Ishizuka

Otherworldly kaiseki with a story to tell.

November 18, 2024

1 / 9Shellfish with scampi jelly and sweetcorn sauce.Supplied

3 / 9Monkfish liver, sobagaki, bo-zushi and periwinkle.Supplied

4 / 9Saiyko miso-marinated black cod.Supplied

5 / 9Chef Tomotaka preparing.Paul Jeffers

6 / 9Alfonsino with chrysanthemum sauce.Supplied

7 / 9Grilled alphonsino seaweed meringuem egg yolk powder.Supplied

8 / 9The zensai (appetiser course).Supplied

9 / 9Kasutera (honey sponge) cake.Supplied

16/20

Japanese$$$$

All 10 courses of this menu feel more like nature poems than dinner. Each has its own title and tale, delivered by graceful staff. Aki hassun (loosely “a little bit of everything”) is an overture of one-bite snacks, treasures from sea and shore. Perhaps a giant periwinkle steamed in the shell, custardlike abalone liver, and a puck of pickled daikon.

Focus then shifts to technique and star ingredients. A lobster dumpling quivers in delicate wombok broth. Blushing wagyu on a curled Japanese magnolia leaf with mushrooms and foie gras is a dazzling display.

A spectrum of great sake is poured, from sparkling to aged, in an extraordinary underground room with 16 seats enveloped by an oversized lantern. Float back up to ground level feeling like you’ve lived out a carefully constructed haiku honouring the season.