Monday, November 02, 2009

teppanyaki

Last night, I had one of the best meals of my life. Our incredibly generous friends Mikki and his amazing wife, Murayama Yuka, who is a famous Japanese author, treated us to a truly amazing meal at the Imperial Hotel's Teppanyaki Kamon, which they deem the best teppanyaki spot in Tokyo. I'm not going to lie, that meal cost a nice chunk of change (21,000 yen or $210 per person), but I tell you, this is a life-changing meal truly worth saving up for.

The meal began with an amuse bouche of scallop paste on a thin crostini, then an appetizer with some savory flan, a sliver of yellow tail, and duck. Just a little something to whet the appetite.


And then they brought out the big guns. The lobsters were, I kid you not, still twitching in front of our very eyes. Kinda freaky yet awesome. On the right, some deliciously marbled sirloin to be cooked up for Mika and I, some beautiful filets for our hosts, and yes my friends, those are indeed heaps and heaps of foie gras just waiting to be seared. We could barely breathe from the anticipation ...

The chef seared the foie gras very quickly but it was almost torturous breathing in the delicious scent and waiting to descent on the goodness ... Those were quite possibly the longest 5 minutes of my life ...
And then, it landed in front of me. I almost swooned from joy.


I bit into the caramelized, lightly crunchy outer layer and into the creamy, succulent goodness and was in sheer bliss. There was a large cooked grape served with the foie gras that cut into the richness between bites and kept me coming back for more. These are the plates that make life worth living for. Next up, the chef works on the lobster ...


The last time I recall having good lobster was on a candlelit dinner on the beach at Amanpulo. The thing is, it was sensory overload then with the powder-fine white sand, sky exploding with stars, and the sound of waves crashing on the shore ... so I can't be entirely objective about how amazing the actual lobster was. So I think this lobster below is the best I have ever had, objectively speaking:


The meat was scrumptiously sweet and so perfectly cooked that it was tender, juicy and flaky. I completely ignored the tartar sauce made from scratch because I couldn't tear myself away from the more superior sauce concocted out of melted butter and lobster brain. Oh. My. God. Next up was a pretty breather of starches with colorful yams and potatoes. The Japanese are suckers for a nutritionally balanced meal, after all.


And finally, that beautiful sirloin. It was cooked a perfect medium rare, and was just exquisitely tender from all the delicious marbled fat. The meat was so excellent that it scarcely needed seasoning, just a hint of salt and pepper, a small smear of wasabi, and a little dip in soy sauce. To my amusement, the waitress asked, "You know wasabi right?" when she laid the dish beside me. I started laughing and answered, "Yes, don't worry, I won't put the whole thing in my mouth at once." Even the chef was laughing as we discussed moments when people have popped chunks of wasabi in their mouths, not knowing the extreme pain this would cause them. Apparently this has happened a few times in this place, thus the precautionary warnings. But moving along, yes, this steak was phenomenal.


And as if I wasn't already smiling ear to ear, the chef then cooked up some wonderful garlic rice. Oh this is a restaurant just after my little Filipina heart, I tell you ...


And to cap it all off, some creme brulee and chocolate ice cream. I don't even know how I managed to cram this in my stomach but I did.


A truly epic meal. I love this country.

My only beef with Japan is the jet lag. Now back to bed to try to squeeze in a nap before breakfast ...

1 comment:

Japanese phrases said...

It looks very very good. Teppanyaki used to be one of my favorite kinds of restaurants to go to for lunch when I worked in Tokyo. Except the smell sticks to you cloths for the rest of the day.

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