PUMPKIN SOUP!

For all tourists who are planning to visit Japan, I definitely recommend them to try “kaiseki ryori”. Kaiseki ryori is like a tasting menu. You have multiple courses, each cooked with different cooking techniques, showing the skills of the chef. Having a kaiseki ryori is the best way of having a degustation experience in Japan. If you are planning to stay in a Ryokan throughout your trip, it would be your best chance to try this menu. I had a kaiseki ryori at Iwaso Ryokan in a traditional way.

Ambiance

While I was staying at a traditional Ryokan, everything around me was extremely traditional. Throughout my dining experience, I was wearing a “yukata”, which looked similar to a kimono. You were not permitted to go into the dining hall with your shoes, you need to wear your special socks, designed to wear with sandals. I have to admit that it was amazingly comfortable to eat wearing a yukata.

The decoration was very simple with the dominant color being yellow. The floor was totally coated with special tatami floor coverings. Lighting and air conditioning were perfectly designed. The traditional Japanese paintings were the only decoration elements. You definitely feel like a local, just as a tourist would like to feel.

Taste

Kaiseki ryori consisted of only fresh and seasonal ingredients. It first started out with an amuse bouche, just like the French cuisine. Assorted seasonal appetizers were being served. Inari sushi -which they covered with tofu skin- was served with the appetizers. You have a little branch of cherry blossom together with the soy sauce. You need to tear the leaves and put it in your soy sauce so that the sauce will have the sweet flavor of Sakura. You have a brush in order to coat soy sauce on your sushi. As the second appetizer shrimp chips, egg yolk sweetened with soy sauce, yuba (which is made from boiled soymilk) and beans were served.

Grilled oysters with lemon were prepared right in front of you. Following the oysters, wagyu beef was served. I need to say that beef, in general, was very delicious in Japan. Including this restaurant, I have always eaten amazing beef throughout my Japan experience. The fat was homogeneously dissolved in the meat. Although I do not enjoy eating fat normally, it didn’t bother me at all. The fat dissolved in my mouth like cotton candy, making the beef even more delicious. Potherb with mustard, burdock root and sesame sauce accompanied wagyu beef. Subsequent to wagyu beef, it was time for the tempura. Mugwort, bamboo shoot and Japanese butterbur were fried with sesame oil. The last main dish was rice with sakura shrimp roots and leaf bud. Japanese rice was light since butter and salt were not being used.

Natto soup with leak and mustard was served as a digestive before the dessert. It was a traditional soup made from soybeans. Japanese people don’t eat much sweet or desserts. They have their own desserts which were no sweet for me at all. Sweet Watson pomelo, sakura vanilla ice cream were served as a dessert. Sakura ice cream was tasty but I didn’t enjoy the dessert much. The finish was with hojicha tea.

Japanese people love to drink sake with kaiseki ryori. I chose to drink a white wine,  an Alsace Riesling. It made a good pairing with the menu.

Creativity

The presentation of the dishes is as important as the taste of kaiseki ryori dishes. The harmony of the colors and the display of the courses need to please you as much as the flavors. My kaiseki ryori experience provided all these characteristics.

The decoration was very traditional and plain, avoiding any destruction that will ruin your degustation experience.

Service

For the Iwaso Ryokan I have stayed in, you need to get in touch with the ryokan in order to make your reservation for a kaiseki ryori. They need to know in advance since the ingredients are all fresh and prepared accordingly.

The service people were also wearing yukata together with us. Therefore, we felt even more comfortable. They were very coordinated, kind and served at the right pace.

Value

Unfortunately, I don’t know the exact pricing of the kaiseki ryori menu since it was a package including the accommodation at the ryokan. However, there are many different pricing ranges fora kaiseki ryori dining according to your preference. I definitely recommend this experience even if it is for once. The Japanese way of degustation is both very healthy and pleasing. However, I think that the experience itself is more valuable than the taste of the dishes.