Haramasa はらまさ @ Yotsuya Sanchome, Tokyo (Dec 2019)

My first visit to Haramasa back in 2018 left a very good impression. I was very impressed with the creativity of many of the dishes and looked forward to my second visit here. This kaiseki restaurant is known to be one of the more modern and creative ones, relaying heavily on stronger tasting ingredients like truffles, shirako and spices to make their dishes more impactful. I had the privilege of sitting at the counter seat this time and was able to witness Chef Hara making some of his claim to fame dishes like his truffle infused rice among others. I actually think meal was better than my first time here because the dishes I hoped to eat again were actually served again and there were some new ones that left a lasting impression. Lets have a look at the photos:

Tagetsu 日本料理 太月 @ Omotesando, Tokyo (Dec 2019)

Chef-owner Mochizuki-san

 Tagetsu is a 1 michelin star kaiseki restaurant that is relatively easy to book (for now) and is conveniently located in the Omotesando area. It is in the basement of a building and too bad there is no lift so you need to climb down the stairs. I decided to come here because I read of the good cost performance lunches priced at 5000 and 8000 yen. You can also order the dinner courses during lunch time but that's going to raise the price of  course. Anyway, for this particular visit, I reserved the 8000 yen course and this is what I got:

Roan Kikunoi Kiyamachi Branch 露庵 菊乃井 木屋町店 @ Kawaramachi, Kyoto (3rd Visit)

Roan Kikunoi Kiyamachi Branch is a micheln starred restaurant located very near Kawaramachi Station. In fact if you spot McDonald's, the restaurant is just down the lane. This is my third visit here and it seems like this place gotten very very and I mean VERY popular among tourists and I can totally understand why. Kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto are extremely expensive and more often than not you have to pay an exorbitant amount of money for dinner at one of these restaurants.

However, over at Roan Kikunoi Kiyamachi, they may not serve you the most creative or mind blowing food but they feed you A LOT and definitely give you your money's worth. The 2nd cheapest course priced at 16000 Yen is already good enough for me and that's exactly what you're gonna see in the photos below. My most recent visit was in December 2018.

Zenen 禅園 @ Herbis Plaza, Osaka (3rd Visit)

Zenen is a restaurant located in Herbis Plaza basement 2. If you ever encounter problems finding this place, just look for the restaurant closest to the Ritz Carlton entrance. I previously blogged about this place and stated that it was an izakaya restaurant. Actually, it's more of a combination of an Izakaya, Kappou and Kaiseki restaurant. You can order both ala carte dishes or a course menu here depending on how big your group is which makes dining here very flexible. By the way, their claim to fame dish is a snapper claypot rice; I liked it when I tried it last time but I didn't order it this time before my parents weren't fans of it. Anyway, This is my 3rd visit here and as much as I enjoyed my meal given the very classy but relaxed atmosphere and generally good standard of food, the tempura and karaage dishes were rather disappointing this time round. But before I continue with this short review, shall we have a look at the pictures of my meal:

Koryu 北新地 弧柳 @ Kitashinchi, Osaka

Koryu is an award winning, 3 star michelin restaurant located in Kitashinchi, Osaka. They don't feed you a lot here but every dish is delicious and made from high quality ingredients. Pricing here is also very reasonable at just 16000 yen. They have two timings - 7pm and 9:30pm. The first seating is usually reserved for Japanese customers only as there is no English spoken during this timing. At 9:30pm there will be a translator available who can explain these dishes in detail as well as how to consume these dishes in the proper manner. I have to admit I was a little skeptical of this place but before I get to that, let's have a look at the pictures:

Naniwa Kappo Kigawa 浪速割烹 喜川 @ Nipponbashi, Osaka

Kappo Kigawa is an old and very established Kappo restaurant located in a small alley in Nipponbashi. It is foreigner friendly and extremely popular (especially among tourists) for their lunch courses which are moderately priced at 5000, 8000 and 12000 yen. Dinner starts at 15000 yen and can go up to 30000 yen which I feel is a little on the ridiculous side since Kappo is supposed to be like a sister version of Kaiseki (i.e. supposedly cheaper too). Anyway, this is my first visit here and my parents and I decided to order the 12000 yen course since we intended to come here only once.

Our 8 item course consisted of the following items: