Chateau — Restaurant in Kanazawa

I wouldn't like to be considered as a bad guest and spent time trying to find a bright side before writing the review. First of all, I like the concept. The place is run by a chef alone. It's interesting and he did his best serving and cooking at the same time. Besides, the food itself was OK. Can't say I didn't enjoy it at all. But that's it...

The restaurant looks dirty inside. More than that, it doesn't smell good. Nevertheless I decided to give it a chance since as I mentioned I was intrigued by the concept. But the plates and napkins that were brought to us then weren't clean either. I had to rub them to clean up grease stains . Coffee machine is a joke. At cheapest motels I saw better and cleaner coffee machines than at this quite expensive "french" restaurant. "Carpacho" from the menu without any warnings turned to "white fish carpaccio". They don't accept credit cards, so after careful calculations I changed my last 5k yen banknote... And was charged 30% additionally for four pieces of baguette that was expected to be a chef's compliment. I know about japanese "otoshii" culture, but it's expected from night pubs or izakayas, not from "french" restaurants with over 4 stars from google and with pretty "respectful" prices. Thanks for not charging for a glass of water, appreciate it.

So instead of a fast meal we stayed hungry, got a lot of discomfort, I was ashamed in front of my wife and the rest of the night was ruined. I'm really trying to force myself and give the place at least two stars, since one who expects high prices (6-8k yen for a person, I would say), hidden charges and able to close eyes for questionable hygienic conditions could enjoy decent cuisine. But I can't. Officially the worst experience for all three...

One word: memorable. This is a Japanese bar-like setting run by 2 men, unlike what I expected of a French eating place. I got to, luckily, sit in front of the chef when I came and witnessed how he cooked everything from scratch. Took some time as he was cooking for a family but I was literally entertained by watching the chef does his usual business.

The onion soup is not bad. What stood out was the oyster gratin with its many layers of flavours that left me overwhelmed with happiness and confusion (of wondering why something is so good 😆). It's REALLY that good imo.

All menu items were written on a chalkboard in Japanese when I came. If you are not sure just ask for recommendations (osusume shitekudasai). Both of them are genuinely...

Takashi Kanou runs an amazing one-man restaurant in Kanazawa called Chateau.

Excellent French food which was divine, superb service and attention to detail, and oishi wine from Bordeaux in particular

We had Pate de Campagne and White Bean Soup to start

Thai Fish (snapper?) And scallops for main, served with Roasted Eggplant, baby sweetcorn and Courgette, plus a simple side salad and fresh bagueet bread

For dessert we had a mousse and puddi g which was made in-house

Bill was 20,000 yen, or about $220 Australian dollars, but it was worth it. Including 5 glasses of wine (1 x sparkling, 2 x...