Japanese Travelog Part Six
Michael Taylor is flown to Tokyo, Japan, by ANA InterContinental Tokyo, where he spends two nights as part of a press trip of journalists and travel writers from Hong Kong. Today Michael reviews one of the hotel’s three Japanese restaurants.
Three Japanese Restaurants
The hotel has three Japanese restaurants. Sushi Kenzan serves – not surprisingly – Japanese sushi. Teppanyaki Akasaka serves top grade Japanese beef as well as seasonal seafood and vegetables. The Japanese Restaurant Unkai serves traditional Kaiseki cuisine.
Overlooking a lovely Japanese garden, Japanese Restaurant Unkai serves lunch and dinner in traditional Japanese surroundings. There are five private dining rooms and three tatami rooms.
Dishes run from tempura to sushi to green tea ice cream. The shabushabu is highly recommended.
Introductation to Japanese Culture
We ate at the Japanese Restaurant Unkai as part of a full day of activities planned for us by the concierge and MICE teams at the hotel. The day kicked off with an introductory lesson in the traditional Japanese art of paper making (to be covered in a future post).
Our lunch was the second item on the agenda. And this wasn’t to be just any lunch. That was made clear to us when we were greeted at the entrance of a private dining room by two lovely geisha, who welcomed us and escorted us inside.
Following a short introduction, they performed three dance routines: two solo and one dual. They then kneeled between us and chatted with us while we enjoyed a yummy bento box lunch.
Bento Box Lunch
It was explained to us that bento box lunches could be served if we wanted to dine outdoors in a park or at a temple.
Arrangements like this were popular with events organizers wanting to take attendees out of the conference room and into the community.
Lunch was yummy – especially the tuna sushi. Wow! That has GOT to be the yummiest tuna sushi have ever eaten in my entire life!
To Be Continued
This is the sixth in a series. Next up: touring Tokyo by helicopter.