2013 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival – Sake & Food Pairing at Tokyo Dining

before the event began, Nick was able to get some photos of the layout and the table settings – sushi chefs (all female) preparing sushi (for the dining room, not for the event)

there were six-top tables and four-top tables, we sat at a four-top with one other guest who was a long-time Cast Member at WDW currently in the PhotoPass department

another view of the lovely sushi chefs (we weren’t served a sushi dish this year, we did get chirashi and scallops in a sashimi sort of dish)

… while Nick was inside the dining area taking photos and talking to Garin, I was surprised to notice sound barriers in place – hopefully, they’ll muffle the sounds (cacophony) from the waiting area

our table, the place setting was a bit different this year, instead of multiple sake glasses, we have one stemmed glass and a water glass on the table

each place setting had an origami crane (these have become symbols of good luck)

menus at each place setting – very nice that we are given the menu in English and in Japanese (even though we don’t read Japanese)

Tasting notes sheet for the sakes were at each place setting

beautiful menu – as always

nearly everyone is seated

Garin introduces our hostesses and our servers (Naoko was our personal server)

we began the meal with frozen beer Ichiban Shibori (we had this last year)…

… and edamamae… very traditional way to begin a night out (start with beer)

“glamor shot” … I’m not kidding anyone 🙂 … these were nice together and are supposedly a traditional combination, I typically like my edamame warmer and saltier

Seafood Lover’s Dream… lots of tastes

our first sake… Ko’s Hana Sake “Flower” served in a “horse riding glass” (apparently nobles wanted to be able to drink their sake while on horseback)

this is a Tokubetsu Junmai, SMV -5, ABV 15%, Kura Takeuchi Shuzo… sweet, delicate, very good, fruity, quite pure and unadulterated

the larger plate contained (start at top and go around clockwise)… scallops with yuzu, eel and minced fish roll, rare tempura tuna

the rare tuna was good, firm and meaty, quite nice but nothing outstanding or very different for us

eel and minced fish roll, not much to look at but very tasty, I really liked the texture and richness of the eel

scallops and yuzu… exquisite, very good flavor combination – fruity, citrusy, yet creamy and rich from the scallops

crab and salmon in an orange bowl

I thought it was just okay (we eat quite a bit of salmon salad and this seemed very tame)

Nick liked this but didn’t like the pairing with the sake

empty orange cup

second sake – Dassai 50 “Otter Festival” Junmai Daiginjyo, SMV +3, ABV 15%, Kura Asahi-Shuzo

this sake was intriguing because it was so different, I liked it a bit because it was slightly reminiscent of hisui (red yeast sake)

poached duck breast served with snow peas, almonds, potato crisps, and starch of dogtooth violet

beautiful presentation

I really enjoyed this course, the duck breast “rocked”

Nick was impressed with two things – how lean it was and how tasty the little rim of fat was (very similar to a southern cured pork in saltiness and taste)

the little owls are back from 2011, hopefully they don’t contain chilled lobster consume

dogtooth violet starch… I don’t have any notes on this, color us unimpressed… one day, those little owls are going to contain something we like a lot 🙂

each sake was served in a different vessel, and contrary to previous years, they weren’t all on the table waiting when we were seated

Narutotai “Naruto’s Sea Bream” Ginjo Nama Genshu, SMV +5, ABV 19%, Kura Yamanaka Shuzo… rich and creamy flavors

our third course presentation

waygu beef (small, thin steak and ground beef) plus deconstructed stuffed green pepper

red lotus root underneath the beef, the starch component

the beef “steak” was quite tasty, we even liked the stuffed green pepper (although it didn’t like us very much)

the real standout was the ground beef, could have eaten a lot of this, the bottom of the bowl contains a small cooked slice of turnip (pretty much bland)

the other bowl contained a noodle soup with fish cake

you can barely see the color of the noodles… they’re pink

the pink noodles… I thought there was gari (pickled ginger) in them

very light and refreshing, almost cleansing (but it didn’t taste like cleaner!)

Garin introducing Chef Shuichi Tanida

Garin came over, he remembered us from last year

Chef was very willing to answer questions… the duck wasn’t brined (our guess), it was salted and allowed to rest overnight… the ground beef was so tasty because of MISO… and the noodles were pink because of Japanese Plum