Irori & Oden at Hearth

Finally popped by Hearth for dinner. The irori and oden restaurant quietly opened in end December 2022 and was fully operational by end January 2023. So I waited for a bit before going. As usual, the restaurant doesn't bother much with socials, and reservations are done via WhatsApp for now. Zzzzz. Helmed by Chef Koki Miyoshi (who used to be at Kamoshita), the items off of his stone irori and oden pot speak so well to my stomach. 

It was really warm in the restaurant though. Six AC units didn't seem to cool the place. The heat of the hearth and stove was quite something. It was also a tad stuffy. So I wonder if their exhaust fans were well-placed. Of course I had a highball. Three glasses. Wheeeeee.

Oden is fast enough. Ahhhh..... daikon. Mmmmm. I particularly dislike the fried tofu, because of the peppercorns. and how it generally tastes like tau kwa. Hahahaha. But at least they only put four peppercorns and not eight like what Kamoshita does. Fish cake was delicious. Lovely dashi.

The art of irori is slow. Be prepared to wait. Have a drink and have a good chat with your dinner date. But we went early enough, and food didn't take long to arrive. The small firefly squid were too cute! Loved how they grilled it and kept it tender. 

J couldn't resist the miso-marinated grilled salmon. She couldn't eat as much as she wanted tonight because sniffles set in. We'll come again and we'll order that grilled pork shoulder. Heh. No more stomach space tonight. I wish they had more cabbage in the grilled pork and cabbage, and less of the eeky green vegetable. I had the braised sea bream head with tofu. It was every bit as delicious as I had expected. It was a cute portion that I could finish on my own.