It's been a long countdown, but finally spring has lift-off. The buds and leaves are out, and so are those all-important blossoms. And there is no finer way of appreciating them than from a table with a good menu and a choice vantage point. Time for lunch at En.
The setting is very easy on the eye. The dining room overlooks an ancient pond at the entrance to one of the most venerable Zen temples in all of eastern Japan. A stand of mighty cryptomeria cedars screens off the nearest road. And, perfectly positioned in front, a couple of exquisite somei-yoshino-zakura, the most spectacular of all the cherries, droop their branches over the water.
If it doesn't sound much like central Tokyo, that's because it's not. You are well out of the city, in among the wooded hills, leafy alleys and incense-wafting temples of Kita-Kamakura...
I've blogged before about En, with its tranquil, rustic setting, overlooking the Byakuro-Ike pond at the entrance to Engakuji Temple. Now it's finally found its place in my Japan Times column.
A wonderful little restaurant — modest in scale, but fully deserving of its Michelin billing for the delicacy of the kaiseki cuisine.
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