The JPY 22,000 course included a small beer and two servings of Japanese sake, totaling JPY 33,000. Oh dear, it seems they served some rather expensive sake.The cultural presentation of the 8-dish course is lovely, but I find it somewhat confusing as a meal. Personally, I might prefer a restaurant that doesn’t feel the need to force the 8-dish format.The Akashi sea bream had a nice aroma, but the texture was dry on the surface and a bit rubbery, which wasn’t great.The grilled sweetfish was undeniably delicious, but compared to the sweetfish from Hakubun, it was just at a normal level of tastiness. I would love to see a cooking method that enhances the quality of the ingredients even further, perhaps with a stronger charcoal aroma for a new sensory experience.The anago (conger eel) soup had a thick consistency that made the broth hard to discern, and the excessive amount of thick soup made it feel clumsy.The Ise lobster kintsuba was tasty, but it had a somewhat Americain-like finish. While it’s new for Japanese cuisine, it felt more like Western food, which was a bit disappointing.Although the dishes were served simultaneously, I appreciated that they tried to match the pace of each table. However, this led to a mismatch in timing, and the repeated aroma from the delayed group’s dishes was a downside. It’s understandable in a large restaurant, but the repeated scent of the sweetfish, while wonderful, became tiresome.Overall, I didn’t feel the refined elegance typical of Japanese cuisine today. It’s rare for my impression to change so much after a second visit, but perhaps I wasn’t feeling well. Or maybe my experiences at Hakubun and Enmizu were just too exceptional.The new ginger rice was perfectly flavored and excellent. The accompanying soup was simply delicious, with concentrated new onions.The fruit anmitsu had the azuki beans cooked al dente, bringing out their flavor beautifully. The final presentation was truly impressive. Less