10-Course Meal at Higashi-Yama Tokyo

A few more days of eating like I did tonight, and I'll have a promising new career as a sumo wrestler! Yet the cuisine at Higashi-Yama was so exquisite that all caloric concerns slipped my mind.

You'd never know that such an amazing restaurant lurked behind a nondescript concrete wall near the Shibuya district. But once we opened the scratched metal door, we were transported into a dim, Zenlike foyer which led into private rooms for each party. There were seven in our group, and we sat around a table of bamboo latticework encased in glass. Our friend Yuki, who is something of a food encyclopedia, ordered us a rice shochu which had been aged in cedar for 800 years. The clear liquid was so mild and sweet that I wondered if it indeed contained any alcohol.

The door opened, and we were served our first course: a cold tofu custard accented with crunchy lotus root and shungiku, a green vegetable. Then our appetites were whetted by a plate containing four slices of sashimi: red snapper, melt-in-your-mouth tuna, and two slices of slippery Japanese mackerel.

Next was a cube of pressed oyster and fish cake in a clear bonito broth with a sliver of Japanese yuzu citrus and a sweet leaf of spinach. We slurped this up in no time, and were then served two plump grilled scallops on a bed of arugula salad mixed with crisp asparagus and soft-boiled egg, the yolk of which provided a creamy dressing.

A small plate of delicate tempura was next - two pieces of lightly fried monkfish and a strip of red pepper were accompanied by a tiny spray of pink Niigata sea salt for dipping. According to Yuki, the artisanal salt had been extracted from seaweed, and the serving of the tempura course signified the middle of the meal. Although the portions were small, their cumulative effect was such that I was starting to wonder if I'd be able to finish another five courses!

We then enjoyed braised, deep-sea snapper-like fish in a warm ponzu broth with scallions and shredded daikon radish. Soon after that was a plate of cooked spicy cod roe.

Course number eight was the entree: a choice of walnut-fed Iberico ham with Japanese leeks in a soy broth or seared "kue," a fish which is native to Japan. Yuki said it was known for its "ugly face and delicious taste."

The last savory course was a giant communal bowl of udon in its own cooking broth, which we swirled in a mixture of dried ginger, scallions and a cold soy broth. The udon was chewy and tasty even without sauce.

By now, my stomach was starting to protest, but it was time for dessert, which was a two-toned and two-textured. A liquid layer of dark green, sweet matcha coulis sat atop a dense, creamy coconut custard. When the two layers were mixed together, the result was mind-bogglingly delicious.

I highly recommend Higashi-Yama!

Higashi-Yama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan, +81 (03) 5720-1300.