NISEKO AMAYA ~Mt.Yotei SUKIYAKI Hokkaido Cuisine~ ニセコあま屋 — Restaurant in Kutchan

I booked a table for 13 of my friends on the 2nd to last day of the year (New Years Eve was fully booked), and we had a great time! We decided to go with the Hirafu Omakase menu instead of the hot pot menu, which we thought was the right choice since they are the same price. The 540 day aged potato with truffle butter and the scallop tempura with Hokkaido uni (wrapped in seaweed) were incredible. The Niseko Vichyssoise, deep fried shrimps, cod & mushrooms with Hokkaido garlic butter, and Hokkaido pudding were also very tasty. We also had a delicious sake at the restaurant that we highly recommend (Nanbu Bijin SP Junmai).

Service was also exceptional. A father and his baby couldn't make the dinner, but the staff packed up their meals (including kids menu) for us to take back to our hotel. This was surprising given the amount of seafood that was on the menu and the fact the staff were not expecting to have to do this.

We also had one person who was lactose intolerant and another who has a fish allergy (but she is not allergic shellfish). The chef was able to accommodate both with no problem. They replaced the fish in one dish for with Hokkaido uni (which is definitely more expensive) for my friend with the fish allergy!

A few things to improve: The menu didn't seem to flow very naturally according to western customs. Normally, you expect the salad to be an appetizer and the meats to be later in the meal. It would have made more sense to put the 540 day aged potato earlier in the meal, before the scallop dishes, but I can understand that the chef likely had his/her own reasons for ordering the dishes that way. There are a few misspellings in the menu. 'Deep frid shrimps' should be 'Deep fried shrimps' and the Hana Ohagi should be labelled...

Don't let the location a few hundred meters from the stoplights of "the main intersection" deter you from experiencing a meal at Niseko Amaya at Intuition. Winter dinner choices are a Mt Yotei inspired sukiyaki or Hokkaido omakase.

Reading the blurb about the restaurant brought to mind California cuisine and the "farm to table" movement because Chef Amano sources local vegetables, Hokkaido rice, seafood, and prime wagyu for creative twists on Japanese cuisine. It's always interesting to see how chefs interpret classic dishes in their omakase.

Everything in our kaiseki meal was delicious and beautifully presented; an example was the hay-smoked buri (yellowtail) sashimi perched on the side of a glass bottle of the hay that was used in the preparation.

Two twists on classics stood out for me. First, the perfectly steamed chawanmushi (savory egg custard) was sauced with a thickened dashi and incorporated 540-day aged potatoes in lieu of chestnuts and a slice of mozzarella cheese along with shreds of crab and scallops.

Second, the ikura with sushi rice seasoned and tinted pink with haskap berry vinegar and served in a bright, checkered covered dish.

As for the other courses, delightful mochi-like bread was served with a lily bulb spread and kombu broth followed by soba elevated with shavings of umami in the form of mullet roe. The appetizer box was full of seafood treats and the bigger tempura scallop and wagyu courses were excellent.

The generous dessert course included chocolate, strawberries, puff pastry apple turnover, and financier that are also available for purchase to enjoy at home.

The service was paced well, servers attentive and informed, describing each course as it was served. Hope to visit in the future to try the...

This has been the fanciest and most expensive of all the meals we've eaten on our trip to Japan so far, and has been the biggest disappointment.

Food: A few dishes of this multi-course dinner were good (we quite liked the uni scallop and deep fried shrimp), but the majority of the other courses were boring or just "meh", which is not what you want, especially with this price tag! The "wagu" dish was a huge letdown (wish I took a photo of it to show how overcooked and dry it was). I couldn't even finish it.

Service: I eat slower than my husband, but they kept taking away his dish while I was still finishing mine. I've never been to any restaurant (including a Japanese one) that does this. Once, they brought out the next course for him while I was still eating the previous one. It seemed like really poor form. They also forgot one of the courses, so we had to remind them. Very sloppy. We were one of the last tables seated for the evening and even with the rest of the restaurant tables all empty, they sat us next to the only other guests still there who were taking very loudly. With a little consideration to their guests comfort, they could've put us at least one table away.

Overall: I might've rated this higher because there were a few redeeming dishes in the mix, if it wasn't for how "upscale" it was supposed to be. For the price point and vibe, that level of food and quality service is really bad. I would save your money and...