Kaiseki Dreams, Umami Tears
We’re going to switch things up for the next couple of reviews and highlight some really special dinners we had the fortune of experiencing recently. Though y’all know we’re all about those mom and pop shops, we also enjoy an extravagant, treat yo’self meal here and there. We might have to eat McDonalds and top ramen for the next month, but Chef Niki, your food is worth it.
Last night, after four months of waiting, we finally reached our reservation date at n/naka. For those of you that haven’t seen it yet, you should definitely peep the n/naka episode (season 1) on Chef’s Table. After watching this episode, we knew we had to save up for a special occasion and experience Chef Niki Nakayama’s modern Japanese kaiseki cuisine. Rather than explain kaiseki here, you can check out the Wikipedia page if you need to brush up on your knowledge.
We knew we were in good hands immediately upon arrival. There was a little bit of a delay in getting seated, so they gave us all complimentary glasses of champagne from the chef. Not a bad way to start off the experience!
Every single staff member we interacted with was incredible. So kind, so attentive, so knowledgeable. They made sure we knew the name of every dish and even offered to help write down some of the Japanese names and ingredients we didn’t know how to spell. The superb service was persistent from the moment we stepped in until the moment we stepped out. Truly incredible and made us feel so special.
Rather than talk about how delicious each course was individually, we’ll just take the time now to say that every single thing that was served to us was incredible. We’d just be repeating ourselves over and over if we said it for every dish. The attention to detail was awe-inspiring. As Chef’s Table points out, Chef Niki’s attention to celebrating the purity of each seasonal ingredient and combining so many different flavors to achieve umami was unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. We felt so many things from her dishes that we didn’t even know were possible. Many dishes had us stunned, wide-eyed and staring at each other like, “Holy shit. What is happening right now?”
The kaiseki consisted of 13 courses total. We’d love to share what we had the pleasure of tasting with you. Her menu changes frequently since her ingredients are always seasonal. We hope you enjoy taking a peek into what n/naka is currently up to.
Course 1
Saki Zuke
A pairing of something common & something unique
Black Tiger shrimp, shrimp tamale sauce, pumpkin puree, seagrass, crispy phyllo dough
The shrimp was just slightly warmer than room temperature. Every ingredient complemented each other so perfectly. The pumpkin puree’s sweetness and smokiness balanced out the salt and spice from the tamale sauce that coated the shrimp. The fresh seagrass added a nice fresh component, and along with the crispy piece of phyllo dough, just tied every bite together. Totally reminded us of gourmet shrimp chips. Yum!
Course 2
Zensai
Main seasonal ingredient presented as an appetizer
From top left, counter-clockwise
Branzino topped with shimenji mushroom sauce
The branzino fish fell apart in our mouths and was so juicy and succulent. The sauce on top was very refreshing with a peppery, yuzu finish.
Shishito pepper stuffed with shrimp with housemade miso sauce
We love shishito peppers and this might be one of the most delicious recipes we’ve ever tasted. The shishitos were slightly bitter but was complemented by the sweet shrimp stuffing and catapulted into pure dankness by the sweet and salty combo of the miso sauce.
(Middle) Tempura lotus root with curry sea salt and lemons
The tempura was deep fried to perfection and was super crispy. And omg, that curry sea salt tho…. Had us wanting to lick the bowl clean, but we refrained.
Japanese squid with squid ink sauce, wasabi and fermented soybean
Such a crazy weird combo, but in the best way possible. Wasabi and fermented soybean are such bold flavors but they paired perfectly together and with the clean, neutral taste of the squid. The squid was so fresh and soft that it almost melted in your mouth like jello.
Pickled watermelon radish
The radish was naturally bitter but somehow through the picking process, also contained a smokey flavor. It was super juicy and the sour acidity was a nice way to cut through all the heavier bites we had just eaten.
Pluot jelly
Wow! This tasted like the freshest and dankest candy ever. The jelly was molded perfectly into the pluot slice and it was so refreshingly sweet. A perfect finish to this course.
Course 3
Modern Zakuri
A modern interpretation of sashimi
The tuna was extremely high grade and was that melt-in-your mouth texture. It was cut into small bite size pieces so that you could sample each bite with a different sauce as well as mix and match. The beet sauce was quite bitter, but very fresh and earthy. The avocado cilantro sauce was super creamy and buttery. To balance, the nori paste was very mild and ocean-y. The ponzu was very bright, yet smokey. Our favorites were definitely the ponzu and nori paste. What a nice change of pace from always having soy sauce with tuna!
Course 4
Owan
Still water
Baby corn, maitake mushroom
This corn soup was a broth soup yet had the depth, richness and creaminess of a cream soup. The soup had so much depth; it just kept going and going. The sweetness from the baby corn was complemented very nicely by the earthiness of the maitake mushrooms which still retained the crisp, earthy flavor of raw mushrooms despite being cooked through.
Course 5
Otsukuri
Traditional sashimi
Kumamoto oyster with ponzu sauce
So deliciously fresh and just the right amount of buttery sweetness balanced with that ocean flavor we all know and love. The ponzu was very mild and allowed for the natural flavors of the oyster to shine through, yet left a trace of acidity that complemented it perfectly.
Kinki (white fish)
A white fish that was very clean and slightly fishy, but not the bad kind. Very mid in flavor and a fish we’ve never tried before.
Maine lobster
This was also our first time having lobster sashimi. It was definitely still as buttery, but cleaner and fresher than cooked lobster.
Akamutsu (black perch)
Very clean with a slight bite.
Kanpachi (amberjack)
One piece was wrapped around a cucumber and the other was resting up against a slice of lemon. Each piece carried a hint of the ingredient they touched on the plate and it was delicious. The kanpachi was very clean and bright
Course 6
Yakimono
Grilled dish
Unagi (fresh water eel), shiitake mushroom, foie gras, strawberry and balsamic glaze reduction
Oh man… where to even start with this dish. This was definitely one of those dishes that left us both wide-eyed and speechless after our first bite. Every ingredient came together in the most beautiful, complementary way and definitely stimulated dat umami. We are actually salivating from just recalling it. The unagi was sweet and light and together, with the buttery, fatty richness from the foie gras did something crazy. The shiitake helped to ground all the craziness that was going on and that fresh slice of strawberry on top just cut through everything. The balsamic glaze reduction tied everything together and coated your mouth as you chewed and got all up in every crevice of the amalgamation of dankness. IT WAS PERFECT.
Course 7
Agemano
Fried dish
Deep fried rockfish, Ogonori from Santa Barbara, tomatillo sauce, roasted tomatoes, arugula, lemon verbena foam
The fried rockfish was very crispy, but clean and light. Just as with every other dish, every ingredient in this course served a very specific purpose and was deliberately chosen. The acidity and tang from the tomatillo sauce was offset by the sweetness from the roasted tomatoes and floral fragrance from the lemon verbena foam. These flavors, in addition to the mild ocean flavor from the Ogonori and the bitterness from the arugula, all came together to breathe so much vibrant life into the fish.
Course 8
Shiizakana
Not bound by tradition, chef’s choice dish
Spaghettini, mentaiko (pickled cod roe) sauce, abalone, burgundy truffles and kaiware sprouts
This was a special and exciting course to arrive to in our journey because as the name indicates, this course allows the chef to have full reign on the creativity of the dish. The complexity of this dish was totally out of this world. The mentaiko sauce was slightly sour from the pickled cod roe, yet very creamy and rich. It coated the perfectly cooked pasta beautifully and the abalone added a nice, chewy texture to each bite. The burgundy truffles were obviously very strong yet still allowed the other flavors to shine through. That deep, musky truffle flavor really added depth and body to the whole dish. The sprouts added a nice, crisp freshness to every bite.
Course 9
Niku
Meat course
A5 Grade Wagyu from Miyazaki prefecture, pickled pearl onion, romaine puree, fig resting on walnut puree, purple yam puree, potato cream and wasabi cream
This was the first and only red meat of the kaiseki and holy SHIT. This meat was cooked all the way through yet was still one of the most silky, buttery, rich, tender and succulent pieces of meat we’ve ever had. The only meat that would even come close to this was the Matsusaka wagyu at Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M in Osaka, and we left those pretty rare. We cut the meat into small pieces to enjoy with the various sauces. The romaine puree was very light but allowed the flavor of the meat to shine through. The wasabi cream was reminiscent of having horseradish with steak and was absolutely delicious. The potato cream was so fluffy, light and deliciously garlicky. The purple yam puree was sweet and rich. The pickled pearl onions helped to cut through all the richness of all the different flavors in between bites. A grounded and earthy component was the sweet fig complemented by the nutty and slightly chunky puree. It definitely helped to balance out all the savory flavors of the dish.
Course 10
Sunomono
Vinegared salad
Lobster, tomato, passion fruit from the chef’s garden and yuzu sake
It made so much sense that the 10th course would be something very light and refreshing. It was kind of like kicking back and taking a breather from all the rich, dankness we had just consumed. It was a very nice “ahhh…..” moment of reflection. The bite of the lobster, tomato and passion fruit was delicious. The buttery richness of the lobster together with the acidity from the tomato and the sweet crunch from the passion fruit all came together to trigger dat umami, once again. We were instructed to enjoy the yuzu sake after the bite. Smelling the sake felt like taking a walk through a citrus garden. It was so sweet, refreshing and citrusy and helped to cleanse our palette and prepare us for the next course.
Course 11
Sushi
Sushi course
To start, we enjoyed the miso soup first. The soup was savory, deep and had a rich fragrance. The tofu and onion added some nice textures to the soup that were satisfying to munch on with every sip.
The sushi was served in pairs separately. So to start, we had the tai and golden eye snapper. The tai was served with yuzu, lemon and salt and was so clean. It definitely melted in our mouths and the coarse salt added a nice crunch to the soft texture and also added a nice balance to the acidity and brightness from the yuzu and lemon.
The golden eye snapper was served only with lemon which really helped to bring out the flavor of the fish. Also super clean and pure.
Next up was the aji and ebi. The aji was served with Japanese ginger called myoga. The ginger was very yummy and helped balance out the fishiness of the mackerel.
The ebi was served with soy sauce and was so sweet, succulent and buttery. Definitely a favorite.
Next we had two of our favorites. The scallop was brushed with a ponzu sauce which complemented the natural sweetness of the scallop perfectly. The uni and ikura was incredible. The butteriness of the uni melting in your mouth along with the roe oozing out that salty dankness was mind blowing. Why don’t more restaurants have this as a menu item? It makes so much sense because they go SO well together.
Lastly, and as indicated by a very underwhelming photo, we were very excited about our blue crab hand roll. We could really taste the crab and the nori was so crispy and yummy.
Course 12
Sunomono
Refreshing course
Ume sorbet
Our second to last dish was an ume sorbet. By this point, we were both surprisingly full, so a light and refreshing dessert was just what we needed to ease us into the final course. The ume sorbet was very light, fruity and just the right amount of tart.
Course 13
Mizumono
Seasonal dessert
Fuji apple, pomegranate tart, toasted milk ice cream, pomegranate seeds, pomengranate/hazlenut sauce
What a wonderful way to end this experience. The fuji apples were caramelized to perfection and paired with the tartness of the pomegranate tarte was absolutely fantastic. The tarte was such a delectable, crumbly texture. It definitely had us scraping the plate clean. The toasted milk ice cream was very light and deliciously milky. A bite of this along with some pomegranate seeds and the pomegranate/hazlenut sauce was perfection.
Additional Items
As if we couldn’t be spoiled any more, we were also served a wonderfuly high grade, frothy matcha green tea and truffle chocolate with roasted green tea powder.
So that’s that. If you made it this far, kudos to you.
Our experience at n/naka was truly unforgettable. The attention to detail was admirable and Chef Niki’s mastery of the ingredients she uses and the flavors she is able to create are truly something else. The deliberate choices made with each dish are so apparent with every bite. One of our favorite things that left us feeling inspired in our own cooking is the respect for each ingredient individually and how less is often more when you truly know and understand the ingredients you’re working with.
n/naka
3455 Overland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90034
