After these trade tastings, which usually end at 8 pm, we need supper so when we were asked by Scott Wood to come and taste some of his delicious Japanese food at Kyoto Gardens this seemed like the perfect time to go. We have been there recently for the Japanese Whisky tasting and a year or so ago we reviewed the restaurant but he has changed the menu and wanted us to sample some of the new and old offerings. We love good Japanese food, and this is where you get it. And we didn’t eat any sushi, although they do make good sushi. We had sweet scallops, huge tender prawns, wild mushrooms, seaweed, seared tuna, hibachi grilled octopus and many other delicious ingredients and dishes There is a lovely golden glow in the restaurant And booking is essential as it is busy The wine list We had a bottle of Sterhuis Sauvignon Blanc, which goes perfectly with the food. Scott sells lots of it The starter and salad menu We began with some yellowtail sashimi. Fresh from the sea and bright with lime juice Next course was warm scallops in their shells, just seared, so sweet and in a broth of miso, ginger and soy topped with spring onions Time for tempura, but something new and quite delicious for us. Tomago is a sweetened rolled omelette traditional in Japan. Scott gets his chef to make tempura out of it and it is served with a dipping sauce. One we have to try at home This is the ‘naked’ tomago with some fresh shredded ginger. Also a great find Edamame beans in their pods with crisp flakes of salt This dish is called Ecstasy. It is. Pure. Smokey scallops, prawns and octopus slices grilled on a hibachi, with thin green beans, shiitake & shimeji mushrooms (removed from John’s plate) and delicately sauced. The perfect way to cook and treat these delicacies A mushroom salad. Raw oyster mushrooms, and two kinds of tree fungus with a mayonnaise sauce topped with pink caviar Next, and we were getting rather full, prawns, scallops and Chinese cabbage wrapped in soya bean paper with a warm miso soy dipping sauce At the table across the room Teddy and Doreen Hall, with Johan Kruger and his fiancée, Sofie Gielen, enjoying the evening with a Guillermo Quiroga and some good food and wine. They had also come on from the Raath Trade wine tasting where they had been exhibiting their wines We were offered a glass of William Fevre 2013 Chablis and it also goes very well with the food The main course and side dish menu And, finally. Seared fillet of pink tuna …. … and Sautéed prawns and mushrooms on soba noodles. We realised that the whole meal had been without any carbohydrates, except for the tempura batter and the soba noodles. So it’s a great place if you are Banting and want a very special meal. Just resist ordering sushi The sushi menu And there is dessert and/or Japanese whisky. Thank you so much Scott for a great taste of your cuisine Return to MENU © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

[Author: John, Lynne Ford]