View From the 68th Floor:

So now that my favorite month has ended, I thought I would reflect on the last day of the month of November. This was also the last day for the special cuisine offered for lunch today; the most expensive lunch I ever paid for.

This afternoon atop the Royal Park Hotel, on the 68th floor, I attended a special Autumn luncheon at the Shiki-Tei restaurant, which by the way is world renowned for its exquisite meals, especially seasonal ones. This day, the last day of the month I spared no expense for this gorgeous fair with my lovely Jukujo. I can’t believe she still wipes my mouth and feeds me in public, especially in front of the leering eyes of ripe and aged women.

The theme was Autumn and the fall fair consisted of about 6 or 7 seven different dishes, all from Kanagawa, and all of them with some Autumnal flare added to them. I was in heaven. These are just a few of the pictures of what we ate today.

This is the view from where we sat.

This first dish was this nice yellow tail.

One neat thing was that the chopsticks were both wet. The server told us that it was customary to wet the chopsticks in order to help bring out the flavor and aroma of the cuisine. The chopsticks were made of cedar or white birch and were not your usual run-of-the-mill type.

I ordered two serves of this sake called Ginkara Ginjo from Koyama Brewery. This sake was at the top of their list of recommended sake to drink. We enjoyed it thoroughly and it went very well with our cuisine.

Soup

Autumn leaf garnish

Shrimp tempura, spinach topped with fresh crab, baked chestnuts.

The top right is squid guts/innards marinated in some kind of fruit sauce. The sake really help bring out more unique flavors here. I almost never eat this stuff, today was an exception. It was actually very very good. The chestnut and tofu coated in yellow fish eggs was also very delicious.

Boiled radish with sweet yellow miso draped over it with a marron on top.

Steamed rice with mushrooms and chestnuts, red miso soup and pickled vegetables.

This dish resembles the chrysanthemum of the Emperor of Japan. The dessert was finely cut persimmon fruit next to pear jello.

We finished up with a nice warm bowl of matcha, or traditional thick green tea. It was a real treat.

Here in Japan not only can you thoroughly enjoy the aesthetic appeal of autumn on a visual level, but also on a culinary level as well. Japan is the land of the Goddesses, and then there’s me. Only me!

Autumn, I bid thee farewell.