Ebitei Bekkan, Toyama, Japan (previously 2 Stars)

Preface: Just finished a 5 week food trip in Japan revisiting old favorites and trying out some new restaurants. Trip was heavily kasiseki focused as that is my preferred cuisine. At the beginning of the trip, weather is still on the cold side and meals were more gibier/game meat focused. Towards the latter part, sansai and takenoko started appearing on all the menus. Meals covered the whole range from no star to 3 stars and also Tabelog Bronze to Gold. My most enjoyable experiences, however, aren’t necessary at the highest ranked restaurants or the toughest ones to book. I value quality of ingredients, skills and exectution by the chef and also the service provided. Will try to share some of my meals here starting with one of my favorite:

Ebitei Bekkan is located in Toyama City on the Sea of Japan side near Kanazawa. Lying right in front of the city is Toyama Bay, the 3rd deepest in Japan, which is well known for hotaru ika (firefly squid) and shiro ebi (baby white shrimp) since this is the only location where they can be caught in large numbers. In the winter, Toyama is also know for kan buri (winter Japanese Amberjack) as these large and fatty fish migrate south in the Sea of Japan

Current chef owner Mura-san is the fourth generation in the family to run and operate the restaurant. He trained at Tokushima Aoyagi similar to many of the early Michelin Kaiseki 3 Star chefs trained like Kanda, Ryugin and Ginza Kojyu. Ebitei was awarded 2 Stars in 2016 but it was then shut down for a few years before reopening in its current new location. During this down time, Mura-san worked at Matsukawa which consistently ranks as one of the top 3 kaiseki in all of Japan

This was my 5th visit and I won’t comment on each of the dishes. This meal was right at the begining of Takenoko (bamboo shoot) season and over the course of my trip, must have had over 15+ dishes of various preparations. The takenoko here was the most delicious and memorable piece! Just amazed at the quality of the ingredients, the techniques to pull out flavor and change texture and to push the envelope to just be a bit better than everyone else. Needless to say, I love visiting Ebitei and will be back