Mimi Kakushi at the Four Seasons Dubai

The dream team behind La Cantine, Ninive, Lana Lusa (and most recently Twiggy) have now graced us with a (quite quintessentially Dubai) Japanese establishment that pays homage to a cross between a 1920s Osaka speakeasy and jazz club, celebrating the cultural clash between East and West, reminiscing on a then previously unseen ‘Golden Era’. They’ve done this under the patronage of consulting chef extraordinaire Reif Othman, and have named it Mimi Kakushi.

As quoted from their website: “Mimi Kakushi embodies this brave new world to bring you a dining experience like no other. Independent, expressive, limitless. It blends time-honored cuisine with new thinking, serving far eastern flavors you’ll recognize with western influences you’ll love.”

What exactly does Mimi Kakushi (耳隠し) mean, you might ask? The word itself, literally translates to “covering ears”. It was introduced in 1922 as one of the new yo-hatsu Western hairstyles, and this modern ‘bob’ was extremely popular among the fashionable young Moga (Modern Girls) back in the day, quite acutely representing the melange and influence of Western culture in the East.

The menu promises to add “playful twists to well-known Japanese classics”, and so it does, with items like Sukiyaki Maki served with a slow-cooked Onsen egg, but we’ll talk about more of that later!

We waltzed in only one week into its opening, and Mimi Kakushi was already fully booked. Tucked into the Four Seasons Restaurant Village, right above Coya and Nusret, the location instantly promises a steady and abundant stream of high net worth clientele. The location alone doesn’t guarantee longevity though, so we decided to put the menu through it’s paces and leave no stone unturned, all in the name of research, content and quality testing- but of course – (God, I love my job)!

At first sight, before paying attention to the finer nuances, the immediate vibe we picked up on was that the ambience is a lot like Indochine DIFC. I mean, sure, both represent different colonies in their times, but the hints of rattan, tropical greenery and dim, warm lighting spilling onto hues of red yield striking similarities. Suffice to say, I loved Indochine (and wrote them a rave review which sadly got lost during a website crash), and therefore my journey into discovering Mimi Kakushi was off to a promising start as well!

What’s most commendable though, is that Reif has managed to keep things fresh and interesting, even though Japanese is a cuisine that’s fast becoming a path excessively trodden over here.

Here’s some of what we had:

Pickled Yuzu Daikon and Spicy Kimchi cabbage (AED25)

Crispy fried calamari and jalapeños with Japanese Curry Dip (AED 25)

King Crab Salad AED 125

Wagyu and Foie Grad gyoza with pickled cucumber and truffle & soy butter. AED 70 and worth every penny!

Assorted Sashimi (prices vary)

Crispy softshell crab maki AED78

Tiger prawn tempura with daikon, ginger, tentsuyu & citrus salt. The crispiest, most utterly perfect tempura I’ve had in a long time. Contenders from Japan included!

The devil is in the detail. Uni on rice. Caviar on fatty tuna. Truffle on wagyu. Warm rice, cold fish. Real wasabi, and REAL, homemade soy. sauce! I don’t think I’ve ever had real real soy sauce in Dubai!

Yasai Tempura, assorted vegetables with sour chili Dashi broth. This is the happiest I’ve been with tempura since my daily Tenya Tendon Tempura meals in Tokyo! AED 48.

Another unique item I haven’t seen on any other menu in Dubai: Sukiyaki Maki with slow-cooked Onsen egg! Reif, you clever genius.

Miso Black Cod: the most cliché item on a Japanese menu, but done so much better than it is at Nobu, even though Nobu put this dish on the global culinary map. I just find the version at Nobu to be too sweet, and this guy right here was utter perfection, so well-seasoned, flavorful and balanced, and I preferred it without the citrus miso sauce on the side as I found that to extend more sweetness than I prefer. AED 195.

Tako togarashi marinated octopus with chive and yuzu togarashi glaze! YAS! Tender, well-seasoned, charred, perfection! AED 65.

Braised short ribs with sweet garlic soy, ginger. wasabi relish and pistachio miso! This was a hit across the table! AED 395.

The Best. Broccoli. I’ve ever had in my life. Grilled with seaweed butter, deliciously charred and topped with crispy fried onions, I could have had just 3 portions of this and gone home a happy camper. AED 32.

Grilled Toro with crispy leeks and wafu! AED 95.

Smashed Hamachi with yuzu guacamole, crispy nori, myoga & garlic yuzu soy! AED 86.

Grilled asparagus with lime wafu and sesame. I love asparagus, but you’d be surprised by the number of restaurants that serve bland, under seasoned veggies. Not Mimi Kakushi though. These guys didn’t neglect anything on the menu, not even the veggie sides! AED 32.

While this Tokoroten with yuzu granita, Azuki beans and black sesame Dango mochi was quite instagrammable, it wasn’t my cup of tea. I did however really appreciate the uniqueness it brought to the Dubai x Japanese dessert table, and I appreciated experiencing and trying something other than the standard ice-cream mochi.

There are safer and more widely palatable options too though, like this peanut butter and chocolate fondant!

The common thread running through all the dishes was how beautifully seasoned and flavorful everything was, but also how different everything tasted. This was not your disappointing case of everything being doused in run-of-the-mill Gochujang and yuzu koshu. Everything tasted distinctly unique, and I expect noting less from Gilles Bosquet and Reif Othman. The only dish I was surprisingly underwhelmed by was the Mushroom Donabe Rice Pot. Not only could I taste no truffle, it tasted completely under-seasoned and I couldn’t help but feel that perhaps Reif kept the best version of this dish (one of his best and most iconic recipes) a secret for his own establishments. Nevertheless, he has definitely curated a very impressive menu for Mimi Kakushi, and I see it being nothing short of a roaring success.

Location: check. Four Seasons Dubai, next to Coya and Nusret, I need not say more.

Cuisine Type: check. Trendy Japanese.

Management: The La Cantine Group: everything they touch turns to gold.

Expected Result: Imminent success.