I love Kaiseki. The seasonality of the ingredients interplay with the presentation, which is like art. IF there’s a McD for kaiseki, it would be Nadaman.

This historical Japanese restaurant was established in 1830, the first year of the Tempo era by Nadaya Mansuke in Osaka. In recent years, they have expanded to many locations around Japan, and this particular branch at Prince Takanawa hotel has a spacious interior with 245 seats and over 990 square meters looking out on a beautiful Japanese garden.

Here’s the lunch kaiseki menu.

旬菜 Appetizer

Appetiser started with 5 cold items, each elaborately prepared.

焼松茸 壬生菜 菊花酢浸し On Grilled Matsutake mushroom on boiled green vegetables in bonito soup – The spinach was blanched and squeezed out its moisture. The green was then placed in a bonito dashi stock delicately infused with fresh chrysanthemum petals. And placed on top, two slices of Matsutake mushroom that was in season, lightly grilled, soft but not mushy. The dish was assembled on a really pretty lacquered enamel vessel with intricate patterns.

落花生豆腐 生雲丹 茄子色煮 山形だし Uni on peanut-flavoured tofu topped with chopped vegetables and eggplant – A simple piece of tofu made with peanut infused soy milk. The delicate nutty taste was accentuated with the umami from fresh uni. The chopped salad of cucumber and eggplant in vinegar balanced the dish. Presented on a yellow porcelain plate in a small bamboo basket.

穴子炙り 打ち胡瓜 生姜酢 Grilled eel, cucumber with vinegar – homemade pickled cucumber with grated ginger and sesame seed with a piece of grilled anago. The appetiser was presented in glazed ceramic cup. Very earthy and solid dish.

新秋刀魚柿の葉ずし 翡翠銀杏 Sushi of pacific saury, deep-fried gingko nuts – two separately different items combined to represent the changing of seasons. Persimmon leave was used to wrap the vinegar pacific saury sushi. This kyoto-style sushi was updated with crunch from puffed rice. The fried gingko nuts led in the autumn season.

鱒の助軽い燻製 乾酪和え イクラ Marinated smoked salmon with cheese – of all the appetisers, this was the least complex. Lightly smoked salmon with ikura (salmon roe) to provide the saltiness. The house-smoked salmon was not salty like those from Norway, so cream cheese was added. These were placed on boiled mushrooms. I didn’t quite like this dish when you compared to the other 4 appetisers.

温菜 Steamed dish

Simmered dish or steamed dish usually made up the second course of a kaiseki.

蛤スープ蒸し 松茸あん 振り柚子 新百合根 葛切り Steamed egg custard with asari clam, glazed with sauce of Matsutake mushroom – Not just a simple chawanmushi, it combined the umami of sari clam meat with a dashi glazed made with the same Matsutake mushroom from the appetiser. The warm course provided contrasting texture and flavour profile, a milder second course compared to the harsher, sharper appetisers.

造り Sashimi

The third course was sashimi.

本日の四種盛り合わせ Sashimi of bonito, seabream, yellow jack and squid – a departure from the usual ebi and otoro combination, the lighter selection of fish with ika was more suitable for lunch. Maybe also because the price charged for lunch was more economical and hence you didn’t get the expensive fish 😉

煮物 Simmered dish

The fourth course was a simmered or cooked dish that would take a more thorough preparation than the earlier courses.

馬鈴薯饅頭あられ揚げ 和牛柔らか煮射込み 共地ぁん 芽葱 新取菜煮浸し Deep-fried bun with simmered Japanese beef filling and topped with Welsh onion and simmered vegetables – first part of the course was a bun made with potato mash. The filling was a simmered wagyu rendered to its fatty goodness. The entire bun was deep-fried and then simmered in beef stock. The starch formed a natural glaze around the bun. Eaten with scallion.

焼物 Grilled dish

Next course was a grilled dish. It was made up of three parts – a grilled item, a tempura item and a simmered item. Three types of seafood, three different texture and tastes.

鱧巻纎山椒焼 新生姜甘酢漬け Grilled pike conger with egg, tofu and chopped vegetables served with pickled ginger – Nice, but I am not a big fan of pike conger.

松茸海老包み揚げ Deep-fried Matsutake mushroom wrapped with shrimp – this was so delicious but only one small ball was served. I wished there was more. Mushroom was wrapped with prawn, breaded and deep-fried. Anything deep-fried with batter cannot go wrong.

子持ち鮎煮浸し Simmered ayu fish – I love ayu. Although this was only a slight cut of the fish, the amount of work put into cooking this ayu was amazing. It retained the crunch of the ayu roe yet infused with a sweet simmering sauce used.

食事 Meal

Gohan or the main was next.

栗炊き込み御飯 Steamed rice in a pot of chestnuts – chestnuts were in season, and I loved the sweetness of the chestnuts.

胡麻塩 赤出し 香の物 Miso soup and pickles – the rice was served with homemade pickled radish and other tubers, as well as a miso soup. Unfortunately it was red miso, which I didn’t like.

デザート Dessert

Dessert was the last item.

本日のデザート Today’s dessert – was grape sorbet with Kyoho grapes soaked in wine.Cold and nice.

The service was fantastic. The portion was just right, as it was only lunch, the price was also economical for such a high quality meal.

They served normal bentos and set lunches as well.

Nadaman Takanawa prime なだ万高輪プライム
The Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo, Autograph Collection
Japan, 〒108-8612 Tokyo, Minato, Takanawa, 3 Chome−13−１

なだ万 高輪プライム／ザ・プリンス さくらタワー東京
ザ・プリンス さくらタワー東京 3階

Tel : +81 3-6447-7788

https://www.nadaman.co.jp/restaurant/takanawa/

Date Visited : Sep 2018