If you’re visiting Kyoto on business and are looking for an authentic setting at which to entertain clients and colleagues, you can’t go past Kyoto’s Sushi Wakon, one of the Japanese Imperial capital’s most coveted tables.
Whisper the name Sushi Wakon in the ears of any sushi lover and watch as their eyes glaze over. The pint-sized eatery, located at the Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto, has been a place of pilgrimage for Japanese food lovers since it first opened in late 2016. Helmed by master chef Rei Masuda, who honed his skills at Tenzushi Kyomachi and three-star Sukiyabashi Jiro before earning two Michelin stars for his hole-in-the-wall Sushi Masuda in Tokyo, Sushi Wakon instils the discipline and seasonality of Japanese cuisine to perfection.
There is a sense of drama when guests arrive at Sushi Wakon; a darkened corridor opens onto the main dining room, with its ten-seat hinoki cypress sushi counter. Beyond, two private dining rooms, which cater to 4 and 8 guests respectively, are perfectly suited to corporate entertaining and offer a sense of privacy and exclusivity that even the handful of seats at the sushi counter can’t beat.
Guests will notice that Sushi Wakon has departed from the austere interiors usually associated with the serious business of sushi. While high-end many sushi restaurants are intended as blank canvases on which the quality of the ingredients is the focus, at Sushi Wakon, which received one Michelin star in 2018, there is subtle luxury at work. Chef Masuda worked with design firm Strickland to create interiors that are warm, earthy, and punctuated by texture and colour, including crockery by Makuzu-yaki, a company famed for producing pieces for sado or traditional tea ceremonies, custom furniture produced by local Kyoto artisans, and over US$150,000 in artworks.
Backdropped by a stunning silvery mosaic handmade from pressed tin tiles, chef Masashi Yamaguchi, who oversees Sushi Wakon in Kyoto, stands ready to serve. Serious, precise, but still possessing that inherent fascinating all truly dedicated chefs have when watching guests eat their cuisine, chef Yamaguchi starts us off with an explosion of flavour: sea urchin and caviar with vinegar gelee. Creamy and delicious, the sea urchin’s fatty texture is effectively cut by the vinegar but at the same time cancels out the flavour of the caviar, the tiny pearls of which are quickly lost in the uni and jelly. This dish is matched with a Kazenomori sake from Nara, a bright, elegant and slightly effervescent sake produced at the base of Mt Kongo.
A long relationship with suppliers at Tokyo’s iconic Tsukiji Fish Market ensure the best produce arrives daily at Sushi Wakon. Straw-smoked bonito with ginger soy sauce follows, the smoke giving a richness to the fleshy ruby-red fish that’s accentuated by a buttery yet fresh Sharaku sake from Fukushima. Chef Yamaguchi continues with long-tooth grouper, which has been slightly seared in the shabu-shabu style, and seasoned with grated chilli daikon and soy vinegar; and salt-grilled rosy seabass with ginger daikon, which is matched with Matsumoto, a locally-produced Junmai daiginjo sake brewed from yamadanishiki rice that has a warm, umami flavour profile and a crisp finish. Both fish dishes are elegant and refined and allow the fresh seasonal ingredients to stand front and centre.
We move on to sushi, each morsel of which is assembled and molded by chef Yamaguchi, who encourages us to use our hands and to eat each piece as soon as it’s finished. There’s marbled flounder and silky yet firm squid, delicate yellow jack and Bering Sea cockles that have an almost crunchy consistency that’s mellowed by the vinegar-infused rice and accentuated by Kokuryu sake from Fukui, a masterfully crafted brew with a clean, crisp finish. We did notice that the rice wasn’t packed as tightly beneath each strip of fish as we’re encountered in other sushi restaurants, which made each journey from plate to mouth a gamble with one’s clean white shirt.
The grilled sea eel with white miso has a brilliant smoky flavour and silky texture and is a great preamble to bluefin tuna presented in three different fat levels. The “fatty tuna” melts in the mouth and the chef laughs that it’s often referred to as the Wagyu of the Sea. The tuna is perfectly paired with Hidakami sake from Miyagi, which has a light body and medium finish that was created to match sashimi (although with so many sakes to try, a change of glass every now and then would have been appreciated).
The sushi course continues with gizzard shad warmed with a touch of wasabi; Japanese tiger prawn lightly brushed with vinegar soy sauce; and gleaming salmon roe and uni maki that are fresh and vibrant. A light clam and spring onion soup cleanses the palate before dessert, an incredibly light panna cotta with Japanese pear compote that’s deceptively simple yet flavourful and delicious. Paired with rich Tamagawa sake from Kyoto, it’s the perfect finale to a sensational sushi experience.
Sushi Wakon is a destination for sushi purists, so expect a price tag to match. A showcase of the freshest seafood matched with timeless technique and an impressive kaleidoscope of the sake brewing art, Sushi Wakon offers an elevated, luxurious take on Japan’s biggest culinary export that proudly has one foot in the past and the other firmly in the now.
Sushi Wakon serves lunch daily, and two dinner seatings (6-8pm and 8.30-10.30pm), with the full omakase experience featuring seasonal appetizers, nigiri sushi, soup and dessert priced at 23,000 yen (US$211) per person. A sake pairing is an addition 5,000 yen (US$45).
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