We returned to Kohaku the other day for another fantastic lunch. My wife and I both agreed that the food gets better and better every time we go, something Koizumi san, the master and chef, might disagree with (he said he needs another ten years before he truly knows what he is doing).

 

We started off by ordering two bottles of Kohaku beer. A moment later the first dish was served, large oysters covered in a cream sauce and topped with an outrageous amount of sliced black truffles. Next came a mound of mochigome (glutinous rice) topped with a large spoonful of black caviar with a crab leg next to it. After removing the crab meat from the already sliced open crab leg, it was time to eat, each ingredient prepared to compliment the others not just in taste but also color. What made this especially memorable was the smoky flavor and aroma the crab had. That was followed by one of Kohako’s signature dishes, shinju simmered in dashi, but rather than the more usual ebi shinju, this time it was made with kani (crab).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next came a serving of ankimo along with the biggest slices of fugu sashimi I have ever seen, cut from a 3.1 kg fugu caught in the waters off Ōita prefecture. That was followed by a serving of grilled fish, then a plate of grilled kamo (duck) served along with fukinotō topped with coarsely minced red carrots from Kyoto, a dish in recognition of the changing of the season (winter kamo, spring fukinotō). The crab as well as the fugu were also more winter ingredients than spring. After the usual Kohako mein (noodles) topped with a pile of black truffle shavings it was time for fugu gohan, a first for me, and then desert and tea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all a fantastic meal, but a bit more expensive than the last time.