I’m always conflicted when i come here. my brain has a hard time reconciling all the incongruous signals it’s receiving: i smell incense, i see white servers and chefs, i hear loud krautrock playing on the speakers, i feel the 400-year old cypress counter, and i taste delicious traditional japanese food. this has to be the most non-japanese japanese restaurant i’ve ever been to.
the whole sakura-mochi-gate was a fucking dick move and hopefully he can learn from it, but i can’t deny the food on the plate is delicious. the amount of aging, fermenting and flavor going on here is impressive.
fresh seaweed shot, junsai, mozuku, mountain yam
a nice cold, refreshing start.
pickled plum “umeboshi” between bamboo leaves, 2-year aged yubeshi (yuzu, walnut, miso)
the plum was like a delicious concentrated jello. the yubeshi was soft and chewy and i’m amazed how much flavor is packed into such a small bite. highlight.
3-month aged hokkaido scallop in koji, 18-month smoked karasumi
the aged hokkaido scallop was fascinating, it was soft and chewy and had a sweetness and funkiness to it with the flavor of scallop lingering in the background. karasumi–textbook. loved the six pieces of raw daikon that acts as a crunchy textural contrast and to reset your palate. it’s also great to get all the chewy bits off your teeth. highlight.
3-month aged tofuyo
this was intense and funky and had the texture of a runny epoisses. stood up well to the taragawa awamori that it was served with.
hokkaido wagyu, nori, wasabi, 3-year aged ginger
meltingly soft wagyu with crispy nori with possibly the best gari in the city. highlight.
chilled eggplant, smoked tosazu gelee, kokabu, shiso flowers
loved the texture contrast of the shredded crunchy kokabu and the soft eggplant. highlight.
sergio
wild japanese aji sashimi, 3-year aged ginger, 3-year aged shoyu koji, fresh cucumber, wakame
the aji was flawless, but paired with the 3-year aged shoyu, it was incredible. highlight.
simmered japanese octopus, wasabi stems
flavorful and tender. highlight.
original tempura circa 1615, tai, grated daikon, green onions, shoyu dashi
perfectly fried tai. i drank this entire bowl of sweet and savory shoyu dashi. highlight.
iron pot koshihikari rice, iga wagyu, grilled unagi, shiitake, shimeji mushrooms, tsukemono
this course had enough flavor for about two meals. i would be happy just eating the flavorful mushrooms and tsukemono with a bowl of austere rice. the wagyu and unagi were a delicious added bonus. the iga wagyu was intensely beefy and fatty, and the unagi was so much better than the chewy one i had for takeout. loved the sansho powder on top. highlight.
the austere rice 
miso soup
not sakura mochi
aka ice cream, fresh amazake, rice cracker
not sakura mochi
aka castella cake, apricot
not sakura mochi
aka kohakuto
