Kasahara

Kasahara (かさ原)

⭐⭐⭐

🐓 Yakitori / 📍 Higashi-Gokencho

📓 Visits: 1 (2023)

Kasahara relocated from Kobe to Tokyo in 2021.  It's a bit precious.  No photos are allowed inside the restaurant which is located on the 2nd floor of the same building as (another Kobe relocation) Kimoto, probably the most upscale kaiseki restaurant in Tokyo.  The grill is completely hidden behind bricks and combined with what must be the best ventilation system in any restaurant in Tokyo there's no smoke.  Even the chef's millimeter-trimmed goatee speaks to vanity.  There's no drink menu.  Wine is available by the glass but not champagne.  Non-alcoholic options are limited to water, beer and maybe tea.

It's a fairly bland style of yakitori.  The meat is cooked on the rare side and the tare is very mild.  The idea is you're supposed to appreciate the quality of the meat, which is the fabled and pathogen-free Takasaka or "Kosaka" chicken.  The meal includes raw chicken liver, which is quite potent and maybe too much for some.  At the end of the meal you can choose from oyakodon, onigiri and ramen.  You're also given the opportunity to request additional yakitori.  I asked for all three carbs but no additional yakitori.

If you like yakitori and you've got the money you'd probably really like Kasahara (and clearly many people do).  But I'm not a yakitori fan and for me it was just chicken.  (Indeed, if photos were allowed they'd be nothing you haven't seen before).  Moreover, the closing items were particularly disappointing: none of the oyakodon, ramen or onigiri were in any way special.  At this price, shouldn't this be the best oyakodon in your life?

The style is very different from Makitori Shinkobe (the most difficult yakitori reservation in Tokyo) which uses wood fire.  But Shinkobe I really liked.  There's a wider range of food (not just chicken skewers), every item whacks you on the head with flavour and the finishing items of soboro rice and even the inclusion of desserts is better.

The course fee went up from JPY 15,000 to JPY 20,000 in May 2023, apparently with with tax and service included.  Of course there's no itemized bill and despite me just ordering water (Hildon) and one non-alcoholic beer the bill came to just over 26k.  The chef (and his wife?) are quite nice.  There was a moment of gaiety when they physically corrected all the notes I was taking on the menu.  On the other hand, staffed failed to top-up the daikon oroshii.

Even if my bill had been half and it was an easy booking I wouldn't book again.  I can get my fill of yakitori for lunch at Isehiro (review to come) for a 10th of the price in a 10th of the time.  If you're not a yakitori fan I would still recommend you visit Makitori Shinkobe but I wouldn't recommend Kasahara: I'd be surprised if it would convert you.  If you want to try Kosaka chicken, other than Shinkobe, the only other place I'm aware of Tokyo that serves it is Yakitori Shinohara, which looks like a suspiciously easy reservation.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1309/A130905/13266251/ 

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.6

📱 Booking: 🟥 Second-most difficult yakitori reservation in Tokyo.  First-timers can only book via Omakase.  You can book again after your meal and on my visit the restaurant was full until May 2024 so, in practice, they don't take new bookings and you'll need to wait for a cancellation.  Bookings for lone diners are accepted but (albeit I'm no longer looking) I've never seen one released on Omakase.

📍 Location: 

2F, 5-5 Higashi-Gokencho.  2F multi-tenant building, Kimoto on 1F.  8 minutes walk from Iidabashi station Exit C1 or Kagurazaka station Exit 1a.  Shared street-facing entrance (it's the intercom button on the left if you can't read the kanji).
Map data ©2021 Google

📅 Visit Summer 2023

Junsai
Sashimi
Kimo
Furisode
Dango
Kashira
Hatsu
Kamo nasu
Negimi
Bongiri
Liver
Sasami
Harami
Tebasaki
Ramen
Oyakodon
Yaki onigiri

💴 Damage: 26,700 (20k + bottled water and one drink)
⏱️ Time taken: 2h20m