Kagurazaka Ishikawa, Tokyo, Japan

Whenever my husband and I visit a city, we try to find at least one signature dining experience that not only gives us the chance to try delicious food we’ve never had before, but also helps us learn more about the local culture.

For Tokyo, we decided to go to the 3 Michelin star Kagurazaka Ishikawa for kaiseki (traditional Japanese dinner). Kaiseki is a multiple course dinner, which involves different cooking techniques such as raw, simmer, grill, steam, and deep fry.  

Ishikawa (named after the restaurant’s chef) is located on a cobblestone street at the charming Kagurazaka area.  The restaurant only has 7 counter seats and 4 private rooms. It was very difficult to get a reservation, but we were lucky to get the second seating of the night at 9:30PM.  We were seated at the counter for the night. Although it was less private, we enjoyed chatting with Chef Ishikawa and his staff during the dinner.

The chef only offers a 9 course menu, which changes seasonally and daily.  You are in for a surprising and delicious dinner.

Our night started with fugu (blowfish) and monkfish liver.  Fugu can be poisonous if not prepared properly. I’ve read stories about people dying after eating fugu that wasn’t handled properly.  These days in Japan, fugu is highly regulated, so restaurants either have people with license to prepare the fugu or buy it from somewhere regulated.  It should be safe to eat it in Japan.

This was my first time eating fugu.  I thought the texture of the fugu was very chewy, like eating rubber.  The taste was mild, but you knew you were eating seafood from the fishy taste.  Although delicious, I wouldn’t risk my life for it.

After the fugu and monkfish came Chef’s take on shirako.

Shirako (fish sperm, usually cod sperm) is a delicacy in Japan.  This was my second time eating it–for my initial experience, please read my blog post on Takiya.  Here, the chef served it deep fried with ginkgo nuts.  I would have never thought that I would compare the taste of fish sperm one day, but I can say that Takiya has better shirako than Ishikawa.  

The next dish was a soup of horsehead snapper and simmered turnip.  It was a perfect dish for a cold winter night.

After that, we had sashimi of sea bream and uni.  While the uni was fresh and sweet, I wasn’t a big fan of sea bream sashimi.  It was too chewy for me to enjoy its taste.

The grilled dish was charcoaled sea perch and shiitake mushroom.  The skin of the sea perch was perfectly crispy and well seasoned. The mushroom added extra umami and juiciness to the dish.

My favorite dish of the night was the next one: conger eel and taro.  Just the look of the dish explained why the chef put these two ingredients together.  The eel, taro, and the silky thick sauce composed a creative and delicious dish – sweet and slimy (in a good way).

I grew up eating rice.  However, the rice at Ishikawa was the most memorable rice that I have eaten in my life.  The grains were freshly harvested, with a slight fragrance and without the milky color that older dried rice has.  We were told to first eat the steamed white rice alone, and then mix it with the sea bream paste and pickled vegetables Chef supplied for garnish.  It was delicious. The rice by itself was a bit sweet and with perfect softness and stickiness. The garnishes added saltiness and crunchiness. I could have eaten the whole bowl!  

We got a surprise dessert from the chef for our honeymoon.  Ishikawa and Hajime were the only restaurants that customized our meals for our special occasion during our honeymoon trip.

Besides good food, we had a good time chatting with the chef and his staff at the counter about delicious food in Tokyo and Kyoto, and also their experiences eating at various restaurants.  It was midnight by the time we left. After we’d walked out, one of the staff ran up to us on the street to give us some rice balls as a gift. I’ve read similar stories from other blogs about this, but it was still a nice gesture.  

If you are looking for a kaiseki meal in Tokyo, I would strongly suggest Kagurazaka Ishikawa.  Remember to book way ahead!

Thanks for reading!  Bon appetit!

Reference Link:

https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1309/A130905/13004079/

https://gm.gnavi.co.jp/shop/0115013402/

http://www.kagurazaka-ishikawa.co.jp/