Saturday, December 5, 2009

Charcoal Kaiseki Dinner at Honke Bankyu Bankyu Ryokan

The way to dinner on Day 2 - the Honke Bankyu is way bigger than it appears, and we had no idea it had this whole extra wing with private dining rooms...
our personal charcoal grill was all set up
the initial set up of my tray, before all the individual dishes were brought in
Appetizers. Couldn't tell you what they were if my life depended on it. Not that I've forgotten, we just couldn't define what any of this was. Nicely done, though.
Can't believe I've overexposed the tofu! It's hard to describe just how out of this world creamy and silken this is - if there is anything of this sort in the US, please somebody let me know. I've never had anything like it.
I think this was fish? In sweet miso sauce w/ pickled plums?
the lovely Maki-san who took care of us, bringing more and more food
more tofu, this time fried, in some amazing clear broth
herbed and fruited jellied somethings w/ fresh herbs and grated daikon
hot sake heated over the charcoals
beef grilled at the table, in butter
ingredients for a chicken veggie hot pot that's heated at the table as well
sauce and condiments for the little hot pot
and here the finished beef...
and the finished hot pot. Loved it!
a yuba gratin! Yuba is a kind of tofu skin or soy milk skim that is created during the making of tofu.
as a gratin, it's super light and flaky. Filled with creamy-cheesy ham goodness
and miso soup as the last course. There must have been rice, too, but I must have been too full since I didn't take a picture.
fresh fruit, whipped cream and a little cake for dessert. Another spectacular dinner.

5 comments:

popps said...

wow, did you eat ALL of that?
It looks really tasty but.......ther's a lot!

Petra said...

I think it's impossible to eat every single bite of a kaiseki dinner unless you are preternaturally hungry, but at least we tried every single thing and then ate what we could of what we liked...

Animator9000 said...

These dishes look amazing. I'm hungry now!

Unknown said...

yummy food. You're so lucky!

Unknown said...

yummy food. You're so lucky!