Second time eating here (first time link here). Outside of restaurant is not very non-descript and not labeled at all. We were the first to arrive although the restaurant was fully booked for 5:30pm on a Wednesday evening, but in talking to the somm (this time we were seated all the way on the right side right where the cocktails get made), there were only 3 people booked for the 8:30pm season and 2 cancelled so they rescheduled than 1 person since it wasn’t going to be viable to have the restaurant open for 1 person.
We were served some champagne to start and we also ordered some cocktails. Andrea had a mezcal-based cocktail called Contraband and I had a gin-based drink I think called something Creamsicle. Andrea’s Contraband was made with mezcal and some Amaro Nonino infused with truffle and mine was a gin, white rabbit (usagi) milk punch, and I think some orange blossom. Both were so different with Andrea’s have much bolder flavors and mine more subtle but quite delicious.
Menu consisted of 17 courses plus dessert. Andrea went with the sake pairing and I went with the wine pairing (we always like to do different pairings so we can try the greatest variety of beverages). The meal started with a bang with the Canapés course which consisted of two bites, one being a nori chip with some wagyu, jidori egg, topped with a small tangle of julienned shiso. The second bite was an okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage) blini topped with the smoked creme fraiche, and caviar. The wagyu bite seemed a bit mild and the caviar bite (was a bit for a single bite and I wished I had eaten it in two bites instead) was fantastic with the richness of the blini balanced with the brineyness of the caviar.
Next came the sashimi course which consisted of 3 different pieces of dry aged fish – isaki, kanpachi, and sawara. This was topped with a bit of shiso flower. On the side was some fresh wasabi and soy sauce. We were instructed to remove the shisho flowers from the stem and eat with the fish. The dry aging on the fish was very apparent both in the texture with a bit more bite to it and in the flavor which was a bit more concentrated than fresh fish. Shiso flower is much more subtle that shiso leaf, which Andrea hates, but i think she found the flowers to be unobjectionable. Overall, an interesting and flavorful sashimi course.
Next course was the Amadai, a cooked tilefish with a bit of citrus and ume (Japanese plum) sauce with a nice bit of texture from the fried scales which gives it it’s unique look.
Next came the Madai. The sea bream was lightly battered and fried and was placed atop some friend sunchoke (aka Jerusalum artichoke) with a sauce made with ramps (a type of wild onion).
Next came the Chawanmushi course which was rich with lobster, duck liver, and Perigord truffle from Burgundy which were fortunately very fresh and fragrant (unlike the last time we were here when the truffle was completely dead and that was the one bit of negative feedback I gave them). I’m a sucker for a decent chawanmushi and this was better than most we’ve had.
Then came the Sunomono course. I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly because Friends Only was originally the experimental kitchen for Akikos and that sunomono course was quite “experimental.” This was a bit more traditional that that was and was elevated with the addition of hotaru ika (firefly squid) dotted with some su-miso (sauce made with miso, vinegar, and sugar). Andrea was not a big fan of firefly squid (she ended up passing her half-eaten dish to me to finish), but I thought this was one of the freshest and tastiest preparations we’ve had of them.
Then we move to a series of nine nigiri – Zuke, Ensui Uni (unprocessed uni), Sakura Masu, Unagi, Tsuri Aji, Gokujyo Uni (their “reserve” uni), Ji Kenmedai, Toro, and Handroll (Hokkaido uni). This was interesting to have three variations on uni. The first one, Ensui Uni, was unprocessed in that it wasn’t preserved with alum and had a lighter fresh flavor to it. The Gukujyo (AAA grade) uni was so beautiful and delicious (even if it isn’t prime season for Rishiri uni).
After the nigiri came the Gohan which was made with haiga rice (sort of semi-brown) topped with some seared nama hotate, and ikura. This was really comforting and delicious. I seem to recall liking the rice dish we had last time we were here, but this one was even better.
The last savory course was the Shirumono which was an egg drop soup with some king crab and asparagus.
For dessert, we had a small scoop of sesame ice cream which was a perfect few bites of sweet to end the meal.
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