Wakuden 和久傳 – Outstandingly pleasant and affordable michelin Kaiseki Lunch, ¥2700 for the first few

Wakuden 和久傳

Isetan Level 10, right above Kyoto 京都 JR main station

Deviating from their usual elusive style, Wakuden 和久傳 may be perhaps the most accessible Japanese Michelin restaurant in the whole of Japan, conveniently located on the 10th floor of Isetan departmental store above Kyoto station! I would expect that their ‘no mobile phone’ signage to pose as a nightmare to all food photographers but after witnessing everyone (including the Japanese) else busy snapping shots of their food away, I took out my DSLR with great relief. As cheap as ¥2700, Wakuden 和久傳 does indeed serve one of the cheapest Kaiseki Lunch meals for a Michelin restaurant, but only limited to the first few daily. But even if you were to miss the queue by a little, fret not as I could confidently assure you that the other affordable lunch sets would also be spot on. Not wanting to spend too much, I’ve gotten the ¥4000 lunch set.

Cold smoked bonito and broad beans. Fresh chunky bonito pieces were served with chopped mint leaves as appetiser to whet the appetite.

 And the lovely waitress would come over to pour a complimentary shot of sake into the neatly carved bamboo ‘shot glass’. Smelling really strong and tasting slightly sweet, I concluded that this must be a higher grade sake that doesn’t just reek of alcohol functional groups. The second cold dish was the vinegared wild greens that tasted fibrous and has a slight sticky consistency; well pickled to a comfortable sour tang.

 

This sizzling hotplate was one of the stars for this afternoon lunch. The prickly ash added to it, while is a little numbing to the tongue, actually cuts beautifully through the intensely flavoured pieces of pork. Definitely not prepared simply by just simmering, these pork pieces, armed with razor thin layers of intercalating fats seemed to be roasted first before the marinating fragrance penetrates into the meat.

Sushi Tokami 鮨とかみ – The michelin sushi that uses red vinegared shari

Sushi Tokami 鮨とかみ

B1F, Ginza Seiwa Silver Bldg, 8-2-10 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Going to a Michelin sushi place has somehow turned into a ritual whenever I am in Japan. Not deviating away from the usual practice, after quite a long search due to the massive closure of Michelin restaurants during the Golden Week, Sushi Tokami (One Michelin star) is one of the rarest few that is still open on one of the days. But that comes with a caveat as its original 5000 yen set for a 10 piece sushi course went up by more than 50% to an unforeseen 8000 yen due to the sudden jack in market prices of the fishes charged by the famous Tsukiji Market that are also set to close for the next few days. Well, so we got the 10 piece sushi and lets get a glimpse on what were served!

 This perfectly marinated Octopus tasted lightly sweet and tasted really flavourful without an overly chewy texture. Being one of the freshest octopus that I’ve ever had, this appetiser was definitely one of the highlights of the sushi course.

Before getting into the more exciting Sushi, lets take a look at the more common or basic sushi that are served in most Michelin restaurants. Anticlockwise: Tai snapper, Marinated Tuna, Chuttoro, Kohada, Anago and Sweet Ebi. Fresh is a given over here and the melt-in-your-mouth sensation is common as well. The Sweet Ebi though had a different texture with its succulent springy meat.

And I realised that there is a major difference in these seemingly similar Michelin sushi restaurants after having visited quite a few in Japan – The Shari or sushi rice; literally splitting them into two distinct groups. What we might have been more familiar with, the mirin marinated sushi rice that has more sweetness than sourness (usually white in colour), is replaced by the red vinegar shari (brown in colour) by a large number of restaurants (or it could have been the other way round depending on who came first). So it really depends on your preference, whether the sweeter rice or slightly more sour one suits your palates. As for now, this is my list of the two major groups:

White shari – Ginza Sushi Ichi, Sushi Iwa, Shinji by Kanesaka. 

Brown Shari – Sushi Shin, Sushi Tokami

And personally, the white shari appeals more to me, which I believe is the same for most Sgreans. So next up for the highlights!

Sushi shin – Puzzled by the star

Sushi Shin

4-18-20 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo

A last minute decision to go for the last Sushi michelin meal, my hotel concierge finally managed to get Sushi Shin for us after umpteenth tries at other sushi restaurants. They (japanese) indeed go all the way to help their customers as much as possible.

What I thought would be a delightful meal was quickly turned into a distasteful experience when the waitress surreptitiously requested me to switch off the sound of the camera shutter and that less than 5 shots could be taken. Knowing that the shutter sound couldn’t be switched off, I used my phone instead, thereby the more grainy pictures. Though this did put me off a little (as i’m paying for the meal), it wasn’t the entire reason for the less than pleasant experience. Firstly, I am not too sure how did they get a Michelin. Dont get me wrong, the sushi here is decent and fresh but just a tad too salty at times. The rice was also a little disappointing and wasn’t as freshly prepared like that of Sushi Ichi. It tasted a little cold while that of Ichi is warm and appetite-whetting. You know that already when the chef doesn’t shout for shari (sushi rice) throughout your 1h long sushi meal.

Nakajima 新宿割烹 中嶋 – Perhaps the cheapest Michelin in Tokyo, below 1000 yen that is!

Nakajima 中嶋

Near Shinjuku Station

We have always related the cheapest Michelin starred restaurant to Tim Ho Wan (Hong Kong), but you may be surprised to know that there actually is another restaurant in this world that serves one of the cheapest Michelin meals, that is located in megatropolis Tokyo. In recent years, Nakajima has been holding on to its one Michelin star tightly, and they provide an incredulously cheap set lunch that is below 1000 yen (SGD$11) while dinner would be slightly pricier starting from 3240 yen. The lunch menu is simple as only 5 set lunches are available on the menu.

Serving only sardines, these 5 different sets basically differ in the way the sardines are prepared. You can get them either raw, fried, steamed, salt grilled or have them prepared in a hot sizzling pot. As these fishes are gotten fresh from where else but tsukiji, pick any rendition and they should turn out well.

Ginza Sushi Ichi – As wonderful an experience in the Tokyo main restaurant

Ginza Sushi Ichi

3-4-4 Ginza, Chuouku, Tokyo, Japan

In the land of Michelin (Tokyo), you would need to book in advance to secure seats in these restaurants as they more often than not only have a very small seating capacity of less than 15 people. Well, I kinda like that as it gives a more intimate dining experience with the chef! You may be able to get seats even by booking a weak ahead but during peak periods like Christmas and new year, one month in advance is usually the advice given if you want to secure really good restaurants!

Having been impressed by Sushi Ichi Sg (Scotts Square), I have already decided to visit the main restaurant in Tokyo more than half a year ago! This restaurant was previously awarded a star and I’m not too sure if it still retains it. Nonetheless, with more than 100, 000 restuarants in Tokyo itself, the Michelin Connoisseur would absolutely not be able to cover all the restaurants even if there’s a battalion of them! This was still a superb restaurant in its own right.