I was struggling with deciding on which kaiseki to book, took a fellow Redditor’s recommendation of Gion Matayoshi after making a post, and I’m glad I did. I enjoy kaiseki immensely and love the lighter, simpler presentations for some ingredients such as the male snow crab and wagyu. Not sure if the clientele are usually mostly locals or tourists, but our room of 6 were all foreigners like us. The chefs were absolutely amazing in making us feel welcome and even have handy encyclopedic books on the counter in order to show us what types of fish or shellfish we were eating. There were actually so many bites I ran out of room in the album and omitted a few of the smaller ones.
- Hassun—gorgeous autumn plate of seasonal delicacies (shimaebi, flatfish in kelp, egg yolk, fish-wrapped burdock, caviar on puffed rice, tempura, crab with egg yolk sauce, and I forgot what the brown one was)
- Clam soup—simple but full of fresh clam flavor
- Female snow crab hot pot—has both roe and meat in a savory broth
- Male snow crab with local veggies—seasoned with shiikuwasa
- Sashimi courses—akashi-dai (red bream), maguro (tuna), saba (mackerel); served with three different sauces, I think a ponzu, a dashi or vinegar (can’t remember), and aged soy sauce
- Soup course—starch battered kue (longtooth grouper) in clear soup, yuzu peel to enhance the broth
- Seasonal small dish—steamed chestnuts with rice and a savory slurry
- Rock lobster for the tempura course later
- Grilled course—tilefish with crispy scales and persimmon; I could live off crispy scaled tilefish, had it a few times this trip and loved it every single time
- Gingko nuts with fish eggs, also served black edamame which had a slightly earthier flavor than green edamame
- Hassun served at this point during the meal
- Hot dish—pumpkin stew with chrysanthemum
- Light dish—rock lobster and matsutake tempura; it was matsutake season and they were so flavorful
- Crab chawanmushi
- Shabu—Ishigaki wagyu, tofu, komatsuna & other local vegetables; this was shockingly flavorful and slightly spicy from the peppers used to flavor the shabu broth, and the wagyu was cooked to medium rare and incredibly tender
- Rice course—steamed rice in a donabe served with eel, ikura, baby fish, and local pickles
- Dessert course—a variety of small bites starting with a super fragrant truffle marshmallow, followed by chestnut ice cream, fresh seasonal fruits, a sweet pudding (forgot the flavor, was too full by this point), and a braised chestnut
They offer sake pairings at three different tiers. I didn’t see a NA pairing but might’ve just missed it, and basically drank gyokuro all night cause it’s hands down my favorite tea. They let you choose your own tea cup from a selection which was neat. Overall, this meal was a highlight of our trip and I had a wonderful time listening to the chefs joke around and teach us about both the ingredients and some of the dinnerware.
by chashaoballs