Kyoryori Aun

Kyoryori Aun (京料理 阿うん)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🇯🇵 Kaiseki / 📍 Tomigaya

📓 Visits: 2

Rules.  If you've lived long enough in Japan you'll have come to "appreciate" there are rules everywhere.  It's not the rules themselves, whether written or unwritten, but the fact that nearly everyone follows them, that, if you value order, make Japan such a pleasant place to stay.  But if there's one thing that might put you off (or at least puts me off) booking a restaurant is seeing a long list of rules.  It doesn't matter if they're quite sensible and if you've been eating out in Japan long enough you don't need to be told to follow them, it's the fact that they've been written down.  What sort of customers does the restaurant get that they need to be told?  Or, more importantly, are you going to be on edge for the entire meal while a chef with the personality of a headteacher allows you in to his kingdom?

So after seeing all that red font in English on the TableCheck page it was with some trepidation I made my first reservation at Kyoryori Aun.  Prior to October 2023 there was a choice of two courses at dinner priced at either JPY 10,000 or JPY 14,000 and at lunch JPY 4,000, 6,000 or the 10K dinner course.  Since Oct 1st there is now only one course available at lunch and dinner priced at JPY 6,000 and JPY 14,000, respectively.  On both my visits I went for the 4K lunch.  Service charge of 300 yen (lunch) or 600 yen (dinner) will be added to your bill.

The menu had a definite format across both my visits but there were enough differences in each dish to keep it interesting and I could feel the difference in seasons.  The soup is at least 9/10, pushing 9.5.  Notice also how the dashi is near the brim of the bowl: it's a large and very satisfying owan, unlike the half bowl you get in most places.  The pudding I scored 8.5 on visit #1 and 9.5 on visit #2.  For execution I gave it 10/10 and only marked it down slightly due to lack of originality and it needing more expensive ingredients.  The rice dish has been maybe the weakest (8/10).  I like my rice dishes with real umami and you're not going to get that from togarashi or Kyoto-style Kaiseki and Japanese mushrooms really don't do it for me.  You can generally have up to two bowls of rice at lunch (you can't take home what remains) but on my second visit, as there were so few guests, I got a third.  The fifth dish on both visits has been namafu age-dashi.  I think fried food is best when as crispy as possible but this is the best place I've had age-dashi.  The batter has good flavour, the dashi is good and it's all blisteringly hot.  8/10.  Every other dish I've scored 9/10.  Overall, the cooking here is virtually faultless.  The only thing holding back the tens is the quality of ingredients which are very good but which would cost ten times as much to be perfect.

On my first visit 9 out of the 10 seats were occupied but on my second visit there were just three other guests (having the 6K course) so the meal finished more quickly.  The difference between the two lunch courses was one extra dish (kamo nasu dengaku on visit #1 and kinmedai sumi-yaki on visit #2) and the addition of hamo to the age-dashi.  I don't think this is worth the extra 2k but it's there's no other choice at lunch now.

What I did not know, until I visited, was that chef Onoyama worked for 18 years at Kikunoi.  Both at 3-Star Kikunoi Hoten in Kyoto and as head chef at the 2-Star Tokyo branch (where I had one excellent meal in 2015 let down by grumpy service).  So you've got a two-Star chef serving food at upscale izakaya prices.  Like I always say, Michelin loves a legacy and Aun debuted in the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2024 with a Star, fully deserved though incredibly not quite with a Star.

Before you enter the restaurant (located in Tomigaya, the 'coolest' neighbourhood in Japan and 10th coolest in the World - (cough!) the rules (no perfume, no smoking) are stuck to the door and just in case you hadn't got the message you'll have to read past the rules again printed on the drink menu on the table.  In person, chef Onoyama doesn't say much between courses but he's quite welcoming and will engage if you speak.  He can also speak decent English, as can his assistant, a little.  So don't let those rules put you off: the chef's a nice guy and the food is great!

📅 Visit September 2023

🕛 Lunch

Yuba chawanmushi
Katsuo, nori, kimi shoyu
Hamo owan kome-yaki
Nasu, dashi
Kabocha, namafu, age-dashi
Maitake, shiitake, shimeji gohan
Milk pudding, satsumaimo puree

💴 Damage: 4,300
⏱️ Time taken: 1h5m

📅 Visit July 2023

🕛 Lunch

Yuba tofu, tomorokoshi, edamame
Maguro imushi, nori, kimi shoyu
Hamo owan
Kuruma ebi, daikon oroshi, kuri, goma, myoga
Zucchini, namafu, age-dashi
Niwatori, Manganji togarashi gohan
Hojicha pudding

💴 Damage: 4,300
⏱️ Time taken: 1h25m

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130301/13230258/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.2

📱 Booking: 🟩 Easy.  Next day via TableCheck.

📍 Location: 

1-33-6 Tomigaya.  From Tomigaya crossing, a little further on after Haramasa.  The entrance is slightly hidden down some steps behind a black wall. 5 mins from Yoyogi-Koen station Exit 2 and Yoyogihachiman station South Exit.
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