What better way to celebrate 27 years of friendship than to hop on a plane together, fly 3300 miles, and settle down to a nice warm dinner with just the company of your BFFs!
And Kaikaya provided just the right lively setting for us to kampai to our enduring friendship and celebrate our enduring youthfulness ;-) with some good sake.
Kaikaya came highly recommended by a few friends. And of course, the ever efficient Ming went online to do her due d. We were not disappointed.
The food can best be described as Japanese given a modern twist. As none of us had been there before, we decided on the omakase, which turned out to be a 12-course feast for just ¥4,500!
The meal kicked off with its signature fish carpaccio, Sengyo No Carpaccio, with garlic, olive oil, balsamico and basil. Absolutely delightful. We also enjoyed the wagyu beef sushi, the really fresh and generous sashimi platter, the seafood miso soup and more... The dinner ended on a sweet and perfect note with stick-like slabs of matcha cheesecake.
The odd thing is that practically all the customers that night were gaijin. I suppose it's because Kaikaya would not appeal to purists seeking traditional Japanese cuisine.
Our only grouse was that the smoke from the open kitchen got a little intense at times.
But we certainly had a great time and I'd definitely visit Kaikaya again the next time I'm in Tokyo.
