From the fire

'I first ate at Yanagiya in Nagoya five years ago, and what struck me was how something so simple can be so delicious," says co-owner Nicholas Lam. Lam and business partner Ben Na Nakhon have always wanted to bring Yanagiya to Bangkok, but were unsure if the market was ready for it, "but we wanted to give it a shot", says Lam.

In the most unlikely setting, on the 3rd floor of Don Don Donki mall in Ekamai, blink-or-you'll-miss-it, Shun By Yanagiya lies behind plain wooden exteriors. Almost hidden, the entrance is through a small dark passage, which opens out to the 15-seater chef's table, complete with a "burning coals" grill atop.

It is perhaps important to note that at the original Yanagiya, the menu focuses on seasonal ingredients from the area in Gifu. The concept in Bangkok is sumiyaki, which is charcoal-grilled, counter-style cuisine and is different from Japan. As Lam puts it: "We are not necessarily serving produce from around the area. Bangkok is almost the centre of Asia now and we have premium ingredients from all over the world. At Shun By Yanagiya we offer seasonal ingredients grilled Yanagiya-style. If you want the real Yanagiya you can go to Japan. In Thailand, we want to offer diners a different experience, in Yanagiya style." Though chef-patron of Yanagiya, Masashi Yamada plans to visit every quarter.

This is a 17-course meal, priced at 4,800 baht, the menu and order of which are designed by Yamada himself. I begin with the maguro cornet or simple tuna tartare, caviar, nori, wasabi Chantilly and yuzu juice. Perfect for whetting the palate for what's to come. A mix of micro greens and vegetables from an organic farm in Chiang Mai is drizzled with shiokombu dressing. The salad changes according to season, and during the winter months, you'll see a lot of root vegetables like the candy-cane beetroot, perfect for the festive season.

Masashi Yamada.

I am not a fan of cooked salmon, so I almost squealed in delight when I saw the grilled ocean trout in a teriyaki sauce. Much superior in taste compared to the common salmon, the semi-wild trout is from the south of Tasmania, where the species is farmed at the confluence of the Franklin River and Arctic Sea. The skin was crisp, the flesh moist and the trout delicious.

Since Yamada believes in starting the meal with punchy flavours, the carabinero or Spanish red prawn was next. No cutlery required as I dived into the juicy prawn hands first. Served in the most popular way to cook fish in Japan -- shioyaki-style. Don't forget to suck the prawn head and for the juicy deliciousness. You will not be judged.

Hokkaido white baby corn is served with truffle butter and sweet Espelette pepper. Throughout the course of the meal, chicken is served three ways, in a progression, from the leanest to the fattiest. Kata or chicken shoulder shioyaki is lean and comes from an organic farm in Khao Yai. The farm only breeds for and supplies to Shun, so you can be assured you're getting top-quality meat.

It is at this point that you are also served a refillable salad of shaved daikon in an umeshu and shoyu dressing. The umeboshi, or salted Japanese plums, are special because less salt is used during the fermentation process and it is then soaked in honey to make the most of the sweet and sour taste. During the hotter months, the daikon will be sharper, with more umami.

Zucchini with a sprinkling of Kampot red pepper and tosa joyu (a soy-based dipping sauce generally used for sashimi) comes next. Kashiwa, or chicken thigh grilled with tare sauce, is another special course as the sauce is a "master sauce".

Bafun uni from Japan.

Straight from the kitchens of Yanagiya, the master tare sauce has been kept going for more than 50 years and is much like the Thai beef noodle soup shops where the broth is kept going for years, or decades as in this case, and one just keeps adding and building on the flavour.

Asparagus is served with nori butter, yuzu vinegar and tosa joyu. The zucchini and asparagus come from a vendor at Or Tor Kor and whose village in Mae Hong Son grows small scale organic vegetables for Shun. These vegetables are supplied three or four times a week and are carefully chosen for the table. The size of the asparagus spears are important so that they don't split when being grilled on an open flame.

Tebasaki or middle wing shioyaki is your final chicken course, served simply grilled. This is what yakitori is all about. Sprinkle a simple salt or soy-sauce blend on grilled meat and the taste is unlike anything you can imagine.

A fruit tomato from Chiang Mai is peeled and marinated in white wine dashi. The white wine is made with Arneis grape grown in Piedmont, Italy, and the dry sweetness of the wine goes well with the tomato, adding a good balance to the tartness. Make sure to taste if not drink the dashi the tomato comes in.

You can smell the smokiness of the uzura or quail's eggs the minute they are placed in front of you. (You get three of them.) Smoked in oak sourced from the US, the eggs are marinated ajitsuke-style and are free-range from an organic farm in Khao Yai. One bite and for a minute I thought I was biting into a strip of smokey bacon. I could have easily eaten another three if there was no risk of cholesterol.

The pork belly is free-range, acorn-fed Iberico de Cebo from Spain, grilled with the master tare sauce. At Yanagiya in Japan, you are served local wild boar, but, because it cannot be imported, the Iberico pork belly is as good a substitute. Succulent and so tasty … more please.

I cannot express my love for uni enough, so the next course had me jumping for joy. Ikura temaki or Hokkaido sujiko is served with Bafun uni, otoro and akazu shari, wrapped in nori. The ikura or salmon roe sack is processed the European way. While the Japanese soak the ikura in 60-70C water and pass it through a sieve, at Shun it is procured by the sac and, using a small spoon, scrapped, each membrane removed by hand and washed in cold water. It's not as crunchy as ikura washed in hot water, but has more of a natural taste.

The foie gras is sourced from the Loire Valley and is unlike anything Japanese, especially with the shallot confit. But who really cares when it tastes this good? Supposedly the best part of sirloin is the grade A4 Miyazaki rib cap served with momidare and egg. The sirloin comes with raw egg yolk, imported from Japan and certified free of all germs and bacteria. Mix all the ingredients to get the full flavour of the dish.

The last savoury course is unadon or unagi served with the special tare and yumepirika rice from Hokkaido. The rice has a good amount of stickiness and a natural sweetness that adds to the flavour of the rare wild eel.

A dessert of campfire marshmallows is a fitting end to a meal that is from the fire below and grill ceiling above. Served with swirls of matcha and yuzu creams, dip the fire-licked gooey marshmallows into butter-fried panko crumbs or freeze-dried strawberries for added texture and flavour.

Should you want your own space, Shun By Yanagiya has a private dining area, which seats six. There is also a private bar for those after-dinner wash-it-all-down rare sakes, old-world wines and creative cocktails. Shun By Yanagiya is one of the few restaurants outside of Japan to offer the limited sake Suigei Daito Junmai Daiginjo 2017 Vintage.