THE FACTS ABOUT KANDA

Japan Tokyo

Chef Hiroyuki Kanda moved from Kyoto to Tokyo and opened his restaurant, Kanda, near the Roppongi district in May 2004. Kanda is typical of the new wave of restaurants: very discreet, very word-of-mouth. In fact, it's so discreet, you'll have difficulty finding it unless a Japanese speaker takes you there, because it is in a quiet residential neighbourhood with a door marked only in Japanese. Inside, the rooms have an IKEA-like simplicity that belies the skill of the kitchen. But Kanda is worth seeking out: it is currently one of the most voguish restaurants in Tokyo, filled with food-lovers but also with the city's fashion editors and other assorted movers and shakers (feted French chef Alain Ducasse is a fan). Seasonality and freshness of ingredients are the two core obsessions of Japanese chefs, and the quality of raw materials is paramount at Kanda. In season (June-August) the menu might include ayu ('sweetfish'), three very lively, eel-like river fish brought to the table in a goldfish bowl for you to inspect before they return simply skewered, grilled and salt-sprinkled. You eat them whole, from the head down. The shojin ryori influence is evident in the use of ingredients such as yuba, the skin of heated soy milk. Good yuba is expensive and produced almost exclusively in Kyoto, but here the chef might go experimental by adding it to little dumplings containing sweetcorn (a Western ingredient), along with shiitake mushrooms in a broth of wakame seaweed. European influences are few, but they might be detected in a course of delicate, Italian-style courgette flowers deep-fried in a light, tempura-like batter. The majority of ingredients are distinctly Japanese, such as the maguro sashimi (slivers of raw tuna) with a light dressing of ponzu juice (a Japanese citrus fruit) and shoyu (soy sauce), plus a topping of finely grated sticky yam and karashi (a type of mustard). And just as in all 'proper' kaiseki ryori, different styles of dish are served through the meal, from a red miso soup to side dishes of pickles. CONTACT 1F Ka-mu Moto-Azabu Building, 3-6-34 Moto-Azabu, Minato-ku (00 81 3 5786 0150). About £50 per person.