I visited the members-only salon, Sou, which is a Tabelog SILVER restaurant located in Imari, Saga Prefecture, called katecuore.Actually, I was planning to go back to Fukuoka during the summer vacation and had already decided on one restaurant to visit. However, I was wondering what else to do when I heard about this place. It turns out that Imari is surprisingly close to Fukuoka, so I thought about going there. But since it's a popular restaurant with only four seats available per seating, I decided to take this opportunity to visit. It’s been a while since I went to a yakitori restaurant during Golden Week.By the way, I have visited Sou once before, so I received a direct reservation email from them. I made the reservation through Sou's own website instead of OMAKASE. The price is naturally higher than dining there directly, but considering the travel expenses... and since Sou offers a course with alcohol pairing for an additional JPY 10,000, which is quite a good deal, I thought the quality of the wine might be different. According to Tabelog, dining there for dinner costs around JPY 50,000, so when you think about it, the difference isn't that significant. Therefore, I opted for the course with alcohol pairing.As for katecuore, I hadn’t heard of it before, but the owner-chef, Junya Minato, focuses on Italian cuisine and utilizes local ingredients, primarily featuring the beef raised by him and his wife. They don’t prepare dishes in advance and believe in serving everything fresh. The dough for the panzerotti is made on-site from Saga Prefecture wheat, and the panna cotta is made right in front of you from milk, so it takes time, but the taste is exquisite. Here’s what was on the menu that day:- Flower Tea from Ureshino, Saga First, to warm up the stomach.- Chilled Pumpkin Soup Made only with water, without any cream. The flavor of the pumpkin is well-extracted. Delicious.As I mentioned earlier, I requested the alcohol pairing course, and in between dishes, they served a Greek white wine with soda. It’s unlimited refills!Now, let me introduce today’s beef. It’s from a 14-year-old cow! They raised it for about a year after taking it in.- Carpaccio: Ribeye (front), Sirloin (back) Aged for 10 days without further aging. Lightly salted. A refreshing taste. The sirloin has a sweetness to it.- Panzerotti A dish from Puglia. The dough made from Saga wheat is not rested, brushed with beef fat, and quickly wrapped and fried. Inside, there are Saga peppers, pork ham, and cheese. Hot! The cheese stretches! Combined with the fragrant dough, it’s delicious!- Risotto Made without broth, using Saga rice and water, along with Saga butter and cheese. Topped with smoked salted beef fat from the aforementioned cow. It has a wonderful aroma. The rice is delicious!- Cold Pasta Made with ribeye and sirloin from the cow, and broth from tomatoes. Seasoned with the aroma of new ginger from Saga, which is in season. The al dente thin noodles are tasty!- Ribeye (front), Sirloin (back) Seasoned only with salt. So tender. The sweetness of the sirloin fat is irresistible!!Now, let’s showcase the tenderloin.- Heart from Imari Beef This might be my first time having beef heart. Watching it being grilled, I thought it was tongue! The thicker cut has a texture that feels like heart, and the more you chew, the more flavor comes out. The thinner cut is probably from the side? It has a nice chew, and this one might have a stronger flavor. Delicious! By the way, the green part is said to be sweet potato vines. It’s seasoned with homemade fish sauce made from Kibi-nago and kabosu, crunchy and tasty.- Tenderloin from Imari Beef (36 months old female) Served on a sauce made from enoki mushroom broth and beef broth. It’s a light way to enjoy the tenderloin from a young (36 months is young?) female cow.- Abomasum Pasta Pasta made with the abomasum from the same Imari beef as the heart. Combined with a sauce made with tomatoes, finished with grated hard cheese for a lovely aroma. I thought it was spaghetti, but it’s linguine. The abomasum is delicious! The pasta is also great!- Finishing Curry: Spicy Curry with Beef Tail and Onion Saga is known for its onions, and this curry is made without water, using only the moisture from the onions and beef tail. The beef tail is from the same Imari beef as the heart. The rice is organic brown rice from the same farm that produced the risotto. It has a wonderful aroma. Spicy and delicious! The spice base includes coriander, cardamom, tarragon, and juniper berries. Black pepper is too strong for the dishes, so they don’t use it at all. This was also made fresh, with dozens of spices brought from the restaurant and prepared here!- Freshly Made Panna Cotta Infused with the aroma of kabosu. So delicious! This is the best panna cotta I’ve ever had! It’s so creamy and incredibly tasty!!Wow, everything was delicious. From the chilled soup to the panzerotti, risotto, pasta, curry, and the final panna cotta, every dish was fantastic. If possible, I would love to enjoy Chef Minato’s cooking at the Imari location. It was a great meal.The chef’s wife focused on serving while the chef handled everything in the kitchen alone. It was impressive to see him grilling the meat over charcoal while also preparing other dishes. He would hold the meat with tongs to keep it in place and step away to work in the kitchen, then return to check on the grilling. He was quite busy.Most of the customers at the restaurant come from Tokyo or other urban areas, and it seems that not many locals know about it. They think of him as a "strange person who frequently buys a lot of tongs" (according to his wife).Usually, they only serve four customers at the counter, but since there were over ten guests this time, it took time to carefully grill the large cuts. Tabelog’s top page mentions to expect at least four hours, but on this day, it took about 3 hours and 15 minutes from the start time until we finished the last dessert. If you’re dining there, it’s best to start dinner at 7 PM and stay at a hotel near Imari Station to avoid any rush.
We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience.
