Restaurant Review: Kazahana at the Conrad Tokyo in Japan

Where to Eat

Michael Taylor was flown to Tokyo, Japan, by United Airlines. This is the fourth in a series of travelogues based on his trip to the Japanese capital.

By the time I reached my hotel, the Conrad Tokyo, it was already late afternoon. There was no time for sightseeing – just enough for a tour of the hotel and dinner at the Conrad Tokyo’s stylish Japanese restaurant, which was selected as one of the Top 10 Hotel Restaurants by US based Hotel Magazine.

Head Chef Masanobu Inaba heads the kitchen at Kazahana Japanese Restaurant, which is decorated with traditional Japanese sumi-e paintings and kura storehouse motifs.

The picture windows along one wall offer a bird’s eye of Hamarikyu Gardens, which belonged to the Tokugawa Shogun during the Edo period.

Mouth Watering Menu

I had dinner with the hotel’s Marketing Communications Manager, who was educated in the United States. She attended university in Northern California, so we had a lot to talk about. Chef Masanobu. meanwhile, put together a mouth watering menu of the restaurant’s yummiest dishes for us.

It really was one of the best Japanese meals I have ever had.

We started with appetizers, which were washed down with champagne. Before moving on the series of courses that were to follow, I was asked what I would like to drink, so I asked for suggestions.

Chilled Sake Is Best

“Sake goes well with Japanese food,” I was advised. When I agreed to sake, I was asked if I wanted it served warm or cold. Before I could answer, I was informed that most Japanese people preferred it cold.

“Sounds good,” I said.

I have never been particularly fond of sake. Perhaps it is because it was always served to me warm. My first sip proved that cold really was better – especially in summer.

But it was only after I started eating all those yummy dishes listed below that I discovered just how well sake goes with Japanese food!

Perhaps it is because sake is, after all, distilled from rice, and rice is the staple of the Japanese diet.

Our Menu

Appetizer
Corn tofu, steamed chicken with sake and seasonal vegetables
Seasonal Dishes
Broiled yellowtail, cucumber, and “Myoga” ginger with mustard and yolk vinegar
“Manganji” green pepper soup, steamed rice with corn
Clear soup of tilefish, clam, wax gourd, “Shiitake” mushroom and “Tsuruna” with “Yuzu” citrus pepper
Assorted Sashimi
Tuna sushi and three kinds of assorted sashimi with traditional garnishes
Grilled “Kamo” egg plant with miso sauce, sea urchin, okura, pine nuts, and ginger
Simmered shrimp, small scallop, roasted duck, wax gourd, and peas with “Yuzu” citrus
Grilled Japanese Wagyu beef 120g
Steamed white rice from Yamagata prefecture with grilled sea eel and soy milk skin
Dessert