Yamagata post town restaurant puts its spin on Japan’s gourmet multi-course meal.

In Japanese cuisine, kaiseki refers to luxurious multi-course meals. Though the exact dishes are decided on by the chef, many kaiseki establishments have some sort of central theme so that diners can have a sense of what sort of things they’ll be eating, and that’s true for Konnyaku Bansho, a kaiseki restaurant we came across in the town of Kaminoyama, Yamagata Prefecture.

As the name implies, Konnyaku Bansho specializes in konnyaku, a kind of yam-based gelatin. High in fiber and low in calories, konnyaku is a healthy food, but not one that most home chefs have many recipes for, so we were curious to see how it could serve as the star of a multi-course kaiseki meal.

But a visit to Konnyaku Bansho feels special even before you walk in the doors. The surrounding area used to be part of Narage, a post town for travelers on the pedestrian highways of old Japan where inns and restaurants would cluster. On a snowy day like the one we visited on, walking through the classically styled gate of Konnyaku Bansho feels a bit like stepping back in time.

In addition to its kaiseki restaurant, the Konnyaku Bansho complex also contains a cafe, souvenir shop, and a traditional Japanese garden that the building wraps around.

Three different classes of konnyaku kaiseki meals are on order, ranging in price from 1,870 yen (US$12.75) to 3,740 yen, all very reasonable for kaiseki. We decided to treat ourselves to the top-of-the-line sankaiseki meal, which includes 10 items.

The meal began with a beautifully presented plate of small dishes, all using konnyaku as either the main component or an accent. For example, the dish of kuromame (a type of sweet black bean) had strips of konnyaku with the same seasoning mixed in.

There was even konnyaku in our beverage, a glass of drinkable apple-flavored konnyaku.

Many of the konnyaku dishes incorporate nimono, the term used for simmered foods in Japanese cuisine, such as this morsel wrapped in shiso (Japanese basil)…

…or these of chilled konnyaku somen noodles.

The fried konnyaku was crisp and delicious…

…but perhaps the most enticing-looking dish of all was this plate of sliced konnyaku presented in the manner of fugu (blowfish) sashimi, which even had the texture of the treasured seafood.

Other tastes of luxury from the sea came with the ankimo (anglerfish liver)-styled konyaku…

…and the konnyaku cooked and served in the manner of a giant scallop.

The scallop-style konnyaku really showed how varied the gelatin can be depending on how it’s prepared. Compared to the jiggly texture of the blowfish-style konnyaku, the scallop-style konnyaku was much firmer, once again mimicking its inspiration’s mouthfeel.

Up until now, all of the courses had been Japanese dishes, but the next switched things up with konnyaku risotto, using little cubes of konnyaku instead of rice.

Next came a bowl of soba, which had konnyaku mixed in with the buckwheat flower when making the dough…

…and capping off the meal was a sweet slice of pear-flavored konnyaku with sweet syrup for dessert.

With every single dish beautiful and delicious, we were completely satisfied, though we then boosted our satisfaction to 120 percent by stopping off at the souvinir shop to get a skewer of konnyaku dumplings…

…and at the cafe for a parfait which, you guessed it, has konnyaku too.

▼ The cafe also has nice views of the nearby bamboo groves.

As with most chefs’ choice-style meals in Japan, Konnyaku Bansho’s kaiseki makes use of seasonal ingredients, and since we enjoyed our winter visit so much, we’re looking forward to going back again someday in warmer parts of the year to see what other delicacies they come up with.

Location information
Konnyaku Bansho / こんにゃく番所
Address: Yamagata-ken, Kaminoyama-shi, Minazawasuwamae 60801
山形県上山市皆沢字諏訪前608-1
Restaurant open 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (weekdays), 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (weekends)
Closed Tuesdays (open if Tuesday is a holiday)
Website

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