Kamimura's, Niseko Hirafu

You can wait up three months before being able to set foot as a diner into Tetsyua's in Sydney, luckily for us with not to much trouble we were able to acquire a seat at Kamimura's. Kamimura is a Japanese chef who worked his way up through the ranks of Tetsyua's before returning home to open his own much acclaimed restaurant. The front of house is led by by former "Glory days" Bel Mondo manager Michael Phipps.

Nine course degustation is the only option for eating, the menu changing seasonally as well as records of your dining being kept so should you return within the same season you won't be offered the same menu twice. To go with the dinner we opt for the matching wine deg, it's hard to pick a bottle to match and entire meal, and there's a interesting sounding Nagano Merlot on the deg. that we're keen to try.

First dish up is abalone with eringi mushroom and yuzu, I've always liked the combination of abalone and mushrooms, the fine yuzu peel shavings lifting the dish lightly.



Next served in a martini glass, a flounder sashimi with caviar. The fish is lightly dressed in lime, the caviar is both sturgeon and salmon providing a great saltiness and over the top micro shiso giving a herbal hint.



We were then offered a small house made bread roll as an accompaniment to a perfectly executed duck and veal consomme. Crystal clear with a rich duck flavor.



The forth a foie gras terrine with twice cooked eggplant and port reduction. The terrine covered with a layer of diced chives and a few grains of sea salt, the eggplants creaminess adding to the foie gras's richness. This dish we were told was one of the first dishes Kamimura made for Tetsyua and has been with him ever since.



The next dish was the one with the interesting wine pairing we were waiting for. The Nagano Merlot was soft and rich with hints of cherries and blackcurrant. We thought it was really drinkable, and were happy to see some local support for the very young Japanese wine industry.



The dish it was paired with Hokkaido scallops with truffled cream and herb salad was nice, the scallop cooked perfectly.



After this it all got a little kinki, kinki fish that is. Kinki fish is one of the most valued and if hand line caught, most expensive fish in Asian cuisine. Super soft and super silky, sitting in a flying fish broth with braised gobo. It's topped with fried leeks and a little shredded nori.



By now we were on such a roll that when the next dish came we ate half of it before remembering to take a photo (please don't tell the food bloggers union). Braised endive with mimolette. Salty, sweet and still with a little bite.

The last of our savoury courses was Wagyu with three different Niseko potatoes, red, purple and yellow, confit in three different oils, walnut, hazelnut and olive. The wagyu was deliciously rich, I only wish that there was twice as much.



Cheese and crackers were next arriving on handmade wooden plates from Kamimura's home town Asahikawa.



Our pre-dessert of green tea sorbet was lifted out of ordinary with the addition of candied adzuki beans, a red bean often used in Japanese sweets.



We finished up with spiced sauteed apple topped with biscuit crumbs and a calvados ice cream. Again a dish full of contrasts; salty, sweet, warm and cold and delicious and tasty. Well the last two aren't contrasts but it was both.



Finally for us was petit fors and tea.



You can see hints of Tetsyua here and there, but Kamimura has definitely stamped out his own style.

We'll be back with the change of season to see whats next.

Kamimura Restaurant

1st Floor Yamashizen West

185-8 Aza-Yamada
Kutchan-cho, Hokkaido
044-0081, Japan

Telephone: +81 (0)136-21-2288
Fax: +81 (0)136-21-2288