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travels for friends, food and wine - in exactly this order
From
San Sebastian, Spain
Born
July 21
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at Naruse (てんぷら 成生) at Naruse
Currently #5 on TabeLog for tempura restaurants, this young Chef astonishes. The quality of the ingredients are sublime, the technique impeccable. Together with his friendly demeanor and the hospitality of his wife it creates a wonderful meal.
I would like to highlight one stunning piece, the almost raw aji. How someone can create somehitng like... More
Currently #5 on TabeLog for tempura restaurants, this young Chef astonishes. The quality of the ingredients are sublime, the technique impeccable. Together with his friendly demeanor and the hospitality of his wife it creates a wonderful meal.
I would like to highlight one stunning piece, the almost raw aji. How someone can create somehitng like this out of a humble dish is beyond me. The texture, the taste and flavor is absolutely stunning. I would have ja drive of those pieces. Less
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- Gerhard Huber added a new restaurant list Nikos list
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at NARISAWA (NARISAWA) at NARISAWA
Narisawa is one of the few Japanese restaurants which constantly has been on the WB50 list. Maybe because he started his career working in Europe, mostly in France and therefore cooks food which is very accessible for Westerners. I have been there for the first time in 2014 when it was still called Les Créations de Narisawa. Since then I dined there... More
Narisawa is one of the few Japanese restaurants which constantly has been on the WB50 list. Maybe because he started his career working in Europe, mostly in France and therefore cooks food which is very accessible for Westerners. I have been there for the first time in 2014 when it was still called Les Créations de Narisawa. Since then I dined there five times but have not been back for 3 years.
This Sunday I went back and had an extraordinary lunch.
Narisawa’s cuisine evolved, it became simpler and more Japanese. He defines his cuisine as innovative Satoyama (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoyama), the “border zone between mountain foothills and flat land where people live sustainably with nature.”
Obviously all the ingredients come from this zone, most of it from the west coast, Toyama, not one of them the usual luxurious ingredients which are nowadays the staple of fine dining. But what most impressed me is the execution and the layering of subtle, but at the same time complex flavours.
Point in case, the "Scene of the Seashore”. A squid gently grilled on the binchotan grill, plated with a thin stripe of roasted red pepper sauce. At the table the staff adds a few spoons of charcoaled pepper carbonated in liquid nitrogen on the top of the squid. The texture of the squid is sublime, it is as good as it gets. The combination with the pepper creates a wonderful flavour profile, which admittedly is not really Japanese but nevertheless pure, powerful and very tasty. Another dish, the Langoustine from Shizuoka, just steamed and served with bitter gourd in a thickened broth of pork, ham and chicken. The sweet almost raw langoustine embedded in the umami rich broth creates a deeply satisfying taste on the palate.
So simple, so good!
We opted for the pairing, which consisted entirely of Japanese beverages. The pairing feature sakes from the Masuizume brewery in Toyama (特撰大吟醸/株式会社桝田酒造店). Most of them were special bottling of the first draw of the premium sakes, all numbered bottles. Two wines from the Says Farm in Toyama completed the line up. The sake pairings worked especially well with the dishes they were served.
Needless to say that the front office worked like a Swiss clock managing the difficult task of announcing the dishes to the mixed table in multiple languages with great ease.
Based on this meal I wonder why the Guide Michelin only awards Narisawa san “only” two stars. I have eaten in three star places, even in Japan, much worse than here.
Kudos! I certainly will not wait another three years to go back. Less
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Back at my favourite spice ramen. This time I went up the spice ladder and opted for High-High.
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at Igarashi at Igarashi
Tokyo keeps on surprising. Friends invited me to a cute little kaiseki restaurant close to the Ebisu station. A quick TabeLog research reveals an unranked restaurant with a relatively high score of 3.69. No awards or acclaims like Guide Michelin etc.
Then it turns into one of the best kaiseki meals I had in Tokyo.
Wonderful ingredients cooked by... More
Tokyo keeps on surprising. Friends invited me to a cute little kaiseki restaurant close to the Ebisu station. A quick TabeLog research reveals an unranked restaurant with a relatively high score of 3.69. No awards or acclaims like Guide Michelin etc.
Then it turns into one of the best kaiseki meals I had in Tokyo.
Wonderful ingredients cooked by the Chef/Owner Igarashi San and his two assistants. A wonderful friendly hospitality and a free course made this evening outstanding. Very often the moment the bill arrives in these type of places is tense, but no so here. An unbelievable value for a full blown delicious meal. I will be back very soon.
Ps: for BYOB friends, this place is ideal, ¥4000/bottle. Less
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20 craft beer on draft. Eclectic snacks and decent pizzas. A place to meet friends and chat.
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Dinner at the Pionier of French fusion cooking in Kyoto. Well thought out dishes, which executed with great skill. Even though there are plenty of cooks, the Master himself literally prepares every single dish himself.
Great place to go when one had enough of all the kaiseiki food but does not want to go fully western cuisine.
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at 丸八たきや at 丸八たきや
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at ESqUISSE (エスキス) at ESqUISSE (エスキス) with Justin Hurst
Fantastic lunch at Esquisse. Modern French with Japanese ingredients. Due to the drop in temperature the menu had to be changed short term. However the team pulled it off.
Great place.
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