【Monday Gourmet】Top-tier flavors from Tokyo to Taipei—Yamazato Japanese Cuisine

Text & Photography / Chen Guanxin, MOOK Travel Life Network

The “Okura Prestige Taipei,” the first hotel in Taiwan operated by Japan’s Okura Hotel Group, is located in the Zhongshan Nanjing business district, a hub of Japanese restaurants and trading companies. It not only boasts Western-style top-tier hotel facilities and meticulous Japanese service, but also features its highly acclaimed Yamazato Japanese Restaurant (Yamazato Japanese restaurant), which originates from Tokyo’s Okura and has received high praise in the culinary industry. The Amsterdam branch of Yamazato in the Netherlands has been a Michelin one-star restaurant since 2002.

At the Okura Prestige Taipei, Yamazato Japanese Cuisine is divided into sections for washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine), nigiri sushi, tempura, and teppanyaki, each managed by Japanese head chefs Takashi Asou and Yoshiichi Mizuta. Among these, the tempura section is a rare specialty in overseas Yamazato branches. The menu design is the same as that of the Tokyo Yamazato, and it extensively uses fresh ingredients directly imported from Japan, allowing diners in Taipei to enjoy authentic Japanese cuisine from Tokyo.

Takashi Asou, the head chef of the nigiri sushi section, obtained dual licenses for pufferfish cuisine in Kanagawa Prefecture and Tokyo at the age of 20. The Tokyo pufferfish cuisine license is known as the “highest academic qualification in the culinary world, as difficult to obtain as admission to the University of Tokyo.” His expertise and dedication to nigiri sushi not only ensure the freshness and deliciousness of the ingredients but also apply precise quantification—each nigiri portion contains about 12 grams of rice and 10 grams of topping—to deliver consistent high quality. Among the ten or so pieces of nigiri, ingredient freshness is the basic requirement. To truly appreciate the chef’s skill, try the starry grouper and tamagoyaki. First, the starry grouper is prepared with sake, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin, demanding exceptional control over heat and seasoning—any misstep can ruin premium ingredients. Traditional tamagoyaki is made with whole eggs, sugar, salt, sake, and mirin. Mastering the technique to achieve a firm, smooth texture while maintaining a bright yellow, non-burnt color is a profound art.