After a week in Tokyo, it was time to explore other parts of Japan. We took the bullet train to the Hokuriku region, specifically to Toyama City. Toyama is probably one of my favorites if not my favorite place in all of Japan. The Prefecture is home to the best seafood from Toyama bay, top sake producers, and local arts. The first dinner of our trip was at the two Michelin stars Oryouri Fuji. The restaurant has been widely regarded as one of the best in the regions, with a Tablelog silver, and was listed as one of the Destination Restaurants by Japan Times. Located in the Iwase area of Toyama City, Oryouri Fuji is a 30-minute tram ride from central Toyama.
The dinner was one round starting at 6 pm. We booked the Toyama Bay Crab Kaiseki special, priced at a whopping 70K yen per person. Expectation was sky high coming in.
We arrived a few minutes before our dinner time. Our host was already waiting for us at the door and gave a deep bow to welcome us into the restaurant. For dinner, it was us a party of 4 and another party of 3. We were all seated at the counter overlooking a Japanese garden. Chef Fuji welcomed us and brought out the Toyama Bay Snow Crab and smaller female box crab. For dinner, we went with the alcoholic and non-alcoholic pairings.
Hassun – selections of appetizers. The chef brought out a big plate and plated each component one by one. This was a great start and well-paired with two vintages of Iwa Sake.
Crab dumpling – before this course, chef Fuji masterfully broke down the whole crab in front of us. We would be getting half a crab per person (2 total for a party of 4). The crab dumpling with the soup stock was full of umami and was soothing for a cold night.
Crab Sashimi – first part of the Snow Crab was served raw. The leg sat in a bowl of ice for a few minutes, which firmed up the meat. We dipped the meat in a bit of soy sauce.
Yellowtail Belly – Toyama is known for “Buri” or Yellowtail. They told us that these are three cut of Yellowtail and explained similar to Tuna – Chu-toro, Otoro, and “Super” Toro. We were told to eat one slice with the fresh wasabi and the other slice with the spicy grated radish. This was by far the best Yellowtail I’ve ever had.
Female crab roe marinated in soy sauce and sake, rice – cold, marinated snow crab roe was served in contrast with a bowl of hot rice. Delicious.
Grilled Crab – Crab claws and legs were grilled on a 100-year old charcoal grill. The chef put paper on top and sprayed the grill with water. He told us this helped with keeping the moisture in the crab. The grilled crab was served with salt.
Crab Shabu-shabu – the last crab leg was quickly cooked in its broth and served. The claw was cooked and coated in the crab miso. Extremely rich dish but very tasty. At this point, we were beyond full.
Vinegared dried persimmon – Anpo kaki, which is another specialty of Toyama. Half-dried persimmon served with white radish as a palate cleanser.
Yellowtail Radish Rice – We could only have a few bites of this course. The leftover was packed as a bento for our Shinkansen ride the next day.
Sake lees ice-cream – Ice-cream made from sake lees from the famous Masuizumi brewery. This was paired with Rum from Mauritius.
Japanese confectionery – traditional Japanese sweets served with green tea to end the meal.
Wow, what a meal. This was Japanese Kaiseki cooking at its best. Not only that, the level of service was second to none. In the beginning the chefs and our host were explaining the dishes and the pairing in Japanese. With my broken Japanese, I was able to somewhat understand and was the translator for the group. Sensing that I probably understood 50% of the context, our host disappeared and came back 20 minutes later with a typed up English translated of the meal and the pairing with explanations. Another example was they subbed out everything alcohol in the meal for my dining companion who went with the non-alcoholic pairing.
The food, the atmosphere, and the service made this restaurant one of my favorites in Japan. Was it worth the price tag? I think so. However, I wouldn’t this again considering the amount of food we got. Next time I would go with their regular tasting course for half the price.
by buttapopcorn
1 Comment
Definitely one of the best kaiseki in that area and in Japan. The Japanese garden is one of the largest I have seen for a restaurant but probably easier to see it during lunch
I think the restaurant is related to Masuizumi sake brewery which has a tasting room next door. For anyone who likes beer, Masuizumi recently started a beer pub around the corner and I think uses the same water as what they brew sake with. Excellent beer especially their seasonal Mikan beer
BTW, both the name of the chef and the restaurant is Fujii with an extra i