>> What is a Kaiseki dinner and how much money should we be stashing >away for this event? Larry H. wrote: >Real Kaiseki is available in very few >places outside of Japan, but I am told that Hisago is one of those places. >I don't recall exactly, but I suspect the full Kaiseki is over $150/person. Kaiseki is a multiple course meal composed of small courses of seasonal foods prepared different ways (so, a Kasiseki meal will include a raw thing (like sashimi), a steamed thing ("mushimono"), a fried thing ("agemono"), a grilled thing ("yakimono"), and so forth. It is intended to be art as much as nourishment. Hisago in fact serves something that it calls "Mini-Kaiseki;" its a multi-course Japanese meal with fewer courses than a Kaiseki meal, and a "main course" course of tempura or sushi or shabu shabu; it is less expensive than a full Kaiseki course would be, and its probably a good place to start if you are wondering whether you'll like it enough for it to be worth it. That said, my experience with Hisago has been that the food is pretty uneven, and the service can be very inattentive. The first "Zensai" course (three tiny appetizers) is showy and delicious and the best part of the meal; the more subtle courses have ranged from very good to mediocre. The best and most authentic Kaiseki in the DC area is probably at Unkai (on 25th, near the ANA hotel). The menu gives you a choice of three different Kaiseki courses ranging fron expensive to even more expensive. I would certainly start with the least expensive, since the difference is often an extra course or two or a particular flown-in-from-Kyoto delicacy, rather than better quality food. Unkai also has a Kaiseki-like multiple course option, with a main course. In neither case need a full Kaiseki dinner cost as much as $150 per person; $100 per person should cover it and the mini-kaseki courses will be less. In both restaurants, tho, you *could* spend as much as $150 per person and more. P.S. The very best Kaiseki I've had in the U.S. has been in a New York City restaurant named "Chikubu" in the East 40s. The Ben Kay restaurants in Nikko hotels in Chicago and San Francisco are also pretty good. P.P.S. A couple of months ago, I posted in a message about the Inn at Little Washington, some words to the effect of: "if there is such a thing as food worth that amount of money, this is that food." Well, this stuff is too. ------------------- Jessica Litman Wayne State University Detroit, MI 48202 Internet: [email removed]
Washington, DC