Narisawa: An authentic Two-MICHELIN-Starred Japanese gastronomic experience

OUR VERDICT

OUR CONSIDERATIONS

Restaurant overview

Narisawa is one of Tokyo’s most popular fine dining restaurants, bagging numerous accolades such as the latest World’s 45^th Best Restaurant and the prestigious Two MICHELIN Stars in 2022. The restaurant is run by Chef Yoshiniro Narisawa, who believes in dishes made through the Satoyama culture.

In Japanese, sato refers to villages while yama refers to hills and mountains. The principle behind Narisawa is the interaction between humans and nature and how we make use of nature’s resources for our own sustainability.

When we visited for dinner, the restaurant was operating in full capacity with only 10 diners in total, due to a reduction in operating capacity because of the pandemic. As such, do remember to make a reservation before heading down to the restaurant, as they only take online reservations.

The restaurant has a minimalistic interior design, with downlights illuminating only the dining table to maintain the privacy of each table. I do appreciate the design as the clean black and white colour theme gives an elegant first impression.

Narisawa only serves a singular menu at a fixed price for dinner, which is subjected to seasonal ingredients. A commendable area is that the restaurant makes sure to serve returning customers a different menu, so that customers will be able to try different dishes. This is an impressive attention to detail and is something I don’t see in Singapore’s fine-dining scene yet.

Food overview

I was first served a cup of sake on white paper, symbolising the rising sun. This is a traditional Sakazuki ceremony that Chef Narisawa believes in that inducts individuals as family. This ceremony is something new to me, so this was certainly an eye-opener for me into the wonders of Japanese culture.

For our first course, we were shown the bread of the forest in its raw dough form: flour, sugar, yeast, and oil which was then baked together with yeast in a hot stone bowl. The inspiration behind this is to allow diners to better appreciate the wonders of nature by experiencing the whole process of the bread making. I was then told that the bread would be served at a later part of the meal, as it would require 10 to 15 minutes or so to be baked.

I was then served our second course on the menu, a mixture of crab, salmon roe, tofu skin, and some herbs. The flavours of the crab shone through, with each strand of the crab meat tasting sweet and firm, complemented by the burst in flavour from the salmon roe as well as the soft tofu skin. Each bite was sweet and flavourful, and it definitely whet my appetite for the upcoming courses.

This dish was my second favourite course of the night. The rosy seabass, also known as blackthroat seaperch, is a white fish with a high fat content. Narisawa had opted to sear it till the skin was crispy, and served it with vinegar rice and some freshly grated wasabi.

The fish was perfectly cooked, so much so that when I tried to cut out a small piece for my first bite, the flesh just split right off when I pressed down lightly with the chopsticks. It was oily, fatty, and paired exquisitely with the acidity from the vinegar rice and spiciness from the wasabi. The skin was wonderfully crispy as well, and I felt that this was one of the best fish dishes I have eaten in my life.

At this juncture, the bread was served with a moss butter on the side. The green powder on the butter was spinach chlorophyll while the dark brown surface was a dark chocolate. From the making of the bread to the resemblance of the butter to moss, Narisawa executed its vision to pay tribute to nature perfectly.

The bread itself was delicious, as it was served hot from the hot stone. It was sweet and soft, with the nuts and fruits providing for some crunchiness. The bread also had a sticky texture to it, which was then balanced out by the smoothness from the butter. This is one of the most unique bread dishes I have ever eaten, and is surely one of my favourites. From the beautiful presentation to the story and inspiration behind the dish, every element of this dish was flawlessly crafted.

The next dish is a combination of pike conger and sea urchin, served together in a cream sauce. The pike conger flesh was sweet, succulent, and had a firm bite to it. However, due to the strong flavours of the conger, I was unable to taste the flavours from the sea urchin as much, as the light briny flavours simply got drowned out by the fish. Perhaps due to the strong entrance of the first two dishes, this dish seemed to pale in comparison.

For the second starchy dish of the night, I had Narisawa’s interpretation of traditional soba. This dish was made using traditional buckwheat flour that was typically used to make soba noodles. The flour was then lightly fried in tempura batter resulting in small soba balls, and was served with tomato sauce and bottarga.

Bottarga is a salted fish roe sac commonly made from grey mullet or tuna and has a briny taste reminiscent of caviar or uni. Unfortunately, I was not really able to taste the flavours from the bottarga as the sweetness from tomato sauce overwhelmed the whole flavour profile of each bite. While the sweet tomato sauce still paired well with the crispy soba balls, I still felt that something was lacking in the dish.

This dish was beautifully presented, with the mackerel smoked lightly before presenting. The fish was then placed in the center of two different coloured grated radish, as well as crispy rice sprinkled around the bowl.

I have always appreciated the flavours of mackerel, more commonly known as saba fish. The mackerel served at Narisawa was a notch above the mackerel I have ever tasted so far. It was sweet yet salty, with a firm texture paired together with the crispy skin. The crispy rice grains as well as the earthy notes from the grated radish provided a different mouthfeel and complemented the flavours of the fish impeccably.

The next dish was a spiny lobster served with green peppers and a cream sauce. My first impression of the lobster was the similarity in flavours between it and Asian prawn balls. I could not really taste the sweet flavour that was expected from spiny lobsters. The only redeeming factor about this dish was the subtle hint of spiciness from the green peppers, which helps to provide some dimensions of flavour to each bite.

For the beef main course, Narisawa gave us the option to opt for a small, medium, or large portion depending on our satiety. Without a doubt, I opted for the large portion. Apart from this, I also opted for the Matsutake mushroom add-on to the dish, which cost 5,000JPY, or SGD$50 per pax.

Matsutake mushroom is one of the priciest ingredients in the world. They are found during autumn around September to October, and are valued for their meaty textures and earthy flavours. However, the reason behind its exorbitant prices is due to two factors – rarity and volume. Firstly, they are only grown in the roots of red pine forests, which has been dwindling in recent years. Secondly, these mushrooms can only be harvested in autumn, and are extremely delicate to weather conditions. These two factors result in the limited supply of this mushroom, which drives up the prices.

This was my first time trying Matsutake mushroom. While it came as an add-on, Narisawa provided generous slices of the mushroom. Each slice was thick, juicy, and firm, and it was almost meat-like. The flavour of the mushroom itself was earthy and sweet at the same time, and I could certainly see why some people are willing to pay a premium for these mushrooms.

Moving onto the beef, it certainly did not disappoint. The Kobe beef was perfectly cooked – it was delicious, juicy, and tender, which fulfilled all the hallmarks of being one of the most premium beef in the world. Each bite had a melt-in-your-mouth texture, with a subtle sweetness from the sukiyaki sauce. This was hands down my favourite course of the whole meal, and I wiped out the dish in no time.

The first dessert that was served was a milk ice-cream on top of grape slices as well as chamomile jelly. The grapes were sweet and the jelly was flowery, which pairs nicely with the milkiness from the ice-cream. However, compared to the other standout dishes served, this dessert seems rather average. I do feel that perhaps switching out the milk ice-cream to a grape-flavoured sorbet would have been a better option.

The next dessert was a rum cake wrapped in pear slices. I was not a fan of this dish as I felt that the rum taste in the cake was too overpowering, and I could not enjoy the taste of the other components as well as I would have liked. That being said, I did enjoy the sweetness from the pear slices, and it was a pity for the pear flavours to be drowned out from the rum.

The last dish of the night was a monaka containing matcha jelly and azuki red beans. Matcha and red beans is a classic combination and paired well with the crispy monaka wafers that provided a nice additional layer of crunchiness. I also liked that the monaka had the Narisawa logo printed on top, it gave the dessert an additional touch of detail.

Price overview

The meal came to a total of S$650 per pax, inclusive of the Matsutake mushrooms add-on (5,000JPY) as well as the sake pairing (13,800JPY). Narisawa also offers a non-alcoholic pairing (7,700JPY), but I personally felt that the selection of the various drinks did not warrant paying the price premium for the pairing. As for the sake pairing, I was offered many premium and unique sake that was exclusive only to Narisawa, due to Chef Narisawa’s relationship with Says Farm. Considering the quality of food, service, as well as the drinks, while it is on the higher end, I do think that the price point is justifiable. While there were some misses with the food dishes, the overall ambience and the standards of other dishes more than made up for it.

Location overview

Narisawa is located at Aoyama-Itchome station in Tokyo, and is a short 5 minutes’ unsheltered walk from the train station. Narisawa is also located close to central Tokyo station, making it easily accessible via Japan’s efficient public transport system.

Summary

Narisawa is my first fine-dining experience overseas, and I surely am glad to have picked it. The dining experience at Narisawa fulfilled all the boxes of a gastronomic experience, be it creativity, food quality, service, and attention to detail. Chef Narisawa has run the shop so well that I have nothing but praise for. Out of all of my fine-dining experiences, Chef Narisawa is the only head chef who came out to greet me and thanked me for dining at his restaurant (and willingly took a photo with us).

The humbleness of Chef Narisawa really impressed me as this was something that I have not seen in Singapore. In fact, most of the head chefs in Singapore only greet those diners whom they know or find important, which is an area that I felt could be improved. The attitude of Chef Narisawa to treat all diners equally and to personally thank them is something I felt grateful for.

As for the quality of the food, the creativity involved in the dishes at Narisawa was unparalleled. I have never seen the fresh baking of bread before at any restaurant, and you definitely can’t get bread any fresher than this. The concept of Satoyama culture which is to rely on the mountains and nature is also apparent throughout the meal, and is something that I do appreciate Chef Narisawa doing, as it is the belief behind his craft.

Narisawa also has an excellent sake pairing selection, as I was told that Chef Narisawa has an exclusive relationship with Says Farm, which provides top quality sake only to the restaurant. While I am not an expert in sake, I could tell that the sake was of premium quality due to how smooth it was. The staff was also knowledgeable and proficient in English, which makes things a lot easier for a country with a language barrier such as Japan. Furthermore, they even made sure to change the menu for returning customers, which really shows Narisawa’s attention to detail. All in all, it was an unforgettable dining experience for me, and I will be sure to return if I have the opportunity to do so again.

What this means for you

You might like Narisawa if you:

• Prefer innovative dishes

The creativity involved in the dishes at Narisawa is one of the best I have ever witnessed, which is sure to impress any diner

• Are a sake lover

Chef Narisawa’s relation with Says Farm means that the restaurant will get only the top quality and most exclusive sake, which will be a plus for any sake lover

You might not like Narisawa if you:

• Are on a budget

While Narisawa’s dinner menu is at a fixed price, the menu excludes any optional add-ons or sake pairing, which adds up to a hefty total and might not be acceptable to some

• Are looking to try local Japanese food

As a kaiseki restaurant, Narisawa does not offer your regular Japanese food such as sushi, tonkatsu or ramen. Travellers to Tokyo who are looking to try the local cuisine may prefer other places instead.

Other Information

Opening Hours: Tue – Sat, 1200 – 1430, 1730 – 2000

Website: https://www.narisawa-yoshihiro-en.com/

(Expected damage: $650++ per pax)

(Visited on 10^th October 2022)