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”Ise Sueyoshi” — 4-2-15 Nishiazabu, Minato (Tokyo) — is a small “Kaiseki” restaurant, on the third floor of a nondescript commercial building, that only seats about 5 people at its counter.
While “Kaiseki,” a fixed-price, traditional multi-course meal (similar to French haute cuisine), will run you about 16,000 yen (or $150) per person, you are absolutely certain to enjoy the meal, particularly if you’re into “theatre” and meticulous food prep.
Over the course of the evening, you can expect a “seasonal” appetizer, side dish, sashimi, soup, grilled dish, “refresh” dish, rice, dessert, all prepared by a “culinary prodigy” — Chef Yuuki Tanaka.
After a stellar Saki-zuke (rated yesterday), we proceeded to his “Appetizer of September” — Suizen-ji spinach, savory steamed custard, Gingko nuts, sweet potato, prawn.
Despite its elegant presentation, we couldn’t quite figure this course out, as the elements lacked a cohesiveness (in our view), and suffered from an overarching blandness that didn’t work for us.
Even though there were an array of textures (from the crunchy sweet potato to the mushy, creamy rabbit-shaped custard), because nothing was a standout from a taste perspective, we rated it a (still respectable) “B-.”
[And while the sake pairing, for an additional 3564 yen ($33 approx) per person, was well worth the cost, and compensated for this dish’s deficiencies, I’d still would like to know who was the little rascal that put a snail in my cup???]
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Follow Lucas on Instagram: @lucasaferrara
