16 November 2017
I was fuelled by the nice lunch at Unagi no Kawahara, but I was still challenged by a second day of 15km+ trekking. Yesterday in Osaka I pushed way over 15km, for which my feet have not forgiven me…and now I do this again, going around various parts of Nara by foot instead of train and bus…
About 4 hours of hard and fast walking I finally headed into the famous park to chill out — and to enjoy hanging with the deer. The ones near the front don’t even try anymore, having figured out there are so many lazy tourists not willing to walk deeper into the park…
Nevertheless I did, and it was quite nice to see a wee bambi chasing mum for milk. I daren’t get too close as an angry pappy — with full, untrimmed antlers, was standing by keeping an eye out for the few tourists in that section. But you had plenty of happy deer, though some were not impressed that all I could offer them was tea and not biscuits…
I spent the rest of the afternoon there enjoying the park and the deer before I made my way towards my dinner destination. I chose to eat early tonight as I needed to get back to Osaka. But I really wanted to try this place, one of the most storied eateries in this town, Wayamamura.
I was surprised to learn that Wayamamura is actually a 3-Michelin restaurant, which I found out after I asked my Osaka hotel concierge to try for a booking. I had forgotten the guide covered Nara. But that’s inconsequential, as my 3-star meal at Taian the other day didn’t blow me away. I got to Wayamamura and was immediately greeted by a smiling staff, who had prepared a hand-written menu for me in English.
This reminds me so much of Ichi in Tokyo (which incidentally is where I’m headed for dinner the next night), how they take the time and care to explain the ingredients to their foreign guests. I can see I’m going to like this place. I left my sake selection to Chef, and soon one appeared. Then soon after the opening item arrived…
A very simple start, fresh crab with various vegetables including udo (mountain asparagus). Delicious, very clean and crisp. Nice start. Then a soup dish…
The broth is quite nice, and you had a tasty dumpling of prawn and abalone that unfortunately fell apart a bit when I tried to eat it. But it was quite tasty, alongside the wood ear mushrooms. Really a nice little treat here. Enjoying this dinner so far. Then we move to the third and rather modest looking rice dish…
Oh my, this deceives the eye. Chef made some glutinous rice and sprinkled onto it some konoko (dried sea cucumber ovary). Really simple yet tasty! Then we have a plate of sashimi that I thought was fugu, but it’s actually okoze (stonefish)…
Never had okoze before, which is a very poisonous fish but totally safe to eat. Nice, similar to many fish of this type in taste, a tad more interesting than fugu. That was actually not on the written menu and I think Chef got this in and decided to serve it. That’s actually one of the nicer themes of this dinner…
With another sake on the way we continue with the sashimi theme with this…
Wow, right? This tray was so big it couldn’t fit on my part of the counter… First up on the left is a nice assortment of fish…
The hirame (flounder) was quite good, with some of its engawa (fin) too. The ika (squid) was nice, but the toro was just lovely. Then on the right…
A Japanese lobster. Wow… Lovely meat, with the sweetness you’d expect from this delicacy. I was cheating a little by trying to poke at the head to get some of the brain… Not much luck tho… Then next up was another tray that was too big for the counter, and I had to blink a few times here…
Wow…I can’t even describe the hassun… In front you have a sesame tofu topped with uni, then going clockwise you have ebi (shrimp) and tai (sea bream), then the persimmon with shredded veggies and raw fish selection, then karasumi (bottarga) with daikon next to a eel and burdock roll, then shirako, then fried gingko nuts and taro — all with edible skewers. Wow…
I was blown away by this hassun, which took awhile to eat as you can imagine. Chef smiled as he watched us enjoy this amazing spread… This 3-Michelin is blowing away the 3-Michelin in Osaka… Wow… I caught my breath afterwards and the dinner continues in full force…
Next up was grilled amadai (tilefish) in a starchy yet tasty sauce, garnished by some mochi made of gingko. Really delicious. Yesterday’s sauce for the amadai at Yuuno didn’t work at all, but this was excellent. Next up was shrimp — the head fried, and the body ready to be cooked…
Then they bring out a mini grill — goodness this was actually kind of cute!
We grilled the prawn and enjoyed the fried head. All quite excellent. Again, not on the menu, I think Chef is improvising a little and adding things on here and there, which is rather cool. Talking cool, next up is the cold dish.
You have some really nice crab with mustard greens and yam on the right, and on the left scallop with purple daisy and a citrus-based jelly. Worked well to bring the sweetness out of the scallop. Another hit! Then a surprise from an earlier course…
Remember how I mentioned I was trying to pick at the head of the lobster to get to the brain? Well…
I guess Chef read my mind…oh my… It took awhile for me to get through this but wow it was nice… Again, off the menu, a wee surprise… Wow, right? It’s still going full force! Next up is the steamed course…
After all the hearty dishes it’s good to have one that focuses on vegetables. Here we have daikon, taro and spinach gracing a special mochi made with pumpkin. Really wonderful seasonal dish here, lovely. I was getting very full at this point and just perfectly we have the rice dish to close things out…
A rather simple one with shirasu (dried baby sardines), which I chose over several other possibilities. This worked so well…
Oh my I was full! And the 3rd pot of sake was drained, and I was more than happy… What a fantastic dinner! Then the dessert…
A lovely fruit bowl with jelly…the quality of fruits are so amazing here. Melon and persimmon were shaped into spheres to join grapes in this lovely closing number. Wow I’m full, and wow I’m happy!
This was a spectacular dinner, and it’s shocking that it’s cheaper than either of the courses at Taian or Yuuno — despite the far larger volume and the far better quality and the far wider breadth of ingredients. Spectacular, one of the best kaiseki dinners I have ever had.
I thanked Chef and the staff for not just the fabulous food, but the wonderful hospitality. They did a wonderful job with all the customers not just at the kappo, but also in several adjacent rooms — including one with a crying baby all night. And considering many of the guests are Chinese tourists, they managed quite smoothly with service and language. I’m impressed.
Good enough to make me want to come back here just for dinner next time I’m in Osaka, even with the long commuter train journey back there like I had to take…but it’s so worth it…
Wayamamura [和やまむら]
2-11-15 Shibatsujicho
Nara, Japan
* Just to show I’m not that crazy, as much as I wanted to go back to Tayutayu again for a nitecap my stomach was beyond full even into next morning…Wayamamura has certainly done its job right!