u/Alexinova

After our trip concluded, my travel partners and I sat together to discuss our favorite experiences in Japan. As we discussed all of the different things we experienced, from exploring historical sites to hiking through islands and mountains, we all agreed that shiro was our number one highlight of the trip.

Service
shiro is exceptionally small, limited to 8 countertop seats. The setting is intimate with Chef Takenaka interacting with everyone, including us despite the language barrier. The intimacy of the setting alongside the view of Chef Takenaka and his team putting together each course made the whole experience magical. shiro also had my favorite interior of the many restaurants I went to in Japan, with a sleek, minimalist and contemporary look. It was an overwhelmingly welcoming and relaxing experience.

Food
shiro’s 10-course tasting menu starts at JPY18,000 with a tea and/or wine pairing available at JPY26,000. I went for the tea pairing. Though the reservation specified 10 courses, the menu had 11. An additional two secret courses not included on the menu were also served, bringing the count to 13 courses. The lunch took almost 2 hours 45 minutes from start to finish.

There were no misses. From start to finish, each course was refreshing, innovative and a joy to eat. I can still feel the textures and flavors on my tongue due to how distinct everything was. One of the things I genuinely appreciated about shiro was that the creativity did not compromise on taste, with everything being absolutely to die for.

To be honest, it’s hard to pick a few select highlights from the menu since I found the whole experience to be faultless. But I will try to narrow down my favorite courses.

Some of the highlights of the menu for us were:

1. Oyster Icecream: Japanese Rock Oyster/Lemon Jelly/ Wow. The very first course woke us all up. Each bite was electric, the textures of the sour lemon jelly simply divine alongside the savory Oyster Icecream. It was the perfect way to wake our senses up and freshen us after a long humid day.
2. Tempura: American Prosciutto/Conger Eel/ Textural beauty. With the prosciutto layered on top of a crispy tempura, the combination is to die for. The heat and the crispiness of the tempura accompanied by the cold cut meat made it an absolutely perfect bite.
3. Secret Mackerel Course: Horse Mackerel Sashimi/ Chef Takenaka announced to all of the guests that they had fresh mackerel come in the morning so they decided to serve a secret course of Mackerel sashimi. Over our trip we had quite a few sashimi courses, all excellent. But the one at shiro still lives in my heart. It was unparalleled in how fresh it felt. Exceptional.
4. Banana Dessert: Spiced & Camaralized Banana/Zabaglioni/Bourbon Gelato/Cacao Chips/ Winning the prize for my new favorite dessert. Banana and chocolate are tried and tested combinations but the indulgence of the boozy gelato, the kick of spice in the banana, and the crunchiness of the chips, it all came together into a beautiful crescendo that served as the perfect send-off.

Final Thoughts

shiro is excellent. As Chef Takenaka bid us good bye and walked us to the exit, I told him that shiro deserved more than 1 star and I meant it. Through all of my fine dining experience to date, shiro is my favorite one and I will be revisiting Kyoto specifically to visit this restaurant again. Chef Takenaka deserves a lot of success for what he’s achieved with shiro and I hope that next time it’s a bit harder for me to get a reservation because of their popularity.

Service

Coming from Canada, the level of service, attention, care and pampering were at a completely different level. I have had amazing service before but rarely have we had an experience where we felt like we were ‘royalty’. One of the highlights of the service was the Host sitting down with us and teaching my travel partner how to make the perfect dashi broth after he mentioned to her he's always struggled with this.

The dining experience is inside of a private room, each room featuring a view of the restaurant’s gorgeous garden.

The Food

At JPY17,600, Kashiwaya is perhaps the most budget friendly 3 Michelin star meals one can get in Japan. We had the Ume course which is exclusively available during lunch hours. The lunch took, in total, 3 hours.

The meal began with complimentary Kashiwaya Sake sourced from a brewery in Nara. We were also served Ume-Kobucha, a welcome drink. A simple combination of warm water and seaweed.

Walking into Kashiwaya, I did have some concerns that kaiseki style cooking might have flavors too subtle or light for us to appreciate. But, perhaps partially thanks to the warm and humid climate, everything worked perfectly for us. The flow and composition of the menu was perfect, taking us on a journey through what the season had to offer. There were no misses.

Our three favorite items on the menu for us were:

1. Saki-Zuke: Wax-Gourd Noodles/Prawn/Sea Urchin/Shiitake Mushrooms/Mitsuba Green/Wasabi/Yuzu/ A cold noodle dish, the texture of the wax-gourd noodle was sublime. With a deep flavor of the sea, it was the perfect course to cool us down after a warm day. 
2. Hassun: scallop/cucumber/white-celery/rikyu-fu/burdock/sesame/pine nut/egg cake/sweet potato/ginger/snape pea/myoga/ Fresh seasonal vegetables, my favorite being a ginger which exploded with flavor. My other favorite featured vegetable was white celery coated in sesame and pine nuts. A delicious, woody and nutty taste. The highlight here was the egg cake that was deliciously silky and soft.
3. Yaki-Mono: Ayu/Tade-greens sauce/ Crunchy and crispy Ayu paired with green water pepper sauce. Bitter and strong kick of the fish complimented by the acidic taste of the sauce. An intense flavor that served as a contrast to the many subtle and fresh ones before it.

Final Thoughts

Kashiwaya Osaka Senriyama was a beautiful 3 hour escape from the world. I was concerned that my travel partners would be upset with how much time the lunch took away from the day or would dislike the subtlety of the dishes. But they came out of that experience in love with every moment. I would recommend it to anyone look for a more traditional kaiseki experience.