Hotel Landmark Umeda

The tempura fried by the chef as his heart dictates comes out refined. To bring the flavour of carefully selected ingredients, the main oil of choice is Taihaku sesame oil. The coating is infused with bubbles, giving it a light texture. In a distinctive presentation style, seafood and vegetables that work well together are served in alternating pairs. The final dish is the guest’s choice of tendon, tempura over rice; tencha, tendon steeped in roasted green tea; or tenmusu, onigiri filled with shrimp tempura. The chef does not neglect training the next generation, either, entrusting understudie

Over half a century since he opened his restaurant, Yoshifumi Mori remains vigorously engaged in food preparation. His passion seems unquenchable: with rice flour and salt, he created a seasoning that melts away like snow. He makes wine and even grows rice. Scouring every region of Japan, the chef seeks out unknown ingredients and introduces them to the world. All this has led to Mori being honoured by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Like a steel plate polished until gleaming, he continues to sharpen his culinary sensibilities.

The menus are focused on words associated with the traditional calendar; ingredients are plotted on a map of Japan to show which items come from where. The proprietor and his cooks begin by introducing the ingredients then work as a team to prepare the meal, presenting freshly cooked aromas and flavours. Strict attention is paid to temperature and texture. The choice of serving vessels and presenting food on paper or leaf garnishes convey hallowed customs in Japanese cuisine. The flavours of the season are savoured with the calendar never far from your mind.

The restaurant aspires to cheerful Chinese fare that delights with fun and surprises. The appetiser assortment offers a tour of China’s regions, each inspired by hometown cooking. A touch of variation appears in every dish: beef and green pepper stir-fry is cooked over low heat; crispy pork is wrapped in crepe. The word ‘Garan’ in the name means ‘a place where monks gather’, reflecting the house’s practice of serving everyone at once. After dinner, the guests assemble around a table to relax over Chinese tea and share the warmth of the moment together.

A dining room fit for a noble mansion, décor of stunning symmetry and graceful service by the waitstaff create a moment cocooned in splendour. Commanding the kitchen is Christophe Gibert, a native of Bretagne. Accustomed to life by the sea, Gibert makes extensive use of seaweed. His preparations, with their strong accent on sauces, convey his spirit of respect for classic cooking.

The chef interprets the seasons through kaiseki, adding twists and tricks that make the cuisine his own. To express each season, appetisers are accompanied by leaves collected on hill and dale and a slim strip of paper is inscribed with a seasonal phrase. White rice, cooked in clay pots, is specially selected and treated. Rice grown in serpentinite soil, with its rich mineral content, is seasoned with salt and soy sauce to bring out umami and flavour. In a unique touch, scorched rice is served like a rice cracker. The basics of Japanese cuisine are safely guarded, yet imagination has room to r

Dinner at Iroha should be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the chef decrees, so he lavishes his guests with the flavours of what’s in season. The extensive menu and the chef’s endless ingenuity testify to this commitment. An arranged sashimi dish is prepared using the techniques of skin searing, skin boiling, and kombu pickling. The popular beef cutlets are a hearty meat dish, ensuring that everyone leaves feeling satisfied. True to the restaurant’s name, which means ‘coloured leaves’, dishes are decorated with leaves of the season.