Kissa Tanto again caught my attention while\u00a0I was enjoying my in flight wine onboard Air Canada a month ago and spotting\u00a0 enRoute’s featured article on the top new restaurants of the nation. I was fascinated in learning about\u00a0Kissa Tanto’s 1960’s Tokyo jazz cafe themed\u00a0dining room and its take on the Italian-Japanese genre, and slightly amused that I was actually en route to Tokyo. Funny coincident or not, I was determined to check out the restaurant after I came home from\u00a0my travel.<\/p>\n So finally, here I was, sitting with 5 other active food bloggers in the city (Sherman\u2019s Food Adventures<\/a>; Foodgressing<\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0Foodology<\/a>; Drunken Noms<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Vie A Maggi<\/a>), excited but slightly nervous. Would the portion of the dishes be too small for all 6 of us to share? Would we spend too much time taking photos which affect the tasting experience? And about the food, would the Italian-Japanese style be too fusion confusion? \u00a0But so far I was enjoying the company of the like minded people like I always do.<\/p>\n The restaurant recommends diners to come in a party of maximum 4 people for the ideal\u00a0tasting experience. However\u00a0they do have one big booth in the house that could fit all 6 of us. \u00a0And inside the restaurant, it’s beautiful… \u00a0Normally when you hear the terms such as “red leather booth” \u00a0or “gold brass\u00a0railing”, you would associate them with the word “tacky”. But all such\u00a0objects and the little details seem to work all together – the\u00a0lightings, the furnishings and decors. \u00a0The retro\u00a0jazz bar ambiance\u00a0has taken\u00a0us into a world of mysteries, nostalgia, and romance. \u00a0This place is definitely suitable for a date night.<\/p>\n 3 of us started with\u00a0cocktails. My\u00a0Ol\u2019 Satchmo<\/strong> ($13) features mezcal, ginger chestnut honey vermouth, Green Chartreuse, lemon, and a toasted sesame rim. Visually the drink\u00a0resembles\u00a0a shaken margarita. Flavour wise, mezcal packs a punch like tequila (as technically tequila is a mezcal) but the chartreuse showed\u00a0an attempt\u00a0of adding in that jazzy funkiness. Although I found the flavours of ginger and honey quite subtle, the toasted sesame seed on the rim is quite whimsical and innovative,\u00a0which even Louis Armstrong might\u00a0find funky!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Both Food Wench (Drunken noms<\/a>) and Sherman \u00a0(Sherman’s food adventure<\/a>) ordered the\u00a0Four on Six Sour<\/strong> ($13), which consists of bourbon, Noilly Prat Amber, charred pineapple lemongrass shrub, Ardbeg, egg white, another smart attempt of adding complexity to a classic cocktail with exotic flavours, which is Bourbon Sour. I had a sip and really enjoyed\u00a0the extra effort from the spiced vermouth and shrub, which gave more depth to the overall taste.<\/p>\n Maggi (Vie a Maggi<\/a>) took charge and ordered a bunch of dishes for us to share.<\/p>\n The first dish of the starters (or what they call the \u201cTo Begin With<\/strong>\u201dsection) , the Albacore Crudo<\/strong> ($21), was surprisingly good. Although I always find albacore tuna quite bland and boring,\u00a0the other ingredients such as shiso vinaigrette, radishes, Tokyo leek, capers, pickled almonds, Castelvetrano olives and mustard greens all worked well together and elevated the subtle flavour of the fish. \u00a0And the enhanced taste of the fish very much reminded me a Chinese dish with steamed fish\u00a0and pickles. I quite enjoyed this tiny sensation of comfort.<\/p>\n The Fritelle mi Melanzane<\/strong> ($14) featured\u00a0garlic eggplant fritters, yuzu gribiche, basil and bonito salt, shaved katsuo. \u00a0Visually, those little fritter balls reminded me of Takoyaki (Fried Octopus Balls from Japan) with the\u00a0crunchy exterior. But unfortunately the inside tasted a little doughy and the eggplant flavour seemed a bit lost, which reminded me why I was never a big fan of Takoyaki.<\/p>\n The Terrina Frita<\/strong> ($11) was one of\u00a0the daily specials. It was visually stunning with thin slices of pink pickled daikon on top. The pork terrine underneath was flavoured with nori mustard and served\u00a0on bruschetta. \u00a0The pork flavour kind of reminds of the sticky rice dumping, a traditional food\u00a0Chinese people eat during dragon boat festival, which usually has pork in it and also is wrapped with bamboo leaf. It must be the seasoning of the pork that’s similar.<\/p>\n I enjoy some of the elements of the Octopus Salad<\/strong> ($19) which was supposed to come with\u00a0crispy octopus, citrus mayonnaise, daikon, radish, basil, ikura, and parmesan. Never thought I would put octopus, ikura and cheese together, but the combination\u00a0kinda worked here and didn’t taste weird. However\u00a0the octopus was just not very crispy, and was a little chewy. I didn’t mind it as much as I’m a texture guy and I like to chew, but it could be\u00a0disappointing to someone who expected it to be\u00a0crispy\u00a0as described.<\/p>\n Going to the next section of the menu “Tender to the Tooth<\/strong>“, or apparently the pasta section, I decided to get myself some Kawatsuru<\/strong> sake<\/strong> (300 ml for $20). And they didn’t bring me a cup, which I found funny. I mean I really don’t mind drinking from the carafe, but as I just came back from Japan,\u00a0I was really missing how cold sake was served in Tokyo, which will be covered \u00a0in a post coming soon. The sake itself was quite smooth and delicious.<\/p>\n The pasta dishes were quite impressive.<\/p>\n The Lasagne del Giorno<\/strong> ($29), or the Lasagna of the Day featured a pork and winter chanterelle lasagna, with a creamy miso and basil bechamel sauce. \u00a0The Asian influence in the dish was not very obvious as the essence of basil was quite strong. The lasagna was incredibly delicious with an\u00a0amazing aroma from chanterelle, and a\u00a0tender and luscious texture from the layered noodles. The bechamel was rich but not heavy. And I wish I could\u00a0just have a whole serving of this all to myself – I totally needed it\u00a0for a cold winter evening like this.<\/p>\n Next came one of the most popular dishes at Kissa Tanto, the Tajarin<\/strong> ($25). The thin egg noodle resembles spaghetti but with\u00a0a richer flavour. The butter and shaved miso cured egg even add another level of richness but well balanced by the roasted\u00a0mushrooms. I definitely tasted shiitake, a staple source of flavours often used in Japanese cuisine. Every single thing about this dish is just perfect – the texture of the noodles, the creaminess of the sauce, and the savoury and comforting flavours. It definitely showcases\u00a0the best of the Italian-Japanese cuisine that the restaurant represents.<\/p>\n The last past dish was the\u00a0Casarecce<\/strong> ($19), which was also\u00a0one of the daily specials. The word “casarecce” means “homemade” in Italian, and this dish certainly seemed a lot more casual with the free form pasta. \u00a0This dish definitely gave you a lot of texture to chew on, but the flavours from the pork sake ragu could come through a bit more if there was a bit less parmesan, making the dish\u00a0slightly less impressive than the other 2.<\/p>\n And we were entering the next stage of the tasting adventure at Kissa Tanto, “Sharing is Caring<\/strong>“, the\u00a0larger and more substantial dishes. \u00a0But honestly I think so far all the dish sizes have been quite decent, and I was impressed that 6 of us had been able to taste all the dishes with big decent bites.<\/p>\n The Beef Cheeks<\/strong> ($33), being one of the specials of the day, totally rocked with the anchovy and tomato flavour from the slow braising, giving some true Italian flavours. The dish also came with potato gnocchi and a pork jowl guanciale. This is a very Mediterranean dish and the only Asian element I could spot was maybe the little slaw on one side of the plate.<\/p>\n The Lamb Shoulder<\/strong>\u00a0($33) was garnished\u00a0with\u00a0tosaka seaweed, and a side of fregola cooked with anchovy butter and topped with pur\u00e9ed egg yolk, Sicilian olives an pickled peppers. The lamb was cooked to tender and the flavour of lamb worked surprisingly well with the seaweed. The fregoal, similar to couscous, was great on its own with the anchovy butter with extra creaminess from the egg yoke. This is the first I saw pureed egg yoke, and it does make the dish look better than just putting a whole yoke on top.<\/p>\n And to conclude the large sharing plates, we had the Fried Sea Perch<\/strong> ($40). \u00a0This is the very first time when\u00a0I was served a whole fish with the head on at a non-Asian restaurant. And I’m glad they keep this part of the old world\u00a0culinary tradition on the plate, which is quite common in Asia and Europe. The fish was so crispy that every single part of the fish was edible. I even had a piece of the fish head in my mouth, and I chewed on it like it was a potato chip! \u00a0The flavour of the fish was pretty good on\u00a0its own, but the side of grated daikon in a light sauce, which I suspected to be oroshi (a Japanese light sauce infused with daikon), did complement the fish well. This definitely a fun dish for the open-minded!<\/p>\n There were a lot of choices for dessert, so we ordered all three of them to share. The daily special featured the Flourless Chocolate Cake and Miso Caramel Ice Cream<\/strong> ($12). The brilliance of this dish is the presence of the miso flavour, which replaces the salt in the typical Salty Caramel flavour, but added that extra touch of umami from miso to give a more sophisticated taste. \u00a0Miso in dessert – that’s definitely a first for me.<\/p>\n My favourite dessert was the Yuzu Cream<\/strong> ($9.50). The cream was smooth and velvety but firm. The texture was in between panna cotta and pudding. \u00a0 The flavour of yuzu was absolutely heavenly while eating with the exotic fruits on top. I wonder what fruit they were using… Passion fruit? Mangosteen? Pomelo? There were also Sicilian pistachio and olive oil crumble that provided \u00a0the texture contrast although I found Sicilian pistachio more delicate than the regular one.<\/p>\n The Tiramisu<\/strong> ($10) tasted great but I really couldn’t tell\u00a0whipped soy and plum wine were. But the rich flavours of the dish must be the results of those\u00a0ingredients. \u00a0The only critique I would\u00a0give is\u00a0that it is\u00a0probably the only thing that can’t be split and shared\u00a0by 6 \u00a0people in any elegant way as it is quite delicate.<\/p>\n Our dinner at Kissa Tanto did\u00a0live up to their gleaming\u00a0title as\u00a0the new comer\u00a0of the year. Although I really can’t say they are better than Savio Volpe. Both restaurants are brilliant in their own ways. However\u00a0Kissa Tanto\u2019s success is more relevant\u00a0to Vancouver’s culinary trend and the Pan Pacific influence. \u00a0They have showed their remarkable skills incorporating Japanese flavours into Italian cooking. Their pasta dishes were among the highlights of our dinner, especially the Pork Chanterelle Lasagna and the Tajarin. All the large main dishes scored high for us as well, including the Beef Cheeks, the Lamb Shoulder, and the Fried Sea Perch. For dessert, I found the Yuzu Cream heavenly. This is definitely one of my best meals of 2016.<\/p>\n Website and menu:<\/strong><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.kissatanto.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n More reviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Kissa](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0457.jpg\")
<\/a>Welcome to The 1960’s Tokyo Jazz Cafe<\/h3>\n
![\"Kissa](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0141.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Kissa](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0130.jpg\")
<\/a>Jazzy Cocktails<\/h3>\n
![\"Ol'](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0177.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Four](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0185.jpg\")
<\/a>“To Begin With”<\/h3>\n
![\"Albacore](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0178.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Fritelle](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0179.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Terrina](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0184.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Octopus](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0183.jpg\")
<\/a>“Tender to the Tooth”<\/h3>\n
![\"Kawatsura](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0186.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Pork](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0189.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Tajarin\"](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0188.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Casarecce](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0190.jpg\")
<\/a>“Sharing is Caring”<\/h3>\n
![\"Beef](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0192.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Lamb](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0191.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Fried](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0162-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Dessert<\/h3>\n
![\"Flourless](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0196.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Yuzu](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0194.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Tiramisu\"](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0195.jpg\")
<\/a>Overall<\/h3>\n
![\"Kissa](\"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0176-1-e1482527421219.jpg\")
<\/a>