KASUMI

For a taste of several small dishes in one sitting, KASUMI’s “10-dish obanzai set” is worth a look. It comes with 10 kinds of obanzai, rice and miso soup, and the menu presents it as a lunch featuring seasonal vegetables. One diner who ordered the set singled out the variety of small dishes and the taro tempura. The selection changes daily beyond the regular items, so the combination may be different on another visit.

If you’d rather choose a centrepiece, there’s a set with braised pork belly and cartilage, served with obanzai. The menu describes the kakuni with a soft-boiled egg, daily obanzai, rice and miso soup. A mala-spiced version is also available as a set with rice, obanzai and miso soup. The fried-chicken set comes with salad, rice and daily obanzai; one diner who visited for dinner found the portions generous, including the side dishes.

There are drinks and desserts for after a meal, or for a visit centred on something sweet. The sky-blue cream soda combines melon soda with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, while the Basque cheesecake comes with lightly sweetened cream and a cat-shaped cookie. For a lighter breakfast, options include cheese fondue toast with salad and corn potage, and French toast served with seasonal fruit.

KASUMI is on the 2 floor on the east side of Shinkyogoku Street, south of Takoyakushi. Along with meals, its listings include drinks and snacks for a night-café visit. The night café starts at 20:30, with last entry at 22. Its fries come in 7 flavours, including consomme, butter soy sauce and mentaiko butter—an option to have with a cream soda or an alcoholic drink.