Three little two-bite bites, all great. The potato was so soft and mushy (in a great way). The The rice senbei had such a nice little soft pillowy center. The duck was maybe the least effective of the bites despite it being beautifully smoked - but that says way more about the first two bites. As always the presentation was just perfect.
Sea Foam and Seaweed Crackers
Okay, now we're talking, underneath the foam made of crab was little pieces of crab, just effortlessly tasty. The seaweed cracker crumpled so nicely into it too. This was a glorious dish.
Chawanmushi of Popeye Crab, sea cucumber and limpets
Apparently chawanmushi is a common Japanese lunch, so this was a really elevated take on it, with just perfectly cooked crab, limpets nad sea cucumber, with a great just perfectly runny yolk on the top. Again, jsut a really nice dish.
Bream tempura with amazonic potato sauce
The bream tempura had this little dusting of something on it (forget what it was, didn't write it down). It seems weird to have fried fish, effectively, in this type of restaurant, but it was perfectly flaky, with these little pieces falling off and letting you use as mini-fries for the beautiful potato sauce.
Nigiri of the day (something with o-toro, eel and other stuff)
Maybe the best dish of the night. Perfect o-toro sushi, with an emulsion of sea urchin (yeah, no idea), with foie gras (of course) and eel on top. I mean, how could that not be perfect.
Something I forgot to write with River Eel
Honestly, forgot what this is. My write-up called it 'River Eel over some stuff'. Honestly was the most forgettable dish of the night. Still, of course it was amazing, but they can't all be brilliant.
Take on ceviche with pork foam
Holy hell man. Literally was ceviche of the freshest fish, with leche del tigre, a great spiced sauce additive and amazonian sausage crumble. Again, how could that not be great. I will say, maybe the biggest difference between the meal this time and last was it was heavier - more sauces and soups and the like.
Abalone soup dupmling
Jesus christ man, maybe the best dish of hte day. Literally an Abalone soup dumpling. Everything else in the dish was great too, but just that in itself is worth 1/12th the price of admission - if not a good 2/12th or 3/12th.
Beef tongue with a jora papad
It was almost jarring to get a dish that featured meat. Of course, it wasn't a normal meat, but the most beautifully tender beef tongue imagineable, with a divine corn-based puree and sauce. In theory this is the one dish on the menu I can "make" - and may even try a version of it. But I certainly won't be able to get the beef anywhere near that tender.
Shoyu, pineapple and coconut desert
Deserts are generally never my favorite part of a tasting menu, so I was a little saddened to see that there were three dessert courses on the menu, but this one didn't disappoint. Pineapple and Coconut aren't my two favorite flavors, but for whatever reason it worked man.
Pure Amazonic cacao with mochis
Maybe the most beautiful desert I've ever eaten at a tasting menu. Not the tastiest (though was plenty tasty), but the presentation here was marvelous.
Doroyaki (japenese mini-cake) and cacao mochi
A great finish, as much like the start, it was just a couple bites. First a little mini-cake that was just so soft and perfectly textured. The cacao mochi was a nice little kick on the way out. Maido was just so pristine this time - I would put it behind Central (to come), but maintains its place relative to every other restaurant on my Top-20 list
