Quick re-review of Kyotofu

I went to Kyotofu for a second time last night with friends. I found the desserts pretty much as excellent as the last time, though since I ordered the tasting menu again for my friends' benefit, I didn't really experience anything new. The only difference was that the jewel-like pear sorbet was gone, replaced with a cranberry sorbet that was sadly not as good. I also really liked a green tea chocolate they served as a petit-four. It was dense, rich, and married the tea and chocolate flavors together nicely, creating something greater than its parts.

Here's my first review of Kyotofu (initially posted on Chowhound):

Kyotofu is a small boutique venue whose savory dishes -- based on my choices, anyway -- must be ignored. Their desserts, though, are sublime. I first made the mistake of trying their tofu stuffed with flavored rice and their squash soup. The first was served lukewarm. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it didn't seme to taste very good this way. The tofu skin was ok but not particularly good, and the rice within was bland. The same was doubly true of the squash soup, which had a dully sweet flavor which made me wonder whether I was just too American to get the Japanese palate.

The desserts proved me way off. I got the prix-fixe dessert tasting. The first course was "sweet tofu": beautiful deep brown sugar sauce over a small cup of tofu the consistency of a well-done flan. The second course was a trio of desserts. The first was a sake cheesecake whose slight sourness complemented the sweet smooth tofu cream on top, and, together with the ripple of plum sauce dotted next to it, tasted a lot like peanut butter and jelly (in a good way!). The second was a soy pecan parfait, which, not surprisingly, reminded me of butter pecan, and it had a wonderful wholesome nutty flavor and texture. A drizzle of deep bittersweet caramel on the side accompanied it. Finally, a small miso chocolate cake sat silently next to milk and dark chocolate sauce finishes. It had a velvety-smooth mouthfeel, a lot like warm brownie dough.

The final dessert course was a exquisite pear sorbet that was dense and jeweled and very special. Its two accompaniments were a small lemon jello-like thing which had a nice tartess and a dense green pea chocolate.

The waitress gave me a final petits-four in the form of a small chocolate cupcake. Tiny and moist, it was a delicious end to a fantastic dessert experience.

Stars: 5/5