Ichigo Ichie

Having reinvented the concept of the takeaway with Miyazaki, his tiny room on Evergreen Street, Takashi Miyazaki moved into the centre of Cork city to give Irish people another taste of something new and radical. No one had ever attempted to serve complex Kappou-style cuisine, because no chef possessed the skill-set to deliver this demanding, highly seasonal style of cooking. But with Ichigo Ichie, Mr Miyazaki fashioned an aesthetically complete room, and the Irish took to 12-course kaiseki cooking as to the manner born. The food is simply mind-blowing, twelve courses that mash-up Irish ingredients with Japanese techniques to sublime effect – Lough Neagh eel with mitsuba and maitake; steamed foie gras and dashi with endamame and apple foam; sea urchin with cod milt and wasabi. It’s not cheap, yet it’s terrific value for the experience.