Sawatei restaurant offers a fusion of French and Japanese cuisine. It would be wrong to say that the food served isn't authentic Japanese or French, but instead the food is authentic in its own way. That is the beauty of this restaurant and it symbolizes how two very different cultures and cuisines can combine to produce something so marvelous.
Sawatei is located a few minutes away from the Odawara Station and is in a prime and peaceful uphill location. They offer nothing but the best quality food and warmest service. What I found most interesting about the restaurant other than the food, was the method of cooking. The head chef said that they used both styles of cooking in a rather unique way and used the best of what both have to offer.
Sawatei offers a full six course meal for lunch and dinner. A full lunch can cost you about 5000 yen. In Tokyo a similar quality meal would cost over 8000 yen. Without holding back, my friend and I decided to try this six course meal.
We first received an incredible appetiser: a sweet mocktail made of plum syrup, sparkling water and apricot.
The first course was a cold jelly-style soup with crab and radish, followed a French salad with seasonal vegetables, shrimps and miso sauce. Unlike most salads, this was a little salty and pungent but it tasted really fresh. Our last appetizer, and the third course, was a type of egg custard with shiitake mushrooms and bonito meat. My friend and I loved this dish. It not only had a lot of flavor but they combined together perfectly.
For the main course we were served with a pork dish. It had sagami-style pork, mashed potatoes and vegetables. This is an perfect example on the fusion of the cuisines. The pork was very Japanese. It was a little dry, salty and seasoned with sesame seeds. A typical Japanese sauce also enhanced its flavor as well as the French side dishes. They were fresh and flavored with olive oil.
The fifth course was a bowl of Ikari rice cooked with seaweed and seasoned with shiso leaf and corn. Ikari rice is the best type of rice available in Japan. The rice was salty but the sweet corn balanced the flavor of this dish. A cup of green tea was served along with this, which I believe helps to digest the food before dessert. Last, but not the least, the dessert was sensational. Peach jelly, nougat, tea cake, and coffee.
Overall, we had a great meal. The atmosphere of the place was very calm and the staff were always around to help. The manager regularly stopped by our table to check everything was alright, and if we needed something more. From the lacquer cutlery, to the imported wine glasses, everything about this place was classy. Ultimately, I couldn't believe how two cuisines, French and Japanese, could be combined to create something so enchanting and out of this world.
