Today, I visited this restaurant that I had been curious about for a long time. It is located in a rather remote area, about an hour's drive from Fukuchiyama. Reservations are already quite difficult, and you need to book right when they open to secure a spot. This time, I came with a friend, and the long table was fully booked with a total of 8 guests.The concept here is "sharpness," showcasing exceptional skill in handling ingredients with knives, earning high praise from chefs across various fields. The restaurant is run by three brothers, all surprisingly young. It has a theatrical atmosphere, allowing guests to enjoy the experience while listening to various explanations. There is also a strong emphasis on the tableware and dishes used.◆ Omakase Course JPY 33,000 (tax and service charge separate)- The Ultimate Slice- DASHI 0.8- KIREAJI × Junichi Fujimoto- Chawanmushi (savory egg custard)- Carrot × KIREAJI- Summer Vegetables- Wild Boar and Venison with Sansho Pepper- Venison Charcoal- Discard KIREAJI- A cucumber that doesn't realize it's being cut- Rice- Venison Iron- Noodles × KIREAJI- Sweets◆ Ordered Drinks- Clausthaler Non-Alcoholic Beer JPY 800 (tax included)- NOMI's JAVA TEA JPY 1,000 (tax included)Total Amount: JPY 36,080 (tax and service charge included)Duration: 3 hours and 15 minutes------- Details Below ------We started with katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) and dashi (broth). Using classic katsuobushi from Makurazaki, the flakes are shaved to an astonishing 0.3 microns with a finely honed plane, truly representing "the ultimate slice." The texture dissolves on the tongue the moment it touches it. Using these flakes, they prepared a luxurious "0.8 dashi," allowing us to enjoy the pure flavor of the broth. Indeed, the katsuobushi from Kaneshichi is remarkable... It's surprising how rich the umami flavor is without adding anything.Next, we were served two dishes featuring hamo (pike eel) prepared by Junichi Fujimoto from Imabari. The sound of the knife cutting through the bones is completely different from the usual crunching sound. The flesh is clearly plump, and its flavor stands out even more when tasted. One dish features hamo dashi made from the flesh, while the other includes hamo shabu-shabu made from the skin and neck. The flesh offers a clear umami, while the skin and neck provide a robust flavor. The flesh is fluffy, and there’s hardly any bone left to feel.Another dish by Junichi Fujimoto features shiro-amadai (white sweetfish). This high-end fish is served with wild vegetables, moromi (fermented soybeans), and ground sesame. The texture is crunchy, and the mouthfeel is moist, with delicate umami. It pairs excellently with the wild vegetables and moromi.Next up is chawanmushi. The fresh eggs used were laid by chickens raised in the restaurant, fed a diet that includes fish and venison bones, collected that very morning at 10 AM. These eggs are used in the chawanmushi, combined with a chicken and katsuobushi dashi and edamame. The richness of the eggs combined with the dashi brings a smile to your face.Now, we enjoyed the NOMI specialty, tasting carrots with sharpness. To highlight the difference, they intentionally used carrots from a nearby supermarket. By not breaking the cells, the aroma is pleasantly subtle. The texture is so smooth that if you were blindfolded, you might not even recognize it as a carrot. This is quite interesting.Next, we had noodles made with summer vegetables. Using handmade somen (thin wheat noodles), it was served with Managiri peppers, grilled eggplant, and a cold sauce made from diced yam, cucumber, and tomato. It was a treasure trove of summer vegetables, refreshing and delightful. The handmade somen had a notably smooth texture.After the summer vegetables, we enjoyed a soup made from venison ribs. It contained venison and wild boar meatballs, along with plenty of green onions and wild sansho leaves floating in it. This was truly one of my favorite dishes... The venison soup had no gamey taste, and its unique umami was clear. The meatballs were juicy with a wild flavor, and the freshness of the sansho leaves was simply irresistible! I could eat this every day, haha.Now, we moved on to the meat dishes.First, we had grilled male deer sirloin. The sauce was extracted from deer bones. The grilled vegetables included greens, shiitake mushrooms, and eggplant, which were grilled over straw. The silky and tender male deer meat allowed us to savor the umami of the lean meat without any gamey taste, complemented by the aroma of the grilled vegetables.Next was venison katsu (cutlet). To maintain sharpness, they intentionally break the breadcrumbs by hand. These seasoned breadcrumbs were incredibly delicious, making it easy to eat with rice, haha. The venison was rare, and I’ve never had such delicious venison katsu before.Before the meal, we compared cucumbers cut with different knives. While I listened to various explanations while eating, to be honest, I couldn’t really tell the difference, haha.Now, onto the main course. The rice is homegrown, soaked in husks until just before cooking to retain its flavor. Moreover, it seems everyone participates in the process of sorting the grains, which is quite a task, haha. They cook it in both an earthen pot and a copper pot, allowing us to enjoy the differences.The first dish of the meal was shirasu (whitebait) and egg yolk rice. Using freshly laid eggs from 7 AM and Fujimoto's boiled shirasu, along with Mitsuru soy sauce from Itoshima... The fluffy and moist shirasu combined with the rich egg yolk was unbelievably delicious. The flavor of the ingredients was so prominent that soy sauce was unnecessary.The second dish was a hamburger made from wild boar and venison. They made a coarsely minced mixture with some pork belly added, resulting in a hamburger with a steak-like texture! The meatiness is among the best I’ve ever had. The center was rare, with the umami of the ground meat concentrated perfectly. Eating the hamburger with salt at this level is something else...To finish, we had wheat noodles kneaded with hattai flour. In a clear and deep broth made from whole chicken, they served the noodles with homemade menma (bamboo shoots) and bok choy. The texture was surprisingly chewy, and the aroma of the hattai flour wafted through the air. The menma was astonishingly crunchy at this thinness, simply the best.For dessert, we enjoyed ultra-thin slices of mango and ice cream made from self-grown tea leaves. We finished with herbal tea.It was a great meal. This restaurant, focusing on "sharpness," offers a completely new experience. The incredible attention to detail and the unseen efforts and time invested in reaching this level provide an experience that can only be had here. Considering that, I think the price is quite reasonable. The three brothers are all remarkably composed despite their youth, and I’m excited to see what they will achieve in the future. I definitely want to visit again in a different season.*Rating at the time of visit: 4.31
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