KAN | a restaurant without a signboard 🍣

Our last night in Tokyo my friend Florence and I made our way to the largest Starbuck Roastery in the world but failed as the queue was way too long so we headed back towards the station instead. As it was getting pretty late we decided to dine out at Nakameguro since we both didn't feel like eating convenient store food for our final night. We came to a stop in front of the restaurant, KAN, which does not have an noticeable sign out the front but had a very simplistic and modern look. 

We hopped inside the restaurant, hoping they were still open for business, we asked the staff and lucky for us their kitchen was still open for another 30 minutes. We made the executive decision to stay and we were seated right in front of the open kitchen at the counter. I personally love being seated at the counter especially when you get to check out the process of the dish being put together right in front of your eyes by the chefs. We also noticed there were only locals eating at the restaurant so we had high hopes for good food! 

We were given hot hand-towels as we were looking through the menu which was presented on a scroll. We asked the staff if they had an English menu available as we struggled with our kanji-reading, which is what usually happens when you stop studying/using it after graduating uni. Unfortunately they did not have an English menu available however the chef took his time explaining each dish in Japanese which we tried very hard to figure out the ingredients and flavours. In the end we ended up ordering three dishes which included sashimi, a spicy fish and clay pot rice. While we watched our dish being prepared in front of our eyes we enjoyed the complimentary pickled vegetables and pipi soup which was perfect to warm us up on a chilly Spring evening. Florence and I also ordered a strawberry cider and ginger cider where both were very delicious. Our chef also mentioned that we were lucky to pop by that evening as the sakura trees around the area had just started to bloom. 

Within a few moments the sashimi was served fresh and presented so elegantly on the plate. Three of the sashimi pieces, the squid, king fish and tuna, were recommended to dip in soya sauce and the mackerel was to be accompanied by the grated ginger sitting next to it. 

The aromas of the next dish was divine! I could smell the chilli and spices that were used in the dish which made me salivate as the chef moved the dish closer to us. I'm not too sure what fish they used exactly but it might of been cod? Shortly after the clay pot fish rice came out and the chef let us take a few photos before he started disassembling the fish and mixing it into the rice. There was enough for four full bowls but we only have half as we were incredibly full already and needed to save space for dessert. For dessert we had the hojicha icecream wafer sandwich and the black sesame panna cotta with kumquat both accompanied with tea to end the night. 

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed such a relaxing, fun, intimate and personal experience at KAN. The staff were all super-friendly, especially the chef who was extremely patient with us when we were deciding what to order and explaining each dish with such great detail. Plus each dish is prepared so carefully and quickly yet it doesn't disappoint in flavour or aromas. From my memory we spent about AUD$50/per person which is quite decent when dining at a fancy unique restaurant. I would highly recommend popping into KAN if you're looking for a fancy Japanese restaurant around Nakameguro. They do not have a website or instagram account, plus the images from tripadvisors may not be super helpful as they tend to change their menu every so often. However they do have a blog which they update quite often and I just found out the time Florence and I went they had already started their new sakura spring menu! If you have the time try checking their blog to see what new dishes or menu they have coming up. 

KAN blog