I wouldn't have chosen to have dinner at a Japanese restaurant during my first time in Amsterdam, but our friend took us out and I was pleasantly surprised. For starters, we had their special appetizer of the day, which I believe was a braised daikon dish with a minced chicken sauce, and an array of crab meat rolls. All were very delicately made and showcased the chef's attention to detail.
For our entrees, we each had an Omakase, which came with Chicken Karaage, Tuna or Salmon Teriyaki, blanched broccoli, Hijiki, pickled celery and green beans covered in a light cream sauce. Every piece of the Chicken Karaage and the Tuna had perfect ratios of luscious fat to savory meat. I was most impressed with the thick slices of tuna, as it honestly looked like pieces of beef steak. While it held together well, it was tender enough to melt in your mouth. The teriyaki sauce was also the best I've had. Far from the generic teriyaki sauces I've had at other Japanese restaurants, this one was reduced enough to become a dense collection of flavors that gave the dish its umami factor. The vegetable dishes were flavorful yet light, and I could have eaten 10 more bowls of each.
The service was great, given the very busy night they were having. A mix up occurred and 2 of our entrees came very late, so they provided us with homemade ice cream and green tea on the house. Even the chef came out to apologize! Completely unnecessary, as we weren't too bothered by it, but we were very impressed by how much they cared about their diners. So sweet!
The homemade Green Tea and Avocado & Coconut Milk ice cream were, like the rest of the dishes, flawless. I was most impressed by how the chef achieved a completely equal flavor balance between the buttery avocado and the coconut milk. I'm still amazed by how perfect each dish was (even the green tea was perfectly steeped) and would come back in a heartbeat. read more