Great Eating in Kanazawa, Part 1 of 4

Restaurant: Itaru / いたる
Neighborhood: Kanazawa, near Kenrokuen and the 21st Century Museum / 金沢市
Style: Izakaya with emphasis on Seafood
Website: http://www.itaru.ne.jp/

Many years ago, I studied Japanese in Kanazawa. I've been there in the spring, summer, and fall, but I'd never been there in winter to see the famous Kenrokuen Gardens covered in snow. Just before my new job starts, I made a quick trip to see them (and indeed it was gorgeous).

However, the other advantage of going to the Hokuriku region in winter is getting to eat great food! Food in Kanazawa is always great, but winter is the best time for seafood and so I had three great days of eating out in Kanazawa.

My friend Yasuko suggested Itaru as the first place to try in Kanazawa. Itaru is very popular among locals, so reservations are a good idea; you'll frequently be turned away even on a weeknight without them. It's easy to get here either by walking, or by taxi (unlike Tokyo, taxis in Kanazawa are not too expensive); just tell the driver "itaru honten".

Itaru is the familiar open-kitchen, counter-oriented izakaya format, and the food has a special emphasis on seafood but encompasses the full range you'd expect from a high-end izakaya. This is a Japanese restaurant, so having a Japanese speaker in the group is essential.

Some of the highlights here the night I went were the sashimi moriawase, which of course included the Buri that hokuriku is well-known for in winter (in fact, I ate delicious buri sashimi every night I was in Kanazawa), Shirako (look it up), and grilled buri. Everything here was really good, and as with most Japanese restaurants, it's a good bet to ask the chef what's good tonight and order that.

We had a toriaezu beer but after that moved on to Nihonshu, there was a delightful dry sake but I forgot to note the name!

A lot of food and a generous amount of sake at Itaru still only came out to about 5000 yen per person, great food value.