Seizan

Seizan (日本料理 晴山)

🇯🇵 Kaiseki / 📍 Mita

📓 Visits: 3 (2023 x1, 2014 x2)

Seizan opened in 2011 and went straight into the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2013 with two stars, which it has retained ever since.  It's long had a reputation for excellent cooking at a reasonable price.  The JPY 3,800 lunch course was one of the great lunch bargains.  I managed to go for that twice but at some point it started to become impossible to book with all seats taken by regulars.  Then in 2019 the menu was changed to a JPY 15,000 course.  So I'd given up on lunch long ago but the restaurant had been on my list to visit for dinner forever (and still is).  In 2023, after five consecutive Silver awards, the restaurant won a Tabelog Gold award.  It's not a rare event for a restaurant to win Gold and not retain it the following year.  Looking back no further than 2020 at restaurants in Tokyo alone, this has happened eight times:

• l'equateur (2020)
• Sugalabo (2020)
• Kimura (2020)
• Bon.nu (2020)
• L'Effervescence (2021)
• L'OSIER (2023)
• Takiya (2023)
• Torishiki (2023)

Compare that with Michelin where since the first Michelin Guide Tokyo in 2008 there have only been 6 demotions/deletions of 3-Star restaurants that were still open for general reservations at the time the Guide was published.  These are:

• Hamadaya (2009)
• 7-chome Kyoboshi (2014)
• Mizutani (2015)
• Koju (2015)
• Usukifugu Yamadaya (2020)
• Azabu Yukimura (2021)

So it's not a given that Seizan will win Gold in 2024 but Tabelog Gold restaurants are generally very difficult to reserve, even before they win and even if they don't retain Gold.  So when I saw Seizan had been awarded Gold I decided it would be a good time to return and made a reservation immediately.  This time I went for lunch again.  Since April 2021 the course is now JPY 18,000 inclusive.  In 2019 the 15K course was subject to tax and service.  That's almost 18K so in all this time the restaurant has, effectively, not raised prices.  Prices have gone up almost everywhere so either Seizan has the best buying power of any kaiseki restaurant in Tokyo or there's a reduction in expensive ingredients, but as this was my first time for the 18K course I can't say for certain.

I scored all dishes 8 or 9 out of ten.  Tachiuo is a superb fish and for me needs to be handled much more delicately than it was here.  That said, it was a large piece and still very good but just 8/10.  The most disappointing dish was the rice.  There were plenty of large chunks of scallop but this felt almost like a summer takikomi gohan, seasoned with refreshing sudachi rather than the indulgence of umami I wanted.  Again, 8/10.  Any rice you couldn't eat you could take home.  All the other dishes were easily 9/10 and some might argue 10.  They were essentially faultless but there were no surprises in the meal, nothing really original and nothing that took your breath away.  That's perhaps why Seizan has such a loyal following: pure, simple and faultless kaiseki, excellent service, reasonable price.

If I get an invite for dinner I'd go back but with more kaiseki restaurants on my list than I can visit I won't be making another reservation myself.  That's partly due to the lack of fireworks but mainly due to the reservation policy.  Both my cheap lunch visits were by myself at the counter but the counter can now only be reserved by regulars.  If you want to make your own reservation here you'll be seated at one of the tables which have no view of the kitchen and you need a minimum of two guests.  After my lunch I asked about reserving the counter and they said they weren't taking reservations, though I was able to book a table for another date if I wished.

If you've never been to Seizan I would recommend a visit.  The food is at least as good as 3-Star Ishikawa and many foodies rate it their #1 kaiseki in Tokyo.  But note the reservation policy.

"Seizan Hanare" will open later this year.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1314/A131402/13127807/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.5

📱 Booking: 🟧 Bookings are taken up to two months in advance from the first of each month by phone.  Call in the morning as soon as possible in the month as eventually they will be full.  No English spoken.  See notes above.

📍 Location:

B1F Grande Mita, 2-17-29 Mita.  10-15 mins on foot from Tamachi or Mita stations.  The 87 bus from Shirokane Takanawa or Tamachi stations to Mita 5-chome is also convenient.  B1F multi-tenant building.  Near Ramen Jiro.
Map data ©2023 Google

📶 Free WiFi? ❌ No.  Bad phone reception.

📅 Visit February 2023

Hokkigai, urui, bainiku-ae
Owan: wakame, hokkigai shinjo
Otsukuri: makajiki, aori ika
Fugu shirako imushi
Tachiou, seri
Nimono: ebi imo, Sanda gyu
Hotate, nanohana takikomi gohan
Miso soup, pickles
Wasabon ice-cream, ichigo, rennyu

💴 Damage: 18,000
⏱️ Time taken: 1h30m