Eats - Japanese - Kaiseki

Hatcho
1271 Franklin Mall
Santa Clara, CA 95050
408/248-8500
Rating: *****
Lunch: Mon–Fri, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Dinner: Mon–Sun 5:30 p.m.–10:30 p.m.
$$-$$$$ (depends on how hungry you are and how much you drink)
Kaiseki dinner: $50 and up per person

Non-kaiseki reviews of Hatcho on the Japanese restaurant page >

Hatcho is without doubt one of the best Japanese restaurant I've ever eaten at, and I've eaten a river of Japanese food both at home, at family dinners, and at restaurants. We went for my friend Michael's birthday and decided to have the kaiseki dinner.

Kaiseki is one of those Japanese cultural idioms that a lot of sanseis like me know something about but have never actually experienced, like kabuki theater or sumo. It's the meal that accompanies the Japanese tea ceremony, chaji, but unlike the formality of that ritual the idea is to relax, eat interesting and seasonal dishes, and have a good time with friends.

The kaiseki meal consists of several courses, each fitting into a particular category and served in a particular order. The inventiveness lies in how the chef decides to use the best seasonal produce to best effect. I also splurged on a small bottle of Koshi No Kanbai "Chotokusen" Dai Ginjo sake, but I'll mention this later.

Kaiseki dinners at Hatcho start at $50 per person. The hostess will ask how much you want to spend per person. I asked what would be a nice dinner, and she said $65, so I went with that. I think the price has more to do with the quality of the ingredients and complexity of the dishes. Since it's a prix fixe dinner and part of the experience is the surprise of what will arrive next, you have to have some faith in chef. We were very, very, very happily surprised. FYI: The hostess also keeps a record of your dinner so they don't repeat it the next time you visit. How's that for first-class customer relationship management.

Hatcho isn't glamorous, so don't go expecting to see a ryokan straight out of Kyoto; it's in a nondescript cinderblock mall next to a Santa Clara University hangout (they take SCU dining cards). There are three tatami rooms, a smallish main room with perhaps eight tables, a full sushi bar, and a private dining room for ten. The private dining room is nearly windowless, so I'd visit first if you're reserving it. We were seated in a tatami room, which requires removing your shoes (wear clean socks!) and sitting on pillows on the floor. I made the mistake of wearing my Frye's so it was a little awkward to say the least. Luckily, they have the modern version of the tatami room, which has a hole beneath the table so you can sit regularly.

The chef at Hatcho was licensed in Japan to serve kaiseki (something I wish they would start here) so the quality and authenticity of the meal is guaranteed. I almost wish I had photographed each course. Each was carefully presented—especially the simmered course—and the colors and textures of the foods worked well against each other. Every course was perfect. Every course was surprising. Every course was delicious.

The menu was staggering, even though we skipped a course:

Shiizakana, Appetizer: braised daikon
I think that's what it was. Flavorful and just slightly firm

Mukouzuke, usually sashimi: yellowtail, squid, maguro, salmon on shiso leaves and shredded daikon
The squid or ika had the most amazing texture—slightly unctuous without being oily if that makes any sense. Maguro was tender and tasty as usual. I'm not a huge fan of yellowtail or salmon sashimi, but both were fine.

Nimono (simmered dish or "covered" dish): tofu, fish fillet, whole egg, and enoki mushrooms in a light broth dipped in ponzu sauce with green onions and a slightly spicy red grated topping
The covered bowls this was served in were truly beautiful. Lustrous and silvery on the outside, swirled with gold on the inside and placed on a wooden plank. We completely misunderstood the instructions on how to eat this one. You're supposed to pour the ponzu in the smaller dish and dip the contents of the bowl in that after mixing the ponzu with the green onion and red stuff, which I couldn't identify. NOTE: The hostess and waitress were very patient about explaining which each course was and how to eat it.

Yakimono, Grilled dish: Yelloweye fillet and two shrimp coated with a slightly sweet red glaze
Yelloweye is apparently rare in Japan because of overfishing, but still available in the US. The texture is firm, the meat is white, and the seared skin was utterly delicious. We'll be asking for that again. The shrink which were in their shells and a deep pink were to be eaten whole, and that's what we did. The tender flesh, crunchy shell and antennae, and slightly sweet glaze were a nice counterpart to the tenderness of the beef.

Aemono (dishes dressed with sauce): Grilled beef wrapped around mushrooms and mushroom pasted in a light teriyaki sauce with an oyster au gratin with egg
Our only Western-inspired dish. The hostess said she'd never even seen it before (the chef, she said, knows thousands of recipes and likes to throw in surprises). The ultra-tender beef had a slightly glaze that was crisp, and mixed with the mushroom paste and whole mushrooms. The oyster was rich, perfectly cooked, and coated with a bit of scrambled egg and a small square of orange cheese.

Sunomono (vinegared dish): fish skin and stomach with vinegar and bran "sauce"
This was more a textural exercise than anything. The skin and "stomach" (we weren't exactly sure what part the waitress was referring to) was from the same fish we assumed. The skin was tender and a lovely orange. The "stomach" was gristly and similar in texture to chicken gizzard, tough and slightly crunchy. The "sauce" was made of mucilaginous white bran and some sort of vinegar that was slightly fruity and balanced out the fatty skin.

Suimono: clear soup with mochi (pounded rice) containing bits of a special Japanese grass
Okay, I don't really understand what this was supposed to be. The chef apparently imports a special grass from Japan, which he snips into tiny pieces and mixes with mochi (pounded rice formed into a small 2" cake). It tasted like a nice, not-too-gummy mochi. The soup was tasty, clear, hot, and flecked with green onion.

Hassun (mountains and the sea): Tempura: three shrimp, green beans, and a small butterflied fish
I'm not entirely sure if this was really meant to be the "mountains and sea" course, but I don't think there is a deep-fried course. Whatever. This was a nice, simple dish of tempura. The only interesting touch was the use of small balls to coat the tempera rather than the usual thin batter. We actually didn't get to these before they had cooled. One thing I should note is that you really need to keep up with dinner; no dallying.

Mushimono, steamed dish: Chawan-mushi (savory egg custard with chicken, kamaboko, mushrooms)
This was fantastic, and I'm not a huge fan of chawan-mushi. The mushrooms in particular were tender and savory.

Rice
We skipped the rice course because we were too full.

Dessert: Green tea ice cream with red bean paste.
It's a birthday; there must be dessert. This is actually much better than it sounds, but as we all know, 99% of Asian desserts really take some getting used to.

The Sake
We actually ordered this a bit late because the sake menu was daunting. Neither of us are big drinkers and neither of us drink sake, so we decided on a smallish bottle of something really extraordinary. I asked for the best of the best, so the hostess made a few suggestions from the Japanese producer Koshi No Kanbai. The super premium version was called Chotokusen.

Koshi No Kanbai Chotokusen is from one of the most famous producers in Japan. At $100/500ml, it's about the same price as Veuve Cliquot Grande Dame by volume and is shipped and kept refrigerated at all times. It's only available to a handful of restaurants in the US.

Most of my sake drinking experiences have been at family gatherings with the sake warmed, the sake having a "beer-y" smell, with a harsh alcohol smell and taste. This was an entirely different animal. The bottle was decanted into a glass container with a built-in ice holder to keep the sake cool but not dilute it. The aroma is lightly fruity and very slightly flowery. The taste is smooth and clean like spring water, with a thin alcohol taste on the way down and a slight and pleasant aftertaste.

I'm sending EVERYONE I know to this restaurant. If you have a sense of adventure, want to try dishes that aren't even listed on the regular menu, and have 3 hours to enjoy a spectacular and special dinner, you must go. If you're Japanese-American, the experience is doubly worth it.

This is THE hidden jewel for foodies in San Jose and the South Bay. 02/07/04