Ishikawa
We are booked to pay a visit to Ishikawa next month. It seems that the restaurant has not been discussed on this board (unless my search abilities are sub-par, which is entirely possible). Has anyone ever been? If so, what did you think of the food and sake?
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I went earlier this year and had a very nice meal. The food was very good. It was among the best kaiseki meals I've enjoyed in Tokyo, and the service I enjoyed there was the best service I have ever experienced at any restaurant in my life. The food was imaginative. The ceramics they used were beautiful. Ishikawa has collected ceramics his whole life and put them to use in that restaurant, and if you are a ceramics aficionado as I am you will love the dishes. I would go back in a heartbeat.
That being said, I was not aware of the reputation they have or the fact that they got 3 michelin stars until weeks after I ate there. The night I dined there my friend just told me to meet her at the train station and I had no idea what to expect. I must say I was at least a little surprised at the three star rating. Although I thought it was a great restaurant, I cannot put it on the level of a place like Kanda. Although some dishes were admittedly perfect, for three stars I expect to be blown away. I can't say I got that wow factor. Surprisingly dessert was the most memorable course. They made a sort of panna cotta with green tea mouse, but they poured a loose jelly over it that was made from rice crackers that was unbelievable. It was a great idea that I've tried in vain to replicate. Regardless, you are in for a great experience. Sit at the counter if you can. I think I talked to the chef and Ishikawa-san for almost the full three hours I was there. They were so unbelievably hospitable I can't even describe it. The hospitality alone was worth the price.
The sake list was very good, although a little small. Some cultish labels. I think I drank a bottle of Ju-Yondai that was great.
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re: Uncle Yabai
I'm sorry I don't remember which juyondai it was. In addition to bottles I know they have at least one kind of juyondai by the glass, but we drank a lot and my memories are too cloudy to recall what they were. That's why I didn't post immediately after you put this thread up - I can't write a precise review of the restaurant because it was so long ago. Nobody else responded so I thought I'd go ahead and put in my two cents so this thread at least had a couple responses.
Asomaniac are you sitting at the counter?
Uncle Yabai are you guys going together?
Please give us a review and tell us how it goes.
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re: la2tokyo
Thank you again for getting the ball rolling - very helpful contributions from you and the other posters. Really makes me want to bring the dining date forward!
Indeed - cranky old Uncle Yabai and I are going to be dining together. I have not specifically asked the restaurant, but assume that we will not be sitting at the counter - we will be accompanied by our other and no doubt better halves, and if I am informed correctly, Ishikawa only accept a party of 3 or less for the counter. (In any event conversation among four would be hard at the counter so it makes much more sense to get a private room, though it is a shame we will miss out on seeing the chef in action.)
Will post a review after the event.
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re: Asomaniac
FourSeasons
Nov 16, 2010 08:06 AM
Hopefully I will try the "Nasu" and experience the "Ahhh" feeling at Ishikawa next week...
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From an interview with Tetsuya Wakuda:
Ishikawa, Kagurazaka
“Ishikawa is just so refined,” says Wakuda. “You can eat so many dishes, but each one comes out perfect; other places, over the course of a meal, something will be too salty or too sour. Not here. Whatever he uses, he nails it.” One of Tokyo’s first non-sushi Japanese restaurants to score three Michelin stars, Ishikawa consists of a handful of small, minimally decorated rooms in which chef Ishikawa Hideki presents contemporary kaiseki-style dishes of subtle brilliance in the vein of yuzu-scented shiitake broth studded with torn scallops, shreds of fried beancurd or the extraordinary cod milt, oyster and spinach with melted beancurd-skin sauce. His cream cheese soup with persimmon and jellies of rum and brown sugar is the Japanese dessert raised to new art. A healthy selection of both white and red Burgundy doesn’t hurt, either. Book way, way in advance, and do whatever you have to to secure that table – this guy is some kind of genius. Takamura Bldg, 5-37 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, +81 3 5225 0173 -
BaronDestructo
Oct 23, 2010 07:54 PM
I went to Ishikawa on my last trip and had a wonderful meal. Highlights included my very first duck tempura, snow crab with broth jelly topped with crab liver, a charcoal grilled kinki fish, and steamed rice with dried mullet roe. I'd provide a link to my blog for the full details and pics, but providing links to personal websites is frowned upon by chowhound (unless you happen to be a moderator in which case they'll let it slide).
Anyway, in addition to the food itself, the service was exceptional and Ishikawa-san himself made it a point to stop by (we had a private room) to serve us, chat, and eventually see us off.
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re: BaronDestructo
In case it's of interest, I saw a good review of Ishikawa last year:
http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/2...Two weeks in December, Baron? Look me up!
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re: yumyumyumyum
I think he's talking about Ishikawa restaurant in Kagurazaka.
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