Hirokado (Beppu, Tabelog 4.41)

Had wonderful dinner at Hirokado in Beppu last month. To me, the restaurant is a complete package that ticks all the boxes:

• Produce: fervent supporter of local, organic provenance from Oita and Kyushu. Some were foraged or even caught by the staff.

• Cooking: Hirokado-san used to work at Ginza Shinohara, hence a lot of similarities in style and substance. However, flavour of dishes here is bolder and less restrained.

• Theme: an ode to the mountain and sea of Beppu. Our visit also coincided with the Tsukimi (Japanese harvest moon festival) hence some of the dishes came tagged with that storyline.

• Omotenashi: most fun and friendly restaurant crew. From the live produce showcase to tea ceremony to the guard of honour upon send-off.

• Cost performance: 24,000 yen which was excellent value given the cooking and ingredients. Very filling kaiseki meal.

• Reservation: Easy to moderate difficulty, via omakase.

Menu (Oct-24):

Soba tea: from buckwheat tea grown in Bungo-takada. Hand-roasted counter side to warm the stomach.

Sakizuke 1 (appetiser): Nokogiri Gazami mud crab caught in the local mangroves. Presented on a rabbit plate to resonate with moon harvest festival (Japanese believes in moon rabbit folklore).

Sakizuke 2 (appetiser): native chicken grilled over flame until medium rare. Juicy with zing from onions and ponzu.

Suimono: clam from Saiki in soothing dashi broth with yuzu.

Sashimi 1: live Madai (red sea bream) butchered counter side and served 2 ways – thin, translucent slices and thicker slices which were lightly cooked.

Hassun (seasonal platter): plated to visualise the harvest moon festival, which is usually celebrated by watching the moon and eating mochi or dango. This was represented through a pyramid of mochi dumpling for praying while the rice grass illustrated abundant rice harvest.

Around 20 elements in the Hassun: mochi dumplings in 4 colours and flavour (egg, chestnut, seaweed, wild yam); White pumpkin cooked in dashi, shiitake, brown cheese, buckwheat cake, mullet roe, winter melon, venison, scallion, beets, stewed okra, stewed garlic chives buds, Misao soybeans

Yakimono 1 (grilled dish): Ayu sweet fish from Yamakuni river, brushed with tare made from the sweet fish as well. The head and bones were removed, fried until crunchy and served separately.

Yakinomo 2: grilled Matsutake, from Nagano, one of the few item procured outside Kyushu.

Yakimono 3: live Ise lobster butchered and grilled, red sea urchin, black abalone, piled on top of a puddle of lobster miso.

Nimono (simmered dish): flaky and fatty Longtooth grouper in fish bone stock.

Sunomono (palate cleanser): Steamed fig from Saga with Japanese honey & kobo vinegar.

. Agemono (tempura): freshwater shrimp caught by the sous chef, potato cooked in lobster broth, maitake mushroom and lotus, served piece by piece to ensure crispiness.

Yakimono 4: Domestic duck raised using Aigamo farming method (live in paddy field). Slowly cooked for 3 hours on the bone to develop the flavour and juiciness.

Gohan: New ginkgo nut from Beppu with local Oita rice cooked in claypot. Lovely balance of sweetness and nuttiness.

Tamewan: soup made from Fukashima miso and seafood stock.

Tsuemono: Pickled cucumber from 80-year aged rice bran.

Soba: freshly handmade in the morning using buckwheat flour form Hokkaido. Hirokado-dan trained at a famous soba restaurant in Hiroshima.

Dessert 1: Makuwa-uri Sherbet (oriental melon). Very refreshing.

Dessert 2: Baked Kudzu Pudding. Made from arrowroot, egg, and white bean paste. Starchy and not overly sweet which I enjoyed. mixed and cooked for 1 hour before kneaded

Tea: ceremonial matcha, whisked and made by taisho.

Omiyage: 6 onigiri. Surprisingly, the local guests didn’t receive (or maybe they refused)

Sake Pairing was priced at 6600 yen for around 10 types.