After a week in Japan still had bandwidth for more Japanese kappo cuisine upon returning home . An enjoyable meal if somewhat flawed. Perhaps it just suffered in comparison to the Tokyo dining junket , but on the whole the ingredients didn’t quite sing to the same extent .
Cauliflower, Ancient Cheese, Firefly Squid, Black Truffle- cauliflower and rice were combined into a congee and paired with truffle , the squid which was mashed and had a certain funk seasoned the dish .
Bonito sashimi with garlic scape sauce - one of my favourite fish but this was not outstanding.
Red Sea Bream, Hairy Crab, Green Princess Onion- my favourite dish of the night , the bream collar was used for the flesh and nested atop a loose ball of picked crab meat , the broth from the sea bream bones completed a terrific dish .
Maguro and Uni hand roll - nothing wrong with a crowd pleaser .
Miyazaki Wagyu Beef, Japanese Baby Leaf, Spring New Potato, Grain Mustard - very European , the potato was paired with young leek into what was basically a Colcannon . The Wagyu tenderloin was slow grilled for over an hour but was just okay .
Mozuku Sea Moss, Ark shell clam , Fresh Urchin,
Baby Cucumber, Micro Tomato in Tomato water - fun presentation but ingredients didn’t really mesh for me .
Belt Fish, stuffed with Carrot, Yam, Shiso Leaf, Salted Plum sauce - very interesting Tempura, almost a Tempura Wellington but didn’t love the textures here .
SAKURA Trout, Usui beans, SAKURA Flower
Pickles, Miso Soup- lovely rice dish
Sancho pepper ice cream - great flavour but ice cream was icy .
Uguisu Mochi