Narisawa () – Tokyo

Visited Narisawa for a celebratory dinner. Since I’m allergic to fish, I asked to substitute all seafood dishes, which the restaurant was happy to accommodate. Here are the dishes in the order they were served:

• Bread of the Forest with Moss Butter: They bring the dough and let it ferment before baking it in front of you. Sweet and very chewy in texture, easily the highlight of the dinner and unlike any bread I’ve tried before.
• Hyogo Wagyu: Excellent gyu katsu topped with some fresh sansho pepper.
• Reimen with Koichi Tomatoes: Very light and refreshing, but nothing particularly new.
• Grilled Daisen Chicken: I don’t remember what it came with unfortunately, but it was a great grilled chicken, not much else to say.
• Gunma Mushroom Rice with Nori & Rape Blossoms: Despite sounding simple, this was easily my second favorite dish after the bread. Packed with umami and incredibly flavorful.
• "Luxury Essence" Soup: One of their signature dishes. My girlfriend got the seafood version, but since I’m allergic, I had the one with chicken stock, Daisen chicken tsukune, and soramame. Unfortunately, it tasted exactly how it looked — bitter beans with boiled chicken meatballs. Reminded me of soup from a school canteen. By far the most disappointing dish.
• "Rich Harvest" Kagoshima Pork: Another signature dish. I had the pork, while my girlfriend had the fish. Came with two sauces — one green made with sansho pepper, and one purple made with plum and shiso. Topped with crispy rice grains and smoked with dried rice plant leaves (if I recall correctly). Probably the second most interesting in terms of presentation and texture, though the flavor was much simpler — just kurobuta with shiso and sansho.
• Hyogo Wagyu with Asparagus: A very classic dish, perfectly executed, nothing much to add.
• Dessert 1: Honestly can’t remember much. I think it was warabi mochi with matcha and some kind of ice cream.
• Dessert 2: Miyazaki mango and Okinawa pineapple. Had some resemblance to Pina Colada, which it was inspired by.
• Final Sweets: Monaka with lemon and honey cream. Overall, none of the deserts were particularly interesting or memorable.

Overall, the dishes focused on clean, crisp, classic Japanese flavors, highlighting the ingredients themselves. But outside of the excellent bread and mushroom rice, nothing felt particularly unique or surprising. I often felt like I’d eaten a version of these dishes elsewhere. Finally, I need to metion the elephant in the room – the price. The total for two people with two glasses of wine, one beer, and one cocktail came to an eyewatering ¥150,000. In terms of overall experience, it felt quite close to Florilege and if priced similarly, Narisawa would be an easy recommendation. However, at triple the cost, I feel like it is a very tough sell.