For a number of reasons - some of which I have shared with a handful of friends - I have never found myself sitting down for a meal at DEN (傳). I have had tastes of Chef Hasegawa Zaiyu (長谷川在佑)'s cuisine via his collaborations with Gaggan and Goh-san from as far back as his Bangkok pop-up in 2017, but I just never managed to get myself a seat in Tokyo.
I usually hate to beg chefs who aren't already friends for seats at their restaurants, but this time around I figured I needed to check DEN off my list, so I finally messaged Zaiyu-san and asked for help. He was, of course, very gracious and asked the team to help make the arrangements for me.
We were running late due to stupidity on my part, and I ran from our taxi into the building like a headless chicken. I knew that the restaurant is on the first floor and I could see that there is a restaurant, but the glass panel on the door reads Le Gaulois... So WHERE THE HELL IS THIS PLACE?!
After seeing two very confused people outside their door, Noriko-san came out and asked whether we were looking for their restaurant. It's been a few years since I last saw her, and I was relieved to see a familiar face. She explained that Le Gaulois used to be Zaiyu-san and Emi-san's favorite restaurant, and when they moved DEN into the space, they kept the decor of the restaurant - including the door.
We were seated at the big tree trunk table facing the open kitchen. This facilitated some interaction between us and the kitchen, but I would soon find that, thanks to a combination of my short stature, my protruding o-toro, and the beveled edge of the table, I was often stretching to reach the dishes and found myself eating in an uncomfortable position. Oh well... time to put some work in and shrink the o-toro!
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DEN monaka (傳最中) - I've had this signature dish quite a few times over the years, and know that some of the ingredients vary with the seasons.![]()
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Besides the white miso and foie gras, this time we had kumquat (金柑) and pickled cucumber. The kumquat was nice and sweet, and there was a little crunch from the peel, although the cucumber was much more crunchy and juicy.
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Ca' del Bosco Franciacorta Cuvée Prestige 46a Edizione - decent acidity on the palate. Pretty nice.
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Shirako Female Japanese snow crab chawanmushi (白子香箱蟹の茶碗蒸し) - since I told them that fish cum was on my list of dietary restrictions, they substituted it with seasonal female Japanese snow crab (香箱蟹). We were so, sooo happy!
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I loved mixing the crab meat, the eggs (外子), the ovaries (内子), and the tomalley (蟹味噌) together on top of the fluffy egg custard.
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When this plate is placed on the table, it's not difficult to guess what comes next...
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DENtucky fried chicken (傳タッキー) - WELL... I NEVER! I knew that some guests get the box for DFC with their faces on the box, but I honestly didn't think I was special enough for the team to do this. AND WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GET THAT PICTURE FROM, ANYWAY?! I almost never post pictures of myself on social media, so I didn't think there would be many pics they could choose from...
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Inside the box the chicken wing was resting on a bed of straw as usual, but tonight the box was decorated with some maple and ginkgo leaves of the season.
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Stuffed inside the wing we had black rice, pine nuts, and goji (枸杞) berries. As it's winter, chef wanted to create something that would keep the guests warm, so this was meant to taste like samgyetang (삼계탕).
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Houou Biden Black Phoenix Junmai Ginjoshu Muroka Honnama (鳳凰美田 純米吟醸酒 無濾過本生), 2024, from isshobin - very lovely fragrance, showing sweet rice lees on the nose.
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Horsehead tilefish with nori sauce (白甘鯛 海苔ソース) - Zaiyu-san explained that during this season the tilefish had been eating plenty of shrimp, so the fish would start to show some shrimp flavors. The fish has been aged for 3 days, and cut into shape resembling Alaskan pink shrimp (甘海老). It was recommended that we try it first with just wasabi and not the accompanying sauce, and I gotta say this definitely started to taste a little like shrimp after aging. The sauce was made with nori (海苔) and vinegar, so it was sweet, sour, and plenty of umami from the nori.
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Deep-fried Spanish mackerel with topinambour (鰆 菊芋) - the fish came with a light batter, which was then drenched in a sauce based on soy (醤油餡掛け) and sudachi (酢橘). There were also lots of chives. This was a really nice dish, and the flavors were just so classically Japanese and so familiar. I was surprised to see, though, that topinambour is widely planted and available in Japan.
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2020 Sturm Andritz Bianco - the sauvignon blanc really shows through, with a little flint on the nose. Good acidity on the palate but not too lean or sharp.
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DEN salad (傳サラダ) - another signature dish, with a smiley face made out of carrot where each serving gets a different emoji. The contents include 15 different types of vegetables presented with various cooking methods. While there is the inevitable comparison to the iconic gargouillou from Michel Bras, Zaiyu-san maintains that the dish is firmly Japanese.
So I counted carrot, arugula, purple arugula, cauliflower tempura, pickled baby yellow carrot, castelfranco radicchio, boiled yellow carrot, simmered green radish, roasted potato, white beetroot, frisée, simmered burdock, deep-fried leek, and tomato marinated in fruit vinegar. The dressing was sesame oil with shiokombu (塩昆布).
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Vegetables stewed in sake lees (粕汁) - we've got lots of vegetables like cabbage, burdock, turnip... etc. all cooked in sake kasu (酒粕).
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There were also slices of boar (猪) in the stew. Very nice on a cold winter night.
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Sara Usukiri Junmai Ginjo Muroka Genshu (彩來 うす霧 純米吟釀 無ろ過原酒), from isshobin - definitely fruity and sweet on the palate. Pretty soft and round on the palate, too.
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Clay pot rice with dried young sardines (しらす土鍋ごはん) - now THIS was impressive! I love young sardines (しらす), and this white-on-white looks particularly stunning.
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I was so, soooo happy, but I wondered if it would have been even better to have sprinkled a tiny bit of sansho (山椒) powder on top.
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Pickles (漬物)![]()
Soup (出汁)![]()
Dessert (甘味) - today we have persimmon, kokuto (黒糖) ice cream, and agar jelly with kuromitsu (黒蜜). I loved all the elements and flavors.
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Tedorigawa Junmai Daiginjo Muroka Genshu Hakusan Yamada Nishiki (手取川 純米大吟醸 無濾過原酒 白山市産山田錦) - nose of melon. Very clean on the palate, with a nice balance between sweet and dry.
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While it was good to see Zaiyu-san, Emi-san, and Noriko-san, Foursheets and I most looked forward to meeting Puchi Jr. After finishing our dinner we finally took time to go and see this sleeping beauty. He's soooo cute, and we were so happy to finally meet him.
We thanked Team DEN for their hospitality and left with smiles on our faces. We look forward to seeing them again in Tokyo or elsewhere.
While Foursheets needed to rest up before our morning flight tomorrow, I decided to meet up with the lonesome Geruhage to keep him company. He suggested that we grab drinks at Bar Scala, which has a great selection of vinyl records so that we could enjoy some music.
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There's no menu to order from, so I ordered my go-to drink... negroni.
I treasured the time I had with my friend and the conversations we had. It's been so good to see him over the last few days, and I've grown really fond of his new fashion accessory. Grateful for his friendship and company as always, and look forward to seeing him soon in the new year.
