Maeda - Kyoto
All diners sit at a single counter, and take no photos of the food
Rating: 18/20
Where: Kyoto, Japan
When: Dinner for 2 on 12 May 2023
Cost: Tasting menu 50000 Yen
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars (2023), Tabelog Bronze Award (2023)
Why: Delicious riffs on traditional Japanese cuisine; great atmosphere
Note: Maeda returned its Michelin stars in the 2024 edition of the guide at the chef’s request. Reportedly, the cooking is still as good as ever, though.
Maeda was the third and final stop on our short trip to Kyoto. Even though the restaurant holds three Michelin stars, we had tempered our expectations after somewhat underwhelming visits to Mizai and Hyotei earlier in the week. And the restaurant's location in a touristy part of Kyoto didn't seem to bode particularly well either. Luckily, our fears turned out to be entirely unfounded.
The restaurant serves all diners at a communal counter. On the night we visited, there were nine guests, but one could probably squeeze in an additional person without trouble. About half the diners started with us at 6pm, and the others showed up at 7pm.
Before I even get to the food - what a different atmosphere compared to our previous two meals in Kyoto! At Hyotei, we sat in a private dining room by ourselves. And at Mizai, there was hushed silence when dishes were served. Here, the evening turned boisterous and chatty towards the end. I suppose copious amounts of sake and wine helped, but the friendly and happy chef and his assistant created an open atmosphere where it was ok to ask about the dishes and talk to your seat neighbor. An example where the “feel” of a restaurant is a reflection of the chef's personality. The couple next to us were regulars, and I can see why they would want to be. Refreshingly different from the formality found at the vast majority of three Michelin starred restaurants.
Regarding food, there was just a single tasting menu served to everyone. I can't say anything about the accommodation of dietary restrictions, since the menu was pescatarian to begin with. There was no beverage pairing, and not even a wine list - when we asked for a half-bottle of white wine, the sous-chef showed us the actual bottles that were available. I went by the chef’s recommendations for sake, and ended up with a nice sequence of three carafes, going from sweet to very dry to somewhere in-between. All our drinks together ended up costing around 30000 yen, which seemed a reasonable price for what we were getting.
My main criticism of Maeda would be its no-picture policy. It was particularly unfortunate since the dishes were very nicely presented. The plating was simple and straightforward, as there were only the chef and his apprentice doing all of the work (including serving the customers), but very nicely done nevertheless. So for the second time in a short while, here is a blog post without any pictures of food. Please don't shoot the messenger.
The first dish we received was sesame tofu that was topped with lemon zest and wasabi, and served in a broth of soy sauce, dashi and mirin. The tofu had a silky, creamy consistency with a hint of nuttiness, and it went great with the broth and wasabi. A winner 18.
Even better were fried pieces of abalone, served with asparagus and an abalone liver sauce. The abalone was served warm, and was intensely flavorful with a very light bite. I have rarely had abalone fried, and this was an excellent presentation. The green asparagus was juicy and flavorful, and salted just the right amount. A dish that was ostensibly simple, but bursting with flavor 19.
The next course felt almost like a U-turn. Loquats, tomatoes and potato plants (i.e. not the potatoes themselves, but the stems above them) were dressed with lime zest and a tofu sesame sauce. The sauce was lovely with a slightly gritty consistency, but lighter than in the previous courses. It went best with the tomatoes and potatoes; the loquats were surprisingly sweet for what one would consider the savory part of the menu 17.
Next was a giant grilled clam. It was prepared in front of us - all the way, starting with the live clam. The clam was served with a piece of lime, some green, crunchy vegetables and a tiny bit of spicy mustard. I didn't think that the clam by itself had much flavor, it just contributed a little chewiness to the dish. But it went really well with the vegetables and the mustard. Quite tasty 17.
Simmered eggplant was served cold with shavings of dried maguro tuna on top. The eggplant was juicy, but overall this dish was very, very light in flavor. A bit more oomph would have been nice 14.
Traditional kaiseki this dinner was not, but we still received a clear broth. This one contained a piece of snapper and a shiitake mushroom. The fish was good, but quite fatty. The broth was more flavorful than the examples that we had in the previous days. Still light in flavor compared to what you'd see in Western cuisine, but quite powerful compared to other Japanese versions. My favorite part of the dish was the very smoky mushroom 18.
Next up, a sashimi course. Flounder (karei) and uni were served with some greens and wasabi. They also came with two saucers: one containing a orangeish-colored fish liver sauce, the second mushrooms marinated in soy sauce. Not traditional Japanese sashimi sauces by any stretch of the imagination, but holy shit, they went amazingly with the fish. The liver sauce was bursting with flavor, and the mushrooms were very salty and also very good. The fish was best used as a foil for the sauces, since by itself it was pretty taste-neutral and too chewy for me. The uni was decent, but I've had better examples 19.
Mantis shrimp (shako) had been filled with egg yolk from Hokkaido. It was served with red and yellow peppers, green beans and shiso flowers. The shrimp was of very good quality and the crumbly, gritty egg yolk provided an interesting textural difference. The peppers added some welcome freshness and crunchiness. The acidic sauce was also very nice 18.
Roasted sea eel (anago) was topped with a “salad” of julienned leeks, Japanese ginger (myoga), Sancho pepper and ginger. Even though the eel had been roasted right in front of us, it was at most lukewarm by the time we ate it. The salty, acidic, fresh tasting salad was great in combination with the less flavorful eel. My only nitpick would be that even though the eel’s texture was good, it was a bit too chewy 18. My dining companion (and sister) thought this was at least a 19, she was especially fond of the salad.
A minimalist dish came next: green peas served in a clear liquid. Said liquid also tasted of peas, and was very flavorful indeed. The peas might have been a bit overcooked, but this was a lovely intermezzo 18.
Grilled freshwater eel (unagi) had been filled with burdock roots. It was served with deep-fried and then grilled baby corn as well as purple baby ginger. The eel was nicely smoky and fatty, and the corn sweet and juicy. Both very nice 18.
Another cold dish: crab meat was served with okra and a vinegar jelly. The crab was of excellent quality and the jelly added some nice pep. The okra was nicely crunchy, a good contrast to the mealier crab 18.
Octopus had been simmered in a sugary sauce, creating some complex flavors. It was served with a simmered potato croquette (almost an oxymoron), lotus root, Japanese fruit, green beans and ginger on top. The octopus tasted great, but was extremely chewy. The lotus and a green vegetable mochi had the opposite problem, they didn't taste of much. Better was the potato croquette: it was like a bit of nice mashed potatoes, since it had lost any semblance of crunch thanks to sitting in the sauce. Overall, a dish where some bits and pieces were good, but the rest were only ho-hum 15.
The final savory dish was rice topped with bamboo shoots and bottarga. Next to the rice bowl were pickles: cucumber, eggplant and some herbs. The trick here was to eat everything together, and add the supplied soy sauce to one’s heart’s content. The rice by itself was nothing special, and the bamboo, while juicy, was a bit tempered by the bitter bottarga. The cucumber pickle was great by itself, nicely crunchy, while the eggplant had a soft texture and clean taste, but didn't seem pickled at all. Reportedly, this was a very special eggplant only found in Osaka. All pickles had spent one day in fermented rice bran. As I said at the beginning, all nitpicking became irrelevant when combining the ingredients, they went extremely well together 18.
Our first dessert was simple: mango pieces were topped with an orange sherbet and passion fruit. The mango by itself was incredibly sweet perfection. The orange and passion fruit were very nice as well, but it was the mango that carried this dish 19.
Finally, warabimochi was topped with sweet toasted soybean powder. This was an excellent mochi: slightly chewy, but not too much, a bit nutty, not too sweet, lovely 18.
Overall: Oh, what a night. Delicious Japanese food that belied its location in the touristy parts of old Kyoto - this was not old-school Kaiseki by any means. A series of delicious courses referenced traditional dishes. While the cuisine was definitely Japanese (no fusion here), it still managed to be novel. Add to that the friendly atmosphere at the shared counter, and this is a place I'd happily return to 18.