Kazahana, Conrad Hotel, Shiodome, Tokyo

While we were staying at the Conrad Hotel, we made a return visit to Kazahana for lunch. This year we were a little earlier in the summer season which meant there should be something different on the menu than our visit last year.

We decided to have the lunch course “MAI”, one of the 6 set course options available for lunch. Lunch set “MAI” consists of: Appetizer, Soup, Seasonal Delicacies, Main Dish, Rice, Miso soup and Japanese pickles, Dessert. We love the mystery aspect of the sets and the fact they ask if you have intolerances or things you don’t like.

We have tended to avoid uni (sea urchin) this trip, the appetizer had uni but they were happy to swap it out and it was replaced with abalone (my first time to try it). Braised white Taro stems with abalone was our appetizer.

Second course was soup with tofu, a very interesting seaweed and fish cake. The seaweed was a new one to us and very slippery. It reminded Vikki of the stamens in a lily but with a gelatinous bubble around the ‘stamen’ part.

Our third course was the seasonal delicacies. A selection of cold and hot dishes. Left to right tempura conger eel with braised eggplant, braised octopus and daikon radish, sashimi of squid and seabass, chilled soba noodles with accompanying sauce.

For mains we were able to choose which meal we wanted I chose grilled scallops and salmon which was accompanied by roasted vegetables with a Japanese pepper sauce. The sauce was quite mild but went really well with the seafood. The scallop was huuuge!

Vikki opted for the pork stew dish (kakuni) which included a softly poached egg topped with truffles, rice with perilla seasoning, Japanese pickles and Miso soup.

For dessert I had the brown sugar cake with caramelized banana served with ice cream.

Vikki ordered a pumpkin pudding with ice cream and a white cherry. Not a cakey pudding, this was more of a custard style. Vikki said it was quite dense and creamy.

Got to love a view while you are dining and in our case the view for lunch was Hama-rikyu Onshi Tien and Tokyo Bay. 

Hanasanshou, Park Hotel, Shiodome, Tokyo

While we have eaten in the Tateru Yoshino run restaurants at the Park Hotel several times in the past, we have never tried Hanasanshou, the Japanese restaurant.

We did not realise how popular Hanasanshou is. On several of the days we were there it was always full and not just with hotel guests. Thankfully, as we were going out one morning, we managed to make a reservation.

Located on the side of the hotel that faces east, the room has a main dining area along the window and then to each side of the bar a curtained area for a more private dining experience. Lots of dark woods are utilized throughout the room with trendy lighting around the bar.

Hanasanshou had a special menu for house guests so we chose to have that. 8 courses served Kaiseki style for around A$50. The other menus were also Kaiseki style with the difference between each being the number of courses.

First courses out was a bowl of boiled taro stem from Kyoto served simply with a bonito and soy sauce. Very light and refreshing.

The appetizer was a plate of seasonal specialties. Fresh thin wheat noodles, sushi of conger eel, Chinese lantern fruit, fruit fed sweet fish salted and dried overnight with boiled octopus, young corn, grilled eggplant with sweet miso sauce.

Clear soup with a steamed pike conger eel dumpling. Very tasty and the dumpling was light and fluffy. Those little bits floating in the soup are seaweed.

Tuna sashimi was next, it was meant to be yellowtail but they had run out so they gave us tuna. Any kind of sashimi is alright by us. The wasabi was super fresh and grated just before serving, a taste revelation!

Next up was our grilled dish of black cod baked in magnolia leaf, accompanied by edamame and ginger shoot.

Second last dish was rice cooked with barracuda and burdock along with miso soup. One of the best miso soups I have tried.

Finally seasonal fruit and green tea. Simple but refreshing end to a very flavoursome meal. Bright green Maple leaves seemed to be the garnish of the season

Now we have sampled all the food offerings available at the Park Hotel and they are all fantastic. Sometimes hotel dining can be a bit ho hum but we have enjoyed each meal we have had there.

Patek Philippe, ARIA and The Celestial Dance

It seems like all the stars have aligned this week as we found out we will be attending a Patek Philippe factory tour in September. To celebrate we decided to have dinner at ARIA. As an avid and passionate Patek Philippe collector for around 10 years, this was a welcome surprise. Vikki and I felt like we won a trip of a life time, that only fellow watch enthusiasts would appreciate the significance of.

The evening was crisp and clear, with a stunning full moon illuminating the night. We were also lucky to look up and see Venus and Jupiter doing their celestial dance and appearing close together even though they are hundreds of millions of miles apart. At first I thought one was a plane until Vikki remembered it was the celestial rarity that she had quickly read about on FaceBook. A rarity because most of the conjunctions between the two planets happen during daylight hours.

Enough of the stars, and on to dinner. We decided to have the pre-theatre menu, which offers great value. But first things first we had to choose a wine. After perusing the wine list we decided to have a 2009 Linnaea Rhizotomi Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. We like our Napa Valley Cabernets and this did not disappoint. Great flavour without being too heavy and a fabulous aroma which opened more during the evening.

A concise menu of 5 items per course, plus an entree extra, made choosing easy. After ordering, an amuse bouche of house made lavosh, topped with broad bean and ricotta purée topped with a little dot of lemon curd was presented to us. 

A waitress came with a basket of bread from which we both chose a sourdough roll (From Iggy's Bread) which was accompanied by salted butter and a black garlic and porcini butter (both from Pepe Saya).

Vikki ordered Yamba Prawns with smoked eggplant, pickled radish and finger lime (the entree extra). The prawns were roasted with the little bubbles of finger lime pulp and then stacked on the pureed smoked eggplant. Slices of pickled radish and herbs were placed around and on top of the stack.

I ordered Southern calamari with Iberico jamon, dashi custard, and shiitake mushroom tea. The dish was topped with an intriguing squid ink and tapioca crisp.

 Vikki chose the lamb rump, globe artichoke barigoule, green olives, eggplant and capsicum ajvar. Cooked medium rare, with the small amount of fat on top salted just the way she likes it. We also ordered our favourite side truffle mash, (mash potato finished with truffle oil) so creamy and delicious.

I ordered the Cervena venison loin and sausage, farro, parsnip, grapes  and rosemary. The parsnip came as a finely shaved crisp and puree. This was my first experience with farro on a menu and it is an ingredient I look forward to having again.

Initially we were only going to have two courses but we decided to go for broke and order dessert. Possibly not a good judgement call as we realised later. An interesting sounding tart caught Vikki’s eye and I chose the cheese plate.

The tart was caramel and cep,  accompanied with mandarin wedges and espresso ice cream. The tart had a good depth (about 2cm of filling) and was quite light. The flavour of the cep mushrooms was delicate but was not overpowered by the caramel. The mandarin gave a refreshing burst, and the espresso ice cream was enhanced with the addition of ground coffee, which gave it a bit of grittiness. Cracked hazelnut kernels and a hazelnut ‘soil’ finished the plate.

The cheese selection consisted of Munster and St Agur from France, La Luna from Holy Goat in Victoria and Manchego from Spain. The cheese was accompanied by crackers and fresh grapes.

 A plate of varied petit fours was delivered to the table and was duly consumed.

We practically waddled out the door into the chill night air and headed home.

And to round out a special day I had a delivery all the way from Scotland, a bottle of Laphroaig Cairdeas 200th Anniversary Whisky.