I hadn’t really heard about this tonkatsu place through the usual blog sites, but did hear about it through a Discord fine dining group. I had been trying to get a reservation here for a few months. It seemed impossible to get a table for 2 although for 3 or more seemed much more available. In any case, when we arrived, it was a bit more apparent because there were only 3 tables for 2 (in addition to 2 tables of 4 and and a table for 6) and only one seating a night.
When I made the reservation, there were options for add-ons. We ended up going with the Lava Rock Seared A5 Wagyu, 1 Crab Croquette, and the Spiny Lobster Tail Katsu. There was a sake pairing and a Kenzo winery pairing so we went with one of each, the sake for Andrea and the wine for me. We were told that Kenzo wines was created by by Kenzo Tsujimoto, one of the founders of Capcom. Their wines are only available at winery or at restaurants (including at Kenzo in Napa at which we have yet to dine, but it’s definitely on my list!).
As we were seated at our table there was already a nicely presented trio of canapés at the table. Although, I don’t really recall any of them being very memorable. The first was the Mochiri Manju Caprese which was a version of a caprese salad, but instead of fresh mozarella, it was made with homemade sesame tofu. The second bite was the Saikyozuke, a miso marinated fish, which normally, I love, but this left me a bit cold perhaps because it was served cold. lastly came the Takenoko Sarada which was spring bamboo shoot served with some cured ham/prosciutto.
The first course was the Kani Negitoro Tartar Chips. This was decent mound of crab with a bit of bluefin topped with some tasty seasoned sauce served with a side of fried lotus chips. Andrea loves Kani and this was delicious.
Next was the Suimono which was a dashi broth with a small piece of crusted fish. The dashi was incredibly rich flavored with a solid smokiness without any harshness and a very rich bonito flavor. Behind was the bar where you can see the dashi being brewed.
Next came one of our supplements the Lava Rock Seared A5 Wagyu. I was surprised how early this came in the meal, but the waitperson thought it made more sense with the wine pairings. The wagyu slices are placed on the hot stone along with some shimeji mushrooms. They had a portable high speed fan (presumably filtered too?) to draw away the smoke which was a nice touch. The wagyu is turned to cook on both sides and a mushroom sauce was poured over. This bubbled up steaming and made for quite a show. I thought this overcooked the wagyu (I prefer my wagyu simply seasoned and grilled/seared ideally over a binchotan grill like at Niku Steakhouse), but this was one of Andrea’s favorite dishes.
Another one of our supplements came next, the Spiny Lobster Tail Katsu and they simultaneously served our Fresh Yasai Sticks (vegetable sticks with some shiso dressing on the side). The lobster tail katsu was pretty much what it sounds like with the lobster tail cut and formed into round nuggets. There was some lime and a side of a mayo based sauce (Andrea hates mayo). It was good, but the lobster tail is a relatively subtle flavor and was somewhat lost with the breading and mayo.
Then we were back to the regular menu with the Pork Wellington Katsu. This came with some some jus, horseradish, and some toasted sesame seeds which we were instructed to grind up a bit. The wellington itself was made with Duroc pork tenderloin, mushroom duxelles, wrapped in prosciuitto, and panko crusted. It was cooked perfectly with a bit of pink to the pork and was to me a very successful wellington.
The next katsu was the Gindara Katsu which was a panko crusted sable cod with a bit of what looked like matcha which gave a bit of color contrast.
Next came our last supplement, the Crab Croquette.
After that was the Dry-Aged Pork Katsu with the pork having beeing aged for 15 days. This was also served with the Donabe Dashichazuke which is the claypot rice with the delicious syphon brewed dashi and bit of lotus root and some random peas.
After that came the Gyutan Aburiyaki which grilled beef tongue. I have very fond memories of the beef tongue my mom used to make (personally, I think tongue is a very underrated food). This is a very different preparation, grilled on the hot flat plate and was very good as well.
Our Shime Somen (The Concluding Course) was the somen noodle in more of the delicious dashi.
For dessert, there were also additional options for some Craftsman & Wolves dessert, in this case Sparklying Lychee Stone (a lychee mousse cake), but we were so full and were glad that we did not add that. For our standard dessert, we received the Suika Shave Ice. This of watermelon shaved ice (yum, we love watermelon juice), mochi balls, red bean, and some strawberry kanten (jellies) which was a decliously fruity and not overly sweet ending to the meal.
This was a unique dining experience and we’d definitely come back and try some of the other add ons.
Leave a Reply