Can you just go and get the melon menu, or do you need to have the full tasting as well?
You can do just the melon menu if you want.
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Melon menu ends Oct 20
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sakura mochi back on the menu, come and get it at a real japanese restaurant that understands, appreciates and cares about japanese cuisine.
also aka gai.
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Later-gram of the end of the winter season, they had run out of the wild boar dish so sake grilled quail was the new main course in the Shogun’s meal I ordered. My wife got Taisho’s meal and we added on 2 types of chinmi and the wagyu corned beef. The chinmi always comes with a small pour of sake, for the rest of the meal I went with their beverage pairing and you could choose between all sake or mixed wine + sake. I went with all sake this time. It’s nice that they charge you one price for the pairing even if you get the longer menu. The Ikkyu’s meal is pretty high QPR and if you add on one of the oden or wagyu stew you’ve got a pretty substantial meal if you’re a bigger eater.
Highlights were the hassun’s shrimp tofu dumpling, I was expecting something like inari and this was a pleasant very light surprise. Snow crab was delicious and buttery. Tempura mochi with red bean (and aged soy) was well balanced sweet, salty, chewy, and slight crisp exterior. Monkfish had a great tender texture and the amazake + subtle ginger worked well. Wagyu corned beef supplement was so worth it, and not too much if shared. An excellent blend of Japanese and Jewish sensibilities, the texture of the corned beef was a standout.
Some misses from the buckwheat gnocchi. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the gnocchi was quite large and quite soft in texture without a lot of flavor on its own. It really depended on the wasabi and soy, but I would have preferred sashimi as the foil! The nori got instantly soggy once you put the gnocchi on it so it was a bit hard to bite through cleanly in the same way as pre-made rolls. The sake grilled quail + sticky rice needed some more seasoning, even with the liver sauce on the side. I am probably biased by my preference for Cantonese lotus leaf sticky rice though. The legs were really good though!
Spicy aged roe (not karasumi, but similar). Fermented tofu in red miso.
Yellowtail main course from Taisho’s meal
Sake grilled quail from Shogun’s meal
Wagyu corned beef oden
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I didn’t like the “buckwheat gnocchi” things myself.
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i agree about that soba gnocchi was a huge miss. not only was it flavorless but extremely difficult to eat, the nori would instantly turn into mush like you said and the gnocchi would squirt out the other side when you try to eat it.
my highlight of the night was the wild boar croquette, crispy on the outside and fatty and juicy inside.
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Luckily we managed to avoid the buckwheat squirt 
Did you… add on two other main courses from the other tasting menu and the wagyu corned beef? 
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spring menu
highlights
shrimp cake with sea pineapple
capon chawanmushi
bamboo tempura with smoked bonito furikakeh
ginga no shizuku rice with furikakeh
grilled unagi
sakura masu
grilled wagyu
sakura mochi
chinmi - shiitake, aged tofuyo, scallop, uni, narezushi
first time having narezushi - one of sergio’s deep cuts.
hassun - shrimp cake (minced hoya sea pineapple shiokara), grilled mochi stuffed with karasumi, hotaru ika, sweet soy glaze asparagus
japanese sea bream, yubuki, myoga, umeboshi
hokkaido scallop, akagai, wakame
chawanmushi - capon rooster, fava bean, carrot leaf, mitsuba, ginger
matsuzaka beef sashimi
fresh bamboo tempura with smoked bonito furikakeh
ginga no shizuku rice (iwate japan), fresh peas, shiitake, salted cherry blossom tsukemono
grilled unagi, burdock root
sakura masu
grilled matsuzaka and ohmi wagyu, fresh wasabi
koji (r)ice cream, jackfruit
candied quince
sakura mochi
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@PorkyBelly what did you think of the rice? I thought it was pretty boring. The worst thing we had was the chawanmushi, because it was served too cold - I don’t think it was a problem with the BOH, the FOH seemed very disorganized and inexperienced.
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Can I ask what a sea pineapple is?
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that’s surprising. did you think the rice itself or the entire rice course was boring? the rice and accompanying proteins have always been my favorite.
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i originally thought i was eating this:
but apparently it’s a sea squirt
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@attran99 It’s squishy with a nice chew, and tastes like the ocean, with a hint of bitterness. I find it fun to eat, definitely better with sake. A good drinking appetizer.
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I have a ratio problem there. My personal preference is double or triple proteins for that much plain rice. I found the rice itself was quite boring because I don’t know what to do with most of it after the accompanying protein is gone. Maybe save some chinmi for the ending rice could have been a very nice move.
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Oh my god, it’s a giant sea squirt. “Rubber dipped in ammonia” matches my experience.
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yeah I can see that. i always order triple protein with the rice.
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Years ago when I first tried kaiseki in Kyoto they served plain rice with soup and vegetables. No proteins, either on the side or mixed in. At a ryokan they were going to do the same but I asked specifically to open up the rice early to pair with proteins (it was cooked but just sitting in a clay pot if I remember right for after I was done with other parts of the meal). This has colored what I considered Kyoto/traditional kaiseki and I was so happy to see Brandon doing more with his rice course when I first tried Hayato.
If presented with the same presentation, I’d try to pair each bite of rice with a sip of miso soup or a pickled vegetable. Not my preferred way of doing it as I also like a good protein with rice but this seems like a thing that happens and sometimes you just gotta roll with it.
Anyways, another great looking meal at Shibumi!
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If the rice is as fragrant and delicious as the rice at Needle, I have no problem eating it alone.
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