Tomono, Osaka, dinner (Tabelog 百名店 2024)

Dinner at Tomono, Kitasinchi, Osaka. From chef’s own word, quote, “The genre is not Chinese, not Japanese, not Western. It is a TOMONO original.”

It has been the very first time having Chinese food done in front for my eyes and served right away. On top of that, never had Chinese courses having been this much influenced from different styles of cooking from all over the world, the most noticeably, from Japanese cuisine. It was delicious and my god, a lot. 😄

The content of the courses are following:

1. Sake-steamed abalone, Sweet shrimp served with the vegetables of season and jellied tangerine on top
2. 5 different appetizers, from top left to right, Salmon caviar served on top of some Japanese appetizer that I failed to hear the name and a Shumai (noticeably, lotus roots inside of it). Japanese string chili pepper served with doubanjiang in the center. From bottom left to right, blackthroat seaperch and uni on left and lastly, steamed octopus served with spring onion.
   1. Charcoal grilled sea eel served with a bowl of rice, not seasoned with typical Japanese soybean sauce, instead, with Chinese fermented soy bean paste.
   2. Beijing duck. wrapped with diced pear from Ishikawa prefecture and foie gras ice cream. I would call this as the star of the evening. The usual combination for it is with spring onion and cucumber. Instead, it gets equipped with the sweeter note and hit the jackpot. The fruit content inside is subjected to change, depending on the season.
   3. Spring roll with saury from Hokkaido inside and ginko nuts. Plum powder sprinkled on top. This is the only dish that I thought better to be left unchanged. I prefer the distinct sweet taste from cabbage for the spring roll. It felt the chef tried placing it on the savory route. Tasty, but I just prefer what it used to be.
   4. Shark’s fin and long tail red snapper that has been aged for a week, served with various seasonal vegetables. I was surprised by how shark’s fin was prepared quite differently for this compared to what I used to have. (Soaked with oyster sauce and being with a sort of dive like ‘main’ ingredient vibe.)
   5. Stir fried beef served with himotonougarshi, Japanese string chili pepper. The beef is wagyu from Ishikawa prefecture. Familiar taste, done extremely well.
   6. noodle dish with vegetables. Familiar taste, done extremely well 2. The mushroom in the picture is Matsutake. Luxurious.
   7. Mapo tofu and a bowl of rice. Familiar taste, done extremely well 3. Left over pieces from 7. were used here. It was really delicious.
   8. Lastly, dessert, Annin (almond) tofu. It was so creamy and almost felt like I was having Panna Cotta.