Guilo Guilo Hitoshina (枝魯枝魯ひとしな)

Pushing the envelope of modern kaiseki with deft playful touches and not a little brilliance, the young but extremely talented chefs here have hit a home run with this one. At once hot and cold, crispy and soft, this dish is sheer genius once you get over the initial mindfuckery of the seemingly clashing components.

Smear the lightly battered fluffy onion tempura through that intensely concentrated crustacean sauce, then have it together with a mouthful of bittersweet coffee sorbet for a most curious melding of flavours that left us flabbergasted by how good it was.

You'll be hardpressed to find a better multi-course kaiseki dinner like this punching above its weight for under ¥5000.

Taste: 5/5

What foul black magic and wizardly glamour is this? Appearing before our eyes as mere raw fish, but tasting like the purest spring water in a parched gastronomical desert.

Our Mukōzuke(seasonal raw fish course) was executed with deft culinary sleight of hand - lightly smoking it in green tea imparted the thick, translucent cuts of fish with fantastically grassy, smoky flavours without detracting from its natural freshness. Sprinkle a pinch of rock salt on each slice and eat together with a perilla bud, and I guarantee you'll never look at sashimi the same way again. The crispy skin was just added bonus.

Taste: 5/5

The Hassun(second course) sets the seasonal theme, and ours was the verdant green of spring. 6 artfully plated items, each and everyone absolutely delicious.

Chawanmushi: silky smooth egg custard coated with green bean sauce and a pinch of briny red snapper roe.

Warabimochi: unlike true mochi, this jelly-like confection is made from bracken starch. Light and not at all overly sweet.

Deepfried Eggplant: excellent texture, served with a little tomato sauce and bacon.

Marinated Mackerel with Coleslaw: not unlike pickled herring, the fish had a firm, bouncy bite, and its vinegary saltiness was cut through by the creamy coleslaw.

Squid Sashimi: sliced into thin strips, the squid was fresh and tender. You wouldn't expect sashimi to be served with miso green onion sauce, but the mellow onion flavour worked in tandem with the meat's natural sweetness.

Octopus & Asparagus Salad: you can't see it under the leaf in the middle, but the tender bits of octopus and crunchy asparagus went hand in hand, brightened with bursts of citrus jelly.

Taste: 4/5

Futamono(lidded dish), which is usually soup-based, came in the form of an unassumingly simple looking bowl of noodle soup, filled with silky somen and plump littleneck clams. That piping hot clam dashi was something else, imbued with the concentrated essence of shellfish; light, naturally sweet and soul soothingly comforting.

Taste: 4/5

Each course at this rather famous kaiseki restaurant is so creative, tasty and beautiful that they deserve their own individual posts.

Sakizuke(first course):
Minced ponzu marinated wagyu - sweet, smoky, deliciously savoury - hides the surprising pop and crackle of tempura batter just beneath the surface. The sea grapes on top provided tiny bursts of citrusy sourness. I need more of this in my life. #BurppleSushiMonth

Taste: 4/5