Kotoritei, Akasaka: A Kaiseki Dinner That Moved Me

Hi! It's Yoko, whose head is full of delicious food again today.

The other day I visited Kotoritei (the sound of "kotori," little bird, is so cute!), where you can enjoy delicious kaiseki (multi-course Japanese) cuisine, and I'd like to tell you about it!

Kotoritei is inside the annex facility of the health insurance hall of the Kanto IT Software Health Insurance Society (ITS Kenpo for short).

It's a restaurant open to members of ITS Kenpo or those accompanied by a member, and it's on the 2nd to 4th floors of the Sanno Kenpo Kaikan, the same building as Sushi Isshin, where I went for sushi the other day.

If you're an ITS Kenpo member, don't forget to bring your insurance card!

Inside, the atmosphere is calm! The tables are separated by bamboo blinds, so you can relax without worrying about your neighbors.

The drink menu. Yes, it's quite cheap! (lol)

Plum wine with soda~

For the food, here is the "Kotori" course, ¥5,400!

Sakizuke (appetizer): seared turban shell
Two-color chrysanthemum, mizuna, nagaimo (mountain yam), salmon roe, itogaki (bonito flakes)

I was captivated from the very first dish by its delicate construction!
The colors are beautiful, and combining things with different textures like nagaimo is fun.

And the proprietress is so kind!

Even though the ingredients are written on the menu, she explains the parts that might be hard to understand, as well as the cooking methods, in detail!

Proprietress: "Itogaki is this katsuobushi (bonito flakes)."

Me: "I see..."

Maezakana (second appetizer)
Autumn vegetables with sesame sauce
Ishikawa-imo (taro variety), lotus root, eggplant, ginkgo nuts, tilefish, bok choy, thread chili

Proprietress: "Ishikawa-imo is a taro a little smaller than satoimo, and the tilefish has been coated in joshinko (rice flour) and fried."

Me: "That sounds delicious... and it's all things I love!"

I absolutely love eggplant and order it 95% of the time when it's on a menu when eating out. I also tend to order two plates of ginkgo nuts.

It was packed with things I love, and so delicious I want to recreate it at home!

Wan (soup)
Clear soup
Rolled prawn, lily bulb, shiitake, zha cai (Sichuan pickled mustard), pepper

The prawn is grilled and smells wonderful!

Here I decided to have sake. I chose Shimeharitsuru.

After I asked for sake, the proprietress was divine.

She anticipated what we'd ask for, saying, "One go (180ml) of sake, and would you like an ochoko (sake cup)?" "Shall I bring water?" "Ice?"

She even poured the first cup for us, and I was deeply moved.

Warisen (sashimi)
Tuna, octopus
Oni-oroshi (coarse grated daikon), pumpkin, cucumber, grilled maitake, hanaho (shiso flower spikes), purple sweet potato, wasabi, wari-joyu (soy sauce diluted with dashi)

Proprietress: "Warisen means fresh sashimi. There's soy sauce diluted with dashi in it. The vegetables are salt-steamed."

It had just the right amount of fat. Fresh and delicious.

Yakimono (grilled dish)
Late-season hamo (pike conger) grilled with sansho pepper, yuba (tofu skin) beppo-yaki
Candied chestnut, vinegared myoga (Japanese ginger)

Proprietress: "Because hamo season is nearly over, we call it 'nagori' (lingering) hamo."

Another plate gathering everything I love in one place.

Nimono (simmered dish)
Simmered yugao (bottle gourd) and Hyuga chicken
Matsutake, tsurna (New Zealand spinach), tomojiro-an (kudzu sauce), shichimi

Proprietress: "If you take off the lid, I wonder if you'll smell the matsutake... Go ahead and open it. Hehehe."

The proprietress is endlessly adorable. I opened the lid gently.

The aroma of matsutake wafts up! The chicken is gently simmered until tender, and the matsutake scent has transferred to the dashi too. Wonderful.

Agemono (fried dish)
Pacific saury and ume-shiso fry, scallop and cheese spring roll
Ginkgo marujyu, green chili, momiji-oroshi (daikon grated with chili), flavorful dashi

Pacific saury and ume-shiso go together so well!

Meal and side dishes
White rice, red miso soup, pickles, autumn salmon and green onion, grilled and dressed hon-shimeji mushrooms

The meal and side dishes came out together!

Dessert
Pear, melon, walnut tofu, kuromitsu (black sugar syrup), mint

Finishing with dessert felt refreshing.

Every plate was delicate and carefully made, and the proprietress's service was the best... I definitely want to come again...

It might be my favorite among the ITS Kenpo restaurants...

Thank you for the meal!

(After this we went to Bar Blossom on the floor above, lol)

Kotoritei
Sanno Kenpo Kaikan, 2-5-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052
11:30-15:00, 17:00-22:00
Phone: 03-5570-1803