Authentic traditional Japanese New Year feast

Authentic traditional Japanese New Year feast

Those looking for a real deal festive season Japanese dining experience need look no further than Yamazato at The Okura Prestige Bangkok

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE

Master Chef Shigeru Hagiwara has prepared an inspired assortment of time-honoured year-end fare.

The New Year has long been the dominant celebration on Japan's calendar of five traditional holidays. It is a time when friends gather to reflect on the coming year and enjoy a feast of ages-old holiday dishes.

With a world-wide reputation that transcends its mother brand, Yamazato—the Okura Prestige Bangkok's signature Japanese eatery—is pleased to offer a set menu selection of Kaiseki Ryori (traditional Japanese haute cuisine) dishes that are sure to dazzle even the most discerning palate.

The restaurant enjoys widespread popularity in its native Japan and beyond. Indeed, Yamazato's Amsterdam kitchen earned a coveted Michelin star in 2001, while founder and long-time former Head Chef Akira Oshima has been knighted in the Order of Orange Nassau.

The 24th-floor Bangkok venue features three separate sections including a sushi bar and Teppanyaki grill station. The elegant, understated main dining room, where featured promotion set menus are served, exudes an aesthetic influence of the homeland with low, wide tables and invitingly subdued lighting. Settings are presented on gleaming lacquerware trays sourced from a single village in rural Japan. Our waitress was a traditionally-attired expatriate who spoke fluent Japanese and English and her professional, refined yet deftly efficient manner complemented perfectly the venue's quietly distinguished surroundings.

Review dish selections were sampled from the three set menus offered under the popular year-end & New Year party promotion, starting with a small bowl of boiled Edamame beans.

The soft, tender bean pods are picked up with the fingers and then squeezed just below the top until the last succulent seed pops out. The minimalistic simplicity of this starter dish—it is its own sole ingredient—belies the complex flavours and unlikely buttery texture. And the challenge of corralling successfully the succession of ballistically-deployed legumes is a great way to break the ice with any newly-acquainted fellow diners.

The Garden salad with Ice fish and sesame dressing was the surprise highlight for this reviewer. The tender, garden-fresh lettuce leaves and julienne sliced cucumber were a perfect complement to the light, crispy-fried Ice Fish morsels, while the tangy dressing nicely pulled together the dish's divergent flavours.

The Sashimi plate (Bluefin & Yellow Tail tuna, squid, salmon roe) was notable for both the freshness and provenance of the Bluefin and Yellow Tail tuna, which are flown in straight from Tokyo's renowned Tsukiji fish market —the world's largest and busiest wholesale monger. The sliced Bluefin was firm and succulent, displaying the deep crimson hue of a morning's catch, while the squid possessed a bite of 'crisp' chewiness and the jagged-edged Oba leaf garnish made for a flavourful seasoning-accompaniment.

The Tempura plate was a lively combination of shrimp, fish and aubergine that slowed the pace of the meal with its alluring blend of elements harvested from sea and soil. The Tempura batter is light, crunchy and not in the least bit oily with a taste perfectly suited for the ocean-fresh seafood and earthy eggplant nestled within.

The Karaage chicken was deep-fried to golden perfection with a crunchy bite to the batter that exquisitely set off the tender white chicken meat it encased. The accompanying Leek sauce added a delightfully unexpected dimension to the familiar garlic-ginger-soy sauce flavour—a signature of this all-time favourite Japanese dish.

The Deep-fried spicy vinegar sauce-marinated fish with vegetables was a tangy, delicately-cooked delight while the Steamed egg custard provided a creamy, savoury, smooth-textured interlude to the meal's heavier offerings.

A plate of Simmered mackerel with miso sauce distinguished itself from the menu's pescado parade with a flavour and texture all of its own. The Steamed squid dumpling with vegetable came topped with a rich, clear soy-based sauce that was simply too divine for words, while tiny, full-flavoured mushrooms and firm Udon noodles made the Miso soup the perfect light-fare coda to this symphony of Nihon delicacies.

Finally, the dessert of rice-flour Mochi dumplings filled with Ancho red-bean paste with assorted premium fruits was an intriguing and satisfying postprandial indulgence.

The year-end & New Year party promotion at Yamazato Japanese Restaurant runs December 8th - 27th, 2014 and January 6th - 25th, 2015.

Three set-menu options are offered, priced as follows:

Set 1: Bt1,500++ per person

Set 2: Bt2,000++ per person

Set 3: Bt2,500++ per person

THE OKURA PRESTIGE BANGKOK Park Ventures Ecoplex, 57 Wireless Road. Tel 02 687 9000.

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