For Ke’s birthday, I treated him to dinner at Keiko à Nob Hill, a Japanese influenced French restaurant a few friends had recommended. Keiko a Nob Hill is a really lovely, quaint restaurant with a small private dining area. I was more than impressed with the service and food and glad I chose it to treat Ke 😀
Magret de Canard
The first dish was Magret de Canard, Hudson Valley duck with a cherry wood smoke. It had a delicious smokey flavor with a bit of citrus. I never get tired of duck + citrus pairings. This dish was definitely a great start to the meal.
Paris Soir
The next dish was a potato soup topped with caviar. I am obssesed and can never get enough of potato soup appetizers. I always wish I could have a full entree of it. This dish was cool, refreshing and the caviar was delicious!
Ise Ebi
I could have also eaten a whole entree of this as well. My picture is not the best but this dish consisted of a delicious and good chunk of Japanese lobster topped with a bell pepper mousse. It was juicy, savory, and I craved more after finishing it.
Foie Gras
The next dish was a divine, melt in your mouth slice of foie gras with espresso sauce. The bitterness of the sauce paired with the sweetness of the foie gras was such a treat! I keep going back and forth with what was my favorite dish of the night, but this dish is definitely in the top 3.
Awabi
The next dish was Awabi, or abalone paired with Perigord Black Truffle. It was ofcourse delicious but not as memorable as the other dishes – though I am not the biggest fan of abalone.
Uni
This next dish was probably my favorite dish of the night. I love uni, its rarely a miss, but this uni paired with risotto was just divine. I almost licked my bowl clean.
Tsukiji Market Fish
This was also one of my favorite dishes. It was called “Special fish” from Tsukiji Market on the menu but I forget the actual name of the fish. Our waiter informed us it was one of the few fish where you can serve it with the scales. This was fried and crispy and delicious. Ke was critical of frying fish from Tsukiji market especially one labelled as special, but I absolutely loved it.
Cornish Hen
The next entree was sous vide cornish hen that melted in your mouth paired with three sauces, that unfortunately escape my memory x.x. A great dish nonetheless!
A5 Wagyu
Our last main course was yet another delight during our dinner, A5 Wagyu beef with yozu soy foam, kale, wasabi and salt not well seen in this photo. It was sooo good, my mouth is watering just rethinking about it.
Cheese Course
After our main courses, we were served a unique version of a cheese course with a crispy chip and what I believe to be papaya. Very light and refreshing. This was yet another dish where I wanted to link the glass clean.
Desserts
After the cheese course we were served multiple dessert goodies. The first being mini piece of fruity cake with sorbet, matcha powder, and chocolate mousses. After the dessert plate, we were served a platter of little treats and tarts. I always save room for dessert 😀
A Special Night
In addition to the phenomenal food, I was blown away by the service and kindness shown by the waiters and even Keiko Takahashi herself! After our desserts, the waiter brought out a cute candle to celebrate Ke’s birthday but the absolute highlight of the night came when we were putting on our coats to leave. Our waiter ran out to give us a gift! During the service, Ke and I had discussed between ourselves if we should ask the head chef for her signature but decided against it. Our waiter had overheard us, and after we had finished eating, he ran out to give us a signed menu from Keiko Takahashi!
It was such an 一期一会 (ichi go ichi e) moment that truly made our night.
