Kinon — Restaurant in Kamakura

Japan is known as a courteous country but in Kinon, we felt really uncomfortable by how we were treated as foreigners.

As I understood, chef used to be in SFO, hence reserving this place thinking we can communicate in English but nope - we got a “it is too bad” when I had to REQUEST for English. Was it too much to ask for?

As the entire meal was conducted in Japanese that we have no clue of, I had to resort to guessing or get help from a couple next to us. To ease him of stretching over the counter, my partner pushed the plate nearer to him BUT to get a scolding. (baffled, truly!)

This is typical bully behavior, ostracized by Asian to Asian.

Food was good but it will never sit well with the...

In June this year, I went to Kamakura with my friends to see hydrangeas. At that time, I discovered this restaurant through tabelog. I am a big foodie and have tried all sorts of restaurants in Japan, but this was truly my first experience with cuisine cooked over wood fire. So, I was incredibly excited about the visit even before we arrived. This restaurant is truly outstanding – both the food and the service were exceptional. The owner was also very talkative and engaging. Every dish showcased the unique flavor of wood-fired cooking while still preserving the distinct characteristics of the ingredients. If I ever have the chance to visit Kamakura again, I would definitely...

A small gem in kamakura near the station. Chef and owner worked under Saison San Francisco. He uses wood to cook his meat and fish. You get a nice wood smell throughout the restaurant. Its only counter seating and during covid he limits to 2 parties a night.

Wine collection is from small farms in California.

Its a decent amount of food with 2 desserts. Just a note you get a choice of tea or coffee for dessert but its an additional 800 yen. I didn’t know.

All in all the food was great. Meat and fish were cooked beautifully. Since they are cooked on an open fire it does take a long time to get through the course. It was about 3 hours to finish. Enjoy the...