Nihonyouri Fuji Shizuoka

Fuji continues to impress. This meal was sourced by foraging in the early morning in the mountains behind Shizuoka and then buying interesting fish at the market in Yaizu (焼津市).
The ebi, killed in front of us, was still twitching when we had it on the plate. They were just gently heated and then served raw, but just slightly warm.
The ika was cut in two ways, softening the texture and releasing all the sweetness there is.
The dashi, made out of two different tunas, maguro and katsuo, with three year old kombu was a masterpiece of subtle concentration. The hanadai, a fish I don’t recall ever eating before, had a very smooth texture and released loads of umami.
His rice gets served as shiro gohan and topped with various condiments. This time it was aji and sakura ebi with the second serving of the latter karasuma added.
What a place! And price wise a steal. Less

The best thing about going out for a nice meal frequently is that probability is on your side to hit a truly great place. This one is such a place.
8 years in business, but somehow strangely undiscovered by the international foodie people, this young chef cooks kappo style in his 8 seat counter restaurant.
The ingredients are very well selected and treated with the utmost respect and delicacy to create subtle but highly nuanced flavors. The execution is flawless and always meant to bring out the best in the product.
17 course of delight!
He started you off with a Iwashi (イワシ / Sardine), barely cooked in a hand warm dashi. The dashi complimented the oily fish perfectly. This was followed by ice-sedated ebi which were prepared on the counter. The tail was separated from the head and the liver. The claws and the head was cooked on the grill. While the chef then prepared the head for easy eating the tails were just warmed up. This created a wonderful assemble with differences in texture and warmness, simply delicious. It went on like this.
The outstanding and most surprising course was the Japanese sesame spinach (HORENSO GOMAAE ほうれん草の胡麻和え). The assitant cooked stood there for minutes roasting the sesame to the right consistency. Once achieved the sesame was mixed with the spinach in a very precise ways to create an extraordinary nutty flavour. The root was served without sesame on the side and had an incredible sweetness to it. What a course, so simple, yet so tasty.
One of the four (!) rice dishes was a maguro the Chef could acquire on the market the same morning and was caught not far away at 11pm the night before. He added two different cuts to the rice without any treatment. So good.
The finish off the meal he served a Baked Japanese Sweet Potatoes (Yaki Imo) 焼き芋 prepared with Kanten Jelly (寒天の作り方 ) a natural white gelatin obtained from algae. It was so sweet and almost liquid on the inside that one thought it is an apple pie.
What a meal, greatness comes from unexpected places. Go there, he is getting discovered and popular. Less

素晴らしかったです。
このお値段でこのクオリティ、、
あまりに良かったので興奮気味ですらあります笑

あかざ海老
さっとあぶって味噌とともに。
駿河湾の豊かな滋味深いエビの旨味！
駿河湾の手長海老は毎年漁師さんから送ってもらってますが、、あかざ海老の甘さも際立って旨しでした。

いわしのつみれのお椀、
蛤の飯蒸し←お鍋に残ったご飯頂きたかった、、
あさはた蓮根とれんこ鯛のお椀
あさはた蓮根の力強い香り！
牛蒡のような風味すらする力強い蓮根。
静岡のお野菜の素晴らしさを再認識。

ひらめ、あおりいかの刺身
アオリイカの甘さ、どこのアオリイカだったのか聞きそびれました。いやぁ素晴らしかった。

さわらの山椒焼き
お店に入った時からゆっくりゆっくり炭火で焼かれたさわら。見事なミディアムレアにしあがっていました。しっとりと、旨味が凝縮された見事なサワラ。
美味しかったです。
そこそこ有名なお寿司やさんの焼き物より美味しかったなーぁ。

たまとりだけ、というしいたけの焼き物。
最高でした。
久々にしいたけに感動しました。

ほうれん草ごまあえ
最近霜がおりてきてぎゅっと甘さが増したほーれんそうだそうです。根っこの甘さがすさまじかった。
とうもろこしのような甘さ！

えびいものから揚げと人道イカのかきあげ。
旨し。
しめ鯖と、小松菜。
小松菜の根っこが大根のように甘かった。

さて締めのご飯。
ここで何やらテカテカに美しく光るマグロの登場
これは！？！？

なんと昨夜23時に八丈島であがったばかりの本鮪！
この鮮度の本鮪は年に一度いちあるかどうか、とのこと。朝の競りに間に合うように採れてすぐ、6時間かけて市場にやってきた98キロぐらいの本鮪だそう。
明日の天ぷら屋さんでも同じ個体の本鮪が出るかもしれませんよ！だそうで。明日も楽しみです。
お味は新鮮そのものでどちらかというとあっさり、サクッとしてました。トロもねっとりとした脂や旨味というより本当にあっさりと。ストレスがかかっていないので乳酸なんかの酸味もなくて贅沢なマグロ丼、スルッと入りました。

素晴らしいコースでした。
静岡、これから益々盛り上がっていくのでは、、？と期待してしまいました。素晴らしいお店だと思います。
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