It’s a lesser-known fact (among non-Japanese) that New Year is the biggest annual festival in Japan. One thinks of all those “visits to the shrine”, the Sapporo Snow and Cherry Blossom festivals, and assume that their New Year’s is merely a gracious nod to the Western Gregorian phenomenon.
But as with so much about Japan, you never realise unless you’ve been there. At least not until the Okura Prestige – “representing the essence of elegance and refined Japanese hospitality” – checked-into the Big Mango. With its “invigorating blend of Japanese beauty …. and ultimate in impeccable Japanese service”, the word is “authenticity”, including, in culinary terms, being as cosmopolitan as Tokyo which has more Michelin-stars (302) than Paris (141), so there. How many of those stars accrue to Japanese establishments is another question but their penchant for haute cuisine surely follows on from their inbred familiarity with their own no-nonsense cookery.
At Bangkok’s Okura outpost, the focus of Japanese cuisine is Yamazato (“Mountain Village”) on the 24th floor. Given how high it flies the Japanese flag, it’s bound to be uber-authentic, the direct descendent of the eponymous restaurant in Amsterdam that’s Michelin starred since 2001, with Head Chef Shigeru Hagiwara ex-Yamazato Tokyo, 90%+ of ingredients are imported from Japan.
Naturally, Yamazato’s also where the Japanese New Year action’s at, coupled with ceremonies in the neighbouring ikebana floral art-themed lobby. And while the Japanese don’t go in for funny hats, streamers and whistles, they do pull out the culinary stops, in a contemplative Japanese kind of way.
So if you like the idea of ingesting avatars of good health and fortune without overloading calories, it’s an excellent opportunity to experience the real Japanese fine dining deal without flying.
We trialled this year’s Osechi-Ryōri Kaiseki and found it to be a delightful, on-message unfolding of fanciful flavours and aesthetics. (Kaiseki is a centuries old, multi-course, epicurean tradition, steeped in Imperial ritual, emphasising colour, texture and spiritual connection, and osechi-ryōri is the concept particular to New Year.) It’s priced Baht 4,500++ - but you’d pay 2-3-times that in Japan. And it’s quite an experience.
It begins with an amuse bouche platter. There’s a delicate dish of handmade gingko nut and sesame tofu with steamed sea urchin, broad bean, and soy sauce. There’s marinated herring fish roe curd buried beneath dried bonito flake, conjuring an illustrious family line. There’s simmered “ayu” sweetfish with roe, fresh black soy bean and pine leaf emitting ocean- and forest-redolent flavours.
Next is a consummate clear soup with sea bream, oboro kelp, and shredded leek. The bream’s red skin earns it the handle “sakuradai” at this time of year, meaning “cherry blossom”, inculcating a further awakening. Moreover, “madai”, sea bream in Japanese, sounds like “medetai”, meaning festive. Who knew?
The Japanese degustation then delivers the finest sashimi, including the most-prized tuna belly, yellowtail, sweet shrimp, and rare Ezo abalone, fetishized for its evocative aroma and tenderness.
Next is an indulgent grilled dish of tender Japanese beef sirloin and foie gras with yuzu miso dressing and matsutake mushroom enjoying its brief peak season. Then a steamed dish of red snapper crowned with turnip, crab meat, matsutake, and salmon roe in another ambrosial broth.
Sarashina fresh soba noodles and kakiage tempura of scallop, sakura shrimp and leak, with noodles of dipping sauce you spice with fresh wasabi, ensure you feel full.
Delicate as a zen garden, the dessert juxtaposes melons multiple ways with matcha warabi mochi bonbons you dunk in yummy black syrup.
While some will adjourn to imbibe elsewhere at this point, the form for others is to linger longer and order their Toshikoshi buckwheat noodles (Baht 800++ ea) – a symbolic letting go of hardship, available 22:00-23:30 hrs. – in-situ.
As lofty sliding doors are gracefully whisked open to reveal mountain village-esque warm wood finishes and creased walls and ceiling evoking intricate origami folds, there’s already a sense of entering a holy place. From bright origami crane totems to each artful bowl, the presentation, too, feels like a blessing as Kimono-clad restaurant manager Satoko Shiozaki and similarly-apparelled staff discharge meticulous service rituals with precision playfulness. Seated in a booth, at the teppanyaki or sushi counters, calming zen music gently chimes while nearly floor-to-ceiling windows reveal the shimmering arc of the city skyline.
If, as they say, you are what you eat, then Yamazato’s Osechi-ryōri Kaiseki customers can contemplate a very good 2018 indeed. Just be in the lobby by 10 am on January 1 to hammer sticky mochi rice traditionally consumed with red bean paste for more fortitude and fortune.
THE OKURA PRESTIGE BANGKOK Park Ventures Ecoplex, Wireless Road. Tel 02 687 9000 email yamazato@okurabangkok.com
