or try holy basil DTLA
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Oh thanks for the reminder. We haven’t had good Thai in a while. Adding to the list maybe in place of PRD since I’ve been there a bunch.
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I’m having a special night for 4 people, though orizume may not be enough for all of us. What other food do you think will be great to eat with this special (birthday) dinner?
I’m thinking of picking up a bit of food from Orsa & Winston’s General Store at 5:30pm.
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I’d keep it simple and stick to miso soup and maybe some salad. I wouldn’t want to pick flavors that stray too far way from Hayato. Dessert would be a fine idea since orizume “dessert” items aren’t really dessert. A sake from the menu would be superb.
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True baller reply here.
PXs
post exchange?
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personne extraordinaire
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I’m sure this is probably a minority view, but I was kind of disappointed by the Orizume. I should caveat this and say that I’ve never had a Kaiseki meal at Hayato. But I’ve had several in Japan, and I really did like the Hayato Bento Box. But this box was just bland to me. And I hate to say it because I was so looking forward to it. The best dish was the gingery rice. I also really liked the sweet potato. But there were no real standout bites in my view, and I did not think it was ultimately worth the price. I much prefer the Omakase box Shunji is doing right now.
Something about this box felt inauthentic, as if it was a facsimile of Kaiseki or an attempt to replicate the ingredient-based focus in Japan without the parts that make it worthwhile. That is, it felt like leaning way too hard on “purity” of ingredients and forgetting that expensive food is supposed to taste great. At this price point, you should be blown away by something rather than having an interesting experience along the lines of “oh, a radish.”
Again, I may just be a minority/dissenting view on this. But if you’re looking for a $400 dinner splurge, and you had one to pick, I wouldn’t make this the one.
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Thanks for the report. I’m looking forward to trying it.
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Pedro Ximenez
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Oh how interesting. A dissenter.
Thanks for your candor, @Haeldaur — not an easy post to do given Hayato’s popularity on this site.
I was hoping Hayato would do their version of Osechi ryori — Japanese New Year’s comfort food dishes meant to last up to 5 days.
Places like Mitsuwa market charge up to $400 for 3 level box and on average at least 1/3 of it is repackaged prepared goods by Japanese companies like Kibun (known for fish cakes, cooked black beans, etc.).
Considering Hayato’s Orizume dishes are freshly made, its price tag seems quite justified when compared to Mitsuwa’s Osechi NY’s boxes, but unfortunately for me, the Orizume is too much food for me to consume in 1-2 days. If it were Osechi style, I could at least stretch out the eating and cost over 3-5 days.
However, I’m still interested in supporting Hayato so I’ll try ordering the lunch bento with some premium sake and give a generous tip.
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Agreed. FTC isn’t always kind to dissenters so I really appreciate the report.
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Greatly enjoyed the Orizume bento. Did not disappoint.
Standouts were the Aka Mutsu, Shrimp and Lotus Root, Bamboo Shoots (not on menu), and just about everything in the smaller box of bites. Some of the vegetables are finely cooked but a touch bland (Eggplant, Kabu) and the ikura was the only true miss for me (yuzu didn’t really come through and the texture was not great).
Went with a simple Dutch white in lieu of sake. A touch sweeter than expected, but the fruit paired well with the contents of the bento. An aged Koshu would go perfectly with this.
All in all, very impressed with this bento which is clearly the product of a great deal of care and passion. The flavors are subtle in a good way IMO and I had a great night picking through the contents with my companions while we worked through the wine. Prefect amount of food for three hungry people. Very happy with this splurge.
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nice review @Piglet. looks like chef go is changing it up a bit with the bamboo shoots, is that what’s pictured next to the lobster?
Yep. Not usually a fan, but these were superb.
no such thing as a wrong opinion when it comes to your tastebuds!
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