Haramasa

A little away from the chaos of Shinjuku there’s a kaiseki restaurant which is drawing in foodies from all over the capital. The owner, Hara Shotaro, spent 13 years as an understudy at a highly-rated kaiseki restaurant before opening his own place. Chef Hara mixes a strong knowledge of tradition with idiosyncratic creative flair. The result is some of the most playful and delicious kaiseki dishes in Tokyo. Take for example his truffle rice specialty, with a whole truffle shaved into a claypot of rice, or his hassun (a seasonal mixed platter), which lets him express the full spectrum of his culinary creativity in a single serving. But the restaurant's most talked-about dish is the unique "gout somen", playfully named for its rich, luxurious ingredients: thin, sticky noodles mixed with dried mullet roe (karasumi), abalone, caviar and fish milt. The resulting flavors are better tasted for yourself, as words can’t do them justice. Grab a chair at Chef Hara's square counter, and you’ll get a chance to experience all these things and more at one of the most unfettered and inventive kaiseki eateries in Tokyo.