The chef’s omakase follows a classic kaiseki sequence, typically composed of eight or nine courses. The menu here changes monthly with the Japanese seasons and selected ingredients. Lighter plates such as gazpachos and dishes with delicate jellies are served in spring and summer. In colder months, warm courses like chawanmushi bring a sense of comfort.

Central to the experience is Inaya’s masterful use of dashi. The stock is a deeply layered blend of honkarebushi from Makurazaki and ma-kombu from Hokkaido. Yet he adjusts the stock slightly for every dish to create precise expressions of flavor that highlight each ingredient’s character.

Gently simmered Akashi iidako octopus is arranged with issun beans, rape blossoms, asparagus and lily root, topped with a shimmering jelly of octopus broth. The day’s soup is charcoal-grilled red rockfish from Hokkaido with bracken and yuzu flowers, bathed in a clear dashi of katsuobushi and kombu.

The sashimi plate features a fillet of red snapper from Chiba, its skin lightly seared, dressed with citrus and taiko oil, crowned with crisped red snapper scales. A small plate of aori-ika squid is marinated in soy.

Spring bamboo shoots and gamecocks are grilled over charcoal and served with aromatic kinome leaves. The simmered dish offers deep-fried fat greenling, served with flavorful dashi.

The rice dishes offer a comforting end to the meal: a mouthful of freshly steamed rice served in a clay pot, followed by a seasonal rice dish or a beef shigure bowl, where thinly sliced beef is simmered in soy sauce and sake.

INGREDIENTS
Inaya’s quality ingredients serve as the foundation of the experience. Seafood and organic vegetables arrive directly from producers. Even the salt is selected from a trusted artisan. The drink menu features a dozen rare sake, including Juyondai, Kuroryu and Jikon, as well as a selection of Burgundy wines including top vintages such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.