しんせん 割烹　佐乃家

From the tangy ayu and salad starter to the refreshing ume plum and shiso dessert, the chef had put together a medley of Japanese and fusion morsels that piqued taste buds and pleased the eye. A pleasing dinner that reset the balance at the end of a long day.

Excellent food and service! The best duck breast and sea eel!!!

We love the good authentic kappo cuisine with a little western touch. Really well executed.

Wonderful set menu mostly prepared before your eyes. Just seven counter seats. Generous sake pairing available (and recommended). Chef will describe each course in English if necessary. A bargain for what’s provided.

とても美味しかったです。また来店したいと思います。
オーナー気さくでとても接しやすく、海外方にも優しいでした。

選び抜かれた食材と器。一皿一皿にご主人の食に対する静かなる情熱が感じられ、日本酒とのペアリングも至福のマリアージュでした。季節ごとにお訪れたいと思うお店です。

日本の心が料理に表され生きている今の瞬間をしっかりと堪能することができました。過去・現在そしてこれから味わう時に想いをめぐらす至福を感じることができました。

料理へのこだわりは強く感じます。
シーンとしてはカウンターのみなので、二人での来店が理想かと。
彼氏・彼女。上司・部下。接待など。
お店の中は静かなのであまり込み入った話は出来ません。
料理とお酒に集中する感じ。

Absolutely fantastic place! I came here by myself and I had a wonderful getting to know the chef and having dinner. I have been to many fine dining establishments around the US and the world, and I had one of the best times here. I tend to favor fine dining experiences that are a lot more casual, where the focus is on the quality of the ingredients separately and together, and about having a good time and enjoying others' company. Additionally, one of the great things that really made this experience for me was that the chef has spent time in the US and speaks English, and he love to converse, which is particularly useful when you're dining solo. Can't recommend this place enough! Remember to get a reservation, be respectful of Japanese dining culture (google it!), and be thankful to the chef. And share this place with others!

日本出張でのお楽しみとして、最初に思い浮かぶ和食処。いつも期待を裏切らない安心感とちょっとしたサプライズが魅力。締めのご飯は、先ず最初に香りを楽しんでから、ゆっくりと口に運ぶのが流儀。
ボストン在住

Stop reading this review and book this restaurant before word gets out! By far the best dining experience we’ve had in Tokyo - the chef is incredibly skilled, knowledgeable and fluent in English. He crafted a wonderful menu that had us wondering where 2.5 hours had went. Can’t recommend highly enough.

Booked for a birthday on our last night in Tokyo. Was one of the best meals we've ever had. The owner Sano-san is incredibly welcoming and passionate, watching him put together the dishes was an amazing experience.

素材の選択、調理方法、味付け、演出のすべてが秀逸。特に香りを大切にしているところが素晴らしい。お店の雰囲気と店主の気配りも心地良く、毎週でも通いたくなる隠れ家的な和食処。

It was a lovely way to spend a rainy evening. The courses harmonized well, and the chef gracious enough to offer explanations in English. I think I’ll be back the next time I’m in Tokyo.

Nice surprise. Good atmosphere

お料理はとてもおいしいです。
ただ時間制で全員が同じペースで料理を出されるので、ゆっくり食べる時間はないです。
ゆっくり話していると、「お嫌いですか？次出ますので早めにどうぞ。」と急かされたのが少し残念でした。

This is the ULTIMATE Omakase dining experience!
It’s obvious from the moment you walk in. Be prepared to spend $300 for a couple which will include the sake.

Sano-San does an incredible job of making both foreigners and locals feel welcome. His English is good and his cooking and sake pairings are AMAZING . The menu changes monthly so we will definitely come back.

His restaurant holds at most 8 customer at once and there is only one seating per night at 7pm.

定期的に伺っています。
創意工夫されたお料理と、ペアリングの日本酒が素晴らしいです。
季節を感じることができるお料理が素晴らしいです。

Amazing restaurant with a friendly chef who will make you an exquisite course dinner. Fantastic sake selection, one of the best meals I've had in Japan (or anywhere really).

Had a great meal here as the food was so inventive, presented well, and flavorful. It was fun to see the chef at work and put so much effort into the details. The sake pairing for just an additional $25-30 was great as a glass came with almost every course.

The chef has culinary experience from Kyoto so was nice to see his take on Kyoto cuisine. He speaks English pretty well so nothing to worry about there as he has an English menu of the tasting and explains each dish as well.

We really enjoyed dining at Kappo Sanoya. The seasonal dishes were outstanding. If I would have to pick one favorite dish, however, it would be the blowfish with cabbage and yuzu-foam.
The service was kind and Masayuki Sano is a great chef. We had a lot of fun.
We will visit this kaiseki restaurant again during our next stay in Tokyo.

Fantastic intimate multicourse meal with wine pairings. Chef took time to explain each course in English. Wonderful evening!

We found this restaurant on OpenTable, somewhat puzzling the other patrons who wondered how we had entered a restaurant that was small, catered almost exclusively to Japanese, and required reservations long in advance. The food tastes as exquisite as it looks. There is clearly much attention to visual and other aesthetics, but the combinations of ingredients are not merely to be dramatic or impressive… They are innovative and go well together. For example, the persimmon and carrot salad was unexpected and memorable. The chef is charming in an understated way and both happy and fully able to provide additional explanations in English.

和食の魅力をだしで演出、こだわり抜いた料理の数々と絶妙に合わせた日本酒、とても新鮮で満足出来ます。

Every thing is great, the food, the sakei, and the chef. It was not easy to find, but really worth it.

We had an outstanding experience at Shinsen Kappo Sanoya. The food was excellent, as was the accompanying sake course. The chef is kind, friendly, and funny and made the whole evening so enjoyable for everyone, both us foreigners and the two Japanese couples who were the other guests. Highly, highly recommended, particularly for first-time Japan visitors seeking an introduction to Japanese kappo (multi-course meal of the chef's choosing).

日本酒ペアリングは必須です。
賀茂金秀、十四代や龍神等比較的飲みやすいものを中心に宗玄や燗冷ましをおりまぜ、日本酒を飲んでいる人も馴染みのない人も楽しめる内容を大変リーズナブルに提供していただきました。
日本酒を飲める方はぜひ！

I enjoyed a dinner with my spouse, after finding the restaurant via OpenTable. The menu was translated into English, though at least one of the courses was different than stated in it. The menu was mostly pesco-vegetarian, having one pork course as well. The chef spoke excellent English compared to many restaurants, where the staff usually don't understood or speak English at all. The meal itself was as kappo is described on the internet: multi-course meal that is left entirely up to the chef. The clue of the evening was not the food (which costed ca. 100 EUR with sake wine package), but the atmosphere. Some courses were brilliant , some just simply good but nothing exceptional. The sake-menu was so full that you get drunk if you try to drink everything ;-) This is a great restaurant for tourists visiting Japan and getting familiar with the food culture. Highly recommend!

カジュアルな雰囲気で懐石料理を楽しめました。
そして、お酒のペアリングが素晴らしい。
それぞれの料理に、この料理にはこの酒というピッタンコな提案をしてくれました。
そして、〆の土鍋ごはん。
米も良し、水も良し、まだ蒸れていない炊き立ての飯を一文字に装って盛り付ける。
アルデンテ、かすかに芯の残る飯。
これは「裏千家」の茶懐石の作法ですね。
『とにかく炊き立てを召し上がって下さい』というおもてなしの心を表現しているのです。
キチンと勉強なさった上で、あえてカジュアルに崩してみせる。これ見よがしにしない。
こういうところが粋ですね。
私もあまり知ったかぶるとキザなので黙って美味しくいただきました。
美味しい食事をありがとうございました。また伺います。

最大8名様のお客様が全員そろってからいただくスタイルで、ご主人のお料理に対する意気込みが伝わってきます。
「だし」の味を味わってほしいお店です。
ペアリングの日本酒も、珍しいものもあり、いつもワクワクします。
ひと月ごとにお料理が変わるので、贅沢ですが毎月行きたいお店です。

A wonderful experience for any adventurous, non-Japanese speaker looking for a quality, authentic experience.

My two friends and I arrived at Sanoya in Shibuya just hours after landing from a long direct flight from New York. The chef/owner greeted us warmly despite running late and proceeded to serve a wonderful 10-ish course tasting meal containing a combination of Japanese staples and some more off-the-cuff (from an American’s perspective) but still wildly delicious plates.

The experience was intimate and informative. We filled three of the seven booths surrounding the chef’s preparation area. His English was quite good. As we watched him prepare the meal, we could ask questions freely. Each dish came with an explanation - one for us in English and another in Japanese for the two lovely native couples with whom we dined.

And the price was extremely fair, coming to $85/person for food and one round of drinks.

Surprise menu as it depends what is fresh but very, very tasty and well presented. Also the Sake menu going with the food is highly recomended. If you don‘t like fish or have a lot of allergies this place won‘t be yours. But if you are looking for good japanese food and are open to try everything this is your place to be.
Chef can speak a bit english to explain the menu. Cozy and intimate athmosphere

期待してましたが、それ以上でした。一品、一品に魂を込められた料理に、そして料理を引き立てるお酒に…　堪能しました。

This dinner was the highlight of our Tokyo trip. It was such a great experience for us.
We had 9 meals and all were just so unbeliavably tasty. We had chance to eat first time Blowfish, bamboo and liquid nitrogen dessert.
We took Sake pairing set menu and had chance to taste 8 different sake with each meal. All sake were the best that we have tried in Japan.

We fully recommend this restaurant to everyone. IT IS THE BEST.

Masa Sano- the cook is also very friendly and welcoming.
Jan & Sascha & Michel & Tugce

8席限定、料理と器、もちろん店内の雰囲気とが美しく醸しだされ、美酒に酔い過ぎていく時間がとても惜しく思えました。

Fantastic!!! Authentic Japanese Kaiseki Kitchen. Very nice chef, extraordinary quality and delicious taste.

料理自体も素晴らしいのですが、料理に合わせて選んでいただく日本酒も美味しかったです。ご主人の人柄やお店の雰囲気も良くて、居心地のいいお店です。また行きたいと思えるお店でした。大切な人との食事におススメです！

It was such a beautiful dinner/experience. Everything was fantastic from the 9 dishes menu over the sake tasting to the very pleasant host. The meal was a journey through Japan. I highly recommend this place.

料理がすばらしくおいしい、さらに料理に合わせたお酒をだしていただけるので料理とお酒のコンビネーションが絶品。近いうちにまたお伺いします。

再訪です。
今回も大将の素晴らしいお料理と日本酒のペアリングを堪能してきました。
お料理で「春の訪れ」を感じて、それをお酒で身体の中へ。
春はデトックスの季節、泡にはふきのとう。そして隠れ牡蠣。
これが憎いくらいの美味しさ、身体も旬を求めているのね。
デザートの時の大将のコメント。
「甘酒は肝臓にいいんですよ。」
たくさんお酒をいただいても、安心しちゃうこの一言！
またその一言を聞きたくて、次回の予約も済ませてきました。