Review: Kyoto Kitchen Winchester ‘a dining experience like no other’

You only have to walk all of 10 minutes to discover a strong Asian influence in the former capital, with chains and independent restaurants offering cuisines from across the continent. 

Whether you opt for an award-winning curry from Rimjhim or choose to sample what the city's Nepalese community has to offer through Taste of Gurkhas, there's plenty to excite your taste buds and widen your palate. 

But the focus of today's review is a restaurant that provides a truly unique dining experience - and the story of how its owner went to incredible lengths to deliver it.

Earlier this year, Miff Kayum of Kyoto Kitchen flew more than seven hours and 3,500 miles to Toronto to meet and interview his new head chef, Paul Onami.

After confirming the capture of his new star man, Miff told me chef ranked among the 'top five per cent' of Japanese cooks worldwide - no mean feat considering the complexity and intricacy of the country's many styles and disciplines.

At the time Miff remarked that I would have to come along and try his food once chef was settled. Being a self-confessed foodie with a particular soft spot for sushi I hastily agreed, and for the time being, that was that.

Fast forward a few weeks and I received a call from a very excited Miff, who told me chef had exceeded his already lofty expectations, describing his food as on a 'different level'. 

A date was arranged and sure enough, I arrived at the Parchment Street restaurant brimming with excitement for what was to come. 

For those of you that have visited Kyoto Kitchen over the years, you'll already know the quaint and traditional interior immediately transports you to a land far away from the edge of the South Downs National Park. 

Miff poured me a Japanese green tea from a kyusu and we spoke in greater depth about how a chef living and working in Toronto had found himself plying his trade in this intimate spot in Winchester. 

He told me that in the post-Brexit and Covid landscape, top-quality chefs were few and far between, and his search had led him to cast his net far and wide in hope of bringing a high-end London-style dining experience south of the capital. 

Once chef had been suggested to Miff by an agent covering that part of the world, he explained they shared several video calls together and would primarily talk about food for hours. 

"But in this industry, the proof is in the pudding," he said. Miff went on to explain that he had booked an Airbnb in Toronto with his family, where chef cooked them all a multi-course trial meal from marination to plating in a small kitchen with just a four-burner hob.

"I remember thinking, wow, if he can create that with what he has here then imagine what he could do in a professional kitchen," he added.

As he spoke his enthusiasm and passion for the project were palpable. He admitted he felt proud to serve chef's food and said that they had been hard at work fine-tuning the menu to best complement chef's speciality - Kaiseki Cuisine. 

Kaiseki is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner that draws from a selection of skills and techniques, with a focus on sourcing local and seasonal ingredients. 

READ MORE: First class photos from Winchester and Romsey

Chef's attention, Miff tells me, had been set on adding his own modern twist to the style while incorporating as much of Hampshire's finest produce as possible.

After working up an appetite from a lengthy conversation about food, Miff disappeared into the kitchen to get my first course - salmon kobujime with smoked black cod croquettes. 

The seasonal aspect of Kaiseki Cuisine was instantly apparent as the plate came beautifully garnished with an autumnal leaf. But as Miff had rightly pointed out earlier, the proof is in the pudding. 

Now, I don't proclaim to be a food critic, nor do I have a pallet as refined as some of the people chef will have cooked for during his distinguished career, but after just a few bites he had quickly gained another plaudit.

The richness and depth of the black cod croquettes were delicately balanced with a refreshing acidity from the salmon that cut through the rest of the flavours and delivered a well-timed secondary tang.

Having deconstructed the first plate at almost embarrassing speed Miff came over to the table with an expectant grin. He already knew the food was sublime, he didn't need my approval, yet I was eager to provide it regardless as a mark of gratitude for what I had received. 

Next came a pumpkin soup with winter girolle and miso foam. Another instant hit. The gradual warmth of the soup eased me into the dish and slowly cleared my airways with a breeze of gentle spice.

Miff had likened watching chef cook to observing an artist with a brush, and as each masterpiece emerged from the kitchen I dispatched it at an equal pace; wagyu beef so tender it pinched at the gentle grip of a chopstick, grilled black cod that glistened on the plate and scallop isobe age which popped with layers of flavour at every crunch. 

SEE ALSO: Owner of Kyoto Kitchen, Miff Kayum, announces capture of 'world class' Japanese chef from Toronto

And of course, some fresh wasabi from The Wasabi Company in Alresford had to feature.

I told Miff I was fast running out of superlatives to describe the food - and I wasn't joking. As the meal drew to a close I asked him about the dishes I had received. 

Some of them were due to be added to the menu while others were a few of the many specials chef liked to create while trialing a new market of ingredients.

And although there were foams, jellies and pickles that I had not before encountered, nothing on any of the plates was superfluous. Each played a very important part in every spectacular tableau. 

While it may be a different style of dining to what many people have previously experienced - as it was for me - there was nothing pompous, pretentious or self-important about the project Miff and chef have jointly embarked on. 

As chef joined me at the table my feelings about them both were confirmed. He recalled a 13-seat open restaurant he owned and ran with his late wife in Japan. 

As someone who had worked and eaten in some of the finest kitchens around the globe, I was taken aback by the fact that he would choose to recall that one restaurant. 

But then it struck me. Coming from a family steeped in culinary history, chef's motivation was his passion for food and licence to get creative and do things his own way. 

His restaurant in Japan allowed him to do that, as does Miff. "The only reason I came here was because of Miff," he told me. "Every chef wants that freedom to work with quality ingredients. That's what it's all about."

He did, however, also pay homage to Winchester and his new surroundings, likening the city to Kyoto itself. Past the obvious historical similarity, with Kyoto also the former capital of its country, he praised the intimacy and culture of both areas.

I came away completely sold by Kyoto Kitchen. While the cynics may see this as a greedy journalist filling his boots in exchange for a glowing review, it's anything but. 

I was genuinely blown away from start to finish by the whole experience, and the dedication and passion for their craft were infectious. 

It's worth adding this is not a paid-for piece,  nor is it a back-scratching exercise, it's a genuine review of an independent restaurant that has gone the extra mile to bring something special to Winchester.