Kaiseki in Expo eatery for whopping 3,000 yuan
- Source: Global Times
- [10:09 May 06 2010]
- Comments
By Zhou Ping
A Japanese restaurant offering Kaiseki-ryori inside the Expo site said that the food is so popular that all seats have been booked for the next two months, but the 3,000 yuan ($439) per seat price is proving a bit expensive for many.
Kaiseki-ryori, a traditional Japanese cuisine made of a variety of fresh seasonal ingredients, is being provided in Japanese restaurant Murasaki at 3,000 yuan ($439) a pop excluding beverages. Reservations are required.
The five-room restaurant can hold only 36 customers at one time either from 11:30 am to 2 pm or from 5:30 pm to 9 pm.
According to Wang Xinhua, an employee with the public relations company representing the restaurant, customers from around the globe have already booked all seats for May and June.
However, when the Global Times called at 6 pm Wednesday to make a reservation, the receptionist said that only 10 people had made reservations and that there were still dinner seats available.
Wang said that the design and decoration of the restaurant, as well as the food itself, costs more than 3,000 yuan ($439). "We select the food carefully and make the dishes with dedication."
The Japanese restaurant Murasaki, from the Japanese company Kikkoman and made especially for the Expo, was opened on May 1. The restaurant will be gone after the Expo.
Some Japanese residents told the Global Times that Kaiseki is not a daily dish.
"We Japanese don't have Kaiseki-ryori frequently due to the high cost. But the environment feels comfortable and the food looks nice. Occasionally I go to eat Kaiseki for around 20,000 yen ($212) to celebrate a birthday," Yukihiko Kurahashi, a teacher, told the Global Times.
"I don't trust the quality of Kaiseki-ryori supplied in the restaurant inside the Expo site. I would rather go to a restaurant with a long history in Japan to taste real Kaiseki-ryori if I have to spend that much," Yang Fan, who once had the course for 580 yuan ($84.97) in a Japanese restaurant in a downtown area in Shanghai, told the Global Times, adding that he was not very impressed with the set when he tried it.
