Review: TakaHisa x Sushi Kibatani
Did you know that kinki rockfish is a thing?
Gather round children. Let me tell you the story of the night I spent an astonishing amount of time on Google.
Japan is a place that eludes me. For years, I’ve longed to walk through Kyoto or Tokyo to immerse myself head-first in a culture that, from a distance, feels like it should be much, much further away. Other planetary further away. Not of this world further away.
A mystical place where legend has it, the watermelons are square, and they put some eye-widening things in vending machines.
Japan is a place where I hope to roam, learn and furiously eat my way through for months, ideally while on garden leave between jobs. Such fortune has not smiled on me yet. Until then, I spent the evening at TakaHisa with David Constable for their guest collaboration with Sushi Kitabani in what turned out to be a deliciously edifying omakase.
(This is the part where it is important for me to disclose that I was #invited to TakaHisa, which is code for I did not pay for anything, and I could encourage you to read on, especially to the pricing.)
(You can also read a full-throated review of TakaHisa’s normal omakase menu here by me on EatGoSee.)
Sushi Kibatani is a more traditional, Ebo-style sushi restaurant in Tokyo. I wonder what they made of TakaHisa’s decidedly more maximalist interiors? This collaboration’s 10-course omakase featured rounds of sushi from chef Mitsuhiro Kibatani. Here are the highlights:
You will notice, at this point, that we are on a hot run of back-to-back dishes.
Cold buckwheat noodles in uni sauce (second course). Possibly not everyone’s idea of a good time, but the suave creaminess of the uni coating these noodles made up for the rather bare presentation.
Grilled pen shell wrapped in nori sheets (third course). This is where the Google searches started. A lightly grilled pen shell enveloped in a nori sheet. It is the love-child of a scallop and swordfish in texture but sweet like a scallop. Give me smokey grilled seafood any day.
Steamed abalone in liver sauce (fourth course). This was the first, last, and only dish featured by the host, TakaHisa. It remains one of their standout dishes with that umami-rich, creamy uni liver sauce (but I would challenge the kitchen to use these collaborations as an opportunity to test something new).
Grilled tail fish with shrimp sauce (fifth course). You will notice, at this point, that we are on a hot run of back-to-back dishes. This tail fish’s skin is blistered through a technique called matsukasa yaki, where hot oil is repeatedly poured over the fish’s skin, causing it to puff and become ultra-crisp. It’s delightful, a smidge smoky, and the shrimp sauce brings a bit of body and sweetness to the proceedings.
Of champagne and sake (we drank exceptionally well). Krug Grand Cuvee 169eme champagne on arrival and, honestly, throughout most of the night. Refreshing, brisk and palate-cleansing with a long green apple, brioche and shortbread finish. I wouldn’t say I like sake, but the only two times I’ve ever enjoyed sake yet, alone like it was at TakaHisa. We sipped chilled Juyondai sake around the grilled fish courses and throughout the sake. It’s got a quince and pear nose that carries through the palate, directionally sweet, with a long finish. Bury me with a bottle of each of these (and Barolo, for the afterlife).
Sushi rice and steamed hairy crab in sea urchin sauce (sixth course). It is possibly the best overall dish and the one closest to a comfort food. The crab clings to the rice, adding that lovely seafood sweetness - partly crab, partly uni sauce - where I find myself, back arched over the bowl, enjoying every bite, worried it will all end too soon.
Grilled blackthroat sea perch (seventh course). Blackthroat sea perch does sound like the final bad guy in a Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but here, the grilled crispy fish skin is pelted with plenty of chives and lacquered in a sauce so glossy you could see your reflection.
Sushi courses (ninth course). As expected from a visiting sushi restaurant, the standouts were standouts mostly for their simplicity and the quality of the fish featured. Google went into overdrive here.
Pale white Hirame / Japanese turbot
Silvery metallic Kohada / Gizzard Shad
Kinki channel rockfish (we all had a good laugh) 🤭
Japanese cherry trout
Giant prehistoric-looking kuruma ebi (beastly Caridean shrimp) ⭐️
Uni
Anago sushi (saltwater eel) ⭐️
Sushi omakase selection: hirame, chutoro bluefin tuna, kohada, kinki rockfish, cherry trout, kuruma ebi, uni and anago sushi.
Takahisa x Sushi Katabani, Worth It?
Before we go any further, you should know I had a fantastic night. It reaffirms my impression that TakaHisa is one of the more enjoyable restaurants in Dubai. This most recent collaboration follows a sublime collab with Mitsuharu Maido in November 2023, one of my favourite meals of 2023. An upcoming collaboration with the Parisian Le Cinq further shows TakaHisa’s ambition to play with the best. These are unique experiences, and it is tough to put a price on that, except you can. We call this pricing punchy, but like my friend Sarah Hedley Hymers says, it’s cheaper than flying to Japan. Maybe not in this case.
Takahisa x Sushi Katabani, how much was it?
Omakase dinner per person: 3000 dirhams
Juyondi sake, 750ml: 10,200 dirhams
Krug Grand Cuvee champagne: 3300 dirhams
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Liam Collens: EatGoSee | Instagram | Threads | Facebook
As I was reading I kept thinking "I should go here, it looks really good..." and then I saw the price tag 😂