I ate at the best restaurant in Japan and all you get is this crappy blog post
Monday, April 5, 2021
“At DEN we encourage a more relaxed dining manner, we like our guests to enjoy the dishes without rules or metaphoric expression. DEN is our ‘Japanese Trattoria’ – a warm and welcoming place serving genuine and tasty food.” –From the introduction of chef Zaiyu Hasegawa’s book “DEN: The Evolving Tokyo-Japanese Cuisine”
Since opening in 2008, DEN has racked up a wide array of awards and honors. The restaurant has two Michelin Stars, is ranked #11 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List and #3 on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants List, and is featured on David Chang’s Ugly Delicious Netflix show, to name just a few. Chef Hasegawa’s hope with DEN is, “to open the door of traditional Japanese cuisine to the new generation.”
Our journey, like many others, started with a phone call. Well, a couple dozen phone calls. Reservations at DEN are only accepted by phone from 12pm to 5pm, Monday to Saturday and can be made up to two months in advance. With a little less than two months left in Japan, I asked my Japanese teacher to try and help me call to secure a reservation. Over the course of our two-hour class period, in between exercises from our textbook, Reiko-san made at least a dozen calls. With about 10 minutes left of our class time, I decided to give it a try on my phone just to see if it would help.
Magically, on my first attempt, someone answered the phone! Hesitantly, I broke out my rudimentary Japanese – with Reiko-san coaching me via FaceTime on my iPad, of course – to ask for a reservation. Pretty quickly the voice on the other end of the phone asked, “is English better?” YES! I can speak English much better! In further proof that luck was on our side, a cancellation meant that we could reserve two seats for the following Monday. Riding a wave of excitement, I burst into Andrew’s closet-office, “HEY I MADE A HASTY DECISION.” Then we just had to wait (an excruciating) 4 days for our reservation.
Despite my personal judgement, somehow Columbus, OH is not home to any Michelin Star chefs or restaurants. For some reason, the tastemakers at Bon Appetit haven’t named Columbus a culinary hot spot. I don’t think the World’s Best Restaurant List has heard of Ohio yet. All this to say, I’m not very familiar with fine dining experiences. I love food, I consume a lot of food media, I understand the general concept of fine dining. Like, I’ve seen it on TV… Anyway, I was a little nervous to show up at a restaurant of DEN’s caliber.
Turns out it was unnecessary. From the moment we walked in, we felt welcome. The hostess greeted us in English, took our coats, and led us to seats at the wide, warm wood bar overlooking the open kitchen. The chef welcomed us to the restaurant, and the hostess offered a choice of sparkling wine or sake as a complementary welcome drink. The atmosphere was lively, the staff seemed to be enjoying their work, and each guest looked relaxed and at ease. Throughout our meal, our needs were consistently met without asking. The staff took special care to explain each course to us in English. Truly hakuna matata vibes in this place, if you know what I mean.
Without further ado, the 10-course dinner menu at DEN
Monaka (最中) – a signature dish
Monaka is a Japanese traditional sweet consisting of red bean paste sandwiched between crispy wafers made from sticky rice. The monaka at DEN is served in classic packaging and looks exactly like the typical sweet available anywhere in Japan. The server playfully explained, “You start your meal with dessert here! Feel free to tear open the packaging and enjoy.”
One bite is enough to know this is not a typical monaka. Sandwiched inside the crispy wafers is a thick slice of foie gras, marinated with sweet white miso. They topped the foie gras with a layer of citrus, somewhere between a jelly and a marmalade, and sweet cucumber pickles. After giving us a few moments to explore the flavors, the staff member returned to ask us what flavors we could pick out and what we thought about the fillings. I don’t have any benchmark for foie gras (somehow not a staple ingredient where I’m from??). It was rich, fatty, a little funky. Bright and sweet-bitter from the citrus peel jelly/jam. Crunchy from the crispy rice cracker and cucumbers. It paired excellently with the sparkling wine welcome drink.
Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し)
Chawanmushi literally means “teacup” (chawan) “steam” (mushi) and refers to a creamy, steamed egg custard typically made with dashi broth and other savory ingredients. As she served the chawanmushi, the server explained that this particular dish is made with a somewhat “unusual ingredient,” and challenged us to try to guess it. No mystery to start, this chawanmushi clearly contained firefly squid. These tiny, bioluminescent squid are famous in Toyama prefecture and a super tasty seasonal delicacy in Japan. I wouldn’t consider it to be an unusual ingredient by Japan standards. I turned to Andrew to get his thoughts. “…Maybe…cheese?”
One point for Andrew, the server confirmed they added blue cheese.
Dentucky Fried Chicken – a signature dish
This dish is the reason DEN is featured in season 1, episode 6 “Fried Chicken” of Ugly Delicious. Fried chicken, but make it the World’s Best fried chicken. The chef takes wings from a “freshly slaughtered” chicken, stuffs them with seasonal ingredients, dredges in flour, deep fries to golden perfection, and then places them under a small broiler oven to make the skin ultra-crispy. Served in a cardboard takeout box reminiscent of the OG, KFC, the dish is a playful take on “futamono,” a dish served with a lid. The staff recommended pairing the dish with a “baby beer,” and you know, when in Rome… Obviously, we said yes.
Once again, we were challenged with figuring out the secret ingredient. Andrew dug right in to his wing while I opted for a more scientific approach: poke it, sniff it, nibble on it, gaze intently at the filling… I had no idea. Clearly the wing was stuffed with sticky rice, some kind of garlicky green, and… A total mystery ingredient. Not a mushroom, not some kind of small fish or eel… I was stumped. Andrew, also stumped. With a theatrical flourish, the server brought out the cleaned and preserved skeleton of…
A TURTLE. Suppon, a type of softshell turtle, is an ingredient unique to Asia. It is considered to be a very healthy “power food.” So, we ate fried chicken stuffed with turtle. 10/10 would recommend.
Sashimi Course
After finishing our baby beers, the staff recommended pairing the next course with sake. Twist my arm. After serving the sake, they presented the sashimi course. The server explained that there is no expected menu for sashimi at the restaurant. They work with a fisherman who delivers the best of his catch each day and they prepare it in whatever way seems best in the moment.
For our meal, the server presented seared, smoked Spanish mackerel served with freshly grated wasabi and a dipping sauce made from raw nori seaweed and vinegar. You won’t find soy sauce for dipping sashimi at DEN. To remove the guesswork of proper dipping to season sashimi appropriately, DEN replaced soy sauce with their own dipping sauce which they believe always enhances the flavor of the fish without overwhelming it. After explaining the sauce, the server admitted that many people find it “quite addicting” and let us know, “its ok if you want to lick the plate.”
To be clear, I did consider licking the plate. Somehow, I was able to restrain myself.
Meat Course
On the subject of the meat course, Chef Hasegawa writes in his book, “Within the course meal, I like to have at least one meat dish. Even after enjoying different types of dishes, it’s probably the honest opinion of foreign guests that true satisfaction comes with a meat dish.” I’ll admit, I grew up in a “meat and potatoes” kind of Midwestern household and for a long time it felt like a meal without a meat component was somewhat incomplete. Since living abroad in China and Japan and generally growing up and being responsible for my own grocery budget, I eat a lot less meat. So, I understand where the chef is coming from.
To be totally honest, the meat course was the least impressive course to me personally. That said, the roast beef and vegetables served were fucking awesome. Perfectly cooked, superb quality, very good taste. I would happily eat this dish any day, any time. I also really loved the plate used for service. It reminded me of the porcelain ceramics made in Saga or the more ornate designs from Kanazawa.
Salad Course – a signature dish
The signature seasonal salad typically incorporates at least 20 different vegetables sourced from the Chef’s sister’s farm in nearby Chiba prefecture. Each morning the Chef looks over the vegetables and decides how each one should be treated for the salad. Raw, simmered, boiled, fried, pickled?
As we began eating the salad, Andrew and I tried to go one-for-one eating the same vegetable and figuring out how it was treated. Eventually, we gave up and dug into the delicious salad. I really love vegetables.
Soup Course
For the soup course, once again we needed to use our senses and sleuth out the mystery ingredient held within the hypnotic lacquer bowls. Piping hot broth held heaping portions of takenoko (young bamboo shoot) and green onion, but what could the “mystery ingredient” be?
The soup had a light, slightly medicinal taste. Japanese food experts will not be surprised to hear, the secret ingredient was more Suppon (turtle). The suppon broth is warm and hearty without having an overly strong flavor. The slightly cold, rainy weather outside made this simple, delicious soup a very welcome addition to our meal.
Main Dish, Clay Pot Rice – a signature dish
Rice is a massively important ingredient in the Japanese diet, so it makes sense that it plays a starring role as the Main Dish of every course dinner at DEN. Prepared in a clay pot for each individual party of guests, rice topped with seasonal ingredients and served with pickles and a small bowl of soup finishes the meal.
As luck would have it, our visit in early Spring coincided with the harvest of young sansho pepper leaves called kinome. Sansho pepper (zanthoxylum piperitum) is a relative of the Sichuan peppercorn (zanthozylum simulans), both are part of the Rutaceae family, which includes citrus. Kinome produces the same bright, citrus-y, numbing sensation as Sichuan peppercorns without necessarily being spicy. After eating the rice, we both noticed our regular-ass water now had the sensation of lemon-y flavor.
Personally, I have a rice obsession. I love rice and cook it 3-4 times a week at home in our absurdly expensive Japanese rice cooker. So, this dish made me really happy. Andrew loves the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns, so the kinome was a big win for him too. As in many Japanese restaurants, you can ask for refills of the rice, pickles, and soup as many times as you like. After the 7 previous courses, one serving of each was plenty for Andrew and I. However, the man seated next to us happily enjoyed 3 bowls of rice.
Dessert Course
At this point, I started to feel so full I thought I would burst. But – just ask my mom – I have always been able to make room for dessert. To be honest, I’m not sure what this dish should be called. Similar to a Japanese pudding, a layer of thick vanilla custard rests at the bottom of the dish. A dark, slightly bitter caramel sauce is poured over top. Piled over both is a mound of citrus pulp from a Japanese fruit similar to a pomelo.
This dessert has it all. It is a complex mix of sweet, bitter, tart, and rich flavors. Despite already being so full I could die, I think I could eat a much larger portion of this dessert.
Surprise, there’s more dessert
As we sat sipping hot tea and digesting, the server slid a small plate in front of us. Two fresh, piping-hot madeleines straight from the oven. Still slightly gooey, the server encouraged us to eat them quickly. “While they’re hot!” she said. My god. What a delightful little cake-cookie.
Basking in the glow of a hot madeleine, still feeling like I might actually pop, two more madeleines arrived in front of us. “This time, we let them cool slightly so that the edges are nice and crisp. Please enjoy slowly.”
Leaving the restaurant, it didn’t feel like we’d just eaten a two MICHELIN STAR dinner at the best restaurant in Japan. It felt like we had just popped over to dinner at a friend’s house. The service, the atmosphere, the food, the booze – all of it is impeccable. I truly, truly hope we can someday do it all again.
Dinner for two at the best restaurant in Japan: ¥50,500 ($461.36)
