Cool Cocktail Evening at Bar Gen Yamamoto

The cocktail place Gen Yamamoto in Azabu-Juban is like a secret hideaway. It is hard to find...for me, and once I enter the cozy bar, I felt something special expectations.

The is a long wooden counter with seven seats surrounding in a small kitchen. The bartender Gen-san prepares the beautiful glassware for the guests and making cocktails efficiently.

It was calm and sacred atmosphere, and we can hear only the water flows and preparing the cocktails.

The bar offers Omakase style, the bartender Gen-san creates the cocktail which is made from the season's best ingredients for the drinks.

The ingredients are mostly in-seasons. There are special kinds of domestic fruits, vegetables which are produced by contracted farmers.

4 kinds of glasses of omakase style cocktails will be served then 3 other glasses of cocktail if you want more.

Each cocktails are amazing both visual and the tastes. Fruits cocktails are made from seasonal fruits which are freshly squeezed in front of me.

Hope you enjoy the evening with stylish cocktails in Tokyo!

Gen Yamamoto

http://www.genyamamoto.jp/bar_tokyo/English.html

*English menus available

Oikawa in Nihonbashi, Enjoy Kyoto style Kaiseki course

Chef Oikawa served gorgeous meals from his small kitchen

I took a Kaiseki, traditional meal course style, Japanese cooking class which is offered by a sake brewery company in early spring. I really enjoyed the class because the chef showed us the cooking techniques generously with a lot of humor.

Generally, Japanese chefs don't talk that much to the guests, chefs are more like reticently.

However, chef oilawa enjoys to communicate people to explain the seasonal ingredients, seasonings and how to cook them.

After I took his cooking class, I decided to visit his restaurant in near future.

I made a reservation for counter seats and looking forward to meet him again in his restaurant.

I visited with my friends for lunch time. The cozy restaurant is in a small alley, and I got lost on the way to the place. My friends went straight to there.

Each dishes are wonderful as I expected. The plates, potteries are fabulous.

There is something nice food in a fish pottery

There is sashimi salad in the fish

There are many tricks in his meal course. That was very impressive and I would say the meal course is not only enjoy delicious food, but also wonderful food experience.

The restaurant takes reservations for non-Japanese visitors. Hope you enjoy the food and the presentation.

OIkawa, Nihonbashi

https://pocket-concierge.jp/en/restaurants/243634

Cherry blossoms are still there!

I went to see cherry blossoms in Shinjuku gyoen, national garden in Tokyo. There are 65 kinds of cherry and 1100 trees of cherry blossoms in the garden. The park consist of various area, such as Japanese landscape garden, French landscape garden and English landscape garden in 144 acres in size.

It's been chilly and crowded temperature past few days, and finally the sun comes up! People enjoy beautiful season and spend under the trees.

Teahouse

There are two teahouse in Japanese garden. One of the house runs for serving certain way of green tea with little sweets. Sometime people in my cooking class asks where visitor can experience tea ceremony, and I always ask them to come this house in the garden. It is rare and precious experience to taste tea in such a beautiful house in the garden.

Most beautiful sakura week in this year.