on the menu.
Here's a link to my column in The Japan Times...
And here is a map link...
