My wife and I were staying at the Tabino Hotel across the street, and didn't want to take a lot of time finding a dinner place, so we crossed the street and went into Kikuya. The owner/chef was alone that September Wednesday evening, and seemed surprised when we walked in. I don't think that he spoke any English, and we didn't test him, speaking to him only in Japanese.
He seated us in a tatami room just to the left of the entrance, and handed us a menu. We'd seen on Google Maps that this is a sushi restaurant, but that's wrong; there's no sushi on the menu. This is primarily a meat dish restaurant. We ordered a couple of dishes from the menu and some drinks, and he told us that he'd get started on some appetizers for us. Customarily one receives some small snack, perhaps steamed soy beans or the like, when one orders drinks at many Japanese restaurants. He took his time preparing our snack, so we assumed that he'd forgotten it and was working on our dinner order. How wrong we were. He brought us a huge tray with many different dishes, including sazae no tsubuyaki (cooked conch or sea snail in its shell). He then went on to prepare the dishes that we'd ordered. Everything was masterfully prepared and plated. We were pleasantly surprised by the incredible meal in such an unassuming setting. The rating for Kikuya on Google Maps as I write this in September 2023 is 5.0. While Google Maps is wrong about Kikuya being a sushi restaurant, it's exactly right about this being a restaurant for a 5 star meal.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
¥3,000–4,000
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 3
予算を伝えた上でのおまかせコースで利用しました。6人程入れる小上がりが2部屋。ご店主がおひとりで切り盛りされているので事前予約がおすすめだそうです。
お通しから〆のミニ天丼が出てくるまでの品はどれも満足感のある美味しいお料理でした。定食もあるのでお酒を飲まない食事にもおすすめしたい名店をまた見つけてしまいました。
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
¥3,000–4,000
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
刺身の盛合せ
