The plan for this week was to post a review of Ginza Ōishi, however there seems to be glut of writeups about that cosy little place as of late so I will be withholding it for now. Hakunei, on the other hand, is a name that gets mentioned here from time to time but I’ve yet to see a pictorial review from this sub so here we go:
Ambience:
The restaurant is located in a familiar five story clubhouse on the residential streets of Nishi Azabu, once occupied by former Tabelog Gold holder and French fusion legend CHIUnE, of which I’ve had nothing but fond memories of. The chef, Hayashi Dai, was waiting by the front gate to greet me and took me to the lounge which has thankfully changed very little since the last time I was here.
After a very brief wait, I was ushered to the basement dining room. The interior was also exactly like how I remembered: spacious, brightly lit and full of light wood grain. Cellphone reception was excellent, and the kitchen fumes unnoticeable for the entire visit thanks to some top notch extraction.
Food and Beverage:
The 14-course tasting menu cost ¥33000 or $215 per person.
-
Amuse Bouche: A solid starter of soft crouton topped with anglerfish liver pâté and caviar, everything simply melts away together in your mouth, even better when washed down with warm and slightly smoky fish comsommé. 10/10
-
Celeriac Ice Cream: An early dessert scooped with celeriac syrup and a pinch of fleur de sel, it’s a semi-savory ice cream that tasted like creamy reincarnations of celery and ginger. 9/10 I forgot to take a photo though this image from Tabelog) looks almost identical.
-
Tuna Tapenade: Thick slices of chuutoro, seared edge to edge pink, on a bed of brunoised green apples, celery and paprika with tapenade-based dressing. I could tell where the chef was going with the combination, however the fatty tuna and briny/earthy taste of the mix below just did not mesh very well together. 6/10
-
Winter Salad: Cubes of warm winter vegetables covered in potato puree, kelp infused oil and brown rice flavoured foam. Not bad overall though the flavour is dominated by the few pieces of pickled daikon radish. And IMHO this dish could have looked and tasted better without the foam. 7/10
-
Truffled Chestnut: Inspired by the traditional preservation technique of shibukawani, the chestnut was boiled with the inner skin left on and laid on top of short crust pastry and Guinea fowl foie gras before being topped with chestnut puree and truffle slices. Unexpectedly complex flavours and texture. The inside of the chestnut was buttery smooth once you manage to get through the harder outer shell. 10/10
-
Seiko Crab Pasta: Capellini in a gooey sauce richly decorated with crab meat, roe, tomalley and scrambled eggs. Very slimy but in a good way. 9/10 I might be overanalysing things here but this one feels like homage to Furuta Satoshi who came from a family of Chinese restaurant owners and would often make a similar crab dish at his place.
-
Pan-fried Shirako: Cod gonads cooked à la meinière in a shunkiku (crown daisy) sauce and topped with yuzu flavoured foam. The shirako was slightly overcooked for my taste, however the contrast with the slightly bitter sauce worked really well. 8/10 The yellow sprinkles are yuzu zest which was also used in other dishes.
-
Eel Galette Bretonne: Plain grilled eel laid on buckwheat pancake and topped with watercress salad and fried shallots. We were asked to roll up the wrapper and eat it like a fish taco. A simple yet satisfying dish with the eel providing a good crunch that has been missing so far. 10/10
-
Channel Rockfish: Grilled fatty kinki from Hokkaido served with a bouillabaisse style sauce and grilled leeks in pomelo foam. Not the most innovative dish out there but the flavours are clean and effective. 8/10
-
Venison Fillet with May Queen Potatoes: The highlight of the dish was the potatoes which had been cellared at low temperatures for over a year to improve their sweetness. They were perfectly crusty yet soft inside, and the texture was then greatly enhanced a deliciously sweet glaze made from red wine reduction and black peppercorns. The sous vide venison was also cooked flawlessly and the mildly gamy taste was well complemented by the suspiciously pink jus and a dollop of grape puree. 10/10
-
Fugu Shirako on Rice: Grilled pufferfish gonads which looked and tasted like umami-packed savory adult marshmallows, plus tender steamed fish slices and caviar on top of perfectly cooked rice with fragrant hirokko (young shoot of Asatsuki chives). Of course I had to ask for seconds. 10/10
-
Unshu Mikan Sorbet: Sweet-sour pellets of ice dusted with pulverised aged tangerine peel for a second level of citrusy complexity. 9/10
-
Strawberry Terrine with Plum Gelato and Cream: The terrine was beautifully set in a tamarind water jelly and tasted exactly like fresh strawberries with extra tart and spicy overtones. The plum gelato had a more subdued flavour and paired up nicely with the rest of ingredients, almost like a deconstructed English trifle. 10/10
-
Mille Crêpe: This is the signature dish that has never left the menu since the day they opened. The sixteen layers of goodness are bouncy when you cut into them, yet surprisingly soft between your teeth. The flavour was creamy with just the right level of sweetness. The accompanying jam of the day was made from kaki persimmons which adds an honey-like quality for a change. 10/10 Everybody was also served with a hot herbal tea of mint and lemongrass.
-
The Non-Alcoholic Drink Pairing was an alternating series of fruity mocktails and tea. My favourites were an exquisitely fragrant cold brew oolong and a smoooth blend of caramelised apple juice and oat milk. The only odd one out was the mulled grape juice with the venison main: it was overly sweet yet highly tannic at the same time – I had to ask for a glass of water to wash out the taste of spicy grape must. Overall it was a unique experience though I’m not entirely sure if it is worth ¥11000 plus the missed opportunities – more on that later.
-
The Wine List is well curated with many select bottles not commonly seen elsewhere. I only got to order a glass of Anjou Blanc and it was excellent.
Service:
The Service was courteous and professional but it felt rather stiff from time to time for reasons stated below:
The serving staff all spoke impeccable English which has to be commended. Nevertheless they may have taken their talents a bit too far by speaking only English to me, well after I had been seen chatting with the chef and other patrons in Japanese. Restaurants in Tokyo often assume I was just another tourist fresh out of Narita based on my name, but they would immediately drop the eikaiwa act once we start exchanging pleasantries. In the end I still felt amply welcome and relaxed, but the language has definitely put some extra distance between us.
The chef, on the other hand, was not conversant in English at all. Yet his youthful energy and focus at the helm of the kitchen really made him the saving grace of the night. It simply would not have felt the same without his presence.
Back when I was making the reservation online, I accidentally selected the non-alcoholic pairing option without realising until I was informed at the dining table. When asked if the alcohol pairing could be had instead, the maitre d’ was rather adamant that I stick to the plan because “we have already prepared everything”. Never the confrontational type, I decided to own up to my mistake and make the most of it.
In hindsight, I really should have pressed the issue a bit further because the alcohol pairing looked mighty fine from the sidelines. So there I was, sipping my herbal tea and drooling over the sight and fragrance of Aramasa and Saar valley Riesling. Oh well, such is life.
Closing Thoughts:
At the end of the night, the chef and the somm walked with me out of the gate, where they handed me a parting gift as we said our farewells. Inside the small box there were two onigiri made from the leftover rice. I ate them the next day with some kombini food and pondered about my time there.
I’m not privy to the reasons as to why the previous tenant moved out, other than knowing that the ordeal took a heavy toll on everybody involved. For a while I have effectively written off Hakunei as a cheap substitute brought in to fill the void, and would probably not have considered visiting if it wasn’t for that Michelin star. All in all, I’m glad to be proven wrong. The new team has not only found their own culinary style, but also managed to achieve it whilst honouring the legacy of the space by matching up their presentation with the serene white aura. They have definitely earned a place on my repeat visit list.
Credits:
The itinerary for my recent trips to Japan was greatly influenced by this post and I want to thank u/thetokyogourmet and all other contributors for their input. More reviews are on their way.
by laforet