Filled with secluded booths, crimson-leaved maples, and a school of baby smelt swimming upriver, Kawa no Hotoride more than lived up to its name: “At the banks of the river.” After crossing an arching footbridge, we approached a low counter and sank into comfy chairs to the sound of bubbling water. The day's specials were shown to us first, along with a drink menu from which we ordered Kaneshige potato-based shochu (¥900) and frozen white-peach yogurt (¥800). Then, after we drew upon our best kanji skills to decipher the artful calligraphy on the menu, the traditional Japanese cuisine began arriving in dainty, exquisite portions extending across the entire spectrum of taste and flavor.

Slivers of yellowtail sashimi (¥1,000) were the first to appear, one of the day's specials and pleasantly fresh and firm. Our other seafood orders included sweet prawns doused with mayonnaise and spicy roe (¥800), a perfect match with any stiff drink, and deep-fried shrimp and lotus root (¥850), accompanied by a tangy, soy-based dipping sauce. While the healthful menu focuses on vegetarian and low-fat foods, a feast of Maezawa beef, pork and poultry was available for meat-lovers like us. Black-roasted pig with miso lying on half an eggplant (¥950) was as much a show of imagination as of succulent flavor, and the Maezawa fillet, reared in the wilds of Iwate Prefecture and having undergone rigorous inspections in Tokyo processing plants, gave us a taste of some of the finest beef in the country. 

To our surprise, each dish arrived just as the previous one emptied, indicating excellent stewardship on the part of our waiters. The small portions began to gradually fill us, and we called it a night with a helping of cold buckwheat noodles with yam and quail egg (¥800). The noodles, clearly handmade in-house, were chewy and tantalizingly sweet—a good match with the aroma of the wasabi and freshly cut green onions in the accompanying broth.

As we sipped our tea, we glanced into the booths named after rivers, some Western-style and some with tatami, but no two alike. Their occupants were mostly dressed in dark business suits or flashy designer clothes, suggesting the type of crowd that can afford a night in this upscale dining hall. A lavish helping of yakiimo (sweet potato) pudding (¥650) proved a delightful closer, not too sweet, full-bodied and with a light crust on top. On our way out, we wondered if the designers had not been inspired by the same line that now entered our minds, Norman Maclean's “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.”