PsiFighter37

I've never had luck doing it on there, and since I am there on a long weekend when it will only be on Saturday...I'd rather leave it to people whose job/responsibility it is to watch the clock and call as soon as a reservation can be made. At least that's the logic...

offerendum

Kabuki Raw is the Japanese restaurant at Finca Cortesin and was awarded with 1 Michelin star. When you enter the restaurant it´s not obvious you are in a Japanese restaurant.



We were seated at the wintergarden:


We took the tasting menu with the obvious meat to seafood changes. If I remember correctly it was 110,00 €.
It started with (Aka) Red




Next came (AO) Azure Blue




CHA (Woodland Brown) and HANAMICHI were served as separate courses.







The Desserts


I always found it hard to rate Asian food regarding Michelin stars. While it was overall a nice experience I don´t need it every week.

PsiFighter37

Sadly, Le Sputnik is not open at the end of the year So far, I have booked Ginza Okuda (1*, the second outpost run by the folks running 2* Kojyu) for dinner on 1/1, and Ryo (1*, unagi) on 12/30. Trying to see what I can do for 12/31...lots of choices seem to be closed.

I would also comment that the concierge at the Prince Gallery hotel in Tokyo is incredibly slow at responding - the level of service compared to the Peninsula or the Four Seasons is quite a step down...

bhrubin

Bohemian1

Well, the coin flip has now landed for SFO, mainly because we haven't been there for a while.

Between FT and Opinionated About Dining, we are now digging through the recommendations. Saison is most certainly high on 'haven't been yet' list.

jbeans

I was just at Kojyu in September, and it was one of my favorite meals in Tokyo. I was curious about the Okuda outpost, which is actually just downstairs from the main restaurant I think. Hope you enjoy it, and let us know how it is!

Okuda's NYC shop just received a star. After my experience in Tokyo, definitely looking to try it out at some point here. Funny side note, our meals on ANA flight back to NYC were curated by Chef Okuda as well, and we actually received these free drink vouchers at Okuda NYC during the flight. I totally want to use the vouchers when we visit Okuda, but my husband thinks it's *weird* to bring coupons to a nice meal. Ż\_(ツ)_/Ż Haha. What do you guys think?

PsiFighter37

I had to go to TripAdvisor to find the email, as they do not have an email on their own website(!). Every single response takes at least several days. It is definitively the worst concierge service at any high-end hotel I have utilized.

That said, I did go on OpenTable this morning and snagged a 7PM reservation at Benu in a couple months, so I have that going for me

bhrubin

offerendum

There are a few which can be booked easily. Some even close due the lack of guests (La Vie for excample).

PsiFighter37

Ate Thanksgiving Dinner at Bouley at Home (1*) in NYC...not impressed. Service was well below par for what I would expect, and while the turkey was exceptionally done, everything else was quite mediocre. Disappointed since Bouley's main restaurant does French cuisine quite well.

PsiFighter37

Booking for my trip to Basque country in February...unfortunately, some of the high-profile spots are closed during this time of year. So far, I have Arzak (3 stars), eMe Be Garrote (1 star), and Azurmendi (3 stars, for lunch) in the books. Looking forward to them ^

Next Michelin bites will be at Carbone and Ai Fiori (1 star, NYC). Carbone is phenomenal; I have not been to Ai Fiori recently - had a great experience when I first went, but my wife tells me that the quality has gone down since.

offerendum

We decided sponteneous the day before to eat dinner at Dani Garcia and got a table without problems.It´s was the only 2 Michelin star restaurant at Costa del Sol and on the paper its best restaurant. I just saw today that it now got 3 stars in the new guide so I´m especially happy I tried it (3 star restaurants are normally must visit places).
The restaurant is not easy to find. When we arrived it wasn´t clear were to find it, it´s in the courtyard of the Hotel Puente Romano.
The restaurant is "cool" with a green wall.

We decided to eat a la carte as we didn´t like the fixed menu.
First Amuse Buche:

Our non-alcoholic cocktails:


Second Amuse Bouche:

Bread weagon and 3 kinds of butter:


First regular course was for me "Red prawn carpaccio with truffle honey"

I absolutely liked the carpaccio. Very Fresh.
Starters were "Seasonal vegetable garden, butternut aquash & orange puree"

and "Lobster salad, leaves, vegetables, herbs, nitro-popcorn & RAF tomato"


While the vegetable garden was a very good dish the lobster salad was spectacular.
Main courses were "Roasted sea bass, gourd seed Juice, White prawns, paramentier potatoes and papayo cheese"

and this dish which is no longer on the menu and I can´t properly remember:

I can remember that both dishes were of high quality and really enjoyable.
One dessert were "textures of almond". They did a big deal of it as they "produced" the plates on the dish at the table.


It wasn´t my taste as they used some alcohol for it.
I had "Al-Andalus dew, orange blossom and pistachio"

An absolutely great dessert, one of the best I can remember.
Petit fours

A very enjoyable meal! It´s always hard to see the difference between a good 2 star and a 3 star but some dishes were definitively "world class", the rest very good. I can imagine in the future it will be hard to get a table the day before. By the way they raised ther prices after they got the 3rd star.

bhrubin

offerendum

Not a fan of this format but a Directory would be great

bhrubin