Archive
NYC Kaiseki: Soto (Dec. 2012)
Authors: Monty and Tad
Restaurant: Soto
Chef: Sotohiro Kosugi
Date: December 8, 2012
Notes:
Tad’s Notes:
“Soto is like a kaiseki love-letter to uni. You must love sea urchin to eat here. Those who merely like sea urchin may find an overabundance of sweet, nutty richness. Those who don’t even like sea urchin should probably curse their parents for not giving them the correct genes or for an insufficiently worldly upbringing.”
“A Japanese business associate of my father once told me that the Kaiseki meal is very infrequently eaten by Japanese people. It is the equivalent of a high-end Western tasting menu, but with more ceremony, tradition, and attention to aesthetic elements. But I eat tasting menus all the time, so I am sure there are some people in Japan that eat Kaiseki meals pretty regularly.”
Monte: I love Japanese food. Soto only confirms how real our amour is.
HK: Sushi Yoshitake (Jan. 2013)
March 13, 2013 Note: This restaurant is now known as Sushi Shikon.
Author: Victor
Restaurant: Sushi Yoshitake
Exec Chef: Masahiro Yoshitake
Sous Chef (and our sushi chef): Yoshiharu Kakinuma
Date: January 7, 2013
“Miyabi” Menu
Website: http://www.sushiyoshitake.com/
Notes:
Sushi Yoshitake in Tokyo is really popular among sushi enthusiasts, and it recently received its third Michelin star in the 2012 Guide. Chef Yoshitake decided to open a second restaurant and chose Hong Kong as his destination, so I figured that I’d try it while here on my break! There are a total of eight seats in this restaurant, which consists of one sushi bar. There are two sushi chefs, Chef Yoshitake and his apprentice Chef Kakinuma, and each serves up to four diners at a time.
Chef Kakinuma was our sushi chef, and Chef Yoshitake was at the other side of the bar. I should probably add that it was really helpful that Chef Kakinuma spoke fluent English.
Chef Yoshitake is preparing nigiri here. I realize it’s not the most flattering pic haha :(.
HK: Wagyu Kaiseki Den (Jan. 2013)
Author: Victor
Restaurant: Wagyu Kaiseki Den
Exec Chef: Hiroyuki Saotome
Website: http://www.wagyukaisekiden.com.hk/
Date: January 5, 2013
Notes:
-I wanted to try some of the sushi and kaiseki restaurants in Hong Kong during my time here, so I looked up restaurants. Wagyu Kaiseki Den came up a lot, so I quickly made reservations. It’s located in Sheung Wan, so it’s a short walk from Central.
-There are a total of 30 seats, with eight of those seats at the bar. We sat at the bar, and we got a great view of the kitchen staff prepping and cooking the food!
-The meal had a LOT of truffles. It’s arguably overkill to do the white truffle tasting at Amber and then eat here the following day, but… you only live once!
-The wagyu used is from Kagoshima, Japan.
-I really enjoyed this meal. The ingredients were all really fresh, and the constant use of uni, truffles, and wagyu made me a very happy man.
-Some of the dishes really weren’t all that creative, but they were executed REALLY well. The ingredients were great, and everything was really well-prepared/cooked, so each dish was delicious. This was superb cooking.
This was the view from our seats. Chef Saotome’s preparing toro for the sashimi course (#5) here.
Monte
Victor
tadv3
Happy Noms 