SINAE シナエ (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

Mom and I are capping off our Osaka trip with a decent meal tonight, like we always do on the final day of any trip. Our dining venue is Restaurant SINAE (シナエ), a contemporary French restaurant which I know very little about other than the fact that they have just received their first Michelin star in the 2024 Guide.

Located in the commercial hub of Kitahama, SINAE is an intimate restaurant featuring just five tables. Interestingly, despite the limited amount of space, they have managed to afford a cozy waiting room just below the dining room.

Just when the hostess started pouring hot ginger tea for us as our welcome drink, I started looking up information on SINAE and there wasn’t much on the internet other than the following.

Chef Kazuhiko Daito (大東和彦), the owner-chef and an Alain Ducasse alumni derived the name of the restaurant from the initials of his concept “SImple, NAtural, Essence”. A firm believer in utilizing local ingredients, he creates modern French cuisine infused with Japanese influences. SINAE slowly garnered attention for its elegant presentation, high-quality ingredients and refined flavors. And then the Michelin star. That was all I could find from my research.

As soon as I was done with my research, the hostess came over to signal that our table was ready and we were immediately escorted upstairs to the dining room.

Starting things off for us was our amuse bouche consisting of four small nibbles. A strawberry confit with white wine snow and pistachio rose petal, deep fried arrowhead fritter, cheese and meringue tart with white grape gel, and my personal favorite, a beetroot tart with gold leaf on top.

Bisque – Umami-rich shrimp bisque with a rich and foamy texture like a cappuccino.

Caviar, squid, broccoli – Squid tartare concealed underneath a coating of broccoli powder, elegantly topped with caviar and finger lime.

Very nice combination of textures and flavors.

Mont-Saint-Michel mussels, leek – We've got a hot broth made with leeks, served over a delicate chawanmushi. 

There were about a dozen of poached mussels from Mont-Saint-Michel adding to the flavors and texture of the dish.

Yellowtail, freshly pickled of Shodoshima, pomelo, basil – Lightly cooked yellowtail, or buri, wrapped in a wasabi leaf, served with chopped olives, pomelo, and a peppery, slightly minty basil sauce.

I love the minimalist presentation.

The bread was really nice and fluffy.

Whey salad – Whey salad was served with a warm Parmesan emulsion. The key was the temperature of the sauce.

Celery, parsley, chervil – This dish was made with these three types of root vegetables, celery, parsley and chervil.

I really enjoyed the crispy celery "noodles" on top of the parsley and chervil. The dish was finished off with a creamy sauce made with fresh wasabi, also a root vegetable.

Venison, cep mushrooms – Our seasonal main dish tonight was supposed to be the prized shirako but since neither mom nor I am a fan, we opted for the chef's recommendation, vension.

The venison was deep-fried with a crispy batter made with cep mushroom powder, served up on a bed of mushroom purée. I thought the meat was pretty gamey and despite the chef's efforts to balance its strong flavors with mushroom powder and purée, it made only a very slight impact.

"Petit Pate Chaud" black truffle – More venison! A pretty powerful and gamey venison pate with foie gras and pistachio wrapped with black cabbage and pastry.

It's game season so not surprisingly, this version of "Petite Pate Chaud" was filled with venison meat and foie gras, finished with a red wine reduction and black pepper. Served on the side was mashed potato with black truffle and pickled onion. 

This was a slightly disappointing dish for the fact that the pate was a little on the hard side (possible due to the texture of the venison).

Strawberry, quince – Our pre-dessert was a couple slices of strawberries dipped in a fruity quince syrup.

Pear Belle Helene – Our dessert was the chef's modern take on the traditional French dessert, Pear Belle Helene.

Diced Pear, pear juice, vanilla ice cream, caramelized nuts and chocolate ganache combined for a refreshing end to the meal.

I was way too full for the mignardises which consisted of a white chocolate filled with some sort of fruit jam, raspberry tart, and I forgot about the rest.

A cup of Japanese tea to help with our digestion.

The boldness and cutting-edge creativity displayed in SINAE's menu reminded me of the similar qualities seen in fellow Michelin starred restaurants in Osaka such as Ad-hoc and Différence. I can see why the Michelin brass awarded them with a star despite its relatively short existence.

Food Rating: 7.3/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 2-4-12 Fushimimachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 541-0044 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Kitahama

Tel: +81 (0)6 6201-6556

Website: http://sinae.jp/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm (Wed, Sat - Sun), 5:30pm - 10:30pm (Tue - Sat)