Jetting out to his first international summit as prime minister, Gordon Brown had one priority he was very keen to brief the travelling press pack on: a war on food waste.
With prices rising and millions in poorer countries starving, it was about time households in Britain only bought and ate what they really needed, he declared.
His timing was impeccably bad.
Within minutes of landing in Japan, he was whisked off with other world leaders for a lengthy lunch. And then for a sumptuous eight-course banquet dinner.
Us journalists had a field day as we typed away in the press room while munching on a soggy sandwich.
The food
The episode was dredged from my memory by a delicious-looking five-course feast on the menu at Aberdeen’s Japanese/Korean restaurant Yorokobi by CJ.
It made me pause and wonder whether it was wrong to indulge my gluttony.
The hesitation lasted all of about three seconds, abruptly despatched when one of the waiting staff crossed my eyeline carrying a large platter of sushi.
I mention the eyes deliberately.
Yorokobi is one of those places where to describe the food as “beautiful” is not just a nod to its flavour.
This is a kitchen with a keen eye for the look of what they send out.
A dozen or so elements were as satisfyingly uniform and symmetric in placement as they were contrastingly colourful and textured in their appearance.
Minds were made up: the Yorokobi set menu it would be.
Our journey through selected elements of the extensive a la carte menu began with gyoza, filled Japanese dumplings.
Delightfully thin and not at all greasy, they had plenty of filling and a dipping sauce that did not overpower the contents – vegetables for me and chicken for my partner.
A bowl of miso soup looked large for the start of a hefty meal but went back to the kitchen empty.
Nor did it do anything to suppress our hunger for the next choices: smoked salmon special for me and tuna tartare across the table.
To say that I picked the wrong one would be grossly unfair to a dish that in isolation would be a smash hit.
Topped with tobiko – flying fish roe – and with a generous wasabi cream and teriyaki sauce, it tasted as good as it looked.
I could tell though that the tartare was something else. Not because I was hearing about it; more because I wasn’t.
It was so fresh, so like eating a sea breeze, that stopping to talk seemed to risk missing the moment it transpired.
That we had plenty of time to discuss it before the next course is testament to the restaurant’s finely-tuned service.
It is the sort of place where you feel at ease from the off; everything is comfortable, unhurried, the staff never hovering yet somehow always at hand.
The vibe seems to come effortlessly, but must really be the result of unstinting attention and hard work.
Food emerges from beneath the flag-bedecked entrance to a well-stocked bar, from which we were delivered green tea and decent sake.
There are no cocktails on the menu but CJ’s special rolls supply the fancy names – everything from Caterpillar and Volcano via Suzuki all the way to Paradise.
The set menu offers the Dragon – a dozen mouth-watering-looking pieces of rice topped with grilled eel and a teriyaki and mustard sauce, and the Aberdeen, which features tuna mash and spring onion and a “special sauce” that lives up to its name.
Both were tremendous – the rice sticky without being cloying, the flavours superbly balanced, the whole thing unexpectedly light despite its depth.
The mains arrival took the breath away, the art taken up another level.
The Yorokobi Special Set in particular displayed the chef’s culinary and artistic skills to full effect – with an array of colours, shapes, textures and flavours to wow the senses. A true triumph of top-notch dining.
I feared it would leave me too full for pudding. It didn’t. In fact I’m not sure why my brain still engages that emotion after five decades of it never being true.
Red bean ice cream was perfect for the occasion, with that degree of savoury to it which is slightly unfamiliar to Western palates but always hits the spot with me.
Equally alien to some degree the texture of chocolate-filled mozzi – but the degree of doughiness was spot on.
If there was one disappointment, it was finding the restaurant was out of the amazing plum wine that had been a memorable finale to a previous visit.
But the closing of that door opened another – and we so enjoyed the black raspberry alternative that a bottle had been ordered for home even before we got back there.
When the first glasses are poured, the taste will revive great memories of a flawless meal.
The verdict
Fresh and flavour-packed cooking that tastes as good as it looks.
Information
Address: Yorokobi by CJ, 51 Huntly St, Aberdeen, AB10 1TH
T: 01224 566002
W: yorokobibycj.co.uk
Price: £127.25 including two five-course set menus at £95.80; sake 300ml £12.95; green tea £2.70; water £4.20; black raspberry wine 175ml £11.60
Scores:
- Food: 4/5
- Service: 4/5
- Surroundings: 4/5
