Kadowaki

Kadowaki (かどわき)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🇯🇵 Kaiseki / 📍 Nishi-Azabu

📓 Visits: 1

I'd been wanting to go to Kadowaki ever since I moved to Japan but I think I read a poor review that the chef was tetchy and they didn't accept reservations for one person.  Despite my mistrust of Michelin in Japan (more on that later) Kadowaki was upgraded to 3 Michelin Stars in the 2020 Tokyo guide.  This made me want to go even more and sometimes restaurants change their policies so I called earlier in the year and they told me they accept reservations for one at 8pm (after the first round of service).  Several courses are offered that vary in the expense of the ingredients they include.  I chose the cheapest course at 21K + 5K for the rice.  More on that later too.

Having gone from questioning the value of Michelin in 2007, when the Tokyo guide was first published, and refusing to be listed, Kadowaki-san now sports a 3-star plaque near the entrance.  It's a very small 6-seat counter but with several private rooms.  You get a really good view of the chef preparing the dishes and commanding the rest of the staff.  Kadowaki-san wasn't really chatty with guests when I was there and doesn't smile much, but wasn't unpleasant.  He speaks a few words of English.

The best dishes of the night were the chawanmushi (topped with a hot foie gras sauce rather than the famous squid ink / prawn head sorbet), the truffle rice and the dessert.  The nearest comparison to Kadowaki is Haramasa (review to come) as many of the dishes are very similar (the otuskuri, chawanmushi, rice and dessert).  The big difference is the price.  I mentioned I chose the 21K + 5K course.  Imagine my surprise when I was presented with a bill for 35,100 JPY.  Well, 26K + 1,500 for 2 drinks, another 1,500 water charge and then service 10% and tax 10% - it really adds up.  At Haramasa dinner is either 15K or 20K - they also charge tax and service but don't charge for water.  The 20K course at Haramasa includes beef, white truffle when in season and expensive fish.  The 21K course at Kadowaki really doesn't include any premium ingredients.  https://pocket-concierge.jp/en/restaurants/244119 outlines all the courses Kadowaki offers.  The prices shown there include tax and service and you can see the prices really go up if you want the premium options.  From what I could see of people having the more expensive menus this doesn't change or substantially change the two sakizuke, the yakimono, owan and dessert though.  Of the dishes that can be directly compared I'd say the otsukuri is better at Haramasa (includes two kinds of fish), there's nothing to chose between the chawanmushi (at least the one I had), the dessert is slightly better at Kadowaki and the rice is much better at Kadowaki.  The rice really is to die for - the best truffles I can remember eating - I still have the memory of the aroma of those truffles as I type this.  For me, all the other dishes are better at Haramasa.

Kadowaki is one of Tokyo's most 'famous' restaurants so I'm still pleased to have finally gone.  I loved the experience (up until I got the bill :) and didn't dislike any of the dishes.  If money is not so much of a concern I would recommend you go once but set your expectations accordingly and according to the course you choose.  I would love to go back just for the rice.  Turns out that, since the pandemic, you can order the rice as takeaway - https://omakase.in/en/r/gv374047 - yours for 16,200 JPY.

Comparing Haramasa and Kadowaki is a classic illustration of the deficiency of Michelin in Japan.  Haramasa isn't listed in Michelin yet it's consistently had a higher Tabelog rating than Kadowaki (4.23 vs 4.04 at time of writing) while Kadowaki now has 3 stars.  If you had one of the top courses at Kadowaki and ignore the price I wouldn't disagree with 3 stars but value for money is supposed to be one of the Michelin criteria and if you look at Tabelog you'd have to question why Kadowaki deserves 3 stars and why every restaurant that has a similar or much higher rating doesn't.  In my opinion, the Tabelog ratings, as usual, are a better reflection of the value of these restaurants.  Both restaurants have Bronze Tabelog awards for 2020.  I feel that Silver would be fairer for both restaurants.  Haramasa was awarded Silver in 2018 but nothing in 2019.  These are all indications of the fact that though Haramasa is not listed and Kadowaki has 3 stars the omission of a restaurant in Michelin tells you nothing.  There are so many restaurants in Tokyo offering a similar type and standard of excellent food that, especially when you get to the 1-star level, the guide would need to be produced in volumes if you were going to include them all.  Add to that the fact that, unlike in other countries, restaurants can choose not to be listed, you just can't use Michelin to compare listed and unlisted restaurants.  I've done an analysis of the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2021 on Tokyo Table Trip.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130702/13001664/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.1 (rice: 5.0)

📱 Booking: 🟩 Book by phone.  Same-day reservations for one are possible.

📍 Location: 

2-7-2 Azabu-Juban.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.  2 mins from South Exit 2 of Azabu-Juban station, Oedo Line - head for Exit 7 then bear left and go through the car park building; or 5 mins from Azabu-Juban station Exit 4, Namboku line.

Map data ©2021 Google

📅 Visit September 2020

Ika, summer veg; Shirako, edamame, miso; Agemono: renkon, ayu shiso, ebi imo; Otsukuri: hirame, ankimo temaki; Yakimono: ayu, ayu shirako; Foie gras, sweetcorn, kegani, truffle chawanmushi; Hamo, junsai owan; Truffle rice; Grape, melon, nashi, honey, ricotta 

💴 Damage: JPY 35,100 incl two drinks

⏱️ Time taken: 1h30m