The popular annual Kaiseki dinner brought us back to the elegant Yurakuen of Diamond Hotel where our fellow member and hotel General Manger Vanessa Suatengco orchestrated a wonderful autumn banquet. We began with a delicately sweet, refreshing Yuzu liqueur aperitif.

The menu was annotated by the restaurant staff, giving some history and context to the dishes prepared.

MENU

Appetizers
Fresh Japanese oyster, Ponzu sauce
Steamed Japanese oyster, apple sauce
Japanese snow crabmeat, vinegared egg yolk sauce
Japanese snow crabmeat, fried tofu

Sashimi on ice
Japanese shima-aji
Japanese tai aburi
Tota shoyu, Irizake

Soup
Soya milk miso soup, salmon, hana fu
rolled Chinese cabbage, spinach, stewed radish
angel hair chili, onion leeks

Fried dish
Sea urchin tempura
Pork miso iberico, Japanese yam kushi age
Japanese snow crab claw
grilled sweet potato paste, chestnut paste
aonori ebi tempura (dried seaweed powder), vegetable
shitake mushroom, green chili, lotus root

Grilled dish
Japanese Mekajiki (swordfish)
marinated (one week) in Yuzu Sugiitayaki
with pumpkin and Shimeji mushroom

Sorbet
Calamansi sorbet
chocolate crumble, fresh raspberry

Sushi
Grilled saba sushi
Amaebi sushi
Ikura sushi

Noodles
Cold inaniwa udon
chicken breast, fried stewed tofu skin
nameko mushroom

Dessert
Mont Blanc

Enjoyed the world over for their sea-kissed flavour and plump, juicy flesh, oysters are referred to as “the milk of the sea” for their high nutritional value. These gourmet delights have been consumed in Japan since the prehistoric Jomon period. There are several famous oyster-breeding regions in the country such as the Sanriku region, each recognized for its own prized variety of this saltwater bivalve.

Alongside the oysters for the first course was a crustacean of luxurious quality. Named for its snowy white meat, the Japanese snow crab is a wintertime delicacy, harvested from the deepest waters of the Sea of Japan. This seasonal seafood brought a subtle taste of brine in every shred of its firm and fibrous flesh.

What an exquisite experience - not only the first course but the entire menu!

One of those memorable evenings that cannot be fully described to anyone who wasn’t there. Top tip! Make sure when we do a great event that you are there.

Jay Labrador
Vice-Échanson