Caveman

⭐⭐⭐

Nordic/Japanese / 📍 Nihonbashi Kabutocho

📓 Visits: 2 (2020-2021)

Caveman opened in February 2020 (pretty unfortunate timing) and was created by the same people as Kabi (review here).  The food is similar and hard to label but you could call it "Nordic/Japanese" - yeah I know, awful.

On both my visits I went for lunch, which is now only available on weekends (and holidays).  In May 2021 lunch was JPY 6,600 for 6 courses.  On my previous visit lunch was JPY 4,500 for 4 courses.  5% service is added at lunch.  Dinner had been priced at JPY 9,900 for 9 courses but for the moment is a-la-carte only with starters priced at around JPY 1,600, mains at around JPY 2,800 and desserts at JPY 1,000.  The restaurant produces a few different seasonal juices.  Not cheap now at JPY 1,100 for a small glass and not as good as the non-alcoholic offerings at Tenoshima (review here).  Water is not charged but no after-meal drink is included.  The menu is in English but only one member of staff really speaks English.

The food is good and I haven't eaten a bad dish at Caveman.  Even the desserts are good.  The menu changes every couple of months and every dish on my second visit was completely different from my first.  It's often the case that with experimentative cooking you're fearing the next dish rather than looking forward to it: some dishes just don't work.  At Caveman, the combinations of flavours and textures in every dish I've had have been brilliant.  While the cooking is very good the quality of ingredients is, while not poor, not the highest and this is what stops the food at Caveman from being great or excellent instead of just good.  There's very little in the way of carbs served.  Your meal is not accompanied with any bread, though this is on the a-la-carte dinner menu.  I was so hungry a few hours after my second visit I went for an early dinner.

There are a couple of staggered starts at each service and a group of diners are all served at the same time.  The restaurant can do 30 covers split over a counter for 6, 3 tables for 4 and a large sharing table for 12.  The dining room is large, airy and green (as in botanical).  Furnishings are stripped back and music is moderately loud.  At lunchtime I recorded a peak noise level of 107dBA.  This is not the place for a candlelight dinner for two.  There are 3 chefs in the kitchen but only the head chef does the cooking so with that number of covers (the restaurant was basically full on my second visit) there can be gaps in service and with no bread served there's nothing for you to nibble on in between.  I didn't want to spend more on drinks and couldn't bear sitting on my arse for the best part of 15 minutes twiddling my thumbs or playing with my phone while waiting for the next course so at one point went out for a walk.

There is a temporary Australian waitress who is wonderful in the way that only temporary Australian waitresses can be but other than her, none of the other staff engage with guests.  The head chef doesn't talk to guests at all.  Not even an irasshaimase or arigatou gozaimasu.  I'm fine if a busy chef feels more comfortable in the kitchen but, along with so much else here, the open kitchen and counter seem to be more for the convenience of the restaurant than to give you some expected interactivity with the chef.  Cutlery is not replaced between courses - not acceptable in fine dining, for me.  Food is not served on hot plates and there are no lamps at the 'pass' so hot food can get cold.

8K is not cheap for lunch, especially when the food is merely good and not excellent and especially when you're hungry so quickly after.  I hate the fact you can't book for the same day.  The food takes too long.  Only one of the staff is nice.  Despite all that, I'd go again.  There are times when no food genre sounds appealing.  Whatever I eat at Caveman it's going to be something I haven't eaten before and I'm confident it's going to be good.  Take a book if you go on your own, or take a chatty friend.

In May 2022 the chef left Caveman and opened AC House.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1302/A130202/13244106/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.85 (value: 3.5, cooking: 4.05, hospitality: 2.8, waitress: 4.0)

📱 Booking: 🟩 Easy.  TableCheck only at least a day in advance.  Credit card required.

📍 Location:

1F, Hotel K5, Nihonbashi Kabutocho.  Opposite Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Map data ©2021 Google

📅 Visit May 2021

💴 Damage: 8,080 (6,000 + 1 drink @ 1000 + 5% + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h45m

📅 Visit July 2020

💴 Damage: 6,110 (4,500 + 1 drink @ 800 + 5% + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h15m