Restaurants rarely get more gorgeously detailed than Hoshun Sushi Kaiseki: Your first glimpse of this setting is a bar where thousands of orizuru - paper cranes painstakingly folded by the team here - fly toward a full-moon mirror. Inside, a lengthy sushi counter stretches toward a mini Zen garden, as a Sendai-born chef and his crew slice sashimi and grill seafood at their stations.
Artistic flourishes add to the elegance: You'll find two original works by Malaysian illustrator Red Hong Yi - a shimmering silk sensation imprinted with real fish that's the centrepiece of Hoshun's private room and a six-metre-long inked textile portrayal of a Japanese mountain range, created for the communal space with stamps of carved okra, lotus roots, celery and winged beans.
Hoshun's full potential will likely be unleashed in a month or two, when its full kitchen brigade is assembled and its sushi omakase menu is unveiled. For now, the restaurant caters purely to reservations for multi-course kaiseki lunches and dinners.
The mid-priced selection in the evening is the Keyaki menu (RM648++), comprising eight courses, kicking off with seasonal appetisers (which included the wintertime delicacy of monkfish liver and the springtime special of firefly squid when we visited), sashimi (with best-in-cold-weather temptations of mackerel and otoro), grilled anago topped with edible gold flakes, steamed tooth fish, and a vinegared vegetable hand roll, each shining the spotlight on the natural simplicity of the produce.
Our favourite courses came closer to the end - a comforting kamameshi-style pot of rice that's served steaming-hot with flaky fish and earthy mushrooms, topped with sweet sea urchin, followed by a soup of a giant clam with a generous, briny chew and a finale of the classic coupling of strawberries with warm, luscious red beans.
To prevent envy of what your neighbours are enjoying, you can also order an enhanced Hinoki menu that comprises extra courses - this menu, which starts at RM988++, must be booked at least four days in advance, so we could only watch wistfully as crustacean platters were whisked to other customers, without leftover portions that we could order on the spot.
Service sparkles with warmth and enthusiasm, ensuring a pleasant experience.
Hoshun Sushi Kaiseki
54-1, Jalan Medan Setia 2, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.
Open Mon-Sat, 1130am-230pm, 6pm-1030pm. Tel: 017-600-8190
