Eating in Tokyo Part V: KAN

We highly recommend this hard-to-find restaurant, located in a quiet neighbourhood west of Shibuya. It's a small place, only seating at the bar, entirely smoking, and considerably upmarket.

Directions to KAN (after much detective work with Google Maps and asking about 3 different people who didn't speak English on the streets):

1) Take the train to IKEJIRI-OHASHI station, this is one stop from Shibuya on the Den-en-toshi line).
2) The station is circled on the left in the map. Take the South Exit, you will come out seeing an overpass, walk in the direction with the overpass (road) on your left.
3) When you come to the river, turn right and walk along with the river on your left (see the blue thing on the map)

4) When you see this bridge that joins to the other bank, go right across, and you will see it.


5) It's this one, the only restaurant in the entire apartment complex.

You should call and make a reservation, because this place has less than 20 seats. Almost everyone works behind the bar, and they all manage to look really hip in their uniform of black tees and white aprons. I thought our chef had the sexiest hands....particularly when he was dicing raw fish with the finesse of a pianist.

People seemed to be there to enjoy the whole experience of dining, not eating. The meat was to be savoured, the wine sipped and your cigarette dragged on between the refined (inexplicable) conversation with your companions, all the while watching in fascination as the chefs worked deftly behind the bar.

The menu looks like this (below) so don't bother to ask what's on it. Just say "Yes, we eat sashimi" and you will get this (above) if you are lucky: horse (yes, the ones people ride on), whitefish, tai, hamachi (yellow tail) and something else yummy.

Our chef had decided what we would eat that night, but we couldn't resist a round of yakitori: here on the left is an ingenius sticky rice wrap with meat inside. Totally delicious.

The seasonal dish: duck slices on a winter leaf slowly cooked over hot coals in miso sauce.

We finished our duck.

We had some other stuff, tofu, the cold appetisers and a vegetable tempura. We didn't order the fish liver (foie gras) in vinegar which looked totally awesome cos we were stuffed. I highly recommend that and the horse sashimi....it was really tender, they're Canadian and come to Japan for a few years before arriving on your dish. I know, I know, we're sick. But I don't see how the horse suffered any more than your industrial-slaughtered chicken and cow.

Oh yes, don't forget the sake....the bill set us back S$220. Not bad for a really nice dinner in Tokyo.

U KAN
Tel: 03-3792-5282
Manager: Hayashi Kohtaro