Hashiri Bettei Kaiseki Aoki

Truly authentic. I used to go to Japan a lot and this is as close as you’ll get to the real thing.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

My favorite restaurant in the world, and by a big margin. If you’re on the fence, thinking about booking here, just do it. I promise you will not regret it. Chef Aoki is one of the most talented chefs in the bay, if not the world — utilizing years of skill acquired across the world from Kyoto Kaiseki with bits of French influence. Over the many years I’ve repeatedly come back, I’ve never had a bad experience. The quality of ingredients from their suppliers are top tier, and absolutely some of the best I’ve ever tasted — whether it be their house made dashi, their wagyu, uni, ikura, matsutake mushroom, their produce, their fruits, the list goes on and on and on. Yuko and shin truly are masters of their craft, and I’m grateful to experience it every time I visit.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

It was a lovely and traditional but relaxed kaiseki meal, with classical, refined Japanese flavors. The experience is a little over 3 hours, but with appropriate pacing.

My wife and I enjoyed Kaiseki tasting course. 1st dish is Sashi soup. Very rich flavor and impressive. 2nd dish is Sakizuke. Abalone with Caviar/Yuba tofu/Prawn. Wasabi source makes harmony. 3rd dish is Owan soup. Amadai (one kind of red snapper) with eggplant and Junsai. I felt summer. Little bit sweat and Fresh. 4th dish is Sashimi. Akashi red snapper and Uni (Sea Urchin). Fresh and tender After that, couple dishes. I remember Wagyu A5 is very delicious. After chewing it, the juice and sweetness spread throughout my mouth. Desert is fruit. At last , the restaurant served Hand Whipped Matcha (Ousu). That's impressive. Very good Kaiseki course

Had a wonderful time. Our meal started at 6:30 and ended at 10pm, so come in ready to really savor the food. Enjoyed interacting with the chef and hostess, and learned a lot about the food which was nice because I brought a friend knowing he hadn't experienced this kind of dining before. Fish was good as was the beef, the eggplant we were served as part of the Hassun course was a personal favorite. Saratoga is lucky to have something as unique as kaiseki in its community.

I enjoyed this traditional omakase. You can expect excellent and fresh quality in the ingredients they use and I appreciate that there were vegetables too. I'm usually still hungry after eating at an omakase but their portions were spot on for me and I left with a full stomach. I found the portions for wagyu beef to be generous, around 2 oz if I were to eyeball. Overall, I hope to come back!

Best experience! Everything was so thoughtful and well organized! I just loved everyy about it. I might advice to focus a bit more on the plating - like pretty cups utensils, etc (just nice to have). Thank you everything was super tasty and great!

A transporting evening. The dishes were superb, the ambience is relaxing, and the chef and host do a really wonderful job taking care of you. A very special experience.

my second time at Hashiri Bettei is excellent as expected. A real jam in South Bay area, strongly recommend this restaurant. A great experience if someone didin't have Japanese Kaiseki ryori.

Been to the restaurant 4 times. Love the food and Sake selections. Will definitely be back soon.

This restaurant is a beautiful act of love for Kaiseki by a talented and educated team who took great care with each course. The sake pairing was worth it, because they matched the sake perfectly with the food. They graciously accommodated my dairy sensitivity.

It was a lovely and awesome experience! One of THE best restaurant I had so far for my birthday!!! Definitely a restaurant that I would love to come back!! The chef and our host are super nice and generous! Every single dish and their dining wares are OhLaLa!! It will soon be a Michelin Star restaurant for sure!!!!

We had an exceptional dining experience at Hashiri Bettei Kaiseki Aoki There is a single nightly seating at a bar with 8 seats and is run by Chef Shinichi Aoki and his partner Yuko Nammo. Yuko was the hostess wearing a traditional kimono. The space is beautiful with a custom wooden bar. Reservations can be hard to get, they open a month ahead of time, so I tried booking as soon as my desired night had an open slot. Despite being seated with 6 strangers it still felt private and intimate. We started off with IWA5 sake and a lovely broth made of premium kombu and bonito. It's a good sign when a broth can be so memorable and flavorful. It's a tasting menu that took around 3-3.5hours but time flew by. The dishes were al flavorful with exquisite presentation. The first broth, the fresh sashimi, and hte Mushimono were amongst my favorites but it would be hard to single out dishes as everything was so good. We paired the meal with a bottle of the Banshu Ikkon Junmai Daiginjo sake, which was outstanding. It's not cheap at $280 a person, but certainly worth it for the quality and experience -shiroako tofu, golden -tile fish with matsutake mushrooms and yuzu -mackerel sashimi with a lovely sesame sauce and greens -sashimi course with sea bream, Japanese grouper, and blue fin tuna -MushiMono-a lovely custard with dungeness crab, uni, and yuzu -Wagyu shabu shabu with maitake mushrooms, green onion, and ponzu -a bonus ankimo course -seasonal Gohan-matsutake and truffle new crop rice, pickles, tome wan -seasonal fruit -Warabi mochi with Okinawa black sugar and hand whipped matcha green tea

We were very disappointed of our experience. I remember Kaiseki in Japan was more intimate. Here you are sitting in a bar with 6 strangers. And it was serve as omakase style one dish at a time. Next couple from us has so many differences, girl is very controlling and husband (gladly he stands his words). And another couple beside them very indecisive. Everyone has to wait. There's no privacy. We acquired something and it was shared to stranger. EXCUSED ME!! Manners and privacy. It's between you and I not with strangers. 1. Every couple is there own, 2. There's a privacy what so ever. We didnt pay for $$$$. 3. Have to deal with everyone's problem, while we are trying to enjoy this over price kaiseki. 4. Very loud all sitting in a bar not table. And all serve same time and it's very slow because she has to help besides serving. 5. 2 people show. Too long 3.5hrs. Having knowledgeable how dish should taste and cooking is passion, this place is not a stand out. It's ok! One of the dish had canned sardines it was very stale flavor and over heated.

This was a fantastic Kaiseki meal and experience to celebrate my 35th anniversary. It brought me back to memorable Kaiseki meals I have had in Kyoto and Kobe. The execution of each dish by Chef Aoki was perfect. The service and explanation by Yuko-san was informative and added immensely to the meal and overall experience. We left very full and satisfied. The total experience was worth every penny and we would highly recommend this restaurant if you are looking for an authentic Kaiseki-Ryori dining experience that even surpasses one that you would get in Japan!