Fooled By The Stars...

I can only describe my experience at Hishinuma as foolhardiness on my part. It probably should have already set off warning bells in my head when they were able to accommodate our party of four at the very last moment on a Saturday night.

Traditionally Japanese, Hishinuma is located in the stuffy basement of a building on bustling Roppongi with a rather insipid interior. The Kaiseki set menu too did not bode well as it was just a succession of one blah dish after another. And hammering the last nail into the coffin was the dour wait staff, giving you an inkling as to why the place was barely a third filled on a weekend evening.

Mountain Vegetable Salad, Pumpkin Mousse, Steamed Fish Patties & Boiled Squids With Radish

A small mould of mountain vegetables opened the meal proper and was made more palatable with the aid of a mayo-based dressing. The steamed pumpkin mousse, stripped of its natural sweetness that is sooo distinctive of Japanese pumpkins, was yet another run of the mill dish. The next two dishes of steamed fish patties and boiled squids were reminiscent of those childhood days when your mother tried to force that cod liver oil down your throat...shudders...

Grilled Salmon, Sashimi & Seared Tuna With Sesame Sauce

We all heaved a sigh of relief as plates of grilled salmon still pink in the flesh were laid out before us next. This was followed with sashimi and seared tuna with a sesame dressing. The quality of the sashimi was, in my opinion, leaning towards the low grade type that is often served in a conveyor belt sushi joint and I marvelled at how a two-star restaurant can so shamelessly include that as part of their Kaiseki offering. Some pieces of the sashimi were so chewy that we might as well be munching on pieces of leather!

Seafood Soup, Rice With Burdock, Wagyu On Hotplate, Coffee Custard With Strawberries

The seafood soup served with a rice of burdock was at most passable whilst the sizzling wagyu fillet was like a beacon to our nightmarish evening. And when the dessert of coffee flavoured custard with fresh strawberries was presented, we were all just delirious that the curtain had finally come down on a horrendous dinner.

Hishinuma
Address: 5-17-1 Roppongi, B1F Axis Building, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Telephone: 03-3568-6335
Michelin: **