Tenjimon
I visited Tenjimon this Christmas. Tenjimon is located in Seoul, South Korea, and provides a kaiseki-style omakase that features seasonal and local ingredients. According to their website, "Tenjimon' is the Japanese pronunciation of a Chinese/Korean word that means “To open the door to the gastronomic world via ingredients from heaven and earth.”
Since the day I visited was Chirstmas, there were some special menus that Tenjimon don’t offer usually.
The first menu was creamcheese monaka with lemon zest. The richness of the cheese paired well with the crunchiness of the monaka crust and the lemon flavor.
Chawanmushi with white truffle and a few drops of truffle oil. It was very creamy.
Snow crab leg with tosazu jure sauce made out of japanese apricot. Combination of rich snow crab, sweet and sour tosazu jure, and salty caviar.
The snow crab tofu with broth made out of boiling sweet rice starch and green onion. The outside was Less than 15 degrees and was snowing, so this warm soup felt more delicate.
This was a menu only served on Christmas. Tenjomon is operated by a collaboration between Chef Kim Dae-Chun—owner of TOC TOC—and Chef Zaiyu Hasegawa—the owner of Den in Tokyo; since Japan has a tradition of eating KFC for Christmas, Chef Zaiyu Hasegawa came up with DFC—Dentucky fried chicken. The chicken was smoked with straw-fire and then fried.
Deepfried anago(saltwater eel) with black truffle and chive on top and soba noodles on side. Anago was very buttery and soft. The soba was refreshing.
Grilled unagi(freshwater eel) and light-picked cucumber was served. The sweet miso sauce and meaty unagi paired very well with sour cucumber.
Grilled sirloin and broccolini. Nothing special but still very buttery and meaty.
This is Tenjimon’s signiture menu: Salad made out of 17 organic vegetables. The only seasoning was salt. Even though there was no seasoning, vegetables were deepfried, roasted, grilled, pickled, marinated, and dried, giving rich and unique flavor. My favorite was grilled brusssels sprout and beet.
Sakura ebi pot rice. Sakura ebi is mainly caught in the spring, and the color of the dried shrimp resembles the color of cherry blossoms, hence the name sakura shrimp. The appeal of sakura shrimp is its soft shell, high sweetness, and flavor.
Sakura ebi pot rice with green tea was also delicious.
The chocolate mousse cake, paired with raspberry sorbet and a delicate green crumble, resembled the spirit of Christmas.
Final Thoughts
Many kaiseki omakase experiences I've had were visually beautiful yet lacked flavor, but Tenjimon stood out with dishes that were not only exquisite in presentation but also with outstanding flavors.
Every season, Tenjimon refreshes its menu to highlight the finest seasonal ingredients, ensuring a unique dining experience each time.
Given its high-end offerings, I highly recommend Tenjimon for special occasions.
