Kisetsu Ryori Nakashima in Hiroshima (Tabelog 4.24 , *** michelin in last published guide).
Date of visit: 30 Dec 2023.
Seats: 8 at the counter (3 foreigners us, 5 locals) + 1 table for 4 (locals), 1 service per day.
Price: 20,790 yen (USD 140), after tax and service charge.
We really enjoyed our meal at Nakashima. Food was rustic, kappo style. No luxury stuff, no showmanship, no dramatic flair. Only simple, faultless cooking from the heart.
Seafood accounted for 8 out of 9 savoury dishes and very simply treated. Three served with dashi as ‘lidded dish’ (snow crab, long tooth grouper, armored cusk), three served as sashimi (flounder & sea urchin, swordtip squid & mullet roe , filefish), one as chawanmushi (shirako), and lastly young sardines as sides to the rice dish.
The dashi-based dishes had more robust seasoning (to my palate) than typical kaiseki/kappo cooking. Dining in winter possibly helped as the chef incorporated warming spices such as ginger & onions.
The only non-fish savoury dish was ‘inoshishi’ or wild boar hunted in Hiroshima mountains (the boar from Princess Mononoke!). The meat was smoky and tender with just a modicum of fattiness without any gaminess.
The restaurant is proud of their tableware with many plates and bowls made more than 100-200 years ago! With the language barrier, it was difficult to understand the history and the artists, but could tell from the pattern and materials that their tablewares were special.
Excellent omotenashi. The chef was quiet but the wife and waitstaff were cheerful and welcoming. Despite limited English, they tried their hardest to explain the dishes. An English-translated menu was prepared for us. At the end of the dinner, we were given a postcard of Mt. Fuji & Hokusai hand-drawn by the chef’s father.
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Menu (Dec 2023):
– Longtooth Grouper with Turnip Soup
– Flounder Sashimi from Setouchi with Uni from Hokkaido
– Sword-tip Squid from Shimame topped with lots of grated Karasumi
– Kawahagi Filefish served 3 ways: fillet, liver and crispy skin
– Snow Crab in Ichiban Dashi with Mizuna mustard greens
– Grilled Wild Mountain Boar ‘Inoshishi’
– Armored Cusk Hairtail with Shoga Ginger sauce
– Chawanmushi with Shirako, ponzu & Plum
– Rice with ‘Jako’ Baby Sardines and Pickles
– Rice Ochazuke with added crispy burnt rice
– Sake lees pudding
by BocaTaberu