Yoshikawa Kaiseki & Breakfast

Awkward couple shot! We are so bad at posed pictures T.T 

 Our second night at Yoshikawa we had a Kaiseki meal. Obligatory uncomfortable awkward couple shots taken! ^.^'

Cheers!

Our view from our private dining room

 One whole wall looked out into the interior garden. Lovely to just gaze outside while dining.

Table set up, with Sake decanter and starter dish

 So Traditional Kaiseki is a set number of courses, following a general theme. There is always the starter, sashimi, rice dish, grilled dish, seasonal dish, etc.

Basically, it's a lot of food, and is made with the idea of fresh seasonal ingredients that are true to their natural flavors.

Starter -  Red Shell Fish; Rape seeds & Mountain herbs; Dressed with Tofu powder & Vinegar miso sauce; Yuzu citrus flavor

Steamed Dish - Steamed Sea Bream & Red beans rice w/ warm sauce Sansho leaf flavor

Sashimi Dish - Selection of fresh seasonal fish & seafood, 3 items; Tuna, Squid, Flounder

You take the flowers and put them in the soy sauce to add flavor for the sashimi, really tasty!

Soup Dish - Clear soup w/ dumpling of Ise-Lobster

Tempura Dish (11 items total) w/ dipping sauce, lemon juice, Regular salt & Japanese pepper flavor pink salt

 We only ate a small amount for lunch in preparation for the Kaiseki, but I still had pretty much no appetite unfortunately. At this point I was feeling alright, thinking "Oh! Tempura dish already, we only have 3 more dishes! I got this."

Little did I know the Tempura course was 11 items. T.T

So many tasty items.

Tempura 1/2 - Crispy Shrimp parts

Tempura set up, with different sauces and salts

Tempura 3/4/5 - Butterbur vegetable, Eggplant, Onion

Tempura 6/7 - Sweet potato, Burdock

Tempura 8/9/10/11 - Shishito pepper, Crab, 2 kinds White fish

All Sorts of Seasonal Delicacies - 

The seasonal dish arrived so we knew the tempura course was complete, but I was pretty stuffed at this point. Really didn't want to be rude and leave any food, but I was beginning to think I would have no choice.

Grilled Dish - Grilled Bonito pickled in Saikyo miso; candied fruit

Rice Dish - Egg Rice Porridge w/ seasonal White Fish; Traditional Japanese Pickles 

 I am ashamed to say I was unable to eat much of the rice dish. I tried to eat most of the fish and egg, but left a lot of the rice. Nibbled the pickles, but couldn't really bear to eat more.

Dessert - Strawberry Red Bean Soft Rice Cake (Strawberry Daifuku)

 Thankfully dessert was small, and the strawberry was super sweet, juicy, and refreshing. The Daifuku was soft and thin, so I was able to enjoy it even with as full as I was.

Next morning we went down to breakfast at 8am, (I am currently still feeling no hunger/appetite from dinner). So unfortunate! Booo on my body! Kitsune was right, we should have trained in eating before the trip hahah >.<'''

The full spread

Umeboshi w/ dipping sugar

I didn't feel up to being able to eat everything, so resigned myself to just eating what seemed light. Rather embarrassing for myself, and a bit rude (basically you are telling the cook you didn't enjoy the food), but I felt like I had no other option. Super sad because the food was really very good.

Oh, and coincidentally, we had a Kaiseki lunch planned for 12:30pm.

My Kitsune was trying to kill me with amazing food lol