Tofu kaiseki under the shadow of the Tokyo Tower

For lunch today, I decided to book a room at Shiba Tofu-ya Ukai, a quaint Japanese restaurant with a magnificent traditional Japanese garden in the middle. As this week was still early winter, the Japanese maple trees in the garden were still bright red and golden, and the fall colors were still on display throughout the garden grounds and around the pond. 

We passed the gift shop selling all things tofu, and walked into the main entrance of the restaurant. The main lobby was beautiful, an old structure with dark wooden beams across the ceiling and dark wood floors. To one side were three rooms for tea ceremonies, one even had a pot boiling over the charcoal stove.

Our waitress, clad in kimono and speaking fluent English, led us down the winding corridors into a different wing of the restaurant, past small garden displays and to our private dining room. The room was large enough for four patrons, with a full view of the garden. In the summer time, the glass door could be kept open to allow the patrons to enjoy the fresh air and take in the serene landscape before their eyes.

Not feeling to hungry, we ordered the lighter of the two set meals, the Take course, at 5500yen per person.
Our waitress returned shortly with copies of the menu in English, and then set the table for our lunch. And so our gastronomic adventure began.

The lunch menu consisted of tofu prepared in different ways, each course a tasty delight in itself. The standout was the cooked silken tofu in seasoned tofu milk. The tofu milk broth was full of flavor and tasted as good as some of the best pork tonkatsu ramen broth I've had the pleasure of trying. Simply amazing. 

So, now I've found two very good tofu restaurants in Tokyo, Goemon for a cold winter's night feasting over a hot pot, and Tofu-ya Ukai for some extravagant kaiseki dining in the midst of one of the most beautiful traditional gardens in the city. And just hidden away under the Tokyo Tower, no less.