Japanese food is known throughout the world for its unique flavours and textures, but without the right tuition, it’s difficult to really appreciate what’s on your plate. Hồ Hoàng reports.

HÀ NỘI — Perhaps it’s kind of unnecessary to discuss how delicious Japanese cuisine really is as it’s widely recognised as one of the world’s finest cuisines. But have you ever wondered why sashimi isn’t your taste yet? Is it because you can’t stand raw food? Or maybe you aren’t eating it the right way?

Well, after a memorable dinner at Hatoyama with my Japanese friend Akio Hirano – a sashimi addict, I found out that I’ve been eating Japanese food in the wrong way for so long and in some ways maybe some of us can relate to this. Trust me, it will bring a whole new sensation trying it the right way.

Hatoyama’s new restaurant is located on the 4th floor of a luxury shophouse at 30 Nguyễn Chánh Street with an elegant design, decorated with a big tuna, modern lighting, parking and polite security guards who organised our vehicles without asking.

Our first impression was really relaxing. Behind big glass doors, there were two receptionists wearing beautiful kimonos waiting for us. 

“Irasshai mase!"

Hirano was really pleased with the way we were served. “Very polite and respectful,” he said. 

We were delighted with the design and decor of this new restaurant, with luxury yellow lighting blended with traditional lanterns, the whole place looked so vibrant, but not too much exposure. There was also a “feng shui” rock in the middle of the hallway surrounded by beautiful white gravel. Everything seemed perfectly matched.

From the hall, there are traditional Japanese sliding doors which lead diners to 13 different dining rooms with several private ones for special guests. Every room has an elegant design with big traditional paintings and luxury bottles of sake standing shiny inside glass caskets.

“The second restaurant is designed in Wabi Sabi style, inherited from Buddhism and directs people to a peaceful beauty of disproportionateness and rusticness,” said restaurant manager Đinh Quang Minh.

Our meal started with typical edamame (Japanese beans) and ginnan (ginkgo nut), which were really fresh, greasy and flavourful. 

“Don’t call them appetisers, it’s about to come out,” Hirano told me when I asked how delicious they were. I felt kind of weird, but well, he’s Japanese, right?

I was stopped by Hirano when I was attempting to mix the wasabi with the soy sauce like most other people.

“Mixing wasabi in soy sauce will reduce your appetite. The wasabi is there to boost your taste, you should only add a little bit of it to the sushi or sashimi, then slightly dip the raw fish into the soy sauce, that will perfectly organize everything into its right order,” he said.

I knew the sashimi was only the beginning of the party, so I was surprised by the price (between VNĐ1.45 million and VNĐ4.75 million), but agreed to order the “Sashimi Moriawase No 2” featuring raw Akami tuna belly, carangidae, oysters, octopus, herring, salmon and salmon egg with sea weed and perilla leaves. 

“The Akami tuna belly was taken from the very expensive blue fin tuna, while the carangidea is a symbol of autumn in Japanese culture. The salmon and perhaps most of the ingredients, especially the raw ones, have to be imported from Japan within 24 hours,” one of the waitresses told us.