I was treated to a dinner at Kappa restaurant in Japantown last month. Kappa serves koryori style kaiseki, from Kyoto. It’s an elegant, tiny restaurant with a bar and two tables. We had the $95 seven course menu. They also have a 9 course menu for $125.
We ate:
Soup with fish (I forget which, I think cod?), mushrooms, seaweed. Broth and vegetables were very tasty, clean tasting and lots of umami. Fish just a tad bit overcooked in the broth.
Tuna with a mustard sauce and some greens. Tasty, mustard sauce a little sweet and had a nice kick. Tuna was cooked rare.
Seared scallop with salmon eggs, seaweed, sesame, and I think jellyfish. This was good. The searing on the scallop gave it a bit of bitterness. Nice contrast with the sweet ikura.
Main course of tamago, ankimo, duck, asparagus in I think a miso based sauce, simmered hamachi, another fish that I forget, fried corn, eggplant with a sauce that tasted a bit like katsu sauce. Fried fish (halibut?), squid, sea snail, and shrimp. Everything here was good. Favorite bites were the ankimo and the sweet shrimp.
Sashimi course - tuna, scallop, hamachi, uni. I think the wasabi was the real thing. The fish and scallop were quite good. The (east coast) uni had a bit of a funky taste.
Nigiri sushi - seared hamachi belly and unagi. This was the best part of the meal for me. In both pieces the nori was toasted and had a crisp crunch. Shari was nicely flavored and could taste the individual grains. Both of the neta were slightly warm and delicious.
Dessert - a red bean jelly, mochi, persimmon with some mint leaves, raspberry sorbet. I’m usually not a huge fan of persimmon but it was the standout for me. Sweet and delicate. The raspberry sorbet was smooth and refreshing.
Great service and an enjoyable meal, but at $95pp would maybe not be rushing back if I were paying.
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