When you travel you get curious about the hotels in the area, but when you live in a city for a long time you stop caring what hotels there are around town. Lately, since I started doing restaurant reviews, I’ve become interested in hotels, and it turns out Tokyo has quite a lot of good ones. I’m thinking of exploring them a little at a time whenever I get the chance. The Park Hyatt, where I went this time, is also right in the middle of the city, and as you’d expect from a six-star hotel, it’s beautifully done.
View of Tokyo from the 41st-floor lobby 1
Roppongi Hills has an observation deck that costs 1,500 yen, but compared with this there’s hardly any difference ^_^
View of Tokyo from the 41st-floor lobby 2
Absolutely stunning. I can’t believe I only just found out this place exists..
This time I went to Kozue, a Japanese restaurant on the 39th floor. Of all the Japanese restaurants in Tokyo you could take business guests, a date or the family to, I think this one has the best atmosphere. The food, though, falls a little short of being the best. Given the kind of place it is, the cooking leans slightly toward fusion. It felt like it was tuned more to Western palates than to Japanese ones.
The basic table setting
The standard start at a Japanese restaurant.
Today’s wine by the glass
It’s a Koshu wine. When I saw a Katsunuma wine from Koshu on the menu I was so surprised I ordered it. The Koshu area of Yamanashi Prefecture is the only place in Japan that makes wine actually worth drinking, and it’s been featured in lots of books, Oishinbo among them. You can buy Koshu wine at ordinary supermarkets too, but this is the first time I’ve seen the real thing rather than that stuff. When I asked the person in charge, they said they went around tasting at many places looking for a wine to match Japanese food, then signed an exclusive contract with one good winery and bring it in from there.
I was amazed when I tasted it. It wasn’t the powerful American style, nor the refined French taste, but a truly Japanese-style wine. Soft, with an aroma that doesn’t overpower, no rough edges anywhere, a wine that seems to wrap around everything — who knew such a thing existed. And it really did go well with the Japanese food. I didn’t expect it to be this good; I’ll have to make time for a winery tour in Koshu one of these days. ^_^
I ordered the simplest course, at 12,000 yen. Even this was plenty satisfying.
Firefly squid starter
A starter that really brings out the flavour of seasonal ingredients.
Soup
Rice wrapped in sea bream, bamboo shoots dug that morning in Kyoto, and kinome, a herb unique to Japan. Since it all matches the season, it’s all the more moving.
Sashimi
Chu-toro, amaebi (sweet shrimp) and sayori (halfbeak).
They present it like this.
It’s fresh, but maybe because the portion is small, it lacks any bold punch.
An assortment of small dishes.
The presentation is a work of art. It holds its own even next to French cuisine.
The names are complicated. From top to bottom, left to right..
Konowata sushi (konowata is salted, fermented sea cucumber innards)
Koshu matsukaze-yaki
Cream castella
Eggplant simmered Oranda-style with sesame sauce
I liked the konowata sushi; it was nicely salty.
Cute little dishes
Tomato, broad beans and tempura. They’re like works of art. And they taste good too.
Saikyo-yaki grilled hiramasa (yellowtail amberjack)
Lots of sesame, but nicely savoury and delicious.
Continued in part 2.