Nameshi Dengaku Kikusō

Nameshi Dengaku Kikusō (菜飯田楽 きく宗) is a Japanese restaurant in Shin-honmachi, Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, operated by the limited partnership company Kikusō Gōshi Kaisha. It is celebrated for nameshi dengaku (菜飯田楽), a dish combining nameshi — rice mixed with chopped daikon leaves — and miso dengaku, grilled tofu coated with miso. The restaurant is described as a famous Toyohashi nameshi dengaku establishment and one of the Tokai region's leading long-established restaurants, and it received a Michelin Plate in the Michelin Guide Aichi (Nagoya) 2019. The business traces its origins to the Bunsei era (1818–1831), when it was founded in what was then the post town of Yoshida-shuku on the Tōkaidō, also the castle town of Yoshida Castle. It has served nameshi dengaku since its founding. The shop burned down in the Toyohashi air raids of June 19–20, 1945, and reopened in December 1946. In 1968 it purchased and relocated an old private house that was to be submerged by the Yahagi Dam, using it as its premises. The Ota family has carried on the business through generations, and the current master is the eighth. Kikusō preserves what is said to be the unchanged taste of the Edo period. Its traditions are passed down orally, with no written recipes. It uses Hatchō miso from Okazaki, and the method of preparing the miso sauce is a closely guarded secret. A distinctive feature is that the daikon leaves are mixed into the white rice raw rather than stir-fried. The tofu used for dengaku is firm cotton (momen) tofu; after the favored tofu shop closed in the late 2000s, the restaurant switched to making its own tofu from domestic soybeans and natural bittern. The tofu is cut into long strips about 7 cm by 3 cm by 1.5 cm, skewered on a two-pronged skewer, and grilled — formerly over charcoal, now electrically. It is then generously coated with miso sauce and dabbed with a little dissolved mustard. The restaurant's frontage is narrow, but the building extends deep with many tatami rooms. A nishiki-e woodblock print depicting Kikusō is mounted as a hanging scroll in the alcove. Actress Keiko Toda, a Nagoya native, has described Kikusō, which she visited as a child, as a memorable taste her family of three shared. The current menu centers on the nameshi dengaku set meal, with various other items. The eighth-generation master, Keisuke Ota, also serves as head of the Toyohashi branch of the Japan Shogi Association, and since around 2012 has held a Toyohashi town shogi class on the restaurant's second floor.

Kikusō was founded in the Bunsei era (1818–1831) in Yoshida-shuku, a post town on the Tōkaidō that was also the castle town of Yoshida Castle, in what is now Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. From the beginning it served nameshi dengaku. The official website notes that the business has continued since the Bunsei era and asks guests to savor the taste that has endured since then, describing Yoshida-shuku as the 34th post station on the Tōkaidō, a bustling stop known for its pleasure quarters and inns, celebrated in the verse 'If you pass through Yoshida, you are beckoned from the second floor, and in a figured-sleeve kimono.' Facing the old Tōkaidō, the restaurant was supported by travelers going up and down the highway and has continued to the present day, devoted single-mindedly to nameshi dengaku. In the modern era, the shop was completely destroyed in the Toyohashi air raids of June 19–20, 1945, and it resumed business in December 1946. As of 1967, its menu consisted only of nameshi, dengaku, soup, juice, and ice cream. In 1968, it purchased an old private house that was to be submerged by the Yahagi Dam and relocated it to the site as the restaurant building. The Ota family has inherited the shop through the generations, and the current master is the eighth. Because the tradition is passed down orally, there is said to be no written recipe. The restaurant uses Hatchō miso from Okazaki, and the preparation of the miso sauce is a secret. A distinctive feature is that the daikon leaves are mixed into the white rice raw rather than stir-fried. The tofu used for dengaku is somewhat firm momen (cotton) tofu; it was formerly purchased from a favored tofu shop, but when that shop closed in the late 2000s, the restaurant switched to making its own tofu from domestic soybeans and natural bittern. The tofu is cut into long strips of about 7 cm by 3 cm by 1.5 cm, skewered on a two-pronged skewer, and grilled — formerly over charcoal, now electrically. The grilled tofu is generously coated with miso sauce and dabbed with a little dissolved mustard. In 2019, the restaurant received a Michelin Plate in the Michelin Guide Aichi (Nagoya) 2019. The eighth-generation master, Keisuke Ota, also serves as head of the Toyohashi branch of the Japan Shogi Association, and since around 2012 has held a Toyohashi town shogi class on the second floor of the restaurant.

• 2019

  Received a Michelin Plate in the Michelin Guide Aichi (Nagoya) 2019.

• 2012

  Around this time, the eighth-generation master began holding a Toyohashi town shogi class on the restaurant's second floor.

• 1968

  Purchased and relocated an old private house that was to be submerged by the Yahagi Dam, using it as the restaurant building.

• 1967

  The menu consisted only of nameshi, dengaku, soup, juice, and ice cream.

• 1946

  Business resumed in December.

• 1945

  The shop was completely destroyed in the Toyohashi air raids of June 19–20.

• 1818

  Founded in the Bunsei era (1818–1831) in Yoshida-shuku, Toyohashi; has served nameshi dengaku since its founding.

Long-established traditional Japanese restaurant specializing in nameshi dengaku; Michelin Plate recipient in the Michelin Guide Aichi (Nagoya) 2019.

• Nameshi dengaku (菜飯田楽)

  A Toyohashi specialty combining nameshi — rice mixed with chopped daikon leaves — and miso dengaku, tofu coated with miso and grilled over charcoal (now electric).

• Nameshi dengaku set meal (菜飯田楽定食)

  The current menu centers on this set meal, with various other items available.

1. 1菜飯田楽きく宗 公式サイトkikusou.jp
2. 2Nameshi Dengaku Kikusō (Wikidata)wikidata.org
3. 3菜飯田楽 きく宗 (Wikipedia JA)ja.wikipedia.org