Cottage — Restaurant in Kanazawa

Utterly Despicable !!! AVOID THIS RESTAURANT AT ALL COSTS !!!

Went in just past opening (18:00) on a Sunday evening. Chef (Tony) was noticeably intoxicated already while his wife (Momo) was extremely courteous and hospitable.

The food (garden salad, tagliatelle, and chorizo-mushroom pizza) was tolerable. -Salad seemed like a pre-made mixed green overdressed with a too oily Italian dressing. -Pasta certainly didn’t taste handmade and was served in a far too watery and bland sauce. -The pizza was described as being chorizo, pepper and mushroom. We were served a water cracker thin crusted, bland sauced pizza topped with 10 small slices of pepperoni and aubergine (eggplant).

To save the readers of this review a very long story, the evening ended with us being quickly ushered out and down the street by Momo, my wife in tears and myself utterly enraged as Tony continued to drunkenly shout at us continuing to berate our beliefs and opinions.

The only “positive” of the evening was that Momo (following suit with the hospitality and politeness that we have experienced everywhere else in Japan) refused to allow us to pay for the meal (above mentioned courses split between us w/ 2 drinks total - approx. 5500¥) as she repeatedly and desperately apologized for the behavior of her husband.

This does not seem to be out of the ordinary for ‘The Cottage’ and there are several reviews voicing this.

So if you want sub-par food served by a drunk and hostile chef, look no further; but if you’d rather enjoy an evening meal, I urge you to go literally...

The Cottage is that rare find of good food and great people. I found this tiny restaurant when I was in Kanazawa five years ago and, after two weeks of Japanese food, was hankering for some western cooking. The restaurant is small, with about 12 seats, and is chef owned by a married couple: Momo (the host) and Tony (the chef). Momo is simply a delight; even though I hadn’t been there in years, she recognized me and greeted me with a hug. The food is simple but very good. Last night’s menu consisted of vegetable lasagna, a bacon & red pepper pizza, beef stew, and one other dish I forget. I had the beef stew, which was rich and hearty, and best of all, came with a homemade bread that combined the best parts of crunchy crust and soft interior. When asked, Tony stated that the bread was his own recipe. My friend had the pizza, which he highly complimented. For dessert, we both had the apple crumble.

The Cottage is an intimate place that sells simple but good western cuisine. If you are hungry for something a little more familiar, this restaurant...

After sitting down, we’ve been offered the whole course menu in a bit pushy manner. But after showing no fear of Monos hard sell style we were able to choose the dishes we wanted to and everything went smooth and in very nice atmosphere.

Mono and Tony are a lovely couple which loves bird watching and talking to another interesting people. If you’re a typical American don’t go there or at least don’t ask Tony when he started to cook potatoes 😀 this guys humor is genuinely pure but not everyone can bare it, we had an amazing time him trolling two us ladies while he was preparing an outstanding dish for me and kindly asking my vegetarian girlfriend what she likes and what not.

After telling them our story they become super friendly and asking more and more questions about us and our country and Japan travels. Whole friendly experience was topped with really yummy apple pie and good glass of white wine.

Will definitely come back and enjoy welcoming company of those two nice people.

Thank you guys and enjoy your trip...