Akasaka Kikunoi, a two star Michelin, is an offshoot of a famous Kyoto restaurant of the same name. Located in a courtyard off a side street, we decided to walk there from the National Art Center just to be sure we could find it later. Google and Apple Maps kind of showed it in the middle of a block, but did not know where the actual entrance was. We circled the block and found the entrance! Preparing this blog, I found an interview with the chef owner, Yoshihiiro Murata, the world’s only 7 star Michelin chef (!). I should have done even more research before lucking onto this place. I am honored to have eaten at such an establishment. I believe that food it not just entertainment and Chef Murata creates wonder for the palate and the eyes. See the interview here.

We reserved via a service tableall.com, pricey 8000Y per person reservation fee but after the me we would absolutely use the service again. The menu was printed waiting at our bar seats, well translated and accurate. The menu changes monthly according the main chef.

The interior was very Japanese, simple, wood, not laminate, the bar top was a solid piece of maple from the looks of it, 3 feet wide, 1 feet high and 15 to 20 feet long! I could not find a joint or splint in it….the outside courtyard was peaceful and took you away from being in a Tokyo restaurant surround by buildings. This restaurant is an offshoot from a Kyoto restaurant.

Lousy photo since no photos of the personnel are permitted, the chef used this enormous knife to take the tail of the conger eel, full of tiny bones, and scored repeatedly very close without cutting the skin, with a cut at intervals down through the skin to cut a portion. These were then blanched in a hand steamer basket, just the skin, which caused the pieces to curl into the form presented. Ingenious, economical, using what normally is considered garbage or inedible, very like the “poor cuisine” of the Italians (cucina povera).

We drank four types in the order noted.

The Jikon was robust and handled the intro courses varied and jntense flavors, we had two since 180ml goes quick. We switched to the Higan for the more delicate sashimi and fish courses, at the recommendation of main chef. Then on to the house Kikunoi junmai daigingo, and then finally the Dassai. Both with more power and flavor than I am used to in junmai daigingo yet still elegant and refined compared to the excelent but simpler junmai and daiginjo. I finished with a Hibiki Harmony.

Sashimi of shimaaji (yellow jack) and tai (red sea bream), pickled yellow Chinese chive, curled carrots, wasabi

Detail detail detail. The design was on every chefs breast and napkins….Dominique figured out later it was a Chrysanthemum, which a Chinese friend said the characters in the name resembled….I found a blog interview where Chef Murata said it means “chrysanthemum in the well”.

Crispy, sweet, I ate mine head first, then decided to go from tail to head for the second one! I did leave the skewer…..

Check out these guys jumping around before cooking at YouTube:

https://youtu.be/2M881d_c4Qk

Brown sugar ice cream with smashed bean paste, agar-agar, strawberry, cherry, rice flour dumpling

A little nook between the dining room and the toilette areas, I found the typical fine dining guides and then a book about the restaurants kaiseki! Which I found on Amazon, a copy has been ordered! Authored by the restaurant owner and 3rd generation chef.

A chawanmushi…small but delicate, rich and powerful at the same time….Soft-shelled turtle steamed egg custard, prawn, green onions, ginger, macadamia nuts

An elegant, novel palate cleanser…Junsai(water shield), cucumber, tomato, shiso(perilla) spikes….I ate the maple leaf as well…..

This was four of the fish we had met earlier jumping in a basket…..this was a portion for two people.

Assortment of appetizers: Tai (red sea bream) roe terrine, jade greenish eggplant served cool, egg yolk pickled in white miso, flowering cucumber, green onion rolled with marinated cutlass, edamame, taro potato, grilled shrimp with shrimp miso, green manganji pepper and clam with ginger

Shaped like a large bamboo stalk….