Lovely Kaiseki lunch yesterday at Tagetsu . Highly rated on Tabelog (4.12) I was nonetheless surprised to be the only foreigner in attendance . Cooking was very clean and precise , there were few standout dishes but every dish was perfectly enjoyable and it added up to a very satisfying meal .

My favourite dish of the meal was certainly the tempura of fig with whipped tofu . The tempura batter was thin and shatteringly crisp , it essentially created a mock pastry layer coating the fig which was ripe but still holding its shape beautifully, the tofu gave a nice respite of texture and from sweetness .

Edamame mochi with corn puree and yuzu peel was the first course , each flavour quite distinct, the yuzu gave a great fragrance.

Mushroom and snapper dashi was also served with a hint of citrus which really elevated the broth.

Wood fired bonito tataki , with perilla sprouts and egg yolk shoyu . Bonito is one of my favourite fish and appears to be in season right now based on my last few meals …no complaints !

Tai ( sea bream) sashimi with uni and okra - lovely sashimi course .

Grilled butterfish with cucumber , myoga and green onion . Fish a little overcooked to my liking , another straight forward dish.

Hassun - tilefish sashimi, shishito pepper stuffed with shrimp paste and sesame
sauce , jellied eggplant , Anago nigiri . The hassun course had one main highlight , the peppers stuffed with shrimp paste and sesame sauce were highly addictive .

Pumpkin and duck mousse , wild mushroom sauce - this dish screamed of autumn despite the sweltering heat outside . Terrific

Grilled conger eel, eel skin with cucumber and sesame. The cold eel skin salad was very refreshing .

Sendai beef round with Japanese pepper sauce and matsutake . Loved the Japanese pepper so floral .

Deep fried Spanish mackerel rice with lotus root , carrot . Rice dish finale was excellent , the fish flaked in larger pieces than usual to match the also larger size of the lotus root . Have since enjoyed 2 of the 5 onigiri that I took home post meal .

Maple and hazelnut monaka
Peach compote with wine jelly and kudzu starch noodles. Always happy with peach desserts .