どら身
I was invited by a gourmet friend to this place, which I had heard about for a while, but it was my first visit. The restaurant has a single wooden counter, creating a clean and elegant atmosphere that reflects the owner's philosophy. As we were discussing what to drink, we were informed that champagne is not poured by the glass, so we started with Japanese sake. We chose ESHIKOTO's famous Daiginjo sake, known for its Water Narcissus Black Dragon. The silver backdrop resembled a luxurious folding screen. The sake had a clean and dangerous taste, quite exquisite.
For the second round, we had Juyondai Orizakari Honnama Arasou. The blue accents in the sake vessels gave a sense of early summer. The taste was refreshingly pleasant. As for the food:
- Steamed abalone with hairy crab, sea urchin, young fern, and jelly: The sea urchin from Amakusa was exceptional, and the abalone was impressive. A luxurious start to the meal.
- Steamed eel rice: Eel from Shizuoka, with delicate fat and plump flesh. A companion who adores eel finished it in a blink of an eye.
- White tilefish and bamboo shoot soup: Bamboo shoots from Kagoshima and white tilefish from Yawatahama. The seared skin added a fragrant touch, and the broth was simple, light, and elegant.
- Sashimi: Thornhead fish and Ise lobster with miso and sashimi soy sauce.
- Grilled bamboo shoot with sansho pepper: The lower part of the bamboo shoot from the previous dish, coated with sauce and charcoal-grilled. Irresistible aroma!
- Natural grilled softshell turtle: Rare and exquisite, surprisingly easy to chew. The accompanying pickled cucumber added richness, creating a delightful combination.
- Pacific saury miso-grilled with thin red bean paste: Perfect for Pacific saury lovers, with an exquisite blend of thin red bean paste, sweet light beans, and rich miso.
- Young ayu with Kyoto sansho pepper: A bold sauce with the tingling sensation of sansho pepper. The live ayu showcased its distinctive form, swimming as if alive.
- Meal: Clay pot rice, tuna pickles, beef simmered in red miso, red miso soup, and pickles (water eggplant, cucumber, Shibazuke, plum from Fukui). The Fukui plum pickle was slightly sweet, enhancing the flavor of the rice. A fantastic restaurant! Succumbing to temptation, we had a little more. Finally, thick beef arrived, accompanied by fried burdock and lotus root, topped with lotus root. And then, Yuzu jelly from Yakushima: Unusual and served with a sophisticated bamboo spoon. The jelly itself was firm. Warabi mochi with Nepalese tea: I missed the name of the Nepalese tea, but it had a citrusy scent, chilled and refreshing. The warabi mochi chopsticks were intentionally shaped differently for ease of cutting. The kinako (soybean flour) was delicious. The owner, perhaps noticing my struggling attempt to finish the warabi mochi, kindly brought a spoon. The warabi mochi itself was slightly firm, with a crispy surface (bottom). Could it be due to intensely hot warabi mochi covered in black syrup, creating a caramelized effect? A texture I had never experienced before, truly enjoyable! Though it was a quick two and a half hours, the flow of time and the pace of food service were just right.