A refined dining experience

There is a beauty to Tokyo that reminds me a little bit of Paris.  It isn't the same as Paris, but its like an echo.  It's an oriental Paris and certainly much cleaner, but there's definitely something about the way everything is set up that hints at it.  Every now and again as you walk, you'll even come across some buildings that look like they've been lifted out of one of the Arrondissements, cleaned, then dropped into Paris.  I don't think any of this was a mere coincidence either.  There's clearly an attempt to recreate some of the image of Paris within Tokyo.  From the buildings to the general style of the streets, the architects and designers in Tokyo have definitely got a city they are trying to emulate.  Hamish and I were walking around a bit before dinner and we found ourselves in a very posh suburb.  We were walking to the Tokyo Tower when I walked past a Dior flagship store.  It looked like a glass jewellery box, with lights shining out.  We stopped to admire the building and also asked how it was possible that such a building could ever pay for itself in sales of handbags?  Clearly things were going exceptionally well for Dior! 

We kept walking further up the hill until we reached Tokyo Tower.  The similarities to Paris were definitely growing!  We looked up at this Eiffel Tower lookalike and laughed a little bit.  It was much smaller, but all lit up and with the surrounding trees, it still looked beautiful.

From the top of the tower, we were able to walk around and see the Tokyo skyline.  It was a good view and vantage spot to look around, but the Park Hyatt probably still had a better view of everything (along with cocktails).

We walked down and started heading towards dinner.  We were meeting with the others at a restaurant called "Sushi Yuu".  We would be having a full omakase dinner, something I was very excited about.  I had never had an omakase dinner before and to be able to do one in Tokyo felt like a particularly special treat.  This restaurant has an impressive reputation as one of the top sushi restaurants in Japan.  Whilst it doesn't sit at the very top echelon of places like Jiro or Taku, Sushi Yuu is in the next level and still considered one of the great restaurants in Tokyo.  We were exceptionally lucky to be able to dine at this place as getting a booking is an incredibly difficult task.  Alvise had somehow managed to track down someone who had the contact details and who was able to make the booking on our behalf.

Inside the small and immaculately kept restaurant, we sat at the counter facing the chef with a small handful of other people.  He prepared everything in front of us and presented the food to us dish by dish.  We bowed to him and thanked him for every dish, asking his thoughts and opinions on how we should eat everything and his recommendations on what was best to drink and to accompany the food.  The chef started out formally with us, but as the meal went on he soon he smiled more.  He seemed to enjoy the interaction with us as well as the respect we were giving to him and his craft.  We gladly deferred to him in every aspect.  I asked him to decide exactly what to drink and when to drink with each course and he obliged my request, instructing me to start on beer, before telling me to stop completely halfway through one beer as it was time to move to the sake for the next courses.  I listened obediently and his instructions were completely correct.  The food did taste better as I changed my drinks.

One sequence of dishes was particularly memorable.  The chef presented us with four tuna nigiri, starting from the leanest cut of tuna and then with each proceeding piece given to us getting fattier until we reached the fattiest otoro.  I had never been able to compare these different cuts side by side, and when combined with the rice, I was able to appreciate all of the flavour to a degree I had never previously been able to.  It helped me to appreciate each piece all the more and I felt like my palette was being sharpened by each course that was being made for us.  We looked around at each other and I quipped to Hamish that I thought this was the best meal I had ever had the good fortune of eating.  He smiled and nodded his head in the laconic way that he does.  With more than half the meal to go, we were able to really lean into what we were being presented with.  We embraced all the more this experience we had been gifted knowing just how special it was.

By the end of the meal, I was completely full.  The sheer number of courses we had been given had left me satisfied, but I in no way regretted any of this overindulgence.  The chef was now in a jovial mood and laughing and joking with us.  He seemed to like our group a lot, chatting with us about our thoughts and what we liked about the dish.  Our active engagement was something he liked and clearly helped to stoke the pride he had in his craft (which was well deserved).  He told us to wait as he disappeared out back and then returned with a plate of orange jellies which had been set in some sliced orange peels and a large plastic jar.  The orange jellies were made by his mother and he wanted us to try some (no one else in the restaurant was given any) and then he started to pour us glasses of what turned out to be his home made umeshu from the plastic tub.  The orange jellies were intensely orange.  The citrus flavour stronger than any I've ever eaten.  It was sweet, but naturally so.  The umeshu was exceptionally tasty.  It tasted homemade.  It didn't have the clean and machined flavour of something which had been mass produced, but had more flavours floating around than I could have anticipated.  All of it was delicious and we thanked him for giving us this extra treat beyond the already otherworldly meal we had just experienced.