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Thursday 12 June 2014

KIRAZU




Asahi Black Beer for Table Number 2



Takoyaki, Osaki Street Food Coming up...



Fresh Market Sashimi, Agedashi Tofu, Steamed Scallop Salad



Seabream Sashimi & Miso Soup



I'm Hung On You, Mr Salaryman



Blackboard Cravings



Menu Bins



To soy or not to soy



Seaweed Salad and sesame bean sprouts


#52 Danny La Rue


Japanese Tapa Tapa Tapas

When running to meet my kind partner for a surprise dinner at Kirazu I wasn't expecting to find this traditional Obanzai cuisine (Kyoto home style cooking) on the very doorstep of London's Chinatown.  Placing refined Japanese  foodisms into touristy Chinese territory doesn't seem to gel as both have a distinct mindset towards showcasing their Asian offerings. 

Kirazu - translated as SoyBean in Kansai district Japanese - is lead by head maestro Yuya Kikuchi. He will blow you away with his skilled Fugu food license, or Blow Fish cooking to the lesser initiated. It requires a craftsman's skill to be awarded this trusted license which involves serving up, what would be a poisonous fish - in the wrong hands. Yuya likes to grapple with a blow torch and will carefully flame up plated delicacies to the exact half millimetre as part of his honest honed craft. The Obanzai concept is essentially conceived to let all the ingredients sing and fortunately there are no Japanese budgerigars on the menu.

Taking its own restaurant name as inspiration, Kirazu's menu utilises the Soybean for its staple ingredients - soy sauce, tofu and miso soup, living up to the healthy diet doctorate of Japanese cooking contributing to your prolonged longevity. Unfortunately the time waiting for the dishes to arrive may take years off you, unless you get lucky. *Please read on.

Kirazu is a tiny space that requites an intimate familiarity with your fellow diners. This was accentuated when we were mistakenly presented with the food they had already ordered. We happily tucked in but after eventually realising the error - due to lost in translation glitches from an eccentric maitre d - we did feel a touch guilty as it really was a delicious selection. Plate proportions are intentionally small, a la tapas and this gaff would be best avoided by any passing hippopotami with hangovers who like to end the night feeling bloated. 

On the plus side you won't find any Chinatown tourists hogging the buffet and spinning a round table at 47 Rupert St.





Wednesday 23 April 2014

SKY DINING




Sky Dining



Gyoza Debutantes



Rolled Up Seating



The Rice Bowl



Place Setting



Beetroot Pudding




#51 Tweak Of The Thumb


Homemade & Handmade Japanese Culinary Art.


It's not every Easter Monday you have chance to dine up high with the clouds and admire  an ever changing London skyline, observing the elements as they swoosh on by. You don't need to dine in the Hutong restaurant on level 33 in the Shard to have such amazing views. Though vertigo sufferers be warned.

Especially if you are lucky enough to have Ian + Rie as your friends. Ian is a clothing designer of some incredible natural talent, though many will not have heard of him. For a man with his rare atelier skills he is amazingly humble, friendly and generous with his time. Ian knows intuitively how to enjoy life and live-in-the-moment with Iyengar yoga a constant in his life. Ian is well loved, always smiling and places importance on nurturing the everyday simple things in life that are important to cherish. 

Rie is an amazing Japanese cook, though in her unassuming manner, this culinary skill is simply a little hobby. Rie is also an incredibly skilled sculptor of Art-jewellery. Her work is so intricate and mesmerising it is hard to define. One of Rie's Snow Leopards might take 3 months to complete.

Dining with Ian + Rie is quite an experience. Certainly equivalent to any fine dining establishment in Japan with an array of beautiful Japanese ceramic beakers, bowls and earthenware. With such artistic hand skilled elements you can feel yourself slowing down, breathing deeply and sampling and tasting every bite.

We were served Rie's delicious handmade Miso soup with Silken Tofu, Cashew nut Gyoza, Agedashi Tofu and Ginger Marinated Eggplant. Washed down with a St.Peters Brewery Honey Porter Ale we had handily brought with us.  The relaxed low to the floor conversation was finished off with a Cinnamon & Orange Cake and a Japanese Beetroot Jelly with Cocoa and Chocolate that gleamed the most amazing dense hue of colour. 

Perfect.







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