"Tradition looks quite different in Tokyo than, say, Kyoto. Concealed and evolving under constant layers of renewal and reinvention, you have to search it out. Where to start? Just head to the atmospheric nightlife district of Kagurazaka and make your way to Kohaku…"
My review of Kohaku is now up in The Japan Times. Here are some more images from our brilliant dinner there late last month.
Starting with this gorgeous opening dish — kegani (hairy crab) meat glazed with a viscous drape of yuzu jelly and served on its beautiful speckled carapace…
Then, a couple of morsels of unagi eel, deep-fried with a dusting of kombu and star anise, served with new-season ginkgo nuts…
Owan: a clear broth of superb dashi, featuring a single large and remarkably tasty shinjo (dumpling) made from kinmedai (splendid alfonsino)…
One of the highlights – not necessarily to look at, but definitely to eat: a rich porridge of mochigome (sticky rice) cooked with suppon (softshell turtle) meat, burdock, ginger, shallots and garlic. Strong flavors for Japanese cuisine, but this was wonderfully invigorating food for the evening chill...
Aki-saba (autumn mackerel) that was marinated with vinegar for four days and lightly smoked over burning rice straw.
Charcoal-grilled nodoguro (seaperch), with a cube of pureed burdock…
Tartare of Tochigi beef, served with a quail's egg cooked in the onsen tamago style, sprinkled with shio-kombu (kombu "tapenade”) and shavings of Alba white truffle. The photo doesn't really do it justice – but this too was superb.
The focal point of the meal. Donabe-gohan, clay-pot rice cooked with madai (sea bream)…
Beautifully composed and unfailingly delicious, meals at Kohaku strike that perfect sweet spot between gourmet complexity and seasonal simplicity.