Tsukanoma / Kimoto

Tsukanoma (つかのま)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🇯🇵 Kaiseki / 📍 Higashi-Gokencho

📓 Visits: 2

Tsukanoma is no more and in July 2022 chef Daisuke Muroi went independent and opened Azabu Muroi.  I have a new review of Kimoto here.

In late November 2020 a one-month popup was announced on Omakase by Kimoto-san.  The note said the food would be cooked by the other employees of Kimoto, would be different from the normal menu and priced at 25K plus tax and service instead of the usual 50K.  My first meal was pretty much perfect and I thought there was surely nowhere else in Tokyo serving kaiseki as good as that at that price, but that would not be the end of the story.

Daisuke Muroi was Ishikawa-san's right-hand-man at Kagurazaka Ishikawa before moving to Kimoto when it relocated from Kobe to Tokyo in late 2018 (excellent reviews of Kimoto in its original location on MissNeverfull here and here).  Daisuke-san is an excellent chef, as is the other sous chef at Kimoto.  As they prepare a number of the dishes themselves at Kimoto anyway I expected the food to be good but a bit more experimental, as the note suggested, and without all the premium ingredients.  In fact, in my first meal, the menu was basically the same as a meal Kimoto, included all the premium ingredients and the cooking was just as good as when Kimoto-san is at the helm.  The owan, in particular, was equal and is one of the best owan's I've ever had.  The Chateaubriand was included, cooked by Daisuke-san, and perfect.  Matcha was not included and the two desserts were replaced with a single dessert of milk kuzukuri but I could hardly fault anything.  The restaurant surely makes a lot of money from selling vintage wines and while wasn't the season for the most expensive ingredients (crab in winter, matsutake in autumn) you're paying 40% less for essentially the same food.  This was a steal and I really wonder how much money Tsukanoma is making from the food compared with what Kimoto makes.  A review on Tabelog has complete pictures of the course.

With no hesitation I booked for the second coming of Tsukanoma in August but that would turn out to be a thorough disappointment.  The hamo in the owan was perfect but the soup had a slightly greasy finish.  Awabi shabu shabu had no taste and was a waste of an expensive ingredient.  The Chateaubriand was as good as always but I happened to be sitting next to a superstar chef and his portion size was much larger than mine.  Chefs will often save the best piece of something for an important or regular customer.  This is particularly noticeable in Japan when you're dining at a shared counter and all guests are served the same dishes at the same time.  With natural ingredients it's not always possible to ensure everyone's portion is the same.  But if you're portioning out something and you intentionally cut a much larger piece for one guest over others, that's just downright rude and with a chef as experienced as this and such a blatant difference in sizes this could not have been anything but intentional.  In the previous meal no starter was served but two grilled fish were served as opposed to one this time.  At Kimoto/Tsukanoma they only cook one pot of white rice, shared between all diners.  Although it comes as two servings (first plain, then as ochazuke) you don't get very much.  You can ask for a second serving of white rice but tonight my bowl was whisked away from me before I could ask.  Finally, the dessert of 'nama cream' with blueberry was not as good as I remembered from previous versions, having a slightly sour taste like yoghurt rather than pure cream and not being as substantial as the milk kuzukuri last time.  The dessert summed up the meal: not as good, not as substantial and disappointing.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1309/A130905/13262420/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.3

📱 Booking: 🟩 https://omakase.in/en/r/gj273878 (easy).  Japanese is not essential but you might have trouble actually getting into the restaurant if you don't follow the instructions (which were sent in English for Kimoto but not for Tsukanoma).

📍 Location: 

5-5 Higashi Gokencho.  8 minutes walk from Iidabashi station Exit C1.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.

Map data ©2021 Google

📅 Visit August 2021

Edamame, uni, dashi jelly
Ayu gohan, karasumi
Hamo, tougan owan
Ise ebi, shiro amadai
Nodoguro yakimono
Tomoroshi agemono, bachiko
Tomato water
Awabi shabu shabu
Chateaubriand
Shiro gohan
Hamo dashi ochazuke
Blueberry nama cream

💴 Damage: 32,010 incl two bottles of water
⏱️ Time taken: 2h

📅 Visit March 2021

Hamaguri gohan
Sansai bachiko owan
Chisai maguro
Sawara yuanyaki
Tomato
Managatsuo agemono
Ise ebi, Ise ebi miso, takenoko
Shiro amadai, Kujo negi
Chateaubriand
Shiro gohan
Kegani ochazuke
Gyunyu kuzukiri, kuromitsu, ichigo

💴 Damage: 32,670 incl bottled water and one drink
⏱️ Time taken: 2h