Review of Ishizuka restaurant

Updated October 12, 2026,first published November 18, 2024

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Before Western chefs embraced seasonal menus starring local produce, there was Japan’s kaiseki. More than simply plating the ingredients of spring or autumn, it’s about reflecting the visual mood of the world at each moment of the year.

Pops of green peas and broad beans mark the soup course of chef Katsuji Yoshino in spring, a meaty hunk of abalone there for contrast. Morel mushrooms, vinegared and savoury, speak of cooler days in their pairing with brittle-skinned duck. A diorama of a verdant Japanese garden acts as both place-setting and a plinth for a tiered ceramic box holding your first courses.

Later, spring onions cooked to buttery collapse play second chair to a soaring lead of grilled wagyu. And bold Spanish mackerel is subdued into a gentler state, its flesh just-set, allowing chrysanthemum and smoked caviar to stand up. Concise lists of sake and wine punch above their weight, thanks to Etta sommelier Ashley Boburka’s input.

While bigger than many Japanese counter-seating restaurants, the room’s cloistered feeling – softly lit, set underground, flanked by ancient-looking concrete columns – you feel like you’re among the lucky few here to take pause and mark the passing of another season.

Best for: Japanophiles and people there to dine, not talk.

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