Lotus root tempura
Nice and crisp. It’s not quite the skill of a top tempura house, but every dish is good. By this point I think I get this place’s style: I’d call it casual kaiseki that uses decent ingredients at a reasonable price. If you want more than this, the price goes up steeply, so for value for money it’s a place I can recommend.
Yamahai junmai
Quite acidic. The aroma was weak, so I was a bit disappointed.
Sushi
From the left: shime saba (cured mackerel), unagi, menegi (sprout scallion), uni, and anago. Compared to a proper sushi restaurant it’s a bit lacking, of course, but since every dish comes out at about this level, you get the pleasure of enjoying a wider range of flavours than at a specialist.
Duck and eggplant suimono (clear soup)
The broth is richly drawn from duck. The meat itself doesn’t taste like much, but the broth is a work of art.
That’s all the main dishes, and finally you pick a rice course. For an extra 800 yen you can have Kobe beef steak, but the portion would be tiny anyway.. so I chose from the regular menu.
Hirame (flounder) ochazuke
Unlike ordinary ochazuke, there seems to be sesame in the broth. It deserves credit for being original, but I prefer the usual style..
Rice with unagi
The verdict was that it was delicious.
Side dishes that come with the rice
Katsuo-don (bonito rice bowl)
Akadashi (red miso soup)
They do the soup well too.
Dessert pudding
An unusual dessert for Japanese cuisine.
Overall it was delicious, but even for affordable kaiseki, the price is quite a burden. A place like this is probably best enjoyed with friends who love food. Next time I’m in Osaka, I’ll look for some more local places.