Half the pleasure of dining at Suzunari — as I write in my column this week — is just being there. But it would be far less fun if the food were not as fine as it is.
Until setting up here six years ago with his wife Yuko, Chef Akihiko Murata worked for the Nadaman chain of high-end Japanese restaurants, in their Shiodome branch, so he has all the training required in the fundamentals of kaiseki tradition.
The full story is in the paper. Here are a few more pics from just last week, illustrating exactly just how good — and good value — their ¥6,000 dinner course is. The otoshi appetizers were not very photogenic, but the hassun platter more than made up for that.
Everything was excellent, from the shrimp with their shiokara sauce (on the left) across to the gingko nuts (far right). The centrepiece, though, was the toroyuba with avocado, topped with uni (sea urchin) and crabmeat, drizzled with a shoyu ankake sauce, and topped with a dab of freshly grated wasabi root. A wonderful combination of soft smooth textures and contrasting flavors accented by the piquancy of that wasabi.
The bo-zushi was excellent too. The mackerel was lightly vinegared; and the white wrapping is suguki, a very finely sliced sugukina (a kind of kabura turnip), pickled in the Kyoto style, crunchy, tangy and slightly sweet. And sandwiched in between the two cuts of the sushi, that's a very fine sliver of sudachi citron.
The next course was the tamaji-mushi. The base is steamed egg (a la chawan-mushi) which is then topped with a thick, smooth uchiko sauce made from uni and crab with a dash of roasted sesame oil. Rich, warm and revivifying, this was terrific (and the lighting in this photo really doesn't do it justice...)
Next up: the otsukuri (sashimi), served in two separate courses. The first was just two slices of modori-katsuo (autumn skipjack) served with freshly grated ginger and two separate sauces: plain shoyu; and the same with a little shiokara added, imparting heaps of added umami.
The second sashimi plate featured aori-ika squid; kampachi (amberjack); azuki-hata (grouper); and akami of bluefin tuna (hon-maguro). For this we also had two seasonings: shoyu; and also with mojio (salt mixed with seaweed). Not only was the fish of a very fine quality, it was also perfectly arranged.
And what were we drinking with this? Reisen Mukade from Gifu — a wonderful sake, well worthy of that powerful millipede on the label.
The next platter was two courses in one: a combination yakimono/nimono plate. And what a dramatic plate it was too. Murata has amassed an amazingly large collection of hand-thrown ceramic plates — far more than you'd expect in a place this size. So much so that he rents an apartment nearby to store them all in.
Bottom-right is kamasu (baracuda) no uni-yaki; the fish was skewered and grilled, then topped with a scoop of uni and briefly returned to the grill. Top-left is gyu-suji, beef tendon soft-simmered with maitake mushrooms. With a single whole amanaga green pepper as garnish, and a slice of sudachi for extra zing.
The agemono (deep-fried dish) was foie gras ikomi, the meat stuffed with a puree of sato-imo yam. Deep-fried golden brown and with an ankake clear sauce ladled over the top, containing red and yellow chrysanthemum petals with flecks of green shungiku leaf. Another winner.
After this came the rice. Kaki-gohan, rice cooked in a clay pot with early-season oysters. It was served with dark, rich akadashi miso soup with shijimi clams, and a saucer of tsukemono, lightly pickled cucumber.
And so to the dessert course (again split into two separate items): smooth curds of annin-dofu, not too strongly flavored with bitter almond...
And wine-simmered apple slices with ice cream drizzled with lemon syrup.
To restate: excellent cuisine and great value, in a setting that's warm, intimate and relaxed. And that is all due to the cooking skills of chef Murata and the gracious welcome of his wife.
They're both Tokyo-born and -bred: he's from Monnaka; and she's from right here in Arakicho. And they chose the name Suzunari from the initial characters in the names of their two elder children (there's a third now, apparently). It's a lovely touch, and it reflects the very personal hands-on feeling of this fine little place.
Suzunari's web site is here...
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