Kaygetsu is located in a strip mall on Sand Hill in Palo Alto near 280 which is surprising as I wouldn’t normally expect a great restaurant in such locations. It is unpretentious located and the decor is very simple, but the Kaiseki style is anything but. Kaiseki has its origin in tea ceremony, but has evolved in the 19th century as restaurants in Japan began to serve this sytle in a less formal way. According to Kaygetsu, it “is designed to delight the mind and the spirit as well as to satisfy the appetite”.
Here’s the 9 course menu:
Sakizuke (starter): red-bell pepper “tofu” with sea urchin, avocado, chive, dashi sauce and wasabi.
Sashimi: we had Alaskan wild salmon and other fresh daily assortments.
Takiawase (slow-cooked dish): shrimp, jpaanese eggplant, snow peas, sato imo potato cooked in clear fish broth with bonito flakdes and rated ginger and kinome.
Hassun (assortment of flavors): soft-shell crab with spaghetti squash, anago (sea eel) roll with burdock, cucumber with kinzanji miso sauce, lotus root stuffed with mustard, seasonal fish, miso marianted and grilled seared kampachi (amberjack) sushi
Agemono (deep fried fish): bamboo shoot and kobe beef (American), yuba (tofu ski), hajikami giner, shiso leaf
Yakimono (grilled dish): organic petaluma chicken roll with minced fish, corn and carrot, endive and orange salade, truffle oil dressing
Gohan mono (rice dish): rick cooked with vegetables, dark red miso soup, house picked vegetables
House-made original desserts: black sesame kudzu mochi, green tea/banana roll cake
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