K.T198455
This is the dinner on the first day of my trip to Kyoto. I had it at the restaurant in Hotel Suiran where I stayed. To be honest, I had some dissatisfaction with the hotel staff, but I will refrain from mentioning it as it may be off-topic. The restaurant was reserved at the same time as the accommodation booking, and it was only about 50% full, so booking the day before should be fine. Booking a course on the day itself may be challenging in terms of ingredients. The menu is a style similar to recent innovative French menus. There is also an à la carte menu, but I opted for the course reservation. It will likely cost over 30,000 yen including tax. I also ordered the wine pairing with 5 glasses, which costs around 12,000 yen excluding tax. In total, it was over 40,000 yen. If you are an elite member of the BONVOY by Marriott, like Titanium or Platinum, you can get a 20% discount. In conclusion, the food was somewhat disappointing. Some dishes were good, while others were not. The wine pairing was commendable, but with this many courses and only 5 types of wine (although I got one extra), it was challenging. The sommelier must have put a lot of thought into it with various restrictions, but with this many courses, there can be mismatches. I would prefer around 8-9 different wines, even if they are smaller servings per glass. Well, considering the location, atmosphere, and building costs, it's understandable, but for over 40,000 yen, I expected a bit more effort. The waitstaff in the dining hall were generally efficient and friendly, but some of them were not attentive, not making eye contact and not noticing when I raised my hand, so I had to speak up. Going to a French restaurant and saying "excuse me" too many times is not ideal. The service was speedy, but the next dish came out quickly, leaving no time to savor the moment and making me feel rushed. However, this is a matter of personal preference. Now, my impressions of each dish in order... 1st dish: Fig, Monaka, Foie Gras. A dish with fig and foie gras pâté sandwiched between Monaka. The sauce was not very memorable, and the flavors of fig and foie gras were prominent. The champagne for pairing was poured generously, and it was good. 2nd dish: Sea urchin, chestnut, seaweed. Uni on top of espuma. The flavors were subtle, and the foam didn't contribute much. The sea urchin was mild, and the overall balance was understated. 3rd dish: Conger eel, matsutake mushroom, ginkgo nut. Steamed in a pot. This was the least impressive dish. It felt more like a traditional Japanese dish rather than French. Some additional twist would have been appreciated for innovation. 4th dish: Today's sashimi. I think it was sea bream, seared. Served with olive oil and herbs, it was delicious. The olive oil complemented the mild sea bream well. The second pairing was a Kyoto sake, slightly sweet and fruity, perfect with sashimi. 5th dish: Duck, potato, orange. Duck with orange sauce on the top plate, and potato shingyo on the bottom. Served separately, it was tasty, but the significance of this dish was unclear. The duck was rich, followed by a light broth for the potato, making it hard to discern the flavors. The third glass was a New Zealand Pinot Noir, which paired well with the duck. It's unclear if it was meant for both the sake and the wine, or if it didn't match the potato.