Fall foliage in Kyoto is one of the most beautiful scenes that I’ve ever seen. Imagine viewing colourful autumn leaves against the backdrop of Kyoto’s most gorgeous historical sites including temples, shrines and beautiful gardens. Ahhh…
Since we can’t travel to Japan this fall, Kampachi EQ is bringing us a piece of Japan by offering an extraordinary Autumn Season Kaiseki from 4th to 18th October 2020. This multi course indulgence that tickles all five senses is prepared by Japanese Chef Tsutomu Hanieshi, using only the finest seasonal ingredients from Japan.
5 course Lunch: RM 350 per adult (12pm-3pm)
8 course Dinner: RM 600 per adult (6pm to 10pm)
Advance reservation of two days is required. Guests may call +60327897723 or book through TableApp.
Chef Hanieshi has more than 30 years of experience in Kaiseki dining. He was the Executive Chef of Hotel Nikko in United States before landing a job with Kampachi EQ.
We started with an aperitif of selected Yamada-Jyuro Plum Wine with soda, and served a zensai platter that consists of Salmon Roe with Rice Malt, Candied Chestnut, Fresh Sanma Burdock Roll, Persimmon and Monk Fish Liver (ankimo).
The chestnut may looked simple but it went through many hours of cooking to get rid of that bitter taste of its skin. True enough, the skin was soft and sweet, just like its flesh. I’ve always love ankimo – very rich and creamy, but yet at the same time very light and delicate, feeling silky and velvety to the palate.
For suimono, we had the clear soup with matsutake mushroom, pike conger, carrot, mitsuba parsley accented with citrus peel. The clear dashi soup is packed with so much umami flavours that I enjoyed so much – simplicity at its best.
The tsukuri course came in an ice-layered bowl with raw slices of kinmedai, ark shell and ootoro. The kinmedai sashimi was delicate and tender, with a light umami flavour. The ootoro was thick and fatty almost to the point of falling apart and literally melts in my mouth. My favourite was the ark shell/akagai – it was crunchy and sweet, and the more you chew on it, more sweet flavours get released.
Our fourth course was a mushimono (steamed) item. It tasted as good as it looked. It was a rice dumpling with steamed pumpkin, onion, minced chicken and topped with momiji gluten and a thick broth.
I always look forward to the agemono course because I love fried food. We were served an assorted tempura – maitake mushroom, ginkgo sweet potato, japanese pepper with lemon and charcoal salt.
Our yakimono (grilled) course comes in two choices – Aigamo Roast (duck breast) or beef steak. The Australian Premium Sirloin Steak was tender with great beef flavour, so good with the butter soy sauce.
The roast duck breast with special wasabi sauce was cooked with a juicy, rosy medium.
I love how the chef elevated a simple cold soba dish to Soba Sushi Rolls. First, we dipped the soba sushi roll (comes in two flavours) into the tsuyu, and topped it with some spring onion and wasabi. So refreshing.
For dessert, we had the deep fried Japanese fig with a sweet sesame sauce infused with brandy, as well as sweet potato jelly. I love warm and light desserts like these, what a perfect ending to our already perfect meal!
What a privilege to be experiencing a meal that is beautifully harmonised and a seasonal expression of edible art. This exquisite menu is available for a limited time until 18th October at Kampachi EQ, please call +60327897723 for reservation or book through TableApp.
