Guests planning a visit to savor hot pot deliciousness will be delighted with the full-course cuisine as beautiful and delicious as at the main restaurant. In addition to monthly-changing seasonal hot pot varieties, the course includes Japanese-style appetizers appealing to both the eyes and taste buds, as well as freshly steamed plump grains of rice accented by an array of delectable toppings. In between are other kaiseki style dishes and a fried seasonal bite, and the meal concludes with sweets inspired by traditional Japanese confections.

An appetizer of kuruma prawn and white taro stems with vinegar gelee has great acidity, and with the addition of a lotus leaf, is a very cooling and calming dish. The crisp scaly surface of tilefish contrasts beautifully with the succulent flavorful middle and is complemented by aromatic toppings of myoga and green onions. Umami abounds in the beef cutlet made from A5 wagyu using a cut from the inner thigh. Close to the top sirloin cap known as ichibo, it is tender red meat with a beautiful grain, served with a sauce that has stewed for three hours made from sansho pepper buds and soy sauce.

The inaugural hot pot at Nijo Yamagishi features hamo pike conger caught that morning in Awajishima. Prepared in the traditional honegiri manner, the pieces of flesh open beautifully like flowers in the delicious dashi alongside onions, Aomori turnip, Kochi myoga and Kyoto yuba soymilk skin. Chef Yokoi has gathered exquisite ingredients from around Japan in a brilliantly cohesive hot pot. It is served with three sauces: pickled plum, white miso sesame and a salted ponzu based on shiitake dashi with kombu and sudachi and yuzu citrus for tart, refreshing flavor. Upcoming hot pots featuring ingredients that speak beautifully of the season include an autumn wild mushroom creation and Kyoto beef hot pot.

To make sure you leave with belly-filling satisfaction, Chef Yokoi serves rice dishes so incredibly good you keep eating even though you know you are full. Steamed and served in a clay pot, the plump grains can be enjoyed standalone or with toppings of shredded yuba with dried sardines, enoki mushrooms, and spicy cod roe. And for dessert, nestled in ice is a charming bamboo grass package, which when opened reveals the plump, springy texture of brown sugar mochi.

INGREDIENTS
The foundation of flavor in the hot pot dashi is well-water from the Tominokoji main restaurant. To it is added two-year aged Rishiri kombu supplied through longstanding kombu trader Fukui Okui-Kaiseido and premium bonito flakes from Makurazaki. Only the best Koshihikari rice from the Kyoto Tango region is thoroughly immersed before steaming in a clay pot timed to serve at each group’s dining pace. Carefully chosen ingredients feature in each seasonal hot pot. From starring ingredients like Awaji pike conger and yuba made from soybeans grown in Miyama, Kyoto, to vegetables like turnips from Aomori, and even the smallest condiment like myoga from Kochi, Yokoi is extremely fastidious about every component that makes up a meal at Nijo Yamagishi. To complement the delicious food, the well-rounded beverage list includes wine, sake, shochu and beer.