A night to remember at Ginza Aster

I was invited to the special quarterly dinner at Ginza Aster, Shinochanomizu branch.

This was honestly the best Chinese meal I have ever had. The effort put into each dish by the team of more than 20chefs, the ingredients, and the presentation were all outstanding.

The concept of the evening is to provide guests with a great culinary experience using the highest quality ingredients, which are often unusual and difficult to source, demonstrating how to enjoy these dishes.

We had 8 courses
Shanghai crab
Horderve plate
Sharks fin over chinese greens
Pork and vegetable stir fry
Steamed bun
Stewed sea cucumber and pork belly
Bifun rice noodle
Sweets including shokouchu (chinese liquor) icecream

We started with a shanghai crab (one whole crab each). The flavor of the crab was incredible – it was steamed in chinese liquor but it was quite fiddly to eat. The waiting staff provided very kind and patient instructions on how best to eat the crab and where to find the most meat. This was very much appreciated and continued throughout the dinner. I made a mess of the crab as it was quite fiddly to eat, but it was certainly worth the effort. Delicious.
As we progressed through the meal I became more and more curious about what kind of dish would come to the table next. I was a little hesitant when the waiter presented us with the sea cucumber dish as I had never tried this before but it was surprisingly good. The texture was unexpectedly a lot like a slow cooked meat dish and the accompanying rich pork sauce was fantastic. I emptied my plate.

In conclusion this was a really eye opening experience for me with Chinese food as I was able to try so many dishes for the first time. The venue, the quality and amazingly delicate presentation of the food, and the huge effort put in by all the staff – both in the kitchen and the kind waiting staff made this a night to remember.

The dinner is conducted 4 times a year with a unique menu created using unusual seasonal ingredients. I would highly recommend attending this dinner for a special occasion as it truly will be a night to remember.