Italian Kitchen VANSAN Nishi-Kasai — Restaurant in Tokyo

Hm… so, I have mixed emotions about this restaurant. As for the food, it is clearly another fake Italian restaurant - noone Italian or European would think there’s anyone Italian near the kitchen here. The pasta was somewhat too hard… I’m thinking someone explained the concept of “al dente” to the cook, and, well, he is trying, but failing. The cream sauce for the pasta was a bit watery with cheese… if you cook yourself, you know that the ingredients and the temperatures (at cooking and at serving) can cause this to happen. Ingredients used were good (good taste), but my guess would be too high cooking temperatures, or for too long caused this to fail. Now, if you are claiming to be an upmarket Italian restaurant - then I’d expect you to get this right. On the other hand, at least for me, the service was exceptional - very considerate waiter, and worked through issues - like, if ordering a pasta dish and wine… it seems like they will unasked and without mentioning it anywhere, add meat to it!...

Very bad experience. The staff and service is very slow. They make us sit and forget. I kept on calling the waiters to place our order but no one was bothered to come as they all were standing at one corner of the restaurant and talking to each other, after waiting and waving hands (almost 7-8 times) one waiter came and took the order. When I asked for a glass of water to one waitress, she just forgot all about it, we could see the glass was kept on the counter but we waited for 15 mins but not a single glass of water reached to our table. We asked another waitress again for water. She said ok, then after 10 mins she came and asked whether we need cold water or normal water and then after next 5 mins they brought the glass of water. I can't understand, why will a restaurant will need 30 mins to give a glass of water.

For food, I will rate...

This is a lovely little gem in a humble Nishi-Kasai area with extremely well made Italian food.

The menu is limited but every dish I have tried here is really well made - consistently every time.

The crab meat pasta is a must try - but unfortunately it is seasonal and not always on the menu.

The Jamon is high quality. The wines and sangrias are lovely for a sunny afternoon lunch.

Kids meal is appropriately sized and tasty.

Nice warm interiors, and friendly and helpful staff.

The best part is they have a little kids play area, so parents can have a relaxing meal while kids stay busy in the play area.

However be prepared to shell out a bit, this can be a bit pricy - but worth the experience and food. (I accidentally posted this on their Saitma...