KORYŌRI REN — Restaurant in Chatan

There are always hidden gems hiding away in plain sight here in Japan, and this is absolutely no exception!

The ambiance of the restaurant is exceptional—classy, refined, yet simplistic and homely. As a non-fluent Japanese speaker, I was treated very graciously by the staff to explain not only all the ingredients on the menu, but to advise on the different ways to consume the meal based on different preferences. They were very kind and generous!

I ordered the Hitsumabushi, which is a Grilled Eel Rice Bowl that comes as a set with many other delicious sides and accoutrements.

First to arrive was a savory steamed pudding: mixed with light dashi and included a small piece of shrimp and a diced shitake mushroom. It was very light with a slightly salty custardy flavor to it.

The staff showed me the eel that would be prepared for my meal—fresh, alive, and wriggling! I was told it was from the Miyazaki Prefecture, and outside of preparing this yourself, you cannot get much fresher eel than this!

The main Histumabushi dish was an elegant box of fresh grilled Unagi (Eel) over a soft fluffy bed of rice. It arrived with toppings of Nori (Seaweed), Japanese Black Pepper, Wasabi, Julienned Cucumbers, a Dashi-Mushroom Soup, and a pot of Dashi broth.

The Unagi—Eel meat itself was so incredibly tender! It is a meat that absolutely melts in your mouth, and is such a tender meat despite being grilled. The outside skin is soft but has just enough of a chew to differentiate between the meat and the seasoned-skin, and is so tender it all melts together!

I was informed there were two ways to eat the meal—One way was to eat it from the box as is while adding the different toppings (including more Unagi Sauce), the Second way was to move the rice and Eel into a separate bowl and mix with the fresh dashi broth in more of a “soup” variety. I tried both and both were exceptional flavor profiles in their own ways.

The Unagi Sauce itself had a rich soy flavor, along with a hint of sweetness and almost a “malty” flavor. It was quite delectable and pairs incredibly well with the eel, and was a great flavor profile enhancer for the rice too!

The fresh Dashi was incredibly light, but highly flavorful with a light salty complexion. Due to it’s lightness, it not only went down smooth, but created a subtle flavor profile that all the other flavors built on top off. It has the potential to get lost easily, but always had a subtle underlying presence depending on how much Dashi was included in the dish.

The accoutrements were quite tasty as well in their own light refined ways. The Nori and Wasabi were as one would expect. The Japanese Black Peppercorns were quite tasty on their own—they exhibited a light vinegary peppery taste reminiscent of White Peppercorns. They were very tender and a delicious palate cleanser on their own (though I felt they often got lost in the flavor profiles when mixed with the Eel or rice).

Upon finishing the main meal, the dessert that was brought out was a small dish of sweet pudding in a very light caramel-esque syrup. Like the savory pudding before it, it was also an incredibly light pudding, but the twinge of sweetness at the end was a great reset for the mouth, and provided an excellent conclusion to a wonderful lunch profile.

This restaurant focuses heavily on the experience and the freshness of the ingredients. Multiple times the chef came out to show the differences in the fresh ingredients they had bought for the customer’s perusal, and to indicate which items would most likely be the best tasting for the customer. All of the flavor profiles are light—you will not find much “bold” flavors here, and that is perfectly fine! The quality of the food and the atmosphere is not to be overstated, and their lightness reflects a focus on purity of ingredients and preparation.

High quality ingredients and atmosphere require high prices, but you get every yen spent in the quality of the food and the experience! I highly recommend this wonderful establishment!

Credit...

Last night was my friend's last night living on Okinawa after almost 3 years. I asked her where she wanted to go, and she said that she trusted me to pick something amazing.

I made a reservation via Tabelog to eat at Ren. We were greeted upon arrival and were able to secure a private tatami room for our meal.

We let the server know that we were interested in an omakase style meal with lots of drinks (after all, we were celebrating). We were brought lots of tempura, a delicious firefly squid dish, sashimi and oysters, clam soup, and their famous eel dish (unadon), where they show you the eel ahead of time! Everything was so delicious! After the unadon, I was stuffed. But they gave us a tasty strawberry to finish out our meal.

Our server and the chef were very friendly and made sure we enjoyed our experience. We did, and we recommend checking this place out! A tad pricey and limited parking, but it...

I took my husband and we both tried the eel set. It was fresh and delicious. 5,000 yen is a lot but it was definitely worth it.

The server and the owner were very polite and kind. I was surprised at first because I didn't expect the price range to be 4,000 to 5,000 yen. I ordered kaisen-don and the seafood was very fresh on the rice. The steamed egg and dessert were good. I will come back with my husband and try the eel since it looks like this restaurant has a good...