A note on the words: kaiseki is a multi-course Japanese meal served in a set sequence of small dishes. Sukiyaki is a hot pot of thin-sliced beef and vegetables simmered at the table in a sweet soy broth and dipped in beaten raw egg before eating; wagyu is Japanese beef, kuroge the black-haired breed, and A5 the top grade in the Japanese beef grading system. Dashi is the basic Japanese stock of kelp and dried fish, and dashi shabu means swishing ingredients through it briefly to cook them. Seri is Japanese parsley, a crisp winter green. Otsukuri is the sashimi course. Shirako is cod milt, ankimo is monkfish liver, and ponzu is a citrus-soy dressing. An onsen tamago is an egg cooked slowly at low temperature so the white stays soft and the yolk sets to a custard. Gyudon means beef laid over a bowl of rice. Hojicha is roasted green tea, nutty and low in caffeine.
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Kaiseki Mita Basara Bettei on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Another day, another year-end party. This is Hangover Meshi. This time I dropped in on “Kaiseki Mita Basara Bettei,” a kaiseki restaurant down a back street in Roppongi. As the name suggests, the main shop over in Mita has taken one Michelin star three years running, I hear. The house specialty is tomato sukiyaki! What is it going to be like — something Italian, or something else entirely? I have never had it, so I am looking forward to this!
Kuroge wagyu tomato sukiyaki kaiseki — 16,500 yen
Hand-picked! Top-grade A5 Kobe beef tomato sukiyaki kaiseki — 19,800 yen
Tomato sukiyaki extra-meat set — 11,000 yen
This time I picked the tomato sukiyaki course! Yes — tomato sukiyaki is exactly what I came here to eat!
Right then, a Hakushu highball to start!
Top left is something like a shirako tempura, bottom right is a beef stew. Bottom left is a grilled dish, and top right is ankimo in ponzu jelly.
There are eight kinds, so I picked at them over a few drinks. Besides Hakushu they also had Yamazaki for whisky. Personally I have the impression that Hakushu is cleaner and easier to drink early on! Later in the night I prefer Yamazaki.
The seri is crisp and delicious!
Sea bream, sweet shrimp, and salmon.
Right — the main event has arrived!! It is time for tomato sukiyaki! First the beef comes out with a flourish.
What magnificent-looking beef! I can hardly wait!
They cook it in the space behind the seats and bring it over, which is a good arrangement.
The private room has chairs set on tatami, so it might actually be very good with children too. And since they cook it behind you, there is nothing dangerous!
Round one is this: the egg set. An onsen tamago and a raw egg.
Both are properly rich eggs, and the color is remarkably deep.
And here is the beef.
Ohhh! It looks wonderful!
Eating it plain first, it is fundamentally proper sukiyaki. The flavor of tomato sits on top of that, and the slight acidity and freshness it brings is something new. Delicious!
The tomatoes themselves are very good, and eating them together with the beef works perfectly. Tomato sukiyaki is good, is it not! Then I beat an egg roughly and in it goes.
Mmm! Delicious. The egg is as rich as it looks, and it gently wraps up the sweet fat of the beef and the acidity of the tomato, I suppose you would say?
This is really good!
Oh — rice from Gero means Inochi no Ichi! I had this at Oboshimeshi the other day (in Japanese), I thought — but the brand name here is Ryu no Hitomi, so are they the same thing? They said the grains are large, and sure enough they are. This rice really is delicious!
The miso soup arrived, and with it round two.
Looks great! This one I take with the onsen tamago. Break it up roughly and look at that color! Wonderfully vivid.
It is thicker than the raw egg and feels richer. Delicious. Beef coated in that clinging yolk is far too good!
And at the end, the Ryu no Hitomi rice topped with the raw egg from earlier and some beef, gyudon style.
So good.
We finished with a gently sweet hojicha fresh pudding.
Well now — tomato sukiyaki really is delicious! There seems to be a nine-course version as well, but the five-course one fills you up more than enough! There is rice too and you can have seconds, so I left very satisfied. The private rooms struck me as well suited to both business dinners and families, so if you have small children and someone says let us do the family anniversary in Roppongi, I think this is a place to recommend.
Kaiseki Mita Basara Bettei (Japanese Cuisine / Roppongi Station, Nogizaka Station, Roppongi-itchome Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
