Monday, February 13, 2017

A new menu for two at Kyoto Garden

We do enjoy being guinea pigs when restaurants want to try out a new menu or idea. This week, we were invited to Kyoto Garden to sample the new Menu for two people, which they are launching soon.
There are not many authentic Japanese restaurants in Cape Town. Kyoto Garden is very good. It is at 11 Kloof Nek Road, opposite Miller's Thumb
The bar, the sushi station with the sushi chef and the kitchen in the background. They have a good selection of Japanese beer, sake and whiskies as well as a good local wine list. Lynne enjoyed a glass of Steenberg Chardonnay and John a glass of Vrede and Lust Chenin with our meal. Both are wooded
First course was a nicely seasoned tuna tartare topped with spring onion; it is an amuse size and a palate delighter. The soy sauce dressing has a very light touch of wasabi, which adds a delicate accent to the umami of the soy, but avoids the typical wasabi heat. You get one each
Next was a shared dish of briefly seared salmon slices on a seaweed and baby spinach leave salad, with enoki and other blanched mushrooms, spring onion and wasabi. It comes with a rich sauce tasting of miso and soy with wasabi. You can use the sauce to dip or you can pour it over the salad.
Then you share a selection of sushi, nigiri and sashimi. All are delicious; the tuna was exceptionally fresh and pink, almost translucent. The platter comes with shaved daikon radish, wasabi and pickled ginger. The white fish is very fresh Cape salmon
The restaurant sometimes imports fresh wasabi root from Japan or Canada and we were lucky enough to be given some to taste and to grate on the authentic shark skin grater. Yes, that is real raspy shark skin. The wasabi was not as hot as we expected and quite creamy in taste. We liked it
Eating sushi at the bar
The restaurant is very light and airy, the decor simply, elegantly Japanese
Next a plate of mixed vegetable tempura to share. It is light, crisp and fresh, just the way is should be. It is accompanied by more daikon, a slice of lemon to squeeze and a dipping sauce. We found cauliflower, a bean, broccoli, yellow pepper, lotus root, sweet potato, aubergine and a basil leaf in the stack. The aubergine was soft and sweet inside its crisp coating, the sweet potato and the lotus root were both very special
Then a bowl each of Ramin noodles with prawns, leeks and green beans. Nice miso stock with the soup
The meal will finish with a dessert. We were given two to sample, a delicious fresh and creamy ginger ice cream accompanied by crisp Japanese wafer biscuits. And a sesame seed ice-cream, unusual but very good
We have not seen the menu yet and believe the price is going to be R780 for two, plus wine

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017

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